Furious Keir Starmer confronts Boris Johnson after PMQs

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Furious Keir Starmer confronted Boris Johnson and ‘ranted’ at him after they clashed over his Brexit record at PMQs, it was claimed today.

Witnesses said the Labour leader ‘lost it’ after Mr Johnson accused him of wanting to stay in the European Medicines Agency – which has been slated for dragging its heels over vaccine approvals.

Tories said Sir Keir, not wearing a mask, started berating the premier by the doors to the Commons chamber after the session.     

They insisted Mr Johnson ‘kept his cool’ and tried to ‘close down’ the argument by saying Sir Keir’s position was on the record, before a Labour whip ‘dragged’ the party leader away.

The bitter spat was sparked when Mr Johnson claimed Britain’s Covid-19 vaccine programme would still be at the ‘starting blocks’ under Labour. 

However, Labour insisted the leaders had a perfectly friendly chat’ and the idea Sir Keir was enraged was ‘absolute b*****s’. 

He said Sir Keir had repeatedly called for the UK to stay in the European Medicines Agency, and suggested such a move would have hampered the UK’s response to the pandemic.

But a clearly infuriated Sir Keir branded the remarks ‘complete nonsense’ and suggested the ‘truth escapes’ the Prime Minister.

Mr Johnson pulled faces and puffed his cheeks in response to Sir Keir’s answer.

Comments from Sir Keir contained in Hansard, the official record of Parliament, in January 2017 show him questioning why the UK would want to leave the body and that it should be something retained as part of the Brexit process.

Conservative former minister Mark Francois later raised a point of order in a bid to correct the record and highlight Sir Keir’s previous remarks.

Labour tried to dismiss the allegations of a confrontation afterwards, with a party source saying: ‘They had a perfectly reasonable conversation as they often do after PMQs.’  

Labour whip Chris Matheson, who was said to have pulled Sir Keir away from the spat, said: ‘It’s absolute b*****s. There was a brief chat and then Keir and I left together. Nothing more to it than that.’ 

Kicking off the row at PMQs, Mr Johnson said: ‘If we had listened to (Sir Keir), we would still be at the starting blocks because he wanted to stay in the European Medicines Agency and said so four times from that despatch box.’

Sir Keir responded: ‘Complete nonsense. Don’t let the truth get in the way of a pre-prepared gag.

‘The Prime Minister knows I’ve never said that, from this despatch box or anywhere else, the truth escapes him.’

Opening Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir earlier questioned why further measures had not been taken at the country’s borders.

He said: ‘Today we’re likely to hit 10 million vaccinations, which is remarkable. The biggest risk to the vaccine programme at the moment is the arrival of new variants such as the South African variant.

‘On that issue, the Government’s own scientists Sage said two weeks ago, and I quote, ”only a complete pre-emptive closure of borders or the mandatory quarantine of all visitors upon arrival can get close to fully preventing new cases or new variants”. So, pretty clear.

‘So why did the Prime Minister choose not to do the one thing that Sage said could prevent new variants coming to the UK?’

Mr Johnson replied: ‘Actually, Sage did not recommend a complete ban and they say travel bans should not be relied upon to stop the importation of new variants.

‘But we do have one of the toughest regimes in the world.’

He added: ‘They will have an isolation assurance agency checking up on them and it is illegal now to go on holiday in this country, it is illegal to travel from South Africa or all the countries on the current red list and we will be going forward with a plan to ensure people coming into this country from those red list countries immediately have to go into Government-mandated quarantine hospitality.’

Sir Keir countered: ‘He doesn’t seem to dispute that, he says it simply wasn’t a recommendation.

‘I would ask the Prime Minister to publish the full Sage minutes so that we can see what was said in full or if there’s some other advice, perhaps publish that.’

Mr Johnson replied: ‘It is not practical completely to close off this country as he seems to be suggesting. What is practical to do is have one of the toughest regimes in the world and to get on with vaccinating the people of this country.’

