BORIS JOHNSON was accused of “serious incompetence” over his government’s litany of summer U-turns during a fiery exchange with Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs today.

The Labour leader took the PM to task for “lurching from one crisis to another” and accused him of “making it up as he goes along.” 

Kicking off the first PMQs since summer recess, Mr Starmer pressed the PM on the A-level results chaos, demanding answers on when he knew that Ofqual’s algorithm was faulty.

But the PM dodged the question by bizarrely inviting the Labour leader to congratulate pupils on their exam results instead. 

Pressed again, Mr Johnson replied: “Ofqual made it absolutely clear time and again that in [its] view the system that was in place was robust.

“Ofqual is an independent organisation and credit had to be given to [its] views.”

On the series of government U-turns during the Covid-19 crisis, Mr Starmer said: “They have lurched from crisis to crisis, to correct one error or two might make sense, but when the government has knocked up 12 U-turns and counting, the only conclusion is serious incompetence.”

He added that the Prime Minister was “fooling nobody” and that “even his own MPs have run out of patience.”

Mr Johnson also faced repeated demands to extend the furlough scheme past October, including by Westminster SNP leader Ian Blackford. 

He told MPs: “With the clock ticking for struggling businesses and workers, will the Prime Minister commit today to extend the job retention scheme beyond October?

“Or is his government making the political choice to accept levels of unemployment last seen under Thatcher in the early 1980s?”

However, Mr Johnson argued that “indefinite furlough” was not the answer and listed other schemes supposedly designed to support young people in work. 

Labour’s Kate Osborne was among the MPs pressing for an extension and accused Mr Johnson of talking “waffle” in response to such appeals.

Commenting on the Commons exchange, Labour MP Richard Burgon accused the PM of having skewed priorities. 

“At PMQs Boris Johnson’s priority was forcing people back to workplaces,” he said. 

“His priority should have been tackling the public health crisis and stepping up the economic support that people so desperately need. We need to put people before profit.”