Starmer gets first chance to quiz UK govt as pressure grows

LONDON: The new leader of Britain’s main opposition Labour party on Wednesday gets his first chance to question the government, as lawmakers meet for a landmark virtual prime minister’s questions session in parliament.

Keir Starmer, who was elected this month, faces foreign secretary Dominic Raab, the stand-in for Boris Johnson who is recovering after being hospitalised for coronavirus.

The meeting comes with ministers under intense pressure to defend their handling of the crisis, especially over the provision of safety equipment to frontline health workers.

They have also been criticised about the extent of screening for the virus and face mounting questions about any exit strategy from the lockdown.

Ministers were also embroiled in a simmering row about London’s delay in joining a Brussels scheme to source medical equipment, and whether it was a political decision following Britain’s decision to leave the European Union.

London denies this and says any delay was due to ‘communication problems’.

On Tuesday, the Foreign Office’s top civil servant, Simon McDonald, made an extraordinary U- turn by withdrawing his own claim to a House of Commons committee that the country not take part because of a ‘ political decision’.

He later wrote to the Commons foreign affairs committee to say his evidence, given earlier in the day, was ‘incorrect’.

The smaller opposition Liberal Democrats have called for an independent inquiry into the government’s response to the crisis.

Britain is one of the countries worst-hit by the pandemic, with 17,337 deaths in hospital according to the latest figures.