When Keir Starmer was blocked from talking about the Queen, it highlighted a convention that has no place in the 21st century
With Boris Johnson reeling, the House of Commons was a stormy place at prime minister’s questions last Wednesday. The impact on the prime minister’s fate was minutely scrutinised. As a result, a separate exchange during that session has had less attention than it deserves.
In one of his questions, Keir Starmer began talking about the contrast, widely highlighted in the media beforehand, between the Queen sitting alone, obeying Covid rules at her husband’s funeral, and staff at No 10 ignoring the rules while partying with colleagues the previous evening.
Martin Kettle is a Guardian columnist
