Do you remember the first time?

Keir Starmer took to the despatch box for his first Prime Minister’s Questions as Labour leader this week. The chamber was remarkably quiet with parliament in its half-virtual state. He listened carefully to the responses offered by Dominic Raab, which were largely opaque, and this meant that he could point out when the government wilfully tried to obscure the facts. I can only imagine how difficult taking in and addressing the minister’s response must be when you are as nervous as the new opposition leader surely is in that first session. You can read all about the exchange in my snap analysis of PMQs here.

We also learnt more about the Labour leadership’s views on the crisis during the opposition-led post-PMQs huddle. (This was very much a virtual huddle, of course, complete with unintelligible robot voices at times. There was no toilet flush, though, unlike the lobby briefing conference call that morning.) Asked about rent payments, Starmer’s spokesperson said: “Labour believe that alongside a halt to evictions, the government should enable the suspension of rental payments during this period where people are struggling to keep up, and legislate for a further, manageable period for renters to pay back deferred rent.” Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour had shifted from supporting rent deferrals to suspensions, but it appears that the party position is once again the former. There were also comments made on the TUC-proposed inquiry and a universal basic income being introducing during Covid-19.

Labour’s national executive committee will hold a special meeting today to discuss the leaked internal report on Labour’s handling of antisemitism complaints. Members of the ruling body have been given draft terms of reference for the independent investigation announced by Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner last week, and they are expected to agree on the scope of that inquiry this afternoon. Particular attention will be paid to the timeline signed off by the NEC. It was suggested yesterday that the length of the probe would be “a matter of months”, but as one source said, “we certainly don’t want it dragging on or looking like it’s kicked into the long grass”.

To mark St. George’s Day, we have published a speech delivered by David Lammy before he was appointed to the shadow cabinet. At the English Labour Network event in March, the MP for Tottenham explored the themes of English identity and the left, civic rather than ethnic nationalism, and the introduction of a compulsory national civic service. These are all topics considered in his new book Tribes. You can read the speech here.

We’re also very pleased to hear that Labour MP Tony Lloyd has left intensive care. He said coronavirus “left me literally gasping for air” but he is now thankfully on the mend. Wishing him the best recovery.