Seconds before PMQs began Sir Keir Starmer could be seen laughing uproariously, perhaps at something said by his neighbour, Rachel Reeves, or perhaps because of the roars of happy anticipation which greeted the last Conservatives to arrive, each of whom was suspected, in a mocking way, of being about to defect and take his or her place on the Labour benches.
“I’m not sure the Chief Whip is,” the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, said as Simon Hart instead took his accustomed place at the end of the Treasury Bench.
So this week we had no Natalie Elphicke, who last week attained the widest public of her career by defecting to Labour.
There was nevertheless an end-of-term feeling to the start of PMQs, the sort of hectic gaiety which breaks out in the last days of a regime.
Whenever the general election is held, this Parliament does not have long to run, and several MPs had brought in members of their family to sit and watch from the gallery.
Starmer began by mocking Sunak for “treating us to his seventh relaunch in 18 months”, with the Minister for Common Sense, Esther McVey, announcing “a vital crackdown on the gravest of threats, colourful lanyards”.
As he made this joke, Starmer turned and shot a fleeting mile at the Speaker. This was something Disraeli never did. However witty his flouts and jeers, he remained impassive.
Sunak had a good retort. He said “civil service impartiality is an important principle that we’re right to support”, and added, “perhaps he could ask his Chief of Staff about that”.
This reference to Sue Gray, the civil servant who jumped ship to go and work for Starmer, delighted the Tory benches, which shouted “more”.
But there was nothing more at that level from either man. Both tried out lines they will use in the impending election. Starmer accused the Tories of letting dangerous prisoners out early, while Sunak tried to persuade us we shall all be unsafe if Labour get in.
Three Conservative MPs opposed development in their constituencies. Jonathan Lord (Woking) said “Labour’s proposal to concrete over vast swathes of the Green Belt in Surrey and the South East would be a complete calamity”, James Morris (Halesowen and Rowley Regis) spoke out against phone masts and Greg Smith (Buckingham) was worried about solar farms.
All three faithfully conveyed the views of their constituents, which is not a bad idea before an election. But they also expressed the Nimby mentality which has frightened the Conservatives into defending our oppressive planning system.
The post Andrew Gimson’s PMQs sketch: Hectic gaiety portends the fall of the regime appeared first on Conservative Home.
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Author: Andrew Gimson
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