Keir Starmer had little time for a Tory MP who accused him of “enormous complacency” on defence, reminding him of what his party had done over the course of 14 years.
On Monday, the prime minister appeared before senior MPs at the Liaison Committee to answer questions on government policy.
One of the topics that dominated discussion was the ongoing war in Iran, and Starmer’s handling of the conflict.
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At one point, Tory MP Bernard Jenkin put it to the PM that Britain had been “unprepared” in the response to the war, pointing to the fact that a drone was able to hit the RAF base in Cyprus.
Jenkin continued: “The very fact that you immediately wanted to defend a destroyer meant you had failed to anticipate the need to defend Cyprus with a destroyer.
“This smacks of a lack of war-fighting mentality that reaches right across the government.”
He then asked the PM: “So when are we going to be prepared and prepared for what?”
As Starmer started to respond, Jenkin interrupted: “It smacks of an enormous complacency.”
Starmer immediately snapped back though, giving short shrift to the Tory MPs words.
He hit back: “This smacks of the fact that for years there was underinvestment by the last Government and the stringing out of our armed forces!”
“14 years of underinvestment, 18 months of a Labour government, we’re picking up the underinvestment of your government,” he added.