Coronavirus PMQs showed how politics should work – The Yorkshire Post says

The Opposition leader asked constructive questions, not least the plight of housing tenants who could be evicted by landlords if they fall behind with their rent, and the PM responded in kind.

It was the same with backbenchers – even when Theresa May asked her successor to define “a sensible exit strategy” from measures to control the disease’s transmission. Mr Johnson simply said the objective was to suppress the peak of the pandemic.

Even though the many empty spaces on the green benches led to a subdued atmosphere as MPs tried to set an example of sorts over social distancing, this is how politics should be conducted.

It was far more productive than usual – Mr Johnson acknowledged Opposition concerns about the volume of coronavirus tests being carried out and personal protection equipment for health workers rather than dismissing them.

And while actions always speak louder than words, particularly with this PM, language matters. It can be no coincidence that some of the war-like rhetoric used by the Prime Minister, and others, has come at a time of panic buying in supermarkets and the brazenness of those who have sought to defy public heath protocols put in place by Government scientists of the highest repute and integrity.

Yes, this is a crisis without precedent in the post-war period, but the political response needs to be shaped by calm authority and compassion towards all those who are genuinely fearful. It will also be far more effective than the aggressive bellicose attitude which has infected politics to the extent that mistrust is so endemic that it is increasingly difficult for leaders to influence public behaviour in a positive way.