Did you hear Badenoch's attack on Phillipson during PMQs this week?
The Leader of His Majesty’s Opposition mocking the Secretary of State for Education and calling her a "spiteful class warrior." The chamber descended, as it so often does, into jeering, personal attacks, and the kind of performative aggression that has become PMQs' most recognisable feature.
But this isn't an isolated incident. And it certainly isn't confined to MPs of one party. It is part of a systemic problem with how we do politics, and in particular with the archaic tradition of PMQs.
The Speaker intervened. But a reprimand, however welcome, is not enough. It never has been.
This is why Compassion in Politics has written to the Speaker of the House of Commons calling for Prime Minister's Questions in its current form to be scrapped and replaced with a more functional and effective way of holding ministers to account.
We spoke to LBC about why this moment matters and what needs to change.
LISTEN TO OUR INTERVIEW ON LBC
Because PMQs is not just a parliamentary ritual. It is the most watched, most shared, most clipped moment in British political life. For millions of people, it is politics. And what it models, week after week, is that aggression wins, that mockery is strength, that shouting down is the same as holding to account.
It isn't. And people know it.
Research consistently shows that the public can tell the difference between robust scrutiny and ritualised abuse. They want the former. They are exhausted by the latter. And they are right to be.
The consequences are not abstract. MPs face rising threats and abuse outside Parliament. Trust in democratic institutions continues to fall. And the culture that PMQs platforms, one that rewards spectacle over seriousness, bleeds outward. Into social media. Into public discourse. Into what feels normal.
We are not asking for softer politics. We are asking for better politics.
Real accountability doesn't require ritual humiliation. Serious scrutiny doesn't need theatrical aggression. A reformed PMQs, one that allows proper follow-up questions, reduces planted party attacks, and rewards seriousness over spectacle, would serve democracy far better than the bear-pit that exists today.
Trust in democracy is at an all time low. The behaviour of MPs on the floor of the House doesn’t help restore faith. Despite lots of talk of modernising Parliament it hasn’t happened and that matters. Unless we have a functional and effective Parliament we won’t be able to develop the policies that are needed to meet the multiple crises our country faces.
There is a new Prime Minister heading to Downing Street and we have a unique moment to persuade him (or her) to act. We told the Speaker it's time for change and now we need to be ready to take the campaign to the new PM as soon as they’re in office.
We have all seen how quickly democracy can disintegrate - just take a look across the Atlantic. Unless we make democracy fit for purpose it remains vulnerable to forces that would undermine it.
We don’t know who the next Prime Minister will be but if the polls are right, it will be Andy Burnham. He has already said he is open to getting rid of some of Parliament’s dysfunctional traditions, let’s make sure he does.
Campaigns like this one take sustained effort. They take research, public pressure, and the kind of consistent voice that doesn't disappear after the news cycle moves on.
Will you help us make sure our voice continues to be heard? Will you help us make sure the next PM gets the message that booing, bullying and shouting should have no place in Parliament.
Every pound you give supports the work of pushing Parliament to be what it should be: a place where disagreement is handled with seriousness and respect, not a weekly platform for the worst of public life.
Parliament shapes culture. Right now, its most visible moment is shaping it badly. That has to change.
Warmest wishes,
Compassion in Politics