Boris Johnson has been reprimanded over misrepresenting Labour’s stance on the police bill that passed through the Commons Tuesday evening.
Johnson was gently rebuffed by Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle at the conclusion of today’s Prime Minister Questions after he claimed Labour had voted against a bill on the wrong grounds.
Responding to Sir Keir Starmer’s claim the bill would lead to tougher sentences for people who damaged a statue than sexually assaulted a woman, Johnson said: “I do think he should not misrepresent what the bill was trying to do. The average sentence for rape is already nine years and nine months and the maximum sentence is life.
“What we were trying to do was stiffen the sentences for a variety of offences to protect women and girls and others.”
Johnson added: “We are doing our utmost to accelerate the grinding processes of the criminal justice system, which he [Sir Keir] rightly says are such a deterrent to women in coming forward.
“Until we sort out that fundamental problem until women feel heard…and their complaints are being addressed by society, we will not fix this problem.”
“In that spirit, I hope he can bring himself to vote for the tougher sentences that we set out.”
Sir Lindsay paused debate to add: “I would like to be a bit careful because no one will be misrepresenting each other in this house”.
This came a week after Johnson was reprimanded for falsely claiming Labour had voted against a pay rise for NHS staff.
Sir Lindsay allowed a point of order from Labour’s shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth that Johnson had incorrectly claimed the opposition had turned down the chance to vote in favour of a pay hike.
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