Penny Mordaunt said Liz Truss was detained ‘on urgent business’ and MPs’ laughter said it all

Poke Staff. Updated October 17th, 2022

Labour leader Keir Starmer tabled an urgent question for Liz Truss in the House of Commons today but the PM – to no-one’s great surprise anywhere – was otherwise unavailable.

NEW: Labour have been told Penny Mordaunt will take Liz Truss’s place in the Commons for Keir Starmer’s urgent question.

First she reverted to Rishi Sunak’s economic policies, now she’s asking her other leadership rival Penny Mordaunt to speak on her behalf. Humiliating.

— Paul Brand (@PaulBrandITV) October 17, 2022

So her one-time leadership rival Penny Mordaunt turned up instead, apologising to MPs for Truss’s absence and inadvertently – we presume – giving MPs the biggest laugh of the year.

House of Commons explodes with laughter as Mordaunt says that the PM "was detained with urgent business". ~AA pic.twitter.com/AtM9vnBEd5

— Best for Britain (@BestForBritain) October 17, 2022

If it was something of an open goal for Starmer then he still had to hit the target. Which he did, with this …

Keir Starmer – "So now it's time for leaders to lead, but where is the Prime Minister…. the lady's not for turning……… up… she has no mandate from the country" pic.twitter.com/i5PVElRZTT

— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) October 17, 2022

… and this.

“I guess under this Tory Government, everybody gets to be Prime Minister for 15 minutes.”

Addressing Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt, the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer thanked her for answering the question put to the Prime Minister Liz Truss. https://t.co/iusIVUgJd6 pic.twitter.com/5is7ZTwJ3Z

— ITV News Politics (@ITVNewsPolitics) October 17, 2022

It’s got so bad for Truss that it’s even a disaster when she doesn’t turn up.

Mordaunt saying the PM is detained on "urgent business" is legit the funniest thing I've seen in the Commons this year.

— Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) October 17, 2022

The world watches this. It’s unbearably embarrassing. https://t.co/ZKh6wc2Wib

— Brendan May (@bmay) October 17, 2022

She’s emptying my litter tray https://t.co/1AcfYwDpPe

— Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) October 17, 2022

Urgent Business pic.twitter.com/YoqGbU5xZd

— Dom Joly (@domjoly) October 17, 2022

https://twitter.com/christineburns/status/1582022785693454338?s=20&t=uT05DOlZDRqqhC5A2Eo-iw

Keir Starmer has tabled an urgent question in Parliament for the Government which is: "why the fuck hasn't Liz Truss resigned yet"

— dave ❄️ 🥕 🧻 (@mrdavemacleod) October 17, 2022

I have asked Penny Mordaunt to answer the Urgent Question in the House of Commons because I’m too busy planning my leaving party.#GeneralElection2022

— Parody Rishi Sunak (@Parody_PM) October 17, 2022

“Detained on urgent business…” ~AA pic.twitter.com/JOpwu2rRWB

— Best for Britain (@BestForBritain) October 17, 2022

Christ. This is a political abbatoir.

— Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) October 17, 2022

The roar of laughter from the opposition (and prob some of her own backbenchers) was hilarious 🤣

— Rupi tweets 🇪🇺 (@Rupi_tweets) October 17, 2022

And as lots of people were pointing out …

Mordaunt on punchy form: "I'm quietly confident the honourable gentleman will not have his 15 minutes".

This feels very much like an audition for the top job.

— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) October 17, 2022

Source Twitter @BestForBritain