Miliband finds his niche, and leaves Cameron looking boorish

Miliband is getting the measure of PMQs. Not with respect to Cameron. With respect to himself. He’s learned that his strongest register — sanctimony — will always ring hollow unless it’s attached to a powerful cause. And his gags don’t work. So he’s ditched his team of funny men and wise-crackers and turned to his political instincts instead. Miliband’s gut worked today.

He began with a question which he knew Cameron couldn’t answer. Why hasn’t the government activated the laws requiring banks to name all employees earning over a million year? The PM answered by not answering. He performed a transparent switcheroo from the particular question to the general topic. ‘We now have the toughest and most transparent financial regime in world,’ he boasted lamely. He added that banks must publish the salaries of their top eight executives.

Miliband pounced. ‘In case he hadn’t heard,’ he said derisively, ‘there are more than eight people earning over a million a year’.