PMQs: Mind the gap. Johnson painfully at odds with his experts

Last night Keir Starmer called for the government to follow advice from its own experts and put England into a ‘circuit break’ lockdown. Boris Johnson tried to deflect from the demand today by painting a picture of confusion in Labour’s position on Covid restrictions, arguing that Starmer had backed the ‘rule of six’ only to abstain on the actual vote: he “failed even to turn up”. But the Prime Minister’s attacks were ineffective, overshadowed as they were by the bold but also reasonable demand delivered by the Labour leader.

Starmer’s approach was clear from the start. He kicked off by reminding MPs that Johnson had promised in May to be “governed entirely by the science” on his Covid response. Why then is he not following the advice of his own experts in the scientific advisory group for emergencies? What is his alternative plan? The R-rate is up, infections have quadrupled, the Labour leader explained, and hospitalisations have increased dramatically. “What’s the Prime Minister’s view on why these numbers are all heading in the wrong direction?” The dogged focus on the scientific advice and evidence bullet-proofed the Labour leader against familiar attacks from Johnson. “Let’s not have the usual nonsense that anyone asking about track and trace is somehow knocking the NHS,” Starmer told the PM. The criticism of the programme, and the demand for a lockdown, were not his but one made by the government’s own experts.

Johnson spent the entire session a step behind. He dug in on his three-tier regional system, describing it as the “logical” approach. He tried to accuse the Labour leader of U-turning on a position of support on Monday. But Starmer replied simply that, as per the evidence released by SAGE since the government announced its new plan, he had decided the measures do not go far enough. Johnson blundered on to urge the opposition leader to get Labour colleagues in local authorities to work with the government. But Starmer pointed out that local leaders, Labour and Tory, said this morning they prefer a circuit break over tier three restrictions. He added: “Keep up, Prime Minister.” (Conservative Bolton leader David Greenhalgh is reportedly a bit angry about being mentioned, but he did sign this statement.)

And it looked as if Starmer, for the first since becoming Labour leader, properly enjoyed PMQs this afternoon. Certainly more than last week, when he seemed to have a bit of a wobble walking a tightrope on the Covid restrictions. Today, he was relaxed and his lines delivered effectively. Johnson’s clear split with the advice from Sage placed Starmer in a good position and made his demand undeniably reasonable. He could say confidently, with the backing of government experts, that he feels a circuit break is in the national interest. The Tories allowed a gap to emerge between Johnson’s government and the scientists he claims to listen to, and into that gap jumped the Labour leader.