PMQs (Oct 28th) Badenoch vs Burnham Part 1
Statement 1
“There has been a bit of confusion this week, and I hope that the Prime Minister can clear it up. Does he or does he not want a referendum on rejoining the European Union?”
Initial thoughts
This statement is pretty short and direct in comparison to her usual statements and questions to start PMQs.
Claims
Checkable — a record could settle it
- “Does he or does he not want a referendum on rejoining the European Union?”
Untestable — a judgement, motive or prediction
- “There has been a bit of confusion this week.” This is not testable. It could be true that the Prime Minister’s position on a referendum on rejoining the EU is not clear, but the jump from there to confusion is what is not testable. The question is: confusion among whom? Members of the opposition? The Government? The public?
Presupposition — meaning something without outright saying it
- “I hope that the Prime Minister can clear it up.” Though she says what she means, this part of the statement lands as a presupposition, as it infers that the Prime Minister’s lack of clarity on his position is what has caused, in her own words, confusion, and that now, in order to help set the record straight, she is asking him to clear it up and recover everyone from the state of confusion.
Function
The atmosphere in the room was on other things, such as the appreciation of the Clerk of the House, who appears to be leaving, and condolences to Spain over a train accident. Mrs Badenoch also gives her well wishes to the Clerk before starting with Statement 1. After the question lands, the focus is on the Prime Minister and getting him to answer.
Purpose
First, the purpose is to lay the ground that the Prime Minister’s lack of clarity has resulted in confusion, which in her regard is telling. The second purpose is to get the Prime Minister to commit to a position on the issue.
Analysis
The initial setup to the question does two things. First, it paints a picture of uncertainty as to the Prime Minister’s path forward on the referendum, whether that is true or not. Second, she acts as a mediator looking for the truth, or to get the record straight. Then she lands the question, which is a good question and does deserve an answer.