PMQs: Keir Starmer attacks Rishi Sunak over Boris Johnson honours list

Labour person Sir Keir Starmer has accused Rishi Sunak of being "too weak" to artifact Boris Johnson's honours list.

The erstwhile PM handed retired awards to immoderate of his closest aides from the Covid epoch successful a list published past week.

"That means that those who threw a Downing Street enactment the nighttime earlier the precocious Queen sat unsocial astatine her husband's ceremonial volition present person awards from the King," Sir Keir said.

Mr Sunak insisted helium had acted "in enactment with established conventions".

And - successful a jibe astatine Sir Keir's ain rubric - helium said: "I'd expect a knight similar him to recognize that."

The database of Mr Johnson's nominees included his erstwhile caput of operations, Shelley Williams-Walker, who was reportedly the DJ astatine a Downing Street gathering connected the eve of Prince Philip's funeral. She was made a dame.

Former manager of communications Jack Doyle and property advisor Rosie Bate-Williams, who issued immoderate of Mr Johnson's denials astir Covid rule-breaking, were fixed CBEs.

Mr Johnson has accused Mr Sunak of blocking immoderate of his different nominations, including a peerage for adjacent state Nadine Dorries, thing firmly denied by Downing Street.

Mr Sunak said past week that helium was not prepared to bash what Mr Johnson wanted implicit peerages, adding: "If radical don't similar that, past tough."

At Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Keir - who was knighted successful 2014 for his past relation arsenic manager of nationalist prosecutions - asked wherefore "for each his pugnacious talk" Mr Sunak had signed disconnected connected Mr Johnson's list.

He repeated his telephone for an contiguous wide election, accusing the Conservatives of getting their priorities wrong.

"All crossed the country, radical are disquieted astir their bills, the terms of the play store and the spiralling owe rates," said the Labour leader.

"So wherefore has the Tory enactment spent this past week arguing implicit which of them gets a peerage?"

Mr Sunak denied interfering successful Mr Johnson's nominations for honours, successful enactment with what helium said was a "long held convention" that had been followed by premier ministers of some main parties.

"My predecessors whitethorn not person agreed with Labour's choices of Tom Watson oregon Shami Chakrabarti, but the aforesaid precedent stood past arsenic it does now. And I'd expect a knight similar him to recognize that," said the premier minister.

Sir Keir responded: "Honours should beryllium for nationalist work not Tory cronies."

He accused the PM of allowing "those who spent their clip helping screen up Johnson's lawbreaking are rewarded by becoming lawmakers for the remainder of their lives".

Mr Sunak asked wherefore the Labour person had enactment erstwhile MP Tom Watson, "who dispersed vicious conspiracy theories that were wholly and utterly untrue", guardant for a spot successful the Lords.

He was referring to the present Lord Watson's erstwhile enactment for fantasist Carl Beech, who wrongly accused respective high-profile politicians and subject officers of execution and kid enactment maltreatment successful 2014.

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle intervened to pass Mr Sunak astir his comments.

"Can I conscionable accidental to the premier minister, you shouldn't criticise different members," helium told the PM.

"Also, you're not liable for the different parties. You are the premier curate that is answering the questions - not asking the questions."