Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

PMQ’s sketch: two plank-walkers at the helm of the ship

Rare to see a plank-walker at the helm of the ship. Today there were two. Cameron has accepted the inevitable and his demeanour at the despatch box was relaxed, amused, peaceable. Buoyant at times. Even foes like Bernard Jenkin exchanged warm words with him. And he handled Corbyn with extreme mildness until a rush of blood seized him at the end.

‘For heaven’s sake, man, go!’ he lashed out.

But go where? Jezza’s impersonation of Rasputin is his best performance yet. He’s indestructible. Last weekend he was hacked to pieces by a flash-mob of tooled-up colleagues. He then suffered a thundering defeat in a no-confidence vote which merely boosted his confidence in his powers of survival. Today he stood up and was greeted by three waves of sound. Faint ‘hear hears’. Then a twitchy silence. Then loud laughs at the silence.

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