PMQs today was a reminder of how the socially distanced chamber removes the Prime Minister’s most important structural advantage, having more MPs behind him than the leader of the opposition. Keir Starmer was keeping Boris Johnson on the back foot with a series of questions on government U-turns. So, Boris Johnson tried to change the subject.
He launched into an attack on Starmer over Brexit and his willingness to sit in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet. With roaring benches behind him, this diversionary tactic might have worked. But, instead, when Lindsay Hoyle cut him off, the whole thing fell rather flat.
Keir Starmer was particularly exercised by Johnson’s comments about how he had supported a Labour leader who had supported the IRA. But in another demonstration of how Starmer’s caution holds him back at PMQs, he didn’t bring up Boris Johnson’s decision to ennoble Claire Fox despite her unapologetic stance on the Warrington bombing.
PMQs also provided an indication of some coming government policy. On asylum seekers crossing the Channel, Boris Johnson talked about how he wanted to ‘address the rigidities in our laws’ which sounds like an effort to make it easier to deport people. This is sure to be controversial. But I suspect the government will be happy to have a row about this.
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