Keir Starmer has accused Boris Johnson of being “socially distanced from the truth” after the Prime Minister claimed that Tory MPs had carried the controversial Commons vote on covid measures.
The Labour leader was left scratching his head in disbelief at Prime Minister’s Questions as Johnson made the audacious claim in spite of close on 100 of his own Tory MPs rebelling against the measures.
In the last Prime Minister’s Questions of the year Starmer told MPs the UK had the “worst possible Prime Minister at the worst possible time”.
Starmer said Johnson was “too weak to lead” after relying on Labour votes to bring in covid passport rules for England on Tuesday night.
He added: “The Prime Minister is so weak that without Labour votes last night, vital public health measures wouldn’t have got through.”
When Johnson responded “it’s not true” Starmer was stunned.
The MP for Holborn and St Pancras said: “He’s so socially distanced from the truth, he thinks that’s not true. I don’t know where to start.”
Johnson insisted: “We won that vote last night with Conservative votes.
“I respect the feelings, the anxieties colleagues have – of course I do – and legitimate anxieties that colleagues have about restrictions on their liberty and the liberty of people.
“But I believe the approach we’re taking is balanced and proportionate and right for this country.”
Addressing Tory heckles, Starmer added: “They’re shouting now, where were they in the lobby last night?
“His own MPs have had enough, they won’t defend him, they won’t turn up to support him and, if he proposes them, they won’t vote for basic public health measures.”
“We can’t go on with a Prime Minister who is too weak to lead. So will the Prime Minister take time this Christmas to look in the mirror and ask himself whether he has the trust and authority to lead this country?”
Turning to fresh revelations about parties in Downing Street and Conservative HQ last year, Starmer said: “His MPs are wrong to vote against basic public health measures, but they are not wrong to distrust him.
“Last week the Conservative member for the Forest of Dean asked why should people at home listening to the Prime Minister do things that people working in Downing Street are not prepared to do?”
Starmer pointed at the Prime Minister: “The only person undermining public confidence is sitting right there.”
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