LABOUR have denied reports that Keir Starmer “fronted up” to Boris Johnson behind the scenes at Westminster following a clash over Covid vaccines at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs).
According to the Sun, the Labour leader confronted and "wagged his finger aggressively" at Johnson after the Prime Minister pointed out his previous support for remaining in the European Medicines Agency (EMA) after Brexit.
Tory ministers previously claimed that Britain deliberately broke away from EMA control so that the UK could approve jags quicker.
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However, any EU member could have done this. The bloc has been seeing a slower roll-out as Brussels aimed to avoid “vaccine nationalism” and infighting among member states by adopting a “one-for-all” approach.
Speaking at PMQs today, Johnson said: "If we had listened to [Starmer] 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.”
Starmer said the accusation was “complete nonsense” and said Johnson was making sure not to “let the truth get in the way of a pre-prepared gag”.
He added: "The Prime Minister knows I've never said that, from this despatch box or anywhere else, the truth escapes him."
Following the exchange, Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg shared a video on Twitter proving that Starmer had in fact backed remaining in the EMA on at least two occasions.
Hansard, the official record of Parliament, shows that in January 2017 Starmer questioned why the UK would want to leave the body and that it should be something retained as part of the Brexit process.
However, the UK remaining in the EMA would not necessarily mean the vaccine roll-out “would still be at the starting blocks”, as Johnson claimed.
Sir Kier Starmer has just denied saying this in Prime Minister’s questions.https://t.co/zkD0Krj4L3
— Jacob Rees-Mogg (@Jacob_Rees_Mogg) February 3, 2021
Starmer reportedly confronted the Prime Minister after PMQs to reiterate his point.
One eyewitness told the Sun: "Starmer kept claiming wanting to join the EMA was 'nothing to do with the vaccine', and the PM kept saying 'check the record, you said it.'"
Another added: "Keir fronted up to the PM after PMQs in the entrance to the Chamber - no mask, not socially distanced either, to say that the PM was wrong about the EMA.
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"The PM tried to close it down by saying it’s on the record."
The Sun also reported that Labour whip Christian Matheson had to lead Starmer away from the confrontation. However, Matheson himself said that claim was “bollocks”.
He added: "There was a brief chat and then Keir and I left together. Nothing more to it than that.”
Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said they were not aware of the incident, while a Labour source told PA: “They had a perfectly reasonable conversation as they often do after PMQs.”
Following the incident, Starmer released a statement admitting he was wrong. The Labour leader said he had misheard the Prime Minister, and believed he was talking about the EU's vaccine programme, not the EMA.
Starmer said that Johnson had "wrongly claimed" that Labour wanted to join the EU vaccine programme on "a number of occasions", and today "assumed he was making the same false accusation again".
He added: "It's not Labour's policy to join either the EMA or the EU vaccine programme. We have never called for the UK to be in the EU vaccine programme. We remain committed to working with the Government to ensure we can be the first in the world to roll out the vaccine."
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