UK Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said on Wednesday that Boris Johnson is the "worst possible prime minister at the worst possible time," following Johnson's failure to rally all of his own Conservative Party lawmakers behind the new COVID-19 measures proposed by the government
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th December, 2021) UK Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said on Wednesday that Boris Johnson is the "worst possible prime minister at the worst possible time," following Johnson's failure to rally all of his own Conservative Party lawmakers behind the new COVID-19 measures proposed by the government.
"The British public are looking for a prime minister with the trust and the authority to lead Britain through the crisis. Instead, we're burdened with the worst possible Prime Minister at the worst possible time," Starmer told Parliament during a heated televised exchange with Johnson.
Nearly 100 of the 361 Conservative lawmakers voted on Tuesday evening against the introduction of mandatory COVID-19 passes in nightclubs and large venues, despite a personal appeal from Johnson to them just before the vote.
The controversial restriction, which some Conservative legislators described as an attack on civil liberties, was eventually passed thanks largely to the support from the opposition Labour Party, a fact Starmer took good care to highlight.
"The Labour party showed the leadership that the Prime Minister lacked. If it wasn't for Labour votes, his government wouldn't have been able to introduce vital public health measures," he stressed.
In his defense, Johnson replied that he respected "the feelings, the anxieties" his colleagues have about restrictions on their liberty and the liberty of people, but insisted that the governments approach to tackling the spreading of Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus "balanced and proportionate."
