Sir James Cleverly has said he would not have compared a government minister to a Gestapo officer, after Kemi Badenoch’s comment about Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson sparked a furious row.
The Conservative leader made the Nazi comparison while criticising the government’s decision to end a tax exemption for private schools – an insult that drew heavy criticism from Labour. Appearing on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Sir James, the shadow housing secretary, criticised Labour’s education record but when pressed on whether he would have made the remark himself, said: “No, I probably wouldn’t have done.”
“Sir James Cleverly says he wouldn't have used Badenoch's Gestapo jibe; Phillipson vows to wear 'spiteful class warrior' T-shirt.”
Badenoch has not apologised for the comment, which Phillipson said showed she was “not fit to be prime minister”. The education secretary has now turned the attack into a rallying cry. Asked about Badenoch’s “spiteful class warrior” jibe at Prime Minister’s Questions, Phillipson told the BBC: “Next time you see me, Nick, I’ll be wearing a T-shirt saying ‘spiteful class warrior’ – because if being a spiteful class warrior means lifting half a million children out of poverty I’ll be wearing that T-shirt with pride.”
The war of words began when Badenoch told the Spectator earlier this month that Phillipson had “acted like a Gestapo officer” in pursuing a VAT on private school fees. At PMQs, she described her as a “spiteful class warrior”, claiming the tax was meant to pay for more teachers in state schools “but the number of teachers has gone down”. Government statistics show teacher numbers have fallen by just under 2,000 since last year, though the pupil-teacher ratio has remained the same because pupil rolls are falling.
Asked whether she would apologise to Phillipson, Badenoch said she had also called the education secretary incompetent in the Commons and it was “interesting” that she had not complained about that. Speaking on a visit to an army barracks in Essex on Thursday morning, the Tory leader told reporters Phillipson “could dish it out but can’t take it”.
Sir James defended Badenoch’s right to be robust. “When Kemi highlights the fact that these policies are vindictive and they are about class war rather than recruiting teachers, she gets vilified by the Labour Party,” he said. “And when people in the Labour Party, literally minutes earlier, describe a Conservative MP as being racist, no-one seems to bat an eyelid.” Phillipson has been criticised by the Conservatives for labelling comments made by Tory MP Nick Timothy as “racist” and calling for him to be sacked.
Pressed on whether politicians had a duty to maintain respect, Sir James said: “We have a robust democracy and I think one of the dangers in a desire to be collegiate and calm is the voters think that we are not holding each other to account.”
The Tories are accusing Labour of targeting families with children at private schools with VAT to raise money for more teachers in state schools, while instead overseeing a fall in teacher numbers. Phillipson said Badenoch’s “unique brand of unpleasant politics” would not distract her from “better life chances for children”.