Prime Minister’s Questions

The election campaign has begun in earnest and it is not going to be pretty

A session overshadowed by the Horizon scandal was brightened by the "brilliant Brexit bonus" of the discovery of some new clams

As he spoke, his backbenches could barely bring themselves to cheer

A resignation speech by a former home secretary who didn’t resign, and a Prime Minister’s Questions for a PM who is barely in charge – welcome to another day of government dysfunction in Westminster

The prime minister was stung by the Labour leader's description of a "man with the reverse Midas touch"

Keir Starmer focused on the prime minister’s five new priorities as the Commons warmed up for the autumn statement

Boris Johnson has claimed “lefty propaganda” is behind attacks on his foreign aid plans – despite senior Conservative MPs leading the opposition to his £4 billion spending cut. The prime minister was accused by the SNP of being “on the run” from not only his “moral and legal responsibilities” but also his own backbench MPs. […]

Boris Johnson has been ‘rattled’ by the evidence given by Dominic Cummings into his handling of the Covid-19 outbreak, Sir Keir Starmer has told MPs. Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir pointed out that Johnson denied the cabinet secretary told him to fire the health secretary for lying but had not denied the other claims put forward […]

Boris Johnson has laughed off claims that he’s planning “planning to throw our farmers and crofters under the Brexit bus” over trade negotiations with Australia. There had reportedly been a spat in cabinet over fears a zero-tariff agreement to benefit Australian farmers could inflame tensions in Wales and Scotland, as two areas where the farming community would […]

Boris Johnson has been questioned at Prime Minister’s Questions on the UK’s border policy after his former chief adviser branded it a “joke” and “nonsense”. On Monday, Dominic Cummings accused ministers of developing policy “based on nonsense memes” which claim that people in Asian countries, “all do as they’re told… it won’t work here”. Writing on […]

Boris Johnson is to face Labour leader Keir Starmer for Prime Minister’s Questions for the first time since the local elections and the Queen’s Speech. The prime minister could face pressure to clarify the confusion around international travel rules after one of his ministers said all international trips were “dangerous”. Would-be holidaymakers were left with […]

Sir Keir Starmer has accused Boris Johnson of “sleaze, cronyism and scandal” after the Electoral Commission launched an investigation into the refurb of the prime minister’s Downing Street flat. Sir Keir used Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) to grill Johnson over the Commission’s announcement. “Who initially, and prime minister, initially is the key word here, who initially […]

Sir Keir Starmer has grilled Boris Johnson during Prime Minister’s Questions over alleged tax breaks he gave to Sir James Dyson’s employees. The leader of the opposition pressed Johnson over lobbying concerns during the Covid-19 pandemic. Citing correspondence between Dyson and Johnson over tax breaks, Sir Keir told the Commons: “What does the prime minister think is the […]

Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has again had to intervene in Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) after Boris Johnson failed to answer a question. In the first PMQs since Easter, Johnson and opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer went head-to-head over the recent lobbying scandal involving former prime minister David Cameron. Sir Keir called on Johnson to back an […]

The Commons speaker has been forced to reprimand Boris Johnson following his comments about Labour’s position on Kill the Bill protests. Sir Lindsay Hoyle interrupted Prime Minister’s Questions to rebuff remarks Johnson made accusing Labour of supporting the violent protests in Bristol over the weekend. Johnson was responding to a question by the leader of […]

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 […]

Sir Keir Starmer has questioned whether Boris Johnson thinks NHS workers or Dominic Cummings are more deserving of a pay rise. In this week’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir asked: “Who does the prime minister think deserves a pay rise more, an NHS nurse or Dominic Cummings?” The prime minister replied: “As I told (Daisy […]

Boris Johnson should “listen to his own MPs” before cutting the UK’s foreign aid contribution to Yemen, Sir Keir Starmer argued during Prime Minister’s Questions. Grilling Johnson over a proposed 0.2% cut to Britain’s foreign aid budget, Sir Keir said: “This week the government halved our international aid to Yemen. If the prime minister thinks this is […]

