Liaison Committee grills Boris Johnson on coronavirus, climate policy and devolution

The Liaison Committee, made up of MPs who chair departmental select committees, grilled the PM today amid controversy over a three-week wait until self-isolation rules end for the double-jabbed. 

Chris Bryant MP accused the PM of rarely “correcting the record” on inaccurate comments and statements he’s made before repeatedly asking Johnson if he fired former Health Secretary, Matt Hancock. 

The PM avoided answering the question directly but pointed out that a new Health Secretary was appointed within days of Matt Hancock’s affair hitting the headlines. 

MPs including Clive Betts and Caroline Nokes then grilled the PM over the government’s implementation of policies to tackle climate change ahead of COP26, saying that “strategies are not in place” for many ambitions, including retrofitting homes and installing green boilers. 

Philip Dunne MP said: 

“The heat building strategy, understanding how we're going to cope with the energy efficiency of homes... At the moment there is a lacuna - we don't have these policies.”

Gesturing to his “10 point plan” for the climate, the PM denied the accusation and promised a decarbonisation plan for homes “long before” COP26. 

MPs asked several questions on the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on society, questioning the logic of double-jabbed people having to self-isolate until rules are relaxed in August. 

The PM said he understood “the frustration” among those with two vaccines but said “we have to do what we can to stop the spread”.