‘It’s ideological!’ Kemi Badenoch lashes out at Sir Keir Starmer for crippling schools during tense PMQs

Kemi Badenoch has lashed out at Keir Starmer’s “ideological” warfare on schools during a lively PMQs (Prime Minister’s Questions).

The Tory leader called for the Prime Minister to make a U-turn after Labour MPs voted against banning phones in schools last week.

Starmer was quick to criticise what he called a decline in educational standards while the previous government was in power.

Badenoch responded: “He’s not answering the question about discipline in schools because he doesn’t care about discipline in schools.

“Everything he does is ideological and he is costing schools so much. The national insurance hike means every state school has to pay more for teachers.

“The Education Secretary promised to compensate schools in full for the tax. Why hasn’t it happened?”

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Starmer responded: “It was Labour that introduced academies. We pushed up standards. This is not ideological.

“I am a parent of two teenage children and both of them go to a state school. I am invested in this and it matters hugely to me.”

The Tories have been pushing to get mobile phones banned in schools and attempted to amend the Labour Government’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to include the ban.

Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott acknowledged her party’s failure to implement such a measure while they were in Government.

She told the BBC their guidance to schools last year “hasn’t worked” as too many children are still using the devices in classrooms.

After taking the PM to task on the matter, Starmer insisted a ban is “completely unnecessary”.

He continued: “I’ve got teenage children and almost every school bans phones. We need to concentrate on what’s important which is getting to the content children shouldn’t be accessing.

“That’s where I would genuinely like to work across the house because there’s a huge amount of work to do.

“The battle is not with schools already banning phones in school, the battle is to work together to ensure the content children are accessing, wherever they are, is suitable for their age.”

The debate over mobile phone use in schools has intensified as the Labour government and Conservative opposition take differing approaches to tackling the issue.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has recently backed the removal of phones from classrooms, stating they have “no place” in schools.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives are pushing for a legal ban, attempting to amend Labour’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to make phone restrictions law.