Today’s PoliticsLive provided some top-notch entertainment as Richard Holden and Lucy Powell went head-to-head in a heated exchange over Starmer’s Chagos Islands sellout. Richard didn’t Hold-en back in tearing into Powell over the reported £18 billion price tag for surrendering British territory, to which a flustered Powell repeatedly dismissed the figure as “nonsense,” though couldn’t actually muster up a figure herself. Instead she scrambled to defend the deal as “good for the national interest”. Holden wasn’t having it, firing back, “No it not, it’s good for China’s national interest.” A slam dunk…
The scrapping continued, with Powell snapping, “Don’t talk over me, it’s not a good look”—only to then talk over Holden herself. It’s clear who came out on top in this verbal sparring match…
Speaking at his press conference on the Pride in Place programme which was obviously all about Mandelson, Starmer said:
“Tomorrow’s front pages are unlikely to be about the Pride in Place programme.”