Labour says Boris Johnson had his ‘Kevin Keegan moment’ in PMQs
Labour has called Boris Johnson’s angry performance in Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) today his “Kevin Keegan moment” in an allusion to the former football manager’s famous 1996 rant.
Johnson was furious when answering the last of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s six questions in PMQs today, with the Prime Minister shouting so loudly that his microphone in the House of Commons began to distort.
A visibly furious Johnson was answering questions about a new Electoral Commission investigation into who originally paid for a £58,000 refurbishment of his Downing Street flat.
The cost of the £58,000 flat refurbishment was paid by Johnson, however it was only after a loan from the Conservative party.
It is believed the original cost came from an undisclosed donation to the party – a potential breach of Electoral Commission rules.
Starmer’s spokesperson told journalists today that the rant was Johnson’s “Kevin Keegan moment”.
In response, Downing Street said: “I think the point he was making was that there are other priorities people want to be talking about now, so he was passionate about talking about the people’s priorities.”
Keegan’s “I will love it if we beat them” rant in 1996 was in response to combative comments made by then Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Starmer’s spokesperson also downplayed Labour’s chances at a series of local elections next week, which includes a byelection for the Westminster constituency of Hartlepool – a seat never won by the Tories.
“We’re fighting for every vote, these are undoubtedly difficult elections for Labour, not least because they happen to be fought during the middle of a pandemic when we haven’t been able to get out and about as much as we had hoped and restrictions are still in place,” they said.