Johnson’s point-scoring trivialises rape debate at PMQs

Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer clashed over falling conviction rates for rape and sexual assault at today’s PMQs, with Labour ministers condemning the PM for his “disgraceful” comments during the exchange. 

There was a disrespectful level of jeering and shouting from both sides of the Commons during the session, with speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle stepping in to caution MPs that he “didn’t expect to hear shouting from the backbenches” during a debate on such a “emotive and important issue”.

His words, however, were lost on Johnson, who ended the session with the tone deaf pre-prepared line: “They jabber, we jab. They dither, we deliver. They vacillate, we vaccinate.”

Jess Phillips, the shadow minister for domestic violence, condemned Johnson for this “disgraceful” remark, accusing him of trivialising sexual violence. She called on him to “apologise for his comments and his government’s appalling record.”

David Lammy, the shadow justice secretary, said the jibe “shows how little the PM cares about ending violence against women” and branded the PM’s comments as “a total disgrace.”

The exchange came after a government report found that thousands of rape victims are being “failed” by the criminal justice system. Around 13 per cent of reported rape cases in 2015-16 ended in a suspect being charged, dropping to just 3 per cent in 2019-20.

Using all of his questions to focus on the issue, Starmer asked the PM: “Why under this government has the number of rape convictions and prosecutions fallen to a record low?”

Johnson said that prosecutions and convictions were too low when he became PM, which is why he commissioned the rape review. He said the government is investing in this area and addressing the “misery” of victims having to hand over their phones.

Pressed again to explain why rape prosecutions and convictions had plummeted on his watch, the PM blamed “evidential problems” – insisting the government was working to address the poor “join up” across the criminal justice system and impose tougher sentences. 

He said Labour should be supporting tougher sentences for rapists and serious sexual offences.

Starmer retorted that Labour would not support the government’s sentencing bill because it did “more to protect statues than women” and challenged the PM to identify a section of the bill that would “do anything” to increase the number of reported rapes that result in a charge being brought.

Failing to answer the question, Johnson pointed to a section of the bill that tackles the early release of people who have already been convicted of rape at the halfway point in their sentence.

In response, Starmer said the government wasn’t showing the urgency needed to address the “epidemic of violence against women and girls”.

He said: “On the Prime Minister’s watch, rape prosecution convictions are at a record low, court backlogs are at a record high, victims are waiting longer for justice and criminals are getting away with it.” 

He added: “This wasn’t inevitable; it’s the cost of a decade of Conservative cuts”.

Urged by the Labour leader to take some responsibility for the issue and back his words up with “action”, the PM said he was sorry for the trauma and frustrations that rape victims had been through.

He said the government was “fixing” the issue with investment and ensuring that victims have advisers to help them through the trials of the criminal justice system. 

But “above all”, the PM said he was helping victims by getting the courts moving and opening up the country with the “fastest vaccination rollout anywhere” – a disappointing attempt to shoehorn a government success into a debate that deserved clear, targeted solutions to help the thousands of rape victims who are being failed by the current system.