Today’s PMQs was not an enlightening affair. Keir Starmer tried to drag out of Boris Johnson an admission that the England-wide lockdown would continue past 2 December if the virus was not in retreat. But Johnson dodged that question.
Johnson’s own side, while grumpy, is not in outright rebellion
Of more concern for Labour will be the fact that Starmer failed to land his most effective point: that Johnson has now adopted the policy Labour was calling for on 13 October. The move from a regional system of tiered restrictions to a nationwide lockdown is a big shift from Johnson — but Starmer couldn’t pithily sum that up today. Indeed, Johnson claimed that there were signs that the regional, tiered system was working, which does make you wonder why he didn’t give it more time.
In response to a question from the SNP leader Ian Blackford, Johnson said that Rishi Sunak would make a statement on furlough tomorrow.
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