London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Jan 18, 2026

Boris Johnson hits back at critics over social care at stormy PMQs

Boris Johnson hits back at critics over social care at stormy PMQs

Boris Johnson batted away opposition calls for him to stand down and defended himself against accusations of "broken promises" at PMQs.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer challenged the PM on social care funding, rail investment and tax.

Picking up on reports of Tory disquiet after the PM's chaotic speech to business leaders, he asked: "Is everything OK, prime minister?"

The PM said the government was "delivering for...working people".

The Conservative benches were packed for the exchanges, in contrast to last week's session.

"I see they have turned up this week prime minister," said Sir Keir, prompting uproar on all sides and an intervention from Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who ordered MPs to calm down.

Several MPs have told the BBC that they were urged by party managers, via text or phone call, to attend Prime Minister's Questions to support Mr Johnson.

Sir Keir repeatedly claimed the government's plans for social care funding broke a Conservative manifesto pledge that nobody would have to sell their home to pay for care.

"He's picked the pockets of working people to protect the estates of the wealthiest," said the Labour leader, adding: "How could he have devised a working class dementia tax?"

Mr Johnson said homes will not be included in the cap on costs, adding that Labour did not have a plan to solve the problem.

The prime minister said the government's "huge investment" in health and social care meant people will be able to insure themselves against the "catastrophic cost" of suffering from diseases such as dementia.

Sir Keir also accused Mr Johnson of breaking a promise not to raise taxes - and to deliver a "rail revolution" in the North of England, despite now cancelling the northern leg of HS2.

"Who knows if he'll make it to the next election, but if he does, how can he expect anyone to take his promises seriously?," asked the Labour leader.

Mr Johnson insisted there would be a rail revolution, and claimed the government was spending £96bn on upgrading links.

And he said Sir Keir had campaigned against HS2 - which runs through his Holborn and St Pancras constituency - adding that he had backed the new high speed rail link even though it affected his own constituents, because it was in the national interest.

"How can they trust that man?" he asked.

Johnson not yet derailed

Talk of ousting the PM seems fanciful. He has a track record of bouncing back from adversity.

But it is worth noting that loud cheers from a leader's own side does not mean that underlying concerns have evaporated.

The former Conservative leader, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, was greeted by regular, co-ordinated standing ovations at his party conference, but that didn't prevent MPs quietly but definitively submitting letters of no confidence.

The mood at the moment though seems to be for the current Conservative leader to get a grip rather than to get out.

While Mr Johnson was on the back foot at PMQs, he nonetheless managed to step up attacks on the Labour leader too - the most effective of which was to suggest that HS2 would never have been built at all if Sir Keir Starmer had got his way.

Boris Johnson's premiership has looked juddery recently, but hasn't yet been derailed.

The SNP's Westminster Leader, Ian Blackford, also seized on reports of Tory disquiet with the PM's recent performance, accusing him of "floundering in failure" and asking him if he had "considered calling it a day".

"In the real world, people are suffering a Tory cost of living crisis, Brexit is hitting the economy hard, but the prime minister can't even give a coherent speech to business leaders," he added.

He asked why Mr Johnson was "clinging on when he quite clearly isn't up to the job".

The prime minister said the British public wanted to hear less about politics and more about what the government is doing "for the people of Scotland".

Earlier, deputy PM Dominic Raab praised Mr Johnson's "ebullient, bouncy, optimistic, Tiggerish character", saying it "livens up" his speeches.

He said there was a "steeliness" to the prime minister, adding: "We work as a team", and he dismissed the criticism as Westminster "tittle tattle".

Mr Johnson appeared before the CBI conference earlier this week to make his pitch for a "green industrial revolution" to business, including support for electric cars, investing in wind power and the government's integrated rail plan.

But it drew more negative attention after his impression of a car and his personal anecdote from a trip to Peppa Pig World.

"I was a bit hazy about what I would find at Peppa Pig World, but I loved it," he told the conference. "Peppa Pig World is very much my kind of place.

"It has very safe streets, discipline in schools, a heavy emphasis on mass transit systems I noticed, even if they are a bit stereotypical about Daddy Pig."

Asked after the speech, "is everything OK?", Mr Johnson said he thought people had "got the vast majority of the points" he wanted to make and that the speech "went over well".

It comes after a few weeks of turbulence at Westminster.

The PM backed attempts to overhaul the standards system for MPs' conduct, blocking the suspension of Tory MP Owen Paterson - who had been found to have broken lobbying rules.

No 10 performed a U-turn on the move following a furious backlash from MPs, including some Conservatives.

But the fall-out led to accusations about sleaze, and wider questions about MPs' second jobs.

The PM came under further pressure this week over the cost cap element of his social care plan, which charities warned could unfairly hit people with fewer assets.

MPs backed the proposals, but it was only a narrow victory for Mr Johnson thanks to a significant Tory rebellion.


