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Starmer forces Johnson on to ropes over crisis
KEIR Starmer has accused Boris Johnson of rejecting an offer of political co-operation in the fight against coronavirus, as he called on the PM to “get a grip” on the crisis.
The gloves came off at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday with a rattled Johnson claiming that Starmer was undermining public confidence when he should be more supportive of the Government.
But the Labour leader batted that away, saying he was still waiting for a reply to a letter he had written to Johnson two weeks ago offering to build consensus on schools opening in England.
Johnson said he had replied by phone but that, Starmer said, was a call to all party leaders, not a one- to-one.
Starmer took a more aggressive line in the Commons after he had accused Johnson of “winging it” in his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. Starmer used a newspaper interview to state: “I am putting the Prime Minister on notice he has got to get a grip and restore public confidence in the Government’s handling of the epidemic.”
At the despatch box, Starmer had Johnson on the ropes early over neglecting to condemn the death of George Floyd, which sparked a week of riots in the US.
He asked why the test, track and trace system in England is not yet fully operational and why the Statistics Authority had criticised the Government’s reporting of the number of tests carried out. The Labour leader said transparency over decision-making is important.
Without mentioning Dominic Cummings, the PM’s adviser who broke lockdown rules, Starmer questioned why there had been a change in lockdown restrictions and asked the PM for the current Covid-19 alert level and R infection level.
Johnson admitted the coronavirus alert level in England is still at four, days after lockdown was eased for a second time, adding: “I really do not see the purpose in his endless attacks.”
But Starmer said the PM was “confusing scrutiny for attacks”.