PMQs preview: Johnson faces grilling from Starmer as Brexit row erupts and inflation hits 40-year high

PMQs preview: Johnson faces grilling from Starmer as Brexit row erupts and inflation hits 40-year high
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Tom Evans

By Tom Evans


Published: 18/05/2022

- 11:16

Updated: 14/02/2023

- 11:23

The Prime Minister is preparing for his first PMQs since the Queen's Speech

Mr Johnson will no doubt face a grilling after inflation figures were released this morning.

The rate of Consumer Prices Index inflation increased to nine percent in April from seven percent in March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said.


It was the fastest measured rate since records began in 1989, and the ONS estimates it was the highest since 1982.

A large portion of the rise was due to the price cap on energy bills, which was hiked by 54 percent for the average household at the start of April.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson (right) with the leader of the Labour Party Keir Starmer walk through the Members' Lobby at the Palace of Westminster ahead of the State Opening of Parliament in the House of Lords, London. Picture date: Tuesday May 10, 2022.
Keir Starmer and Boris Johnson
Toby Melville

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer as he meets Prime Minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Store at the Embassy of Norway in London. Picture date: Friday May 13, 2022.
Keir Starmer
Victoria Jones

Sir Keir's Labour Party want to introduce a windfall tax to deflect the cost burden onto large oil and gas companies, rather than working Brits.

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the rate of inflation would be “a huge worry for families already stretched”.

And she confirmed Labour will be forcing a vote for an Emergency Budget today, ramping up pressure on the Government to do more to help struggling families.

She said: “We can’t wait any longer for action from this out-of-touch Government.

“Today, Labour force a vote for an Emergency Budget and for a plan for growth.

“The Tories must back it.”

Today's PMQs comes just a day after Foreign Secretary Liz Truss reopened old wounds with the EU over Brexit, as she pledged to rework the Northern Ireland Protocol.

European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic is among those to have already slammed the UK’s plans, warning that Brussels could retaliate.

Sir Keir is likely to attack Mr Johnson for the state of affairs.

Shadow Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty said yesterday that the Government was “trying to convince people its flagship achievement was not a negotiating triumph but a deal so flawed that they cannot abide by it”.

He added: “Either they did not understand their own agreement, they were not upfront about the reality of it or they intended to break it all along. The Prime Minister negotiated this deal, signed it, ran an election campaign on it. He must take responsibility for it and make it work.”

Mr Doughty said that “both the UK Government and the EU need to show willing and good faith”, telling the Commons: “This is not a time for political posturing or high stakes brinkmanship.”

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