Wes Streeting, our Health Secretary, asked audience members on Question Time to “think of the Hokey Cokey and it will all make sense” when MP Helen Whately was being grilled
22:15, 19 Mar 2026Updated 23:26, 19 Mar 2026
Wes Streeting impressed on Question Time on Thursday night(Image: BBC/QUESTION TIME)
Audience members on Question Time chuckled as Wes Streeting grilled a flailing Tory MP.
The Health Secretary urged the crowd to “think of the Hokey Cokey” to make any sense of Helen Whately’s answer to a question about the Middle East War, insisting her party hadn’t been consistent on its stance. He said: “Just think of the Hokey Cokey and it’ll all make sense… In, out, in, out,” to which the audience chuckled.
Mr Streeting made the jibe after presenter Fiona Bruce suggested even she was puzzled by Ms Whately’s bluster. She asked the audience: “Let’s just be completely clear about this. Are you confused?” The crowd in Croydon, south London in unison said: “Yes” and were seen nodding.
Ms Whately, who is the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, was asked to offer clarity on her leader Kemi Badenoch’s position concerning the conflicting in the Middle East. Ms Bruce had to press the politician for an answer in the early part of the BBC programme.
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Fiona Bruce pressed Conservative MP Helen Whately for clarity(Image: BBC/QUESTION TIME)
Ms Whately, MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, said: “We should be stopping those missiles being fired at us. So she (Ms Badenoch) was clear that Keir Starmer should to the US, they are our allies, that we have assets and Iran is an enemy and use those, but she would not have been for a pro-active, pre-emptive attack.”
But at this point Ms Bruce stepped in to ask for more clarity, suggesting her answer was unclear. This led to the fiery exchange between Ms Whately and Mr Streeting, who described the Tory position as “ridiculous”.
Pressure has grown on Donald Trump to concede attacking Iran was a mistake, so much so he was dubbed the “world’s biggest joke” this week. Ms Badenoch’s position has also been criticised, but her Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary eventually went on to say Ms Badenoch would only back a reactive move if the UK was attacked.
The audience members laughed at Mr Streeting’s jibe(Image: BBC/QUESTION TIME)
Ms Whately continued: “The fact is we are involved. We have got assets there, we have got troops there and we should be defending them.” Mr Streeting, though, hit back, claiming Labour is protecting our nation already.
The MP for Ilford North said: “The Prime Minister was clear from outset we wouldn’t join the war in Iran but when it comes to protecting our people, our interests and our allies, we would act. We have and that is clear… I’m sorry what happened was Kemi Badenoch chose to use an international conflict to score cheap political points. She cosied up to Trump, realised it was unpopular and then she pulled back. That’s not leadership, that’s game playing in the middle of an international crisis.”
Speaking previously, Ms Badenoch denied calling for the UK to join Mr Trump’s war on Iran. She said she was not urging the government to join the US and Israel strikes on Iran but that the UK should “do more than catch the arrows” and “take out” missile launchers, comments which again sparked a lively debate on Question Time – that time in Kettering, Northamptonshire.