James Forsyth James Forsyth

Jeremy Corbyn dodges disaster but fails to inspire at PMQs

At PMQs today, Jeremy Corbyn didn’t have a disaster: there was no repeat of yesterday’s shambles. But he didn’t take full advantage of the opening he had. Yes, he went on the NHS—but he didn’t cause Theresa May as much trouble as he could have. There was no reference to the Times’ story this morning claiming that Downing Street is blaming Simon Stevens, the chief executive of the NHS. Nor did he manage to create any daylight between May and the Health Secretary over changes to the four-hour waiting target and Hunt’s warning that people turning up to A&E unnecessarily is a large part of the problem.

This isn’t to deny that the NHS is a risk for the Tories. The Tory benches were strikingly sombre during the May/ Corbyn exchanges, suggesting that Tory MPs know the political dangers of the current situation.

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