Sir Keir went on to ask why the Prime Minister thinks that new variants will ‘only arrive in the UK from direct flights’.

Mr Johnson responded: ‘(Sir Keir) can’t have it both ways. He simultaneously says that he wants the borders to be kept open for freight reasons or to allow businesses to carry on, I think that was what he was saying, whilst calling for tougher quarantine measures, which is exactly what this Government imposed as soon as we became aware of the new variant.’

Meanwhile, a leaked Labour ‘rebranding’ plan has suggested Sir Keir should pose with the union flag and military personnel to reconnect Labour with traditional voters.

The strategy, presented to officials by the party’s head of research last month, stresses the need for a more patriotic image in the wake of the disastrous Jeremy Corbyn era.

It suggested Sir Keir makes ‘use of the flag, veterans’ to convince disaffected former voters that Labour reflects their values.

There was also a reference to ‘dressing smartly at the war memorial’ – an apparent swipe at Mr Corbyn notoriously wearing a scruffy-looking anorak to the Cenotaph wreath-laying in 2018. 

In a warning sign for Sir Keir, although he is seen as a positive asset for the party focus groups showed voters have noticed his habit of ‘sitting on the fence’. 

The Labour leadership seem to have taken the advice to heart already, with Sir Keir seen against the backdrop of the union flag for speeches and party political broadcasts over recent weeks.

Meanwhile, Sir Keir looks to be trying to shake off his reputation for facing both ways on issues like Brexit, including by demanding blanket Covid ‘quarantine hotel’ rules for UK arrivals, and making a bold call for teachers to be prioritised for vaccinations over half-term.  

Boris Johnson says Britain CAN’T shut its borders entirely to prevent mutant Covid strains as he denies ignoring SAGE advice – but fails to give a date when ‘quarantine hotels’ will be up and running amid Cabinet tensions 

Boris Johnson today warned that Britain cannot shut its borders completely to prevent mutant coronavirus strains getting in as he denied ignoring SAGE advice.

The PM insisted closing off the country altogether was ‘not practical’ as he clashed bitterly with Keir Starmer in the Commons this afternoon. 

The Labour leader demanded to know why ministers had not followed the views of scientists two weeks ago that a ‘pre-emptive closure of borders or the mandatory quarantine of all visitors upon arrival’ was the only way to stem the flow of variants. 

But Mr Johnson said the UK had one of the ‘toughest regimes in the world’ and stressed that ‘quarantine hotels’ are being brought in for high-risk countries – although he did not indicate when. 

‘It is not practical completely to close off this country as he seems to be suggesting. What is practical to do is have one of the toughest regimes in the world and to get on with vaccinating the people of this country,’ the premier said. 

The exchanges came after Matt Hancock said UK border rules will get tougher to protect against emerging strains.

‘We are also looking to strengthen measures in particular for those countries that have the highest risk,’ he said in a round of interviews.

But amid fresh signs of tensions in Cabinet, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps struck a different tone as he gave evidence to MPs.

He insisted the UK could not do a full Australia-style lockdown with blanket ‘hotel quarantine’ rules because it was an ‘island’ and needed food imports.

On suggestions the ‘red list’ of travel ban countries will be expanded, Mr Shapps told the transport committee: ‘It might go to more in the future… we simply don’t know until the virus decides what it wants to do.’ 

The government moved to bolster the border regime last week, announcing that the ban on travellers from 33 ‘hotspot’ countries will be tightened so returning Britons and the few other permitted individuals will have to go into ‘quarantine hotels’ at their own expense for 10 days.

But the plan was the subject of an extraordinary Cabinet tussle, with Priti Patel and Mr Hancock among those pushing for even tougher action. 

Ministers will meet tomorrow to consider expanding the ‘red list’ – which includes South Africa, South America and Portugal as well as the UAE. 

Officials have also been looking at tightening exemptions to the travel rules, amid concerns that some are being exploited by people seeking to get around the holiday ban.