PMQs live: Starmer criticises Johnson over education plans that 'will hold back kids for a generation' - Sky News

What to expect in today's PMQs

Analysis by Tom Rayner, digital politics editor

Boris Johnson will need to have done his homework ahead of today’s PMQs. Some weeks there is a single obvious topic that is likely to dominate, but this is not one of those weeks - there are a whole range of different issues that could be raised.

MPs will know that shortly after he finishes the session the prime minister will be heading off to Cornwall ahead of the G7 summit, so expect the issue of the temporary cut to the overseas aid budget to be raised - given it’s been criticised by some other G7 members.

When it comes to the pandemic, the issues around international travel, and the potential for a delay to the next stage of covid unlocking on 21 June could also prove tricky for the prime minister. 

Earlier Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said  "we mustn’t throw away the gains we have made". That was seen as the first sign ministers are beginning to prepare the ground for a potential delay. Will we hear a similar shift in tone from Boris Johnson himself? And will Mr Johnson be asked if he is planning a foreign holiday, given ministers have been suggesting the public now refrain from going abroad?

The simmering row with the EU over the implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol is another likely topic. Plenty of MPs believe such problems were entirely predictable and provide an example of how the Prime Minister betrayed Northern Ireland in pursuit of a hard Brexit deal. But will Sir Keir Starmer choose Brexit as his focus? It seems unlikely - he has gone out of his way to avoid talking about the UK’s departure from the EU as much as possible, and there is nothing to suggest that will change today.

What is perhaps more likely is that the Labour leader will focus on the controversy around the level of funding the government has committed to its school catch-up programmes. Following the resignation of the government’s education recovery adviser Sir Kevan Collins last week over the lack of money, this might be seen as an opportunity to put Boris Johnson on the spot with some sustained questions on the matter.

Labour have an opposition debate in the commons on the same issue later, but Sir Keir may conclude raising the matter in PMQs may have more of an impact.

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2021-06-09 12:45:00Z
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