Oh dear. Sir Keir Starmer was in a particularly prickly mood this afternoon, as he faced Boris Johnson at PMQs, and the pair clashed over border closures.
But the Labour leader appeared most riled when the Prime Minister pointed out that Starmer had fought for Britain to stay in the European Medicines Agency – a move that could have potentially slowed our vaccine roll-out.
An indignant Starmer suggested that the PM’s claim was ‘complete nonsense’ and added that:
‘The Prime Minister knows I’ve never said that, from this Despatch box or anywhere else, but the truth escapes him.’
A strong rebuke. Mr S is curious though, was it then a different Keir Starmer who stood at the Despatch box in January 2017 and argued that:
‘Mr Speaker, let me give three examples without the details: the European Aviation Safety Agency, which deals with safety; the European Medicines Agency; and Europol, which I worked with for many years.
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