Boris the Builder: PMQ's series

I thought I would like to start a mini series on my blog where every Wednesday I write about the questions posed at Prime Minister's Questions (PMQ's). As a younger generation, it is hard to keep up every Wednesday with PMQ's but it is the prime mode to hold the government accountable. If doing this mini series informs at least one person not only about current affairs but how our representatives are keeping the government accountable, then I have achieved my goal. I am also using it as a way to keep myself more up to speed with the events in the House of Commons.

A total of 32 questions were asked in PMQ's today during the more than 30-minute session in the House of Commons. Johnson faced questions from MPs from across the house including two from SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford. I am not going to cover every question as I want this post only to be a quick update to keep our generation up to speed when you are scrolling through social media looking to kill time.

Main opposition party - Labour

Boris was probed by the Labour Party leader, Keir Starmer, on a number of issues. 

He opened with the Leicester lockdown, asking, "How come it had taken so long to introduce the new restriction when there had been evidence of a local spike 11 days ago?" The PM replies that, "we acted decisively, put on the brakes, it was the right thing to do." But Starmer says that pillar 2 tests, outside hospitals, were not made available to the local council which resulted in an underestimate of covid cases and a "lost week" when action could have been taken. Boris replied by going into full blame mode. 

Starmer than asked Boris to self-reflect and apologise for having been so flippant in urging MPs of seaside towns to "show some guts". A comment which resulted in an influx of people to Bournemouth beach over the weekend. The PM said that it is everybody's responsibility to follow social distancing guidelines. 

Starmer then accuses the PM of "brushing away serious concerns" about covid before turning to the economy. He asks how many jobs will be protected by yesterday's speech by the PM. Johnson says that the Labour leader should pay tribute to the furlough scheme that has kept millions in wages. He stated, it is going to be "jobs, jobs, jobs" as we build. Starmer than lists the companies that laid of thousands of workers yesterday and asks for an extension to furlough for the hospitality sector. The PM replies, "We are builders they are the blockers." A reply which I am certain that Tory backbenchers heard with a puzzled look. 

Personally, I like Starmer's style of questioning in the arena of PMQ's. I think his experience as a barrister serves him well when he is probing Johnson whilst Johnson pulls at any old strings to construct a reply. Starmer looks extremely at ease during PMQ's and delivers his questions with confidence, something different from that of Corbyn. Starmer looks like a Prime Minister whereas Johnson frankly does not, with his desperate need of a haircut and his baffling replies in PMQ's. Or it could be the fact that is £5bn infrastructure project he announced yesterday has miraculously expanded overnight into a £650bn spending programme. 

Scottish National Party (SNP)

Johnson faced two questions from SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford. A key line in his reply in today's PMQ's was "There is no such thing as a border between Scotland and England." He disregarded the idea that Scotland should be closed to English tourists to prevent the spread of coronavirus after questions arose due to the varying speed on the easing of lockdown restrictions across the UK. This question emerged after Sturgeon's comment on Twitter against Scottish Secretary Alister Jack for the describing the idea as "reckless." She tweeted: "What is 'reckless' is trying to turn a public health battle against a deadly and dangerous virus into a political/constitutional argument." She then hit back at the Tories, accusing them of politicising the border issue. 

The SNP Westminster leader then asked about the Barnett consequentials from the PM's reset speech, knowing that there were none. He says that PM's spokesman laughed when asked about Scottish funding by lobby journalists. Johnson replied by saying that his spokesman would not have laughed and that the full Barnett consequentials will be announced next week, when the chancellor makes a statement. For those who do know what Barnett consequentials are, it is the money which Scotland receives as a block grant from the UK government. 

I thought I would go into a bit more depth about this administrative mechanism for anyone who cares to know more about it. The Barnett Formula was introduced as a funding mechanism containing a mathematical formula that aimed to reduce Scottish funding. It's predecessor was the Goschen Formula, which had been used between 1889-1959, a time before budget negotiations by secretaries of state became the norm. The formula was first devised in 1978 as a temporary response to the potential devolution of powers to a Scottish parliament. It works by the UK and Scottish Governments collecting Scottish public sector revenues and sending it to the UK treasury. Spending Reviews take place normally over 5 year periods and when the Budget for England is completed, the Barnett Formula is applied. This aims to give each country the same pounds-per-person change in funding as the change in funding for comparable government services in England. Then, the Scottish Government receives a block grant back from the treasury with which to fund the expenditure it is responsible for under devolution. It can be simply defined in the diagram below: 

Other questions 

There were also other questions by backbenchers and other political parties. A series of questions from Tory backbenchers featured in today's PMQ's with James Daly asking if the PM will do everything possible to support the creative sector. Johnson replies by saying that he will do all he can to get the cultural sector back to work. He continually repeated that the way to do this was by defeating the virus. 

The Scottish Lib Dem MP Christine Jardine says three million self-employed people are not getting help under the furlough and business support schemes. She asked, "Will the PM consider a universal basic income?" Johnson replied by saying that the best way forward was to get the disease under control. 

Evaluation of PMQ's 

Overall, the whole rhetoric of this PMQ's was to defeat the virus and fight it off. First of all, I despise the use of war rhetoric when talking about this virus that Johnson continually uses. The idea that we have to defeat it, that it is the enemy and there is front-line warriors and deserters of those who are breaking the social-distancing rules. Whilst Johnson is using it as a highly appealing tool of political rhetoric, the war metaphor categorises us in insidious ways. For example, we are no longer citizens but soldiers in conflict. This war rhetoric of Johnson is subconsciously turning our headspace into a inward-looking, my country-first attitude. Let's be honest, Johnson is not going to convince us to comply with health authorities by cultivating the image of warriors, it only by appealing to civic duty, solidarity and respect. Using this rhetoric is also disrespectful to the people who have died from the virus. It harvests this idea that they died because they have not fought hard enough. Therefore, this war rhetoric in PMQ's by Boris must go. 

Secondly, the overall consensus by MPs in Parliament, in terms of their questioning, is that the government has socially distanced itself from the people in our country.Whilst lockdown restrictions are easing, the government has done the opposite and got even more further away as the economy collapses. It failed to report accurately on the number of cases in Leicester, resulting in a greater number of lives being lost. It is distancing itself from the devolved powers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, failing in terms of its communication. The government really has no concrete plan to revive our economy. It is announcing projects with no set budgets. It has no aid for those self-employed. It has no plan for getting people work when their jobs are being cut left, right and centre. It is clear that Boris is certainly not getting interviewed for the job of the builder of our economy as lockdown eases.