Boris Johnson has sidestepped calls from Labour to rule out tax rises for families and businesses in next week’s Budget. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer insisted “now is not the time” for tax increases given the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. But instead, Johnson took aim at previous Labour Party policy and Labour-run councils. Speaking […]

Boris Johnson should “have a word” with Conservative MPs doubting the accuracy of data behind his road map out of lockdown, according to Sir Keir Starmer. Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, the Labour leader said he backed the principles of the plan but warned Covid scepticism could risk it all. He explained: “One of the […]

Boris Johnson was cut off mid-sentence by the Commons speaker after he “teased” the SNP’s Westminster leader during Prime Minister’s Questions. Sir Lindsay Hoyle interrupted Johnson half-way through his response to Ian Blackford about a £20 uplift to Universal Credit. Blackford asked the prime minister to make the uplift – brought in at outset of […]

Britain risks being “cut off from the rest of the world” if border measures are tightened even further beyond the new quarantine plan, Boris Johnson has claimed. The prime minister urged Labour to get behind the latest measures, which come into effect from Monday and include up to 10 years in prison for people who […]

Sir Keir Starmer said he would not take advice from a prime minister who “wrote two versions of every column as a journalist and who proposed Donald Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize”. Sir Keir and Boris Johnson had been debating whether to extend the eviction ban set to expire on February 21 when a row […]

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has suggested to the House of Commons he could invoke Article 16  “to ensure that there is no barrier down the Irish Sea” after Brexit. Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, DUP MP Ian Paisley said people in Northern Ireland were being made to “feel like foreigners in our own country” by […]

Boris Johnson has been branded “reckless” for visiting a Scottish vaccine plant which saw a coronavirus outbreak just 24 hours before. A report in the Daily Record revealed Johnson visited Valneva’s plant in Livingston last week as they started manufacturing their Covid-19 vaccine – just one day after public health officials uncovered a surge in coronavirus cases. Officials […]

Sir Keir Starmer has accused Boris Johnson of twisting the “truth” for the purpose of “gags” during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). The leader of the opposition said Johnson had a habit of hiding behind “pre-prepared gags” instead of answering tough questions. Probing the prime minister on the government’s border strategy, Sir Keir asked: “With new variants coming […]

Boris Johnson has been accused of “misleading” MPs by claiming a Labour frontbencher’s 200-day-old comments on quarantine measures were recent. The prime minister told the Commons that shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon had “only recently” said quarantine measures should be eased. His remark was made during Prime Minister’s Questions as he criticised Labour for repeatedly […]

What an odd and, in many ways, sombre prime minister’s questions this was. Odd because Keir Starmer was appearing virtually from home again having been forced to self-isolate after coming into contact with a Covid carrier (Boris Johnson managed this time to suppress his guffaw at the fact that Starmer lives in – ha ha! […]

The UK government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been “defined by a lack of leadership, last-minute U-turns, mixed messaging and devastating policies”, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford has claimed. He said: “Last night the PM claimed we truly did everything we could to avoid the deaths of 100,000 people across the UK from Covid-19, […]

Boris Johnson has used Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) to call for Sir Keir Starmer to apologise over his coronavirus stances. Sir Keir said he would be speaking to bereaved families on Wednesday and asked the prime minister what message he would like to send to them. Johnson responded: “The message I would give those families is […]

Today, President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris will be inaugurated in one of those grandiose ceremonies which America still does so well. Sure, the pomp and circumstance will be much pared-down because [checks] Biden’s predecessor two weeks ago urged his supporters to march on Capitol Hill and overturn an election result through force. But […]

The SNP’s leader in the Commons has questioned Boris Johnson over his ability to be a “moral” leader following remarks by Theresa May. Blackford also asked Johnson if he would overturn cuts to Britain’s foreign aid budget during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs).  “This morning the former prime minister accused the current prime minister of abandoning moral […]