It’s a whole new kind of politics. The subdued atmosphere at PMQs had two possible causes. First, the tragic death of Paul Goggins had stunned the House into near silence. Ed Miliband seemed close to tears as he paid his tribute.
‘Labour has lost one of its own, and one of its best