Sir Keir Starmer has apologised for being “overly rude” to a Welsh MP after accusing her of “talking rubbish”.
The prime minister faced criticism over the way he spoke to Plaid Cymru‘s Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts after she suggested he had dropped his principles to launch a crackdown on migration.
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Addressing her again in the House of Commons on Tuesday, he said: “I think last week I was overly rude and I apologise. I do respect the honourable member.”
The row centred on language used by Sir Keir to justify measures to curb legal migration, including banning care homes from hiring overseas and tightening the rules to gain settled status.
The prime minister said that without a system that is “controlled and fair” the UK risked becoming an “island of strangers”, something many MPs associated with the infamous “Rivers of Blood” speech by the late Conservative MP Enoch Powell.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions last Wednesday, Ms Saville Roberts said: “This prime minister once spoke of compassion and dignity for migrants, and for defending free movement.
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“Now he talks of ‘islands of strangers’ and ‘taking back control’. Somebody here has to call this out.
“It seems the only principle he consistently defends is whichever he last heard in a focus group. So I ask him, is there any belief he holds which survives a week in Downing Street?”
Sir Keir hit back: “Yes – the belief that she talks rubbish.”
Afterwards, Ms Saville Roberts claimed her comment had clearly “struck a nerve” and the expression on the faces of many Labour MPs showed “plenty of them know I was right”.
Sir Keir’s apology came after the Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP raised a question about the new trade deal with the EU, in which she referred to a “recent tendency to dismiss the views of others”.
Ms Saville Roberts told Sky News that she welcomes the prime minister’s remarks adding: “The chamber is a better place for people admitting their mistakes.
“The prime minister was noticeably more at ease today discussing improving our relationship with the EU than while delivering his divisive ‘nation of strangers’ comments.
“I reminded him today of his previous comments about the importance of retaining the benefits of the single market. Let’s see him now take a step further and commit to restoring those benefits.”
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Downing Street last week defended the “island of strangers” comment, saying Sir Keir had stressed that migrants have made a “massive contribution” to society and he was making a point about controlling the system and integration.
However Labour peer Harriet Harman told Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction Podcast that Sir Keir should have explained his immigration policy to Ms Saville Roberts rather than “slapping her down”.
“I just think to call across the chamber, ‘you’re rubbish’ – I think a prime minister has the opportunity to be a bit more magisterial in that,” she said.
She said she has “been that woman standing there asking the prime minister a heartfelt and serious question, and had the prime minister say, ‘you’re rubbish'”.
Former home secretary James Cleverly also criticised the prime minister saying his response was “unbelievably and unnecessarily rude”.