PMQs: Sir Keir Starmer claims the PM has devised a "working class dementia tax" to pay for health and social care costs



Watch: The prime minister is asked if he's OK after talking about Peppa Pig in a speech to business leaders


Justice Secretary Dominic Raab: 'The prime minister is a Tiggerish character'



Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
GDP Growth Remains the Most Telling Barometer of Britain’s Economic Health
Prince William and Kate Middleton Stay Away as Prince Harry Visits London Amid Lingering Rift
Britain Braces for Colder Weather and Snow Risk as Temperatures Set to Plunge
Mass Protests Erupt as UK Nears Decision on China’s ‘Mega Embassy’ in London
Prince Harry to Return to UK to Testify in High-Profile Media Trial Against Associated Newspapers
Keir Starmer Rejects Trump’s Greenland Tariff Threat as ‘Completely Wrong’
Trump to hit Europe with 10% tariffs until Greenland deal is agreed
Prince Harry Returns to UK High Court as Final Privacy Trial Against Daily Mail Publisher Begins
Britain Confronts a Billion-Pound Wind Energy Paradox Amid Grid Constraints
The graduate 'jobpocalypse': Entry-level jobs are not shrinking. They are disappearing.
Cybercrime, Inc.: When Crime Becomes an Economy. How the World Accidentally Built a Twenty-Trillion-Dollar Criminal Economy
The Return of the Hands: Why the AI Age Is Rewriting the Meaning of “Real Work”
UK PM Kier Scammer Ridicules Tories With "Kamasutra"
Strategic Restraint, Credible Force, and the Discipline of Power
United Kingdom and Norway Endorse NATO’s ‘Arctic Sentry’ Mission Including Greenland
Woman Claiming to Be Freddie Mercury’s Secret Daughter Dies at Forty-Eight After Rare Cancer Battle
UK Launches First-Ever ‘Town of Culture’ Competition to Celebrate Local Stories and Boost Communities
Planned Sale of Shell and Exxon’s UK Gas Assets to Viaro Energy Collapses Amid Regulatory and Market Hurdles
UK Intensifies Arctic Security Engagement as Trump’s Greenland Rhetoric Fuels Allied Concern
Meghan Markle Could Return to the UK for the First Time in Nearly Four Years If Security Is Secured
Meghan Markle Likely to Return to UK Only if Harry Secures Official Security Cover
UAE Restricts Funding for Emiratis to Study in UK Amid Fears Over Muslim Brotherhood Influence
EU Seeks ‘Farage Clause’ in Brexit Reset Talks to Safeguard Long-Term Agreement Stability
Starmer’s Push to Rally Support for Action Against Elon Musk’s X Faces Setback as Canada Shuns Ban
UK Free School Meals Expansion Faces Political and Budgetary Delays
EU Seeks ‘Farage Clause’ in Brexit Reset Talks With Britain
Germany Hit by Major Airport Strikes Disrupting European Travel
Prince Harry Seeks King Charles’ Support to Open Invictus Games on UK Return
Washington Holds Back as Britain and France Signal Willingness to Deploy Troops in Postwar Ukraine
Elon Musk Accuses UK Government of Suppressing Free Speech as X Faces Potential Ban Over AI-Generated Content
Russia Deploys Hypersonic Missile in Strike on Ukraine
OpenAI and SoftBank Commit One Billion Dollars to Energy and Data Centre Supplier
UK Prime Minister Starmer Reaffirms Support for Danish Sovereignty Over Greenland Amid U.S. Pressure
UK Support Bolsters U.S. Seizure of Russian-Flagged Tanker Marinera in Atlantic Strike on Sanctions Evasion
The Claim That Maduro’s Capture and Trial Violate International Law Is Either Legally Illiterate—or Deliberately Deceptive
UK Data Watchdog Probes Elon Musk’s X Over AI-Generated Grok Images Amid Surge in Non-Consensual Outputs
Prince Harry to Return to UK for Court Hearing Without Plans to Meet King Charles III
UK Confirms Support for US Seizure of Russian-Flagged Oil Tanker in North Atlantic
Béla Tarr, Visionary Hungarian Filmmaker, Dies at Seventy After Long Illness
UK and France Pledge Military Hubs Across Ukraine in Post-Ceasefire Security Plan
Prince Harry Poised to Regain UK Security Cover, Clearing Way for Family Visits
UK Junk Food Advertising Ban Faces Major Loophole Allowing Brand-Only Promotions
Maduro’s Arrest Without The Hague Tests International Law—and Trump’s Willingness to Break It
German Intelligence Secretly Intercepted Obama’s Air Force One Communications
The U.S. State Department’s account in Persian: “President Trump is a man of action. If you didn’t know it until now, now you do—do not play games with President Trump.”
Fake Mainstream Media Double Standard: Elon Musk Versus Mamdani
HSBC Leads 2026 Mortgage Rate Cuts as UK Lending Costs Ease
US Joint Chiefs Chairman Outlines How Operation Absolute Resolve Was Carried Out in Venezuela
Starmer Welcomes End of Maduro Era While Stressing International Law and UK Non-Involvement
Korean Beauty Turns Viral Skincare Into a Global Export Engine
×