I will continue today with my mini series of summarising the key parliamentary proceedings of today - not only PMQ's but also the chancellor's summer statement. As the weeks of PMQ's progress with Starmer, he is continuously putting up a good fight, thriving in the chamber. In his performance so far, his experience as a lawyer benefits him when questioning Boris. Questions that are decisive and to the point. He is conveying a sense of confidence that we failed to see in Corbyn and ultimately looks like a future Prime Minister. It feels that now the government has an opposition again.
Starmer has a forensic style of questioning that is different to Corbyn. Corbyn's style seemed scripted, simply reading out the next question on his list, irrespective of the Prime Minister's answer. Starmer is more engaged with questioning, actively listening and thinking on his feet. He is a natural in the debating chamber and presses for answers. He is alert, looking for any opportunity to truly hold the government accountable. He shows up to fight whereas Corbyn was merely a spectator. Starmer is more combative, more personal in his attack and has reignited the pantomime of politics when the jeering of Tory backbenchers is absent. Could this new leadership be Labour's opportunity regain its popularity? We shall see in due course.
But now back to the matter of today - Prime Minister's Questions. Today, the government was pressed significantly by opposition on its failures which seen Boris being a blubbering disaster. Starmer brought his usual calm and calculated style of questioning, basing it on evidence. This style proving effective in the strangely quiet world of lockdown Parliament, however, the real test to his potential leadership will be when he faces more vocal cheerleaders of the government in the coming weeks.
Opposition Questions - Labour
One topic of questioning towards the Prime Minister by Starmer was based on the reports that the government will be ending the free parking for NHS staff that began during the pandemic. Sir Keir said: "There are reports the government will take away free hospital parking for NHS staff. We owe our NHS workers so much...the Prime Minister must know this is wrong." But the Prime Minister delivered a sharp response. He said: "Mr Speaker the hospital car parks are free for the NHS for this pandemic, they are free now, and we are going to get on with our manifesto commitment to make them free for patients who need them. May I suggest he takes his latest bandwagon and park it somewhere else." It is clear that Boris resorted to his usual personal jokes to avoid giving a real answer.
The main topic of questioning was on the deaths in care homes. Starmer called for the PM to take responsibility for the care home deaths. Mr Johnson said he took responsibility for the UK's response to the pandemic. Boris delivered what appeared to be a carefully prepared statement when answering this question. This was after backlash over his comment earlier in the week that "too many care homes didn't follow the procedures the way that they could have." His response in Parliament attempted to backtrack from his offensive comment earlier in the week, stating that the "last thing" he wanted to do was blame care workers for the crisis. He was then urged again by Starmer to apologise where he replied, "He keeps saying that I blamed or tried to blame care workers and that is simply not the case. The reality is we now know things about how the coronavirus is passed, person to person, without symptoms, that we just didn't know."
This debacle between both leaders continued with Starmer retaliating by saying, "That's not an apology, and it just won't wash." He added: "It was clear what he was saying, and the Prime Minister needs to understand just how raw this is for many people on the front line- and for many who have lost loved ones." Again, Johnson refused to apologise, claiming that nobody knew that the disease was being passed between people without symptoms. He then branded Mr Starmer as "Captain Hindsight" in the situation, resorting again to personal digs to divert from an apology. Starmer was very astute in noticing this and stated: "By refusing to apologise, he rubs salt into the wounds of the very people he stood at his front door and clapped."
Starmer pointed out that as many as 1 in 20 care home residents may have died in the pandemic, according to official figures, a statistic he called "chilling." He stated that "the PM shouted Jobs, Jobs, Jobs and Build, Build, Build. It is ashame he didn't test, test, test hen the WHO told the world as the pandemic began to spread." Towards the end of the questioning today, Boris launched an attack on Keir by saying that he was sticking to prepared questions rather than listening to what had already been said. He accused Starmer of flip-flopping over his support for government policies, teasing him for being a lawyer and saying he took one brief one week and another the next. Johnson stated: "One week he is backing us up, the next he is not. One week he is in favour of a tax on wealth on homes. The next he tries to tip toe away from it. He is consistent only in his optimism - where as we get on without an agenda." Overall, Johnson's answers to this probing can be characterised merely by personal digs and the typical pantomime politics that he resort to in order to avoid answering the real question.
