Boris Johnson signs off last PMQs claiming mission largely accomplishedon July 20, 2022 at 3:11 pm

“Mission largely accomplished, for now,” Boris Johnson has declared as he signed off his last Prime Minister’s Questions.

During his final question session, the PM also took swipes at the social media site Twitter and the Treasury.

“If we always listened to the Treasury we wouldn’t have built the M25 or the Channel Tunnel,” he said.

His final words before departing were “hasta la vista baby”, meaning see you later, from the Terminator films.

He left the House of Commons chamber to applause and a standing ovation from his own MPs, although his predecessor Theresa May did not join in with the clapping.

But during the 45 minute session, Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer focused his attack on the candidates vying to replace Mr Johnson as leader, saying they had they “got us into this mess and have no idea how to get us out of it”.

He said the leadership hopefuls had “trashed every part of their record in government” and asked: “What message does it send when the candidates to be prime minister can’t find a single decent thing to say about him, about each other or their record in government?”

Labour has used quotes and questions from Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and Kemi Badenoch during the leadership debates to attack the government on social media.

Mr Johnson hit back describing Sir Keir as a “pointless human bollard” who had opposed government polices including the health and social care levy designed to raise money for the NHS and social care.

The prime minister also used his 93rd, and final, Prime Minister’s Questions to offer some advice to his successor including the plea to “cut taxes and deregulation wherever you can”.

He added that he “loved the Treasury” but argued they had a track record of blocking big projects.

His comments come after months of tension between No 10 and the Treasury, with the former wanting to borrow more and tax less, while the then-chancellor Mr Sunak argued taxes should not be cut if plans were unfunded.

In his resignation letter, Mr Sunak – who is now running to replace Mr Johnson – said his approach was “fundamentally too different” to that of the prime minister.

Mr Johnson also advised the next prime minister to “focus on the road ahead, but always remember to check the rear-view mirror and remember above all it’s not Twitter that counts, it’s the people who sent us here.”

He thanked House of Commons staff, friends and colleagues before concluding with the phrase “hasta la vista baby” – a sign off that may raises questions about his post-prime ministerial ambitions, given that another famous Terminator quote is “I’ll be back”.

Several Conservative MPs thanked Mr Johnson for his service including Cherilyn Mackrory who praised “his enthusiasm for levelling up”.

Sir Edward Leigh said “on behalf of the 17.4m people who voted Brexit may I thank him for restoring people’s belief in democracy”.

However, opposition MPs were less generous, including the SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford who said he would be remembered by people in Scotland as “shameful” and “disgraceful”.

The SDLP’s Claire Hanna accused Mr Johnson of being “the embodiment of excess and vice” who had “systematically destroyed” trust.

Mr Johnson will stay on as prime minister until early September, when either Mr Sunak or Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will be elected as the next Conservative party leader.

Over the past week, the party’s MPs have whittle down the list of leadership hopefuls down to the final two, who will now face a ballot of Tory Party members.

Ballot papers will go out at the beginning of August and the result is expected on 5 September.