Bit of Starmer vs Johnson to-and-fro coming up parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/79…
Scott Benton looks like he's appearing in court.
Starmer up. Expresses "shock and anger" at the death of George Floyd. Surprised Johnson hasn't said anything yet. Wants him to make the UK's concern clear to him.
Johnson says what happened in US was "appalling, inexcusable... I perfectly understand people's right to protest" but says it should be done in a "lawful" way.
Starmer asks who has been in charge until now, given that apparently Johnson is taking charge. Open goal there really and he took it. Although to be fair that degree of competence was an absence in the last five years.
Starmer says he wrote to the PM confidentially to offer consensus - privately sent a few weeks ago. Johnson never replied.
Starmer says this week of all weeks needed trust in govt. But YouGov showing sudden decline in trust. Johnson: "I'm surprised he should take that tone. I took the trouble to ring him up."
Calls on him to "stand with the overwhelming majority of the British people" who understand the position the govt is in.
Johnson says when we have symptoms we take a test and we isolated. Insert Cummings gag here.
Starmer says he's going to put his letter in the public domain "and the public can decide for themselves". He reminds PM committed to track and trace by 1st of June. it isn't. Local authorities say they're weeks away from having systems up and running.
PM must have been briefed on the problem with track and trace before he made that promise two weeks ago. So why did he make it? J
Johnson: "He's casting aspersions on the efforts of tens of thousands of people who have set up a test, track and trace system in this country." What a cheap response.
Johnson insist the system was up and running on June 1st.
Starmer raises ONS criticism of govt use of statistics. Damages trust and confidence. Johnson: "I really do not see the purpose of his endless attacks on public trust and confidence."
As before, Johnson starting to become visibly angered by being scrutinised.
Starmer: "The PM is confusing scrutiny for attacks. I've supported govt openly and I've taken criticism for it. But boy he makes it difficult to support this government over the last two weeks."
Now on transparency in decision making. The government has so many open vulnerabilities, it;s like Starmer just casually directing himself to each one in turn.
On May 10, Johnson said restrictions wouldn't be lifted if alert level wouldn't allow it. The alert level then was 4 and R rate between 0.5 and 0.9. Some restrictions now lifted. What's the alert level now and what's the R rate.
Johnson now livid. "He knows perfectly well the alert level does allow it. He didn't raise that issue with me when we had a conversation on the telephone."
"The question for him is whether he actually supports the progress we're making. He's making a U-turn."
Starmer asks about parliament. Scenes yesterday of MPs queuing to vote and members being unable to vote were "frankly shameful".
"This is completely unnecessary and unacceptable. If any other employer behaved like this it would be a clear and obvious case of indirect discrimination under the Equalities Act."
Johnson says it's not unreasonable for parliamentarians to come back to Westminster "and do their job". He insists being able to vote by proxy will help those who have to stay at home.
I think that proxy statement was itself a U-turn btw. Quite something, given it came in a response criticising Starmer for U-turns.
Competent performance from Starmer there - not earth-shattering, not his best, but good.
What's noticeable is Johnson. Firstly the cynicism of the responses - the constant attempts to portray scrutiny of government as an attack on the public themselves.
But more notably the anger. He really does seem incensed by the idea that he can be challenged. And of course it's hard not to assess that in the context of his constant attempts to avoid tough interviews, media outlets perceived as unfriendly.
The raising of his voice, the jabbing of his finger. If there is a persistent sense, widely discussed, that he is losing these encounters, I suspect that he's going to start slipping up badly, both in manner and content.
Usual caveats that normal people don't watch PMQs blah blah blah.
It's also worth noting the ease with which Starmer moved from topic to topic, without even mentioning Cummings. You can easily imagine another handful of vulnerabilities for him to lead on. The sheer scale and diversity of the govt's incompetence is doing his job for him.
