Cameron faces the barmy army

Ed Miliband came to PMQs hoping to turn the House into a rape crisis centre for the Justice Secretary. Quoting from Ken Clarke’s tricky Radio Five interview earlier he criticised him for distinguishing between ‘serious’ and ‘other categories’ of rape. Would the PM distance himself from his minister? Cameron claimed not to have heard the interview – conveniently enough – and pointed out that the policy is still at the consultation stage. His priority was to correct a system in which all but 6 per cent of reported rapes result in no conviction at all. Miliband plugged away, upping the stakes, widening the issue and claiming to have spotted a character flaw in the PM ‘who hides behind a consultation’ as soon as a policy hits trouble. Ritualistically he called for Clarke’s sacking ‘by the end of the day.’ Cameron replied that the Labour government had installed a mandatory system of early releases.