Colum Eastwood, SDLP MP:

Asks the PM about his ‘fantasy bridge’ to Northern Ireland, and wider government spending. ‘What mandate does he have?’.

Johnson justifies the bridge project, before throwing a jab at the SNP. Johnson finishes off a very strong exchange on his part by saying he is ‘amazed’ at the SDLP’s stance on the matter.

Jeremy Wright, Tory MP:

Asks the PM about help for youth sports, arts, and education during the pandemic.

Johnson thanks Wright, and the question, pledging more money and vaguely praising the importance of the arts.

Kirsten Oswald, SNP MP:

Oswald asks the PM on troubles with the Turing Scheme for overseas students.

Johnson thanks the concise question, before defending the Turing Scheme as beneficial for those less well-off.

Oswald comes back with an accusation of dishonesty and the wider SNP line on the Tories. A few scattered laughs ring out as Oswald mentions independence, before she urges the PM to rejoin Erasmus. The Speaker steps in to remind Oswald that she must not address the PM directly.

Johnson calls the Turing Scheme ‘fantastic’, and the SNP ‘failing’. He seems to be taking his frustrations out on the SNP.

Scott Benton, Tory MP:

Benton opens up with gushing praise for the vaccine rollout before asking the PM to encourage domestic holidays, and to join him in Blackpool for the local vaccine drive.

Johnson waffles about his admiration for Blackpool, before sticking to the party line on the roadmap out of lockdown.

Ian Blackford is skipped due to technical issues. More on him later.

Keir Starmer, Leader of the Opposition:

Starmer opens with a direct question over who is more deserving of a pay-rise; nurses or Dominic Cummings. They’re really going to hammer this one home today.

Johnson refers to his earlier answer, before stressing that starting salaries in the NHS have increased, as well as the total number of nurses.

Starmer comes back with data on NHS pay since the 2010 coalition government. He then returns to the original question, dropping some figures before asking ‘how on Earth does he justify that?’

Johnson repeats his initial point. He’s in a hole here.

Starmer refers to 40,000 nursing vacancies and 7,000 doctors vacancies. ‘How on Earth does he think a pay-cut is going to solve that?’ Starmer is going for the jugular. He the goes after the PM’s personal spending.

Johnson replies with more boasts about government spending, increased numbers. Starmer uses his family connections to the NHS to go after the PM’s authenticity, claiming that he clapped genuinely for carers and Johnson didn’t. Starmer has him on the ropes.

Johnson repeats the same old data, Starmer looks exacerbated. He then stammers through something about the rollout.

Starmer urges the PM to listen to his own party, using the words of his own MPs against him. Johnson goes back to the same data. He keeps on digging.

A few more quips back and forth but its exchange over, Starmer the clear winner.

Gagan Mohindra, Tory MP:

Asks the PM about flooding prevention.

Johnson thanks the question, and the environment agency, before announcing another 9-figure support package. I’m sure Rishi is looking on with widened eyes.

Daisy Cooper, Lib Dem MP:

Cooper asks the PM about test-and-trace, and the 1% NHS pay-rise. ‘Will the Prime Minister do more than pay lip service?’

Johnson replies with praise for NHS nurses, and vaguely promises to pay them more. As for the test-and-trace question, the PM proudly boasts that the country is moving ‘irreversibly’ out of lockdown.

Slight delay as questions for the Scottish Office Minister tick over 12pm. Starmer waits awkwardly in the wings.

Boris Johnson has entered the chamber, and the session is about to begin..

Johnson opens with brief comments on the vaccine scheme, international aid, and comments from the EU that accuses the UK of blocking vaccines.

Posted at 11:55 UK time

Hello, and welcome to this weeks coverage of PMQ’s here at Bournbrook Live. I’m S.D. Wickett, and I’ll be taking you through the proceedings, which begin in five minutes.

Published 11.50am UK time.

‘Stay home, protect the NHS, save lives’, we were told. But has this rhetoric actually done more to harm lives than to save them?

