PMQ's series: Back to the grind

And we are back after the summer recess. Yesterday, PMQ's returned after a very quick summer and the pantomime of the House of Commons also returned with it. As well as my short mini series of documenting briefly the proceedings of PMQ's with the aim of informing more people of my age of the proceedings of Parliament. Some of the topics which came up were the return of schools and A-level results. These issues remained one of the largest themes throughout the session. 

Labour 

Sir Keir Starmer began his questions by referencing the exams 'fiasco' that occured recently with the A levels results in England. Controversy has emerged over when the government first became aware of the problem within the algorithm of calculating results - one that unfairly disadvantaged children living in deprived areas. This was after Ofqual's senior leadership told MPs that Ofqual should not be blamed for the fiasco that engulfed this summer's exams in England and accused the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, of causing the weekend of chaos that followed the publication of A level results. Johnson responded to this question by claiming that both he, and Gavin Williamson, understand how difficult it has been for pupils and their families. 

He further stated: "We did institute a change and we did act." Johnson reverted to his usual tactics of avoiding the question by calling on the Leader of the Opposition to support pupils and the public. This prompted the Speaker of the House to interrupt the Prime Minister, and ask him to answer the questions. Mr Johnson then labelled Sir Keir as Captain Hindsight by saying, "Is he now saying that those grades aren't right or is it just Captain Hindsight, leaping on a bandwagon, opposing a policy that he supported two weeks ago?"

The questions then moved on to extending the furlough scheme. Keir asked the Prime Minister to extend the furlough scheme, adding that: "The next major decision is on the furlough scheme. The longer he delays on a decision, the more are at risk." Johnson responded by claiming that Keir wanted to keep the public in "suspended animation." He stated: "Mr Speaker what we are doing is getting people back to school in spite of all the doubt and we are getting people back to work. What he is trying to do is extend the furlough scheme, what we would like to do is get people back to work through our KickStart scheme." For me, this response by Johnson presumes that being unemployed is merely a choice. 

The questioning between the pair went back to the issues of school where Johnson stated that: "What has happened, is that we have succeeded in turning the tide in the pandemic. We are seeing a country going back to school and going back to work. We are leading efforts for a vaccine and we are taking the country forward." The PM asked the Leader of the Opposition to insist schools are safe and Sir Keir responded by stating; "I've said it so many times. School is safe. My own children have been in school throughout. There is no issue on this. The Prime Minister is seeking to divide." Either that or I think to create a pantomime show. 

There was some personal blows throughout this first PMQ's after the summer recess. The PM was reprimanded many times by the Speaker for repeatedly dodging questions. However, the biggest row erupted in this session when Johnson went on to criticise the Labour leader for his tenure as shadow Brexit secretary under Jeremy Corbyn. Johnson said: "This is a leader of the opposition who supported an IRA-condoning politician who wanted to get out of Nato, and now says absolutely nothing about it." A clearly angry Starmer pointed to his work in combating Northern Ireland terrorism as the director of public prosecutions and demanded Johnson "do the decent thing" and withdraw the comment, which the PM refused to do. Starmer went on to say: "One thing we would remind the prime minister is that he has the power to block Claire Fox being nominated as a member of the House of Lords. So if he wants to take any action on this issue we suggest he does that." Claire Fox being a woman who defended the 1993 Warrington bombing when she was a member of the Revolution Communist Party.

This erupted the pantomime show of politics as Starmer went on to say: "I want him to take it back. I worked for five years with the Police Service of Northern Ireland, as director of public prosecutions, prosecuting serious terrorism, working with the intelligence and security services, and the police. Can the prime minister have the decency to withdraw the comment? Johnson at first ignored the question. Then, when prompted by the Commons speaker, Lindsay Hoyle. instead repeated the assertion. Starmer replied: "When the prime minister has worked with the security and intelligence forces, prosecuting criminals and terrorists, he can lecture me. I asked him to do the decent thing, but doing the decent thing and this prime minister don’t go together.”

Twice Johnson failed to respond to Starmer's questions and never gave a straight answer. The Speaker said: "I think there are questions being asked. We do need to answer the questions being put to the prime minister. It would be helpful to those watching to know the answers." It is a very rare occasion when the Speaker interjects within the proceedings of PMQ's and shows how the theatre of politics in the chamber is returning. Johnson almost acting out a script and not deviating from anything that is not on that script. 

SNP

The next questioning came from the leader of the SNP in Westminster, Ian Blackford, who said that: "France, Germany and Ireland have extended their furlough scheme into 2021. They have made a moral choice, they are not prepared to punish their people with record levels of unemployment. People in Scotland are seeing a tale of two governments - while the Tories are cutting furlough support, yesterday Nicola Sturgeon was announcing a new investment to protect jobs including a youth guarantee. We all know that jobs are under threat if the furlough scheme ends in October. The power to end this threat lies with the Prime Minister. Is Boris Johnson's government making the political choice to accept levels of unemployment last seen under Thatcher in the early 1980's?" Johnson asks him to support the Kick Start scheme, which will get young people back into jobs. He adds that the Government will "get on with measures" to get young people back to work. 

Johnson fielded this question, being further asked by Blackford about his recent trip to Scotland. He accused Downing Street of "politically smearing" him and putting his family in danger, after it was claimed he leaked the location of Boris Johnson' Scottish holiday. Blackford told MP's he was not the source of the leader, which forced Johnson and his partner to abandon their holiday, and that it had been a "targeted political smear from the Prime Minister's office" to blame him. Johnson's location for his staycation was revealed on the front page of the Daily Mail on the 21st of August. The SNP leader said at PMQ's that this claim led to death threats directed at him and their family. Johnson retorted by saying that Blackford's Twitter account dropped a hint on 17 August, shortly before the Daily Mail's front page photos, that he was holidaying in the constituency. However, the PM said he was "happy to accept his assurances and his protestation and I think we should leave it at that." 

Another question was posed to Johnson by Neil Gray, SNP MP for Airdrie and Shotts, on whether the PM will back a pay rise for healthcare staff. Mr Johnson insisted the Government wants to get members of the public back to work, where it is biosecure. He also added that the Government has given the public confidence, which is incredibly important. In this sense, basically dodging the question completely. 

It seems that PMQ's is experiencing the same 'summer slump' that children are feeling when they go back to school. They are having to think again of witty comebacks and keeping the pantomime of politics alive whilst answering questions directly. It seems that Johnson has only done the former and not the latter. His first PMQ's back was a bit of a mess and all over the place, with it even being brought up by the Speaker of the fact that he is avoiding questions in Parliament. Boris is not at the top of his game in this session but in reality, when is he ever?