Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Starmer’s PMQs performance was oddly flat

Perhaps that was part of the plan

It’s not unusual for a Labour leader to attack the government over the NHS at Prime Minister’s Questions. Neither is it a topic of low salience at the moment, given the size of the backlog. But it was nonetheless Sir Keir Starmer’s subject choice today was curious because it was precisely what Boris Johnson wanted to talk about, rather than the things he is trying to move on from. It’s ‘health week’ in the Downing Street grid, and apparently in Starmer’s too.

To be fair to the Labour leader, he clearly hoped that his questions to Johnson would show health week up for being a bunch of gimmicky announcements that will do little to address the crisis the NHS is in at present. Currently, people are having to resort to crowdfunders in order to pay for private treatment while waiting an unacceptably long time for the NHS to get to them.

Get Britain's best politics newsletters

Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Isabel Hardman
Written by
Isabel Hardman
Isabel Hardman is assistant editor of The Spectator and author of Why We Get the Wrong Politicians. She also presents Radio 4’s Week in Westminster.

Topics in this article

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in