oris Johnson was attacked from all corners of the House of Commons at PMQs on Wednesday – but it was not quite a solemn affair.
The pressured prime minister was faced with the music after an 18-hour period that saw dozens of ministerial resignations – mainly his chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Minister Sajid Javid†
These are the best rules of a fiery PMQS:
Boris Johnson: “This morning, Mr. Chairman, I have had meetings with ministerial colleagues and I suspect that I will have more such meetings later in the day.”
After starting big statements about tax cuts and his support for the England and Northern Ireland women’s football teams, the Prime Minister addressed the elephant in the room.
Keir Starmer: “Is this the first recorded case of the sinking ships fleeing the rat?”
Keir Starmer turns the classic expression on its head after citing a number of previous controversies involving Mr Johnson. The Labor leader makes the point that it is a little late in the day for the Tories to resign with integrity intact.
Keir Starmer: “Load of the Lightweight Brigade” and a “Z List of Nodding Dogs”
After starting out in a very serious tone, Mr. Starmer brightened towards the end of his assigned questions – he aimed this attack at the group of conservatives who had left the posts. He then went on to call those left behind a “Z-List of Nodding Dogs”.
Ian Blackford: “I recently compared the Prime Minister to Monty Python’s Black Knight. In fact, he looks more like the dead parrot.”
Ian Blackford, the SNP leader in Westminster, refers to the classic sketches and basically says that Boris Johsnson no longer refuses to give in defeat even without limbs† but is definitely dead.
Tim Loughton: “Are there? each circumstances in which you resign?”
The line itself isn’t immediately noticeable, but Conservative MP Tim Loughton loads his question with enough spicy venom to get a laugh from the benches.
Peter Dowd: “The Prime Minister has said he doesn’t like strikes and strikes… What is he going to do to stop his government’s strikes and strikes?”
It is Labor’s Peter Dowd who delivers perhaps the funniest line of the session. Referring to the recent railway strikes, which Mr Johnson has criticized Labour, the MP for Bootle is taking some sort of revenge on the Prime Minister.