PMQs: Starmer lays traps with an eye to vaccine troubles

Prime Minister’s Questions didn’t feel particularly high wattage today. Sir Keir Starmer seemed to be using his questions to lay the groundwork for a future showdown with Boris Johnson. He used his first three questions to ask whether the government had done the necessary logistical planning to ensure the smooth roll-out of the coronavirus vaccine, particularly in care homes. He wanted to know who the Prime Minister expected to receive the vaccine next week, when those people in the top priority groups could expect to be vaccinated, and whether the Prime Minister had put plans in place to ensure that the vaccine really can get to care homes, given the practical problems with transporting it at such a low temperature.

Johnson had clearly turned up hoping to turn the heat on Starmer for abstaining in last night’s vote, but he had to stick to a more sober tone for these early questions, even telling Starmer he was ‘entirely right to raise the issue of care homes and our ability to distribute this type of vaccine rapidly into care homes’.