Laura Kuenssberg skewers stuttering Labour MP after 'shambles' of a week

Laura Kuenssberg didn't give Labour MP Bridget Phillipson a chance to come up for air as she tackled her about the Labour Party's "shambles" of a week at the top of her show before the credits even rolled. Announcing the Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities as a guest alongside the Conservative Party's Mel Stride she jumped right in.

"Before we do anything else, I must just ask this week was a shambles for Labour, wasn't it?" Kuenssberg put to her. Looking shocked she stuttered slightly before acknowledging it hadn't been Labour's finest hour. "No, it's not been the best week that we've ever had, but I think we go on from here. We know what we need to do, and that's what matters," she responded. Keir Starmer's approval rating is at an all time low after a week which saw growing anger over Labour's handling of welfare reforms.After a U-turn on plans to change Personal Independence Payments (PIP), more than half of voters (57%) now describe Labour as divided, while nearly two-thirds (63%) say Starmer has lost control of his party. Concerns over tax rises and spending cuts are also fuelling frustration.

Sitting down with Phillips a few minutes later Kuennssberg once again tackled her about Labour's difficult week.

"If we look at the last seven days, you say you've been busy fixing the foundations. This week, you smashed away some of the bricks of one of the plans that you did have, which was sorting out some of the welfare system because of your own party.

"Keir Starmer was forced to ditch his plans to squeeze some welfare payments. He was not on top of what was happening in Parliament. Public sentiment is against you. Do you acknowledge that actually, it's not just people being impatient. Some people are incredibly disappointed, and the Prime Minister's authority was brutally damaged this week by his own side?" she asked.

"Look, I'm not going to pretend that it hasn't been a tough or a challenging week," Phillipson responded.

"I'm not going to pretend that for one moment there isn't an important need to reform the Social Security system. It's not working as it should. It's been broken, and we've got to reform it, narrow the window.

"But I'd be the first to acknowledge that both in the pace and the nature of what we set out, we didn't get it right.

"We've listened, we've reflected on that, but we do need to reform the system we've got.

"It is, I think, unconscionable that we've got so many young people that have effectively been written off by this country, one in eight young people not earning or learning. That tells us something really serious about the shape of our country,"she said.