As MPs get taken for a ride, Keir Starmer sends message to PM: No more Mr Nice Guy

The House of Commons returned from recess on Tuesday, and MPs were greeted with a new voting system thanks to the refusal of Jacob Rees-Mogg to keep the remote voting method that was working perfectly well. Public Health England said normal crowding in the voting lobbies would be unsafe amid a deadly pandemic that the government seems intent on ignoring. And that is how the genius solution of a “Mogg conga” was born. It was described by furious MPs as “batshit”, “a joke”, “absolute farce” and “like queuing for a ride at Alton Towers that has just turned out to be a bit shit”.

As well as making the UK parliament “an international laughing stock”, as noted by Tan Dhesi MP, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission said the changes “cannot be right”. They exclude those who must shield or have shielding responsibilities, and they will have a discriminatory impact on older and BAME MPs and those with health conditions. Labour’s Cat Smith confirmed that she almost fainted yesterday while queuing, which took around 40 minutes for each vote. And all apparently because Rees-Mogg found it distasteful that with remote voting in place “some people tweeted they were doing it whilst going for a walk”.

While we’re on the subject of Covid-19 risk for different groups, that Public Health England review did get released after all. But its publication was without fanfare and without press release. It certainly looks like the Sky News report about its further delay spooked the government into getting it out quickly. As for the report itself… it doesn’t tell us much. It confirms that outcomes vary according to racial and health inequalities but, as pointed out by Labour, does not make recommendations despite those being promised. It doesn’t even try to explain the disparities, stopping short of merely describing them. The Health Service Journal may have found out why: apparently those sections “did not survive contact with Matt Hancock’s office”.

The staggering incompetence and openly hostile attitude of this government has nudged Keir Starmer towards a tougher opposition style. No more Mr Nice Guy. The Labour leader has accused the Prime Minister of “winging it” and of overseeing “mismanagement” of the lockdown easing that has “made a difficult situation ten times worse”. He needs to “get a grip”, Starmer has warned. Thankfully, The Telegraph exclusively reports today that “Boris Johnson is to take “direct control” of the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis”. Exactly who was in charge before now could be one of questions put by the opposition leader to the PM in the chamber this afternoon. Sign up to LabourList’s morning email for everything Labour, every weekday morning.