https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14838837/Never-Keir-Starmer-wont-come-Commons-field-questions-Iran-crisis-miss-PMQs-week-dodging-grilling-grooming-gangs.htmlNever here Keir! Starmer won't come to the Commons to field questions on Iran crisis and will miss PMQs AGAIN this week after dodging grilling on grooming gangs
By JAMES TAPSFIELD, POLITICAL EDITOR FOR MAILONLINE
Published: 15:07, 23 June 2025 | Updated: 16:04, 23 June 2025
Keir Starmer will not field questions from MPs on the Iran crisis today amid criticism that he is dodging scrutiny. The PM sent Foreign Secretary David Lammy to deliver a Commons statement on the burgeoning crisis in the Middle East this afternoon. Mr Lammy came under huge pressure to justify the UK's position of refusing to say whether or not it backs US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites. Sir Keir, who is meeting Volodymyr Zelensky this afternoon, is expected to take Cabinet but not be in the House tomorrow. He will miss PMQs for the second week running on Wednesday as he is due at the Nato summit in The Hague. By Thursday, when he is due to make an appearance, the premier will not have spoken in the chamber for more than two weeks. Sir Keir has still not updated the elected chamber on the G7 summit in Canada last week something that by convention happens as soon as possible. He was previously criticised for delaying his return from that gathering to dodge a grilling on grooming gangs. The summit wrapped up on Tuesday night, but Angela Rayner stood in at the weekly PMQs session the following lunchtime. The bombshell report by Baroness Casey condemning institutions for ignoring ethnic factors in sexual abuse of children dominated clashes in the House. Sir Keir had chosen to announced his extraordinary U-turn to back a statutory national inquiry into the scandal as he left the country for Canada the weekend before. The PM had spent months resisting demands from Opposition politicians and campaigners to trigger a new probe. But he shifted his position after reading the damning conclusions of Lady Casey's rapid review. Sir Keir was in Alberta when Home Secretary Yvette Cooper made an apology to victims on behalf of the state, and published the Whitehall troubleshooter's report. Although he faced questions from the media at the G7 - which has been dominated by the Israel-Iran crisis - Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Sir Keir 'should have been in the chamber this week talking about this issue'.
Ms Rayner will again fill in for Sir Keir in the chamber this Wednesday. Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said: 'The Prime Minister has not even spoken once in the Commons since this crisis began. He needs to come to Parliament today, update the country on where the UK stands and what he is doing to ensure the situation does not escalate any further.'
