Did Rayner get the better of Boris?

Coffee House Shots

The Spectator

News, Politics, Government, Daily News

4.4 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 5 January 2022

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The first PMQs of 2022 was a little different. It was Angela Rayner’s turn to step up to the dispatch box whilst Keir Starmer is isolating having tested positive for Covid.

Rayner went after Boris Johnson on inflation and the cost of living crisis looming in Britain, criticising the government for refusing to cut VAT on energy bills. Another topic that came up was the pressure on the NHS as a result of the pandemic. NHS Trusts are declaring critical incidents saying they’re not going to be able to perform certain treatments due to high staff absences.

'The crisis in the healthcare sector is not that anybody is being overwhelmed. The crisis is coming from government policy which is requiring people to isolate when they don’t strictly speaking need to' Fraser Nelson

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Isabel Hardman speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Coffee House Shots for Spectators Daily Politics Podcast.
0:06.0	I'm Isbar Harbman and I'm joined by Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.
0:10.0	Well, we've just had the first Prime Minister's questions of 2022 and it was a little bit different, not just because it was a few hours later than normal.
0:18.0	Sir Keir Stama had to self-isolate again after testing positive for COVID.
0:25.1	So Angela Raina stood in for him and here's a clip of the two of them sparring.
0:29.3	We have this Prime Minister and his incompetent leadership. And every time we are faced with a challenge, he denies there's a problem.
0:38.3	He tries to laugh it off.
0:40.3	He looks for someone else to blame.
0:43.3	So can I suggest to the Prime Minister?
0:46.3	It's not about brushing your hair, it's about brushing up on your act.
0:52.3	Yes.
0:53.3	Does he accept his incompetence is taking our country backwards and costing our country dear?
1:02.0	No, Mr Speaker.
1:04.0	What I tell the House and tell the country is that labour incompetence has ruined this country
1:09.0	time and time again and there has never been a Labour government.
1:14.6	James, what did you make of this first session? I think this first PMQ's V. Gave us a preview of what,
1:21.5	you know, the next couple of months are going to be like in British politics. Labour went after Boris Johnson hard on inflation. Angela Raina brought
1:29.0	up that interview at Tory conference when he created this massive hostage fortune by saying that,
1:33.6	you know, people's fears about inflation had been unfounded. She said, you know, people are going to
1:37.6	find, you know, their cost of living squeezed. And then she went after Boris Johnson for not
1:43.0	cutting that on household energy bills,
1:45.8	pointing out that it was something he had said that he would happen if the UK left the EU in the 2016 referendum.
	...

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