A Tory minister has compared Sir Keir Starmer to “beach Ken” in the blockbuster film Barbie, while hitting out at the Labour leader’s record.

Penny Mordaunt threw the insult from the despatch box on Thursday in retaliation to a remark from the Labour leader at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) the day before – where he referred to Rishi Sunak as “Inaction Man”.

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Speaking during business questions, shadow Commons leader Lucy Powell criticised the government for a lack of legislation in parliament, repeating Sir Keir’s play on words.

The Labour MP said: “Is that it? A general debate, backbench business, rising again on a Tuesday. I wonder why that is. ‘Inaction Man’ yet again swerving the parliamentary action.

“Doesn’t this all speak to a bigger truth? A government that is so out of ideas they have nothing to keep the lights on for in Parliament?”

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Ms Mordaunt said she was “happy to focus” on the comparison to toys and would “rise to the bait and return the serve, because I think the Labour leader is beach Ken”.

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She added: “Beach Ken stands for nothing on shifting sands, in his flip-flops, staring out to sea, doing nothing constructive to stop small boats or grow the economy.

“When we examine his weak record on union demands, on border control, on protecting the public and stopping small boats, we discover that like beach Ken, he has zero balls.”

The Barbie film broke records over the summer with its story of the character, played by Margot Robbie, struggling with the purpose of life and living in a patriarchal society.

The character of Ken, portrayed by Ryan Gosling, also has an existential crisis when he realises his job is “just beach”.

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