Up steps Kier Starmer…

Opens with praise for the incoming Biden presidency and the vaccine rollout.

Starmer probes the government error that led to thousands of criminal records being lost. “How many criminal investigations could have been damaged by this mistake?”

Johnson answering sheepishly. “We’ll assess the damage.” Believes the incident, while ‘complex’ can be rectified.

“That’s not an answer to my question.” replies Starmer. Asks a follow-up, “how many convicted criminals have had their records deleted?”

Johnson says “we don’t know”, while slapping the dispatch box.

Starmer withdraws a letter from the National Police Chiefs Council, which claims that over 400,000 records were lost, in addition to over 20,000 DNA records. “It’s about criminals not getting caught, and victims not getting justice.”

Johnson accuses Starmer of failing to listen to his answer. Repeats “we are trying to retrieve the data”.

Starmer reverses the accusation. A few laughs and jeers from Tory benches.

“How long would it take for all the missing records to be reinstated?”

Johnson avoids directly answering, insists the governmennt is working ‘around the clock’.

Starmer asks the PM why he didn’t close the UK border at the onset of the pandemic.

Johnson refers to Starmer as ‘captain hindsight’.