1 hour ago Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has told the BBC she volition beryllium turning Kemi Badenoch's onslaught connected her astatine Prime Minister's Questions into a T-shirt.
The Conservative person called Phillipson a "spiteful people warrior" for taxing backstage schoolhouse fees, claiming this was to wage for much teachers successful authorities schools "but the fig of teachers has gone down".
Sir Keir Starmer defended Phillipson, saying helium was "proud" that she was his acquisition caput - but the 2 women exchanged harsh words aft PMQs and continued their enactment connected societal media.
Badenoch's latest station doubled down, telling Phillipson: "You are sacrificing the aboriginal of generations of kids connected the altar of your people envy."
Badenoch was attacking Phillipson for Labour axing the historical VAT exemption for backstage schools and introducing a 20% rate, expected to rise £9bn for the acquisition budget, but not ringfenced for hiring teachers specifically.
However, determination is an ongoing teacher recruitment crisis, with the fig of teachers shrinking by 2,000 successful the past year, according to the latest authorities statistics.
Asked astir Badenoch's comments by Nick Robinson connected BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Phillipson said: "Next clip you spot me, Nick, I'll beryllium wearing a T-shirt saying 'spiteful people warrior' - due to the fact that if being a spiteful people warrior means lifting fractional a cardinal children retired of poorness I'll beryllium wearing that t-shirt with pride."
The acquisition caput was referring to Labour's program to tackle kid poverty, external, which included scrapping the two-child benefits cap, expanding escaped childcare and escaped schoolhouse meals, and creating 3,000 other nursery places.
Phillipson said Badenoch had precocious compared her to a Gestapo serviceman and added: "Kemi Badenoch tin talk for herself and her ain unsocial marque of unpleasant authorities - I'm focused connected amended beingness chances for children.
"I deliberation you're losing the statement erstwhile you trim yourself to that level of abuse."
Phillipson was pressed connected whether she had crossed a enactment herself, by accusing Conservative shadiness justness caput Nick Timothy of racism for describing a wide Muslim nationalist supplication successful Trafalgar Square arsenic an "act of domination and division".
In March, Sir Keir had called connected Badenoch to sack Timothy for the comments astatine PMQs, claiming they showed her enactment had a "problem with Muslims".
Phillipson had reignited that enactment up of PMQs connected Wednesday morning's acquisition questions, external, successful effect to a question from shadiness women and equalities curate Claire Coutinho raising concerns astir the policing of disapproval of Islam.
The acquisition caput responded: "We person seen shocking examples of Muslims successful our state being targeted connected the ground of their religion and due to the fact that of who they are.
"We request look nary further than [Nick Timothy], who engaged successful appalling racism towards Muslims successful our state and, alternatively shamefully, was not sacked by the Leader of the Opposition for those comments."
Asked by Robinson whether labelling Timothy racist was hypocritical erstwhile she wanted to code down governmental discourse, Phillipson said: "It was racist, helium should beryllium ashamed of himself, and helium should person been sacked.
"If you privation robust governmental debate, I'm present for that each time of the week, but I deliberation reducing this to Nazi analogies, reducing it to that level of highly personalised abuse, I deliberation says much astir Kemi Badenoch than anybody else".
Timothy denies his comments are racist.
Deputy premier curate David Lammy has defended Phillipson successful the enactment and Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander said: "Like Bridget, I'm proudly state-schooled: we're the astir state-schooled furniture successful the post-war era.
"We're not motivated by spite but by tackling poorness and extending opportunity."
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