PMQs: Boris shamed over Hancock resignation

Matt Hancock’s antics dominated PMQs today as Boris Johnson vowed to press ahead with a “cautious but irreversible” unlocking in July.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer repeatedly questioned the PM’s failure to fire the former health secretary immediately after photos released by The Sun on Thursday showed him kissing an aide.

Pouncing on the outrage caused by Hancock’s breaking of his own health measures, the Leader of the Opposition raised the case of Ollie Bibby, 27, who died of leukaemia the day before the incriminating photos were taken. “When [Ollie] was in hospital, he begged to see his family, but following the rules only one member of his family was allowed to see him,” Starmer said, as he described the parents’ fury at Hancock’s hypocrisy. “How could [the PM] possibly think this matter was closed?”

Johnson’s efforts to shift attention to the government’s successful vaccine roll-out, and Starmer’s fraught relationship with his deputy Angela Rayner, were branded “ridiculous” by Starmer. As he rose to express condolences for the “grief and the pain of millions of people up and down the country”, Johnson implied the Hancock story was an obsession of “the Westminster bubble” – prompting a stern rebuke.

“It’s the wrong response to Ollie’s case”, Starmer said, demanding Johnson withdraw the comment. Johnson did not.

“Every time it’s the same old story. Where the British people are doing everything asked of them, it’s one rule for them, another rule for everybody else”, Starmer added, criticising a “pattern” of misbehaviour and unaccountability in government starting with Dominic Cummings’ Barnard Castle trip in May 2020.

Johnson was able to use the dispatch box today to remind members that the government was pressing ahead with a “cautious but irreversible roadmap” – a statement which reflects just how far the balance of opinion has shifted in Cabinet since Sajid Javid replaced Matt Hancock over the weekend.

In response to a question by the SNP’s Philippa Whatford on the prospect of extending furlough beyond September given the Delta variant’s continued threat, Johnson was adamant on this point: “This is the only country where protection by immunity against the Delta variant is the highest and the strongest”, he said. “That’s why we’re going to continue with our cautious but irreversible roadmap.”

From 1 July, the furlough scheme will be wound down, with employers asked to contribute 10 per cent to unworked hours, rising to 20 per cent in August. Nearly 3.5 million workers still rely on furlough over 15 months since the beginning of the pandemic.The PM also confirmed that the deadline for the EU Resettlement Scheme will not be extended, after SNP Westminster Leader Ian Blackford claimed millions could become “illegal immigrants” because the PM “hasn’t kept his word”.

But tartan-army Blackford did manage to begrudgingly congratulate England for their 2-0 win against Germany last night. “They’ve won most of their matches, except for their game with Scotland”, he noted.