The Prime Minister’s Questions today were prefaced with a comment from the Speaker of the House, Lindsay Hoyle.
He explained that he was not able to give MPs the chance to vote on what say they have over emergency powers later on today.
He added that he had not taken this decision lightly and advised that the Government give MPs a chance to debate future policy changes.
Keir Starmer started his questions for the Prime Minister by asking why 1 in 4 people are currently living under local lockdown restrictions, but only one area has managed to come out of these restrictions, that being Luton.
The PM responded by saying that Luton had seen success because the people had followed the rules more effectively and that people in other areas should do the same in order to defeat the virus.
Mr Johnson then took aim back at Labour, stating that they need to make up their mind on whether they support the local restrictions or not – something Starmer claimed was unfounded and that Labour had supported the restrictions all along.
Starmer doubled down on his attack of the restrictions though, by saying although he supports the measures put in place, there is not enough support for those affected by the lockdowns – this sentiment was repeated by Labour backbenchers later on in PMQs. Johnson said the Government will continue to “put its arms” around businesses and encourage the rest of the country to come together, something that the prime minister has repeated several times in PMQs.
The Leader of the SNP in Westminster, Ian Blackford, asked the Prime Minister directly, why he thinks that only 15% of the Scottish people trust the UK Government to act in the interest of the Scottish people, according to a recent survey. The Prime Minister responded by reiterating that the internal market bill with devolve more powers to Scotland and not take them away, something that Blackford called "yapping, bumbling, mumbling" instead of answering his question.
Group Leader of Plaid Cymru in the House of Commons, Liz Saville Roberts, asked the Prime Minister if those living under local lockdown measures, could be prevented from entering Wales, so as to stop the spread of Covid-19 from England into Wales. The Prime Minister replied that he couldn’t give such commitments but thanked the Welsh Government and the other devolved governments for working in tandem with the UK Government.
