Education secretary says she'll turn Tory leader's insult into a T-shirt

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. Education secretary says she'll turn Tory leader's insult into a T-shirtImage source, PA MediaImage caption, Phillipson is in a war of words with the Tory leader over her schools policiesByJennifer McKiernanPolitical reporterPublished25 June 2026, 10:55 BSTUpdated 2 minutes agoEducation Secretary Bridget Phillipson has told the she will be turning Kemi Badenoch's attack on her at Prime Minister's Questions into a T-shirt. The Conservative leader called Phillipson a "spiteful class warrior" for taxing private school fees, claiming this was to pay for more teachers in state schools "but the number of teachers has gone down". Sir Keir Starmer defended Phillipson, saying he was "proud" that she was his education secretary - but the two women exchanged harsh words after PMQs and continued their row on social media.

Badenoch's latest post doubled down, telling Phillipson: "You are sacrificing the future of generations of kids on the altar of your class envy. "Badenoch was attacking Phillipson for Labour axing the historic VAT exemption for private schools and introducing a 20% rate, expected to raise £9bn for the education budget, but not ringfenced for hiring teachers specifically. However, there is an ongoing teacher recruitment crisis, with the number of teachers shrinking by 2,000 in the last year, according to the latest government statistics.

The Details

Asked about Badenoch's comments by Nick Robinson on Radio 4's Today programme, Phillipson said: "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 education secretary was referring to Labour's plan to tackle child poverty, external, which included scrapping the two-child benefits cap, expanding free childcare and free school meals, and creating 3,000 extra nursery places. Phillipson said Badenoch had recently compared her to a Gestapo officer and added: "Kemi Badenoch can speak for herself and her own unique brand of unpleasant politics - I'm focused on better life chances for children.

"I think you're losing the argument when you reduce yourself to that level of abuse. "Phillipson was pressed on whether she had crossed a line herself, by accusing Conservative shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy of racism for describing a mass Muslim public prayer in Trafalgar Square as an "act of domination and division". In March, Sir Keir had called on Badenoch to sack Timothy for the comments at PMQs, claiming they showed her party had a "problem with Muslims".

Phillipson had reignited that row ahead of PMQs on Wednesday morning's education questions, external, in response to a question from shadow women and equalities minister Claire Coutinho raising concerns about the policing of criticism of Islam.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.