Keir Starmer and Boris Johnson ‘in heated exchange’ after fiery PMQs clash on EU vaccine

Keir Starmer and Boris Johnson during PMQs on Wednesday
PA
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Keir Starmer and Boris Johnson were engaged in a “heated" exchange after they clashed over vaccines in PMQS, it has been reported.

During Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Johnson 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 Sir Keir described the remarks as “complete nonsense” and suggested the “truth escapes” the Prime Minister.

The pair apparently returned to the point after the Commons session ended on Wednesday. The Sun reported that a Labour MP had to intervene.

One MP told the publication: "As I walked past they were in a heated discussion about what had just happened by the entrance to the Aye lobby."

But a Labour MP who was present during an exchange said rumours of an argument were “absolute b*******”.

Chester MP Chris Matheson said: “It’s absolute b******. There was a brief chat and then Keir and I left together.

“Nothing more to it than that.”

A Labour source added: “They had a perfectly reasonable conversation as they often do after PMQs.”

The Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Allegra Stratton was not immediately aware of the discussion, having gone onto a conference call with journalists soon after PMQs.

She said: “I’ve seen the reports but I haven’t seen the Prime Minister since he went into the Chamber so I can’t confirm or deny that.”

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 raised a point of order during PMQs in a bid to correct the record and highlight Sir Keir’s previous remarks.

Mr Johnson continued the debate saying: “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.”

A spokesperson for Keir Starmer said: “On a number of occasions the Prime Minister has wrongly claimed that Labour wantedto join the EU’s vaccine programme. That is inaccurate and the claim has been found to be untrue.

 “This afternoon during Prime Minister’s Questions, Keir misheard the Prime Minister and assumed he was making the same false accusation again.

 “Keir accepts that, on this occasion, the Prime Minister was referring to old comments about the European Medicines Agency and Keir admits he was wrong andmade a mistake in his response.

 “It’s not Labour policy to join either the European Medicines Agency or the EU vaccine programme. We have never called for the UK to be in the EU vaccineprogramme. We remain committed to working with the Government to ensure we can be the first in the world to roll out the vaccine.”

It comes after a row between the European Union and AstraZeneca over the supply of the coronavirus vaccine.

The European Commission argues that the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical firm is not honouring its “binding contract” to provide a specific number of shots.

But AstraZeneca has said it will not be able to deliver as many vaccines to the EU as initially hoped because of a production glitch.

The lack of jabs means the EU will not be able to meet its supply targets for the first three months of this year.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in