Robert Jenrick asked Ed Miliband in the Commons:
“We represent communities 15 miles apart, decent, hardworking people who are finding life very tough at the moment. In that context, how would he justify to working people and pensioners spending £6 billion on foreign aid whilst freezing the tax-free person allowance and cutting the state pension?”
Tory MP and former ‘DFS’ Andrew Mitchell turned to Jenrick and accused him of being a “neanderthal,” according to co-conspirators in the Chamber. Mitchell deputised for Cameron – stuck in the Lords – on Foreign Office matters in the Commons…
Miliband referenced that remark and retorted:
“I would say to him, I think the answer came from the person who used to be in his party, the party he used to be in, which is that the money we spend on foreign aid is absolutely about preventing the problems from elsewhere in the world coming here to his constituency and mine. You know, he is at one of the same time the person who complains about small boats, which is partly caused by fragile states uh and then says that we shouldn’t be taking action to prevent it.”
A Stella Creasy classic line there…
Robert Jenrick told a rally on Monday:
“They say Chancellors are either undertakers or bookies. This one is an ostrich – and when the Chancellor buries his head in the sand, the rest of us, we’re left staring at his you know what.”