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Sunak escapes Brexit grilling at latest PMQs
by cityam
JESSICA FRANK-KEYES
PRIME Minister Rishi Sunak yesterday escaped a major Brexit grilling over the Windsor Framework amid a row over former health secretary Matt Hancock’s leaked Whatsapp messages.
The PM – whose latest EU trade agreement is hoped to end the power-sharing deadlock in Northern Ireland – dodged intense scrutiny over the deal in the
Commons yesterday.
It came amid furore over Hancock’s texts with key government figures during the pandemic, as revealed by the Telegraph, which appear to indicate he did not follow advice on testing.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called on Sunak to ensure the inquiry on UK Covid-19 is able to report its findings by the end of this year.
Some £85m in public money has been spent, he said, and no ministers have yet given evidence.
But “rather than comment on piecemeal bits of information”, Sunak stressed there was an ongoing legal process and the independent inquiry should he be able to “get on and do the job”.
Health minister Helen Whately said “selective snippets of Whatsapp conversations give a limited and at times misleading insight”.
