Prime Minister’s Questions

The Commons speaker has had to interrupt Boris Johnson during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) to remind him to “answer the question” put forward by Sir Keir Starmer. Sir Lindsay was forced to abruptly end this week’s session of PMQs after Boris Johnson gave a long-winded response to the controversy over free school meals parcels. “Mr prime minister,” Sir Lindsay patiently […]

Boris Johnson has been slapped down for a series of “not truths” as he clashed in the Commons with Keir Starmer over Covid-19 and free school meals. Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle intervened and forced Johnson to withdraw the remark made at Prime Minister’s Questions, advising both leaders to help in “tidying up how this parliament behaves”. […]

Well, it finally came. For a year speaker Lindsay Hoyle has been tolerating Boris Johnson’s antics in prime minister’s questions – the ignoring of questions, the deliberate misnaming of the third-largest party, the sheer disdain of spending 30 minutes being held to account; 30 minutes which, in happier times, he could have knocked out a half-arsed column […]

Boris Johnson has claimed that Marcus Rashford was a better leader at holding the government to account than Sir Keir Starmer, in a fiery Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) session which saw the prime minister rebuked for mistruths. Johnson said no one was happy with the images of inadequate school meal parcels that have surfaced over […]

The SNP’s Westminster leader has mocked Boris Johnson for failing to deliver the “sea of opportunity” he promised after Brexit. Ian Blackford raised the case of a constituent, who is a producer and exporter of shellfish, experiencing his “worst nightmare” since the UK’s departure from the EU. Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, the Scottish politician […]

Tory MP Michael Fabricant was cut-off by the House of Commons speaker after he branded Labour leader Keir Starmer a “smarmy lawyer”. The Conservative politician for Lichfield used his question at Prime Minister’s Question to claim the Labour leader was looking to change the rules on Christmas. He told MPs: “Look, on the subject of […]

Today’s PMQs was  – definitely? maybe? – the last of 2020. That makes the session technically the Christmas special, and while, unlike most TV spectaculars, this gratifyingly wasn’t twice the usual length, at least it provided all the catchphrases you’ve come to know and love since Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer came to occupy the […]

Sir Keir Starmer has chided Boris Johnson during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) after he granted Dominic Cummings a £40,000 pay raise while at the same time enforcing a pay freeze on public sector workers.  In his return to the chamber since self-isolating, Sir Keir said: “Another major mistake of the past 12 months is losing public trust. “We all know what […]

The SNP’s Ian Blackford has demanded an economic analysis of Boris Johnson’s Brexit plans. The party’s Westminster leader a “detailed economic assessment of the cost to the UK of his extreme Tory Brexit plans” before MPs are asked to vote on any possible deal. The Scottish politician claimed at Prime Minister’s Questions that the Tory […]

Boris Johnson’s detailed grasp of geography is, like his detailed grasp of, well, pretty much everything, is at best rudimentary. So it fell a little flat today as he attempted to mock Keir Starmer about where he lived. Starmer is self-isolating after a member of his staff tested positive for coronavirus, forcing him to appear […]

Labour MP Chris Bryant has been rebuked by the House of Commons speaker after taking exception to apparent “disgraceful” behaviour while Boris Johnson spoke at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle called out the Labour former minister for alleged “heckling” in the middle of Johnson’s answer. It saw Bryant storm out of his seat at PMQs in […]

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford has challenged Boris Johnson to explain why Scotland is “being shafted” by not having a Brexit arrangement in place similar to Northern Ireland. Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, he said: “Yesterday, by this government’s own admission, it was confirmed that Northern Ireland is getting the best of both worlds – […]

Sir Keir Starmer has mocked Boris Johnson’s “Get Brexit Done” slogan while taking a dig at trade talks during this week’s Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). Sir Keir took the opportunity to question the prime minister on Brexit negotiations via teleconference after having been forced to self-isolate. He said: “12 months ago, he told the British people […]

Sir Keir Starmer will grill Boris Johnson from home as he takes part in Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) remotely while isolating after a member of his office staff contracted coronavirus. The Labour leader will appear on screens in the Commons, weeks after the first virtual PMQs took place while Johnson self-isolated. This time, the prime […]

