Keir Starmer couldn’t ask the obvious questions of Boris Johnson – so he tried comedy instead

His first effort was not bad, accusing the prime minister of trying ‘Jedi mind tricks’ at Prime Minister’s Questions, writes John Rentoul

Keir Starmer started by saying something about himself that was almost interesting (PA)

Keir Starmer had learned half a lesson from last week’s disastrous outing at Prime Minister’s Questions. Last week he went on too long on the safe subject of the NHS. This week he tried to keep his questions short and started by saying something about himself that was almost interesting.

Responding to Boris Johnson’s tribute to the bravery of the armed forces in the Falklands, the 40th anniversary of which is being marked today, Starmer said that his uncle had served on HMS Antelope, which was sunk in the south Atlantic, and survived.

His first question was simply to ask why the UK is set for lower growth than every major economy, apart from Russia. The prime minister gave a frankly ridiculous answer: “The reason other countries are temporarily moving ahead is that we came out of the pandemic faster than they did.” It made so little sense that Starmer just asked the question again.