New analysis reveals that nearly 11,000 women could be living with undiagnosed breast cancer. The charity Breast Cancer Now has said that ‘the tragic cost of almost 11,000 missing breast cancer diagnoses is that in the worst cases, women could die from the disease’.

As Doctor Karol Sikora wrote last November, ‘fear and scaremongering is being used to keep people out of hospital’. The effects of this on our national health are dire.

I write more at Lockdown Sceptics, here.

The Root Causes of Iconoclasm

Posted at 12:30pm UK time

In my book Iconoclasm, Identity Politics and the Erasure of History (2020), I explain the root causes of today's iconoclastic urges. Briefly, they are:

a) politics, which argues that statues celebrate oppression,

b) moral foundations, which tells protestors they are on the 'right side of history' and can disregard opposition,

c) conformity, which herds people into groups, loosening inhibitions,

d) infantilisation, which makes protestors feel affronted and justified in committing violence,

e) the culture of safetyism, which directs people to destroy statues that might harm minority groups,

f) anti-heroism, which says that heroism is a hollow lie used to manipulate people,

g) education, which sparks and justifies anger about perceived injustice and

h) cancel culture, which makes protestors think they have the right to silence speech they dislike.

This list omits the common anti-patriotic feeling of the left-leaning, managerial elite, whose children are frequently instigators of iconoclastic vandalism. This class provides the iconoclasts, the police commanders who permit their illegality, the judges who issue feeble cautions to the punished few and newspaper columnists who excuse destruction of our cultural heritage.

It is a proxy war by the anti-patriotic elite against the traditional values of the working class. Iconoclasm allows the elite — whose tastes are international and whose politics are globalist — to destroy symbols of old Britain.

Alexander Adams writes more on iconoclasm, and the government’s measures against it, in our March print issue. Get this for free by subscribing here.

Posted at 12:30pm UK time

Famously, recent studies showed how a first dose of either Pfizer or Oxford, AstraZeneca reduces both deaths and hospitalisations dramatically — the drop in mortality in the over 60s already being seen to a significant degree across the nation.

By the fourth week after a first dose, the risk of hospitalisation is reportedly slashed by 85 per cent in the case of Pfizer and 94 per cent in the case of Oxford, AZ — to me these are truly remarkable figures.

The ‘roadmap' throws all this data aside by declaring there is no chance for wiggle room by including the 'no earlier than' dates, a clear rejection of scientific data and an endorsement of arbitrary dates.

William Parker writes more on why the vaccine must bring the ‘roadmap’ forward in our March print issue. Get this for free by subscribing here

Posted at 12:50pm UK

That’s all for today. Thanks for checking in, and keep an eye out for my full report tomorrow morning.

Mike Kane, Labour MP:

Asks the PM about HS2.

Johnson answers that rising costs may get in the way, but the government is ‘going as fast as it can.’

Andrew Percy, Tory MP:

Asks the PM to consider the bid for a Freeport in the Humber region.

Johnson praises the bid, requests that members of the house wait until the full budget announcement.

Carla Lockhart, DUP MP:

Asks the PM about a December interview in which he ruled out checks on goods between Britain and Northern Ireland. The Speaker intervenes to remind Lockhart not to address Johnson personally.

Johnson reiterates that the government will leave ‘nothing off the table’ for Northern Irish trade.

Andrea Leadsom, Tory MP:

Asks Johnson to reassure the family of Harry Dunn that they will see justice.

The PM pledges to work closely with the US, stating for Foreign Sec. Dominic Raab is in contact with American officials.

Amy Callaghan, SNP MP:

Asks the PM about the Erasmus Scheme, asks the PM to confirm that people won’t be ‘left behind’.

Johnson assures her that the Turing Scheme will be better.

Sara Britcliffe, Tory MP:

Thanks the PM for visiting her constituency, asks him to support her push to invest in a ‘green industrial revolution’ in the area.

Johnson congratulates Britcliffe on her campaign.