Sir Keir Starmer has said Boris Johnson has a habit of “running away” from tough issues after being confronted over Labour’s abstention from a vote on new lockdown measures. In his first session of Prime Minister’s Questions since having to self-isolate, Johnson sought to pin some of the economic turmoil behind the collapse of clothing giant Arcadia onto Labour. Johnson […]

The PMQs before a major fiscal statement is always a case of before the Lord Mayor’s Show, the equivalent of turning on Match of the Day to find they’ve inexplicably chosen to lead with West Brom v Burnley. The only MPs who have booked their seats not to be in the chamber for the main […]

Sir Keir Starmer accused Boris Johnson’s government of a “clean sweep” of ministerial code breaches, as he urged the prime minister to stop “wasting” taxpayers’ cash. The Labour leader highlighted Johnson’s foreword to the code last year in which he insisted there must be no bullying, no harassment, no leaking, no misuse of taxpayer money and […]

Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has interrupted Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) to remind Boris Johnson of his duty to answer queries. Sir Lindsay was forced to abruptly pause PMQs this week after to remind the prime minister that it was his responsibility to answer questions, and not pose them. The rebuke came as Johnson pressed Sir Keir Starmer […]

Despite the government demanding those in self-isolation remain at home, Downing Street has admitted Boris Johnson was neither in his office nor his home to film a virtual session of Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs).  The prime minister was told by Test and Trace to isolate on Sunday evening and, despite testing negative for Covid-19, will […]

Boris Johnson has said he is “very proud” of the government’s efforts to buy up urgently needed kit during the coronavirus outbreak after the public spending watchdog criticised the way normal standards of transparency were set aside. At prime minister’s questions, Labour leader highlighted the National Audit Office report criticising the government’s handling of the […]

Speaker Lindsay Hoyle has been praised for cutting Boris Johnson’s long waffling answer off mid-sentence. Johnson was embarking on a rant about the Scottish National Party at Prime Minister’s Questions after Iain Blackford claimed that the Tory leader’s comments about devolution were “not just flippant remarks”. He said: “His attack on devolution wasn’t just a slip of the […]

Is this the way they say the future’s meant to feel? Back to the Future II promised we’d all be shooting around on hoverboards by now while clad in self-drying jackets; The Jetsons said we’d at least have colonised space. But what we have, with Boris Johnson self-isolating after having a non-socially distanced, non-mask-wearing meeting […]

Sir Keir Starmer has taken a dig at Boris Johnson and questioned the loyalty of the Tory backbench during a heated session of Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). Sir Keir said 32 backbench MPs had broken ranks to oppose the prime minister and many more had been questioning his authority. Responding to a swipe over Labour’s support the NHS Test […]

Boris Johnson has been told by Labour leader Keir Starmer that the biggest threat to the future of the United Kingdom is every time he “opens his mouth”. At Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) Starmer challenged Johnson his remarks when he said Scottish devolution was “a disaster”. Sir Keir Starmer said: “Devolution in Scotland, Wales and […]

Boris Johnson could miss Prime Minister’s Questions this week as he continues to self-isolate. Health secretary Matt Hancock said that he did not know what would happen for this week’s PMQs session. “I don’t know what will happen with PMQs and I know the parliamentary authorities are working on it,” he told Times Radio. “Actually […]

At Westminster today, the talk was of a reshuffle of Boris Johnson’s top team – no, not the cabinet, but the people actually running the country: the rag-tag bunch of unelected former Vote Leave staffers who surround the prime minister.  Johnson is said to want to appoint Lee Cain, his hapless communications chief once employed […]

Keir Starmer has slammed Boris Johnson over his government’s lack of “basic accountability” over private contracts during the coronavirus pandemic. Labour cited Cabinet Office data as showing the communications company spend between January and September, adding the total does not include the cost of special advisers and civil servants working on press matters. He told MPs: […]

Boris Johnson has refused to answer questions over Dominic Cummings’ unpaid council tax bill during Prime Minister’s Questions. The prime minister sidestepped a question by City of Durham’s Mary Foy over allegations that Cummings had dodged a £50,000 council tax bill on buildings he failed to register with the local authority. The Labour MP said […]