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| Starmer tells it like it is [video still]. |
So far, Keir has made less than a
theatrical debut in PMQs perhaps due to the subdued nature of parliament in light of current
circumstances. An austere approach of the new leader of the opposition in quite
stark contrast to the more jovial nature of his predecessor by no means undermines
his acute tackling of the key issues regarding Covid-19. His debut has led to a
violent shuffling of papers among a desolate front bench with such an
analytical deconstruction of figures compartmentalised into an onslaught that
not only asks exactly what the public want to know but has awoken the government from its 80
seat majority lie in.
Quite rightly, testing is the issue
on the tip of everyone’s tongue and is right at the forefront of Keir’s when
posing his first ever question to the First Secretary, Dominic Raab.
Starmer: “The health secretary made
a very important commitment to 100,00 tests by the end of April. But yesterday
the figure for actual tests was 18,000 a day which was down from Monday which
was 19,000 tests a day.”
Raab: “I do just have to correct
him. Our capacity for tests has increased to 40,000 tests per day…”
Starmer: “I didn’t need correcting
as I gave the figures for the actual tests per day.”
Starmer goes on to make a
distinction between capacity and actual testing and highlights why the
government are not trying as hard as possible to reach the full capacity of
testing. Raab retorts raising an issue of the government needing to increase
the demand for testing to which Starmer again subjects the secretary’s response
to further scrutiny. Starmer puts a straight forward problem resulting in shortcomings of government policy in connecting the dots as to why test centres are not full:
Starmer: “If a care worker has
symptoms of Coronavirus or their family members have symptoms then they have to
self-isolate quite rightly. To get a necessary test, they’re instructed to travel
to a test centre which is many miles away… There’s an obvious problem with that
system, not every care worker has access to a car and if they themselves or
their family members have symptoms then they can’t use public transport. So, it’s
of little wonder that we’re seeing these pictures of half empty testing
centres. It doesn’t look like that is a good plan, it’s not about driving up
demand, it’s about tests where they’re needed."
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| Raab responds in equal good faith and with a noticeable bead of sweat[video still]. |
It is with complete forensic pertinence
that Starmer delivers such a grounded critique of government policy. Furthermore,
what we find about the technique implemented is that Starmer wholeheartedly
recognises and appreciates the government’s attempts to stabilise the problem and
rather than take an adversarial approach to the whole campaign, he is far more
concerned with tying up loose ends in creation and application of policy. It is not with an undermining brush that the
Tories are tarnished, rather it is with a stern attention to inconsistencies in
arguments using plain evidence that Starmer rears his assault.
A particularly neat example of
keeping up government focus in areas of deficit is again found in one of my
personal highlights of the clip. Starmer asks simply for the current figures of
NHS worker deaths and care home worker deaths as a result of Coronavirus. Raab
notes the current difficulty in establish care home worker deaths and that he
does not have a precise figure. The very intentional asking of this question by
Starmer is to shed light on the issue that has already proven to grow in size
since the date of this PMQs. As hospital death level off, the deaths continue to
rise within care homes.
Starmer: “I’m disappointed that we don’t
have a number for social care workers and I’ll put the First Secretary on
notice that I’ll ask the same question again next week and hopefully we can
have a better answer.”
Key to the above retort is the diligence
to persist on an issue of scrutiny that is recognised as universally important.
The public were growing in awareness at the date of this PMQs that the published
figures of deaths did not include those in care homes which in turn, has begged
the question of government support provided to those in the care sector. The
acknowledgement of this problem by the government is of course apparent but it
is through Starmer’s willingness to steer the tract of debate via the forecast
of reoccurring pressure across multiple sessions of PMQs that is sure to keep the
entire front bench on their toes.
This week just passed we got more of the same (which
in this context is much a welcome sentiment) when looking at the continued deficit
between actual carried out tests and test capacity. The government was also quizzed on the reposing of the social
care worker deaths question; a raising of a report published by the Royal
College of Physicians stating only 1 in 4 doctors are getting the PPE that they
need along with the a fresh issue brought to light on when we may see a publishing of an exit
strategy by the government. Without going into the same depth as the earlier
video - due to the same tools of dissection being used by Starmer as already discussed - I would encourage
anyone reading to watch it in full HERE.
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| Boris aims for tests to eventually hit 250,000 a day nationwide. Credit: BBC |
I find myself now exhaling with far
less tight winded urgency than the initial intake of breath had wrapped around itself.
During the course of any leadership, PMQs are the ideal opportunity to provide
scrutiny on the largest public scale; it puts nuggets of digestible criticism
to be unleashed through robust debate. The more I replay Starmer’s current
sessions along with Corbyn’s old ones, I have to give Jeremy some credit during
his debut appearance as leader where he thrust his abhorrence for the theatrics
of parliament right into the first seconds of his speech. Much to the hopes of
the Corbyn project in clinging on to well principled speeches and taking the focus of the Commons away from jocular antics, I feel Jeremy only fell prey
to playing the game, letting the coaxing antics of the Tory frontbench rhetoric turn him into what he set out to change. Regardless of how
earnest his concerns were, the outshouting match proved to work a treat for Boris.
Laziness is the Achilles heel of
this current government and something that works as a relaxant to their usual requirement for heightened political astuteness. This is largely due to the steroid
induced majority currently held and a much-weakened opposition struck by division. By not having to flex any intellectual muscles for the past 18 months, a sudden
training montage will perhaps ensue, taking up the daily routine of Raab, Hancock
and Johnson now that they have been rudely awoken to a more forensic, systematic
and straight-talking competitor entering the fray. Alternatively, a parliament
in the wake of a situation never before seen could provide a kinder setting to
the new Labour leader; free from the jeers that marred Corbyn’s debut
appearance and somewhat collectivising the Commons into a less hostile environment by threat of a greater national
emergency. Only time will tell if Starmer can keep up the chops that have
marked his carefully loaded analytical debut as leader of the opposition and whether
his calm will be kept against the brutishly pantomime touch of Boris Johnson.
Sources:
Sources:
- PMQs – 29th April - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_N-BV6kuu8
- PMQs – 22nd April - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayQ28gXyaSo
- PMQs – Corbyn debut - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGVicOQoItA
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