PMQ: Exams Fiasco and A Question of Competence
Wednesday’s PMQ centered around a fiery discussion of Britain's recent exams fiasco and questions about competence within the Conservative leadership. Leader of the Opposition, Sir Keir Starmer, began his line of questioning by asking the Prime Minister, given he’d had discourse with The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation prior to the release of exam results, when he knew that the algorithm was going to cause an issue. The Prime Minister responded by asking “Right Honourable gentleman whether he will join me in congratulating those pupils on their hard work and whether he agrees with me that they deserve the grades they got?” Johnson’s response insinuated that Starmer was pushing blame on the students, when really he was asking a question of Johnson’s knowledge about the Ofqual algorithm’s efficacy. The Labour leader rephrased: “When did the The Prime Minister first know there’d be a problem with the algorithm?” Johnson replied,saying that Ofqual, an independent organization, had assured him that the system was “robust.”
The Prime Minister then pivoted to mention that despite Starmer’s ongoing reticence about sending children back to school, they were now returning in “record numbers in spite of all the gloom and dubitation that [Starmer] tried to spread.” The Labour leader then slashed Johnson’s claim, making clear that his party’s priority has been and continues to be the safe return of pupils to school.
Starmer then moved to share the statements of various Conservative MPs, those who wished to remain anonymous but still address what has become an increasingly inconsistent Conservative leadership. Starmer read these statements:
“The Government says one thing on Monday, changes its mind on Tuesday, something different is presented on Wednesday.”
“It’s mess after mess.”
The Prime Minister shied away from a clear response, rather pivoting to question Starmer’s former support for Remain during Brexit, as well as other positions the Opposition leader has taken. At this point the House became cacophonous, forcing the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, to step in and ask Johnson to answer the questions being asked, for the sake of those watching. The Prime Minister went on to say that with regard to the exams fiasco, Labour said “absolutely nothing to oppose the method of examinations.” Calling Starmer “Captain Hindsight,” Johnson again made it clear that he was fed up with the constant attacks from Starmer. The Labour leader responded sharply: “It’s the same every time: pretend the problem doesn’t exist, brush away scrutiny, make the wrong decision, then blame somebody else.” He continued to ask whether Johnson would extend the Furlough Scheme in order to protect countless British jobs; the Prime Minister made clear that the priority was getting people back to work through his Kickstart Scheme and that Furlough would not be extended.
In one of his final questions, Starmer made a stark statement: “This has been a wasted summer. The government should have spent it preparing for the autumn and winter, instead they’ve lurched from crisis to crisis, u-turn to u-turn. To correct one error, even two, might make sense. But when the government’s notched up 12 u-turns and rising, the only conclusion is serial incompetence.”
The PMQ then moved into questions from MPs from around the nation.