PMQs: BA betrayal is a “warning shot to millions”, says Starmer

Keir Starmer had plenty to go on this week – U-turns on both face masks and Huawei, as well as the revelation that the economy is facing the worst crash in 300 years, to name just a few things. But Johnson today illustrated the point Starmer so frequently makes – that the Tory leader is incompetent. Asked by Starmer about a report commissioned by the government, which warned that a second Covid spike this winter could lead to 120,000 deaths, the PM failed to confirm that he had actually read it. Challenged by the Labour leader directly on whether he had, Johnson said only: “Of course I am aware of the report.”

The Labour leader asked Johnson whether he would implement the recommendations of the report, which lays out steps to prevent a “worst-case scenario” later this year, and highlighted that the paper had emphasised the need for the testing and tracing programme to be “significantly expanded”. The system is still “not working as promised”, Starmer told the Commons. The response from the PM? A sort of Trumpian reflex – declaring that government’s testing and tracing operation system is “as good as or better than any other system anywhere in the world”, telling the Labour leader to stop “knocking the confidence of the country”.

Perhaps most notable was the exchange between the pair on aviation sector workers, and in particular British Airways employees. “BA is trying to force through the rehiring of the remaining 30,000 workers on worse terms and conditions,” Starmer warned. He referred to the letter from the PM on June 2nd, reminding MPs that Johnson had expressly said firms should not use the furlough scheme and then do exactly this. The Labour leader asked the PM to “personally intervene”, describing the matter as a “warning shot to millions of other people”. Johnson’s response was telling, if predictable: he argued that “we cannot simply, with a magic wand” save every job. He’s not bothered by the scandal, and will continue to refuse to engage with it.

The response from the PM today was worryingly illustrative of how the rest of this crisis will play out for workers across the economy as the government withdraws support. As the Labour leader pointed out, BA should be a ‘warning shot’ for us all. And that’s why he was absolutely right to use today’s session to raise the struggle of the airline’s workers. He could have gone further by advocating that the government take equity stakes in airlines, as shadow cabinet member Ed Miliband has suggested. Labour needs to stand in solidarity with BA workers, both in the short term through real job protection and in the long term by facilitating a just transition to a green economy.