Other Questions
I was not going to go into as much detail as my last article on PMQ's as I also wanted to discuss the chancellor's update from today. Therefore, I am going to highlight some questions which were posed to the PM which I found important. First of all, in terms of the SNP, the Westminster leader Ian Blackford said progress "could unravel" as the UK government's furlough scheme ends. In his questioning, he urged Johnson to extend the furlough scheme, however, Johnson said that the furlough scheme couldn't be kept in place forever with people kept in "suspended animation." Another question which I found interesting was posed by Labour's Anna McMorrin who pressed the PM on claims that some workers in clothing factories in the UK are paid just £3.50 an hour. Johnson replied by saying that, "This government has drastically increased the living wage. We would hope that it is the Labour mayor in Leicester who stands up for the workforce." He therefore failed to answer yet another question.
Chancellor update
I have made a slight amendment to my blog series on PMQ's this week due to the announcement of the chancellor's summer statement in Parliament today also. I wanted to summarise in order to inform readers more of what will be introduced if you did not manage to watch it or read about it. The key points which can be drawn from his announcement is:
- An emergency coronavirus budget
- Pledging new measures worth £30bn that are intended to help protect jobs when the current furlough scheme runs out
- A green homes grant worth £2bn
- A stamp duty cut worth £4bn
- A VAT cut for the hospitality sector worth £4bn
- A kickstart scheme subsidising jobs for the young worth £2bn
- An "Eat Out to Help Out" discount scheme for people eating out in August, from Monday to Wednesdays worth up to £500m
In his speech, Rishi Sunak said that the furlough system had to end in October. He explained: "Leaving the furlough scheme open forever gives people false hope that it will always be possible to return ot the jobs they had before." Sunak promised to leave "no one without hope" as he unveiled employment support in order to assist in the economic recovery from the pandemic.
Additionally, businesses will be paid £1,000 per employee to retain furloughed staff. Companies will be given £2,000 for each apprentice they take on under the age of 25. The government will also offer to pay the wages of any new young employee for six months. It will cut VAT from 2-% to 5% for hospitality, tourism and accommodation services - including pubs, restaurants, cafes, hotels, zoos and cinemas - until next January. It will be effective from next Wednesday and covers food, accommodation and attractions but will not apply to alcohol.
The new policy which is, "Eat out to help out", which the chancellor described as a scheme that has never been attempted in the UK before, will give people a 50% discount on eating in restaurants and cafes, from Monday to Wednesday throughout August. Businesses will need to register through a website, open from next Monday. The maximum discount will be £10 under the scheme.
A stamp duty holiday for homes sold up to £500,000 in England and Northern Ireland until 31 March next year was also announced. Sunak said the move would save jobs in the construction sector and encourage homeowners to move and invest in their homes.
I think the most important announcement from this statement will be the move by the government to fund 6 month job placements for an estimated 350,000 18 to 24 year olds to prevent young people from being affected negatively by the economic crisis. Each 'kickstarter' job will cover 100% of the national minimum wage for 25 hours a week, allowing employers to provide wage top-ups without any clawback of state funds.
Yet unfortunately, people under 25 will receive a lower national minimum wage than others, starting at £4.55 an hour for someone under 18, rising to £6.45 an hour for 18-20 year olds and £8.20 an hour for 21 to 24 year olds. This can be seen as the government's response to the fact that in the first 2 months of the COVID-19 crisis, the number of 18-24 year olds claiming universal credit rose by a quarter of a million to almost 500,000, while it is estimated that 700,000 school leavers and university graduates will enter a depressed job market this summer.
In addition to the youth scheme, there was the announcement of a £3bn green investment recovery package to decarbonise public buildings and cut emissions from poor insulated homes. Sunak said that the plan included a £1bn investment for public buildings - such as schools and hospitals - and a "2bn scheme to retrofit people's homes. Homeowners will also be able to apply for vouchers of up to £5,000, with up to £10,000 available for some of the poorest families.
Ultimately, this plan that was announced is similar to that used by a Labour government during the financial crisis of 2008. A plan that the tax and spending watchdog and the Institute for Fiscal Studies, has already assessed as an effective scheme. Therefore, is the government being innovative or merely just copying previous government's solutions?
We have to ask ourselves if the government deserves any praise for the way it has handled this crisis. In Spain, the furlough scheme is being extended to 2021. Why is our government not doing this? It is merely slashing the minimum wage for young people who are already struggling for money with just the same responsibilities as many adults. I am hoping that by the end of this crisis that we will have truly seen that our democratic right to vote can impact our lives. That people now realise that a political party can rule our lives in situations like these. Whether you believe that these restrictions and recovery plan of the economy has worked or not, we shall see at the next general election.
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