Boris Johnson on the defensive: Labour MPs have regained their voice and their confidence

Keir Starmer had some fun at the expense of the prime minister’s claim to lead a tax-cutting party, writes John Rentoul

It has been a long time that Labour MPs have enjoyed themselves so much in the chamber (UK Parliament)

Something has changed in the House of Commons. The noise is different. This is not just MPs finding their voice after two years of masks and social distancing; not just a return to the theatre of yah-boo. The noise is coming from the other side.

The Conservative whips have always been the Phil Spectors of parliament, marshalling their wall of sound in support of the prime minister and in intimidation of the leader of the opposition. But it is largely an artificial construction: there is a difference between mere shouting and the deep roar of a party that feels that politics is going its way. Today, that roar came repeatedly from the Labour side.

Keir Starmer’s opening question was simple: “Does the prime minister still think that he and the chancellor are tax-cutting Conservatives?”

Boris Johnson fell for it, saying of course he did, and asserting that putting up taxes a lot and then at the last moment deciding not to put them up by quite as much, was a tax cut. It was so daft that the Labour benches erupted in a spontaneous and disbelieving jeer.

It has been a long time that Labour MPs have enjoyed themselves so much in the chamber. It is not that they think Starmer is a great leader, but they think he’s a decent and serious administrator who could run a better government than the people opposite. Starmer had an effective prepared line: “I can only hope his police questionnaire was a bit more convincing than that.”

But what really united the Labour benches and turned up the volume was the sight of a prime minister on the defensive. Johnson tried to make a perfectly reasonable point, which is that his government had had to deal with a pandemic, but PMQs is not for reasonable points. Certainly not for reasonable points that are contradicted by claims to be a tax-cutting government. It is not often that Johnson struggles to be heard above the derision from the other side, but today it happened more than once.

The prime minister began his answer to the Labour leader’s third question: “If we had listened to them –” But that was as far as he got before Labour MPs erupted. They knew he was about to launch into his “Captain Hindsight would have kept us in lockdown” routine, and they knew it was an attempt to deflect from the embarrassment of putting up taxes.

Starmer set out the case for a windfall tax on oil and gas companies, quoting John Browne, the former chair of BP, in support, and Johnson responded with fiddly arguments about disincentives to investment, when everyone could see he would have been happier arguing the other side of that debating society motion. Starmer concluded: “They’re the party of oil and gas profits; we’re the party of working people.” Another genuine roar of approval from behind him.

To keep up to speed with all the latest opinions and comment, sign up to our free weekly Voices Dispatches newsletter by clicking here

Starmer devoted his last two questions to the subject of lockdown parties in Downing Street, reminding MPs that the prime minister had told the Commons that no rules were broken and asking: “Why is he still here?” This felt like going through the motions, but the prime minister went back into the lion’s den in his answer to Starmer’s final question: “He would like to take us back into the EU and take us back into lockdown.” That attracted standard yahs and boos from Labour MPs. But then Johnson went on: “They want to raise taxes; we want to cut taxes – and that’s what we’re doing.” Suddenly the wall of noise was back.

The rival Tory cheer for the prime minister’s peroration – “we take the tough decisions; they play politics” – was a good effort, but his heart wasn’t in it, and their hearts weren’t either. They would rather play politics too, as long as they can win.

It’s a funny business, politics. Labour do want to raise taxes, especially to pay for the NHS, and the Conservatives would rather be cutting taxes – they feel uncomfortable occupying that Labour territory, even though it is the obvious and right thing to do, and they spend all their time trying to pretend that they are not raising taxes to the highest level since the 1940s.

But Labour MPs can sense that discomfort and are determined to add to it. The tables have turned. The opinion polls say that the voters think that taxes would be lower under a Labour government. Labour MPs haven’t felt that things are going in their direction for a long time. Competitive politics is back.