Tory challenges Badenoch over national security row

Kemi Badenoch has suffered a blow to her authority after a Tory MP openly criticised her in the House of Commons and appeared to challenge her to suspend him.

- Kate Devlin

The row erupted after the Conservative leader hit out at Sir Keir Starmer for "evading Prime Minister’s Questions", to attend the Nato and G7 summits.

Opposition MPs lined up to criticise the beleaguered Ms Badenoch, already under fire over her lacklustre leadership from some within her party.

However, in an extraordinary moment, one of her own MPs, Conservative Mark Pritchard, openly criticised her, saying partisan politics should be kept out of national security issues. He added: “Who knows, I may get the whip withdrawn for saying that, but so be it, there are things that go beyond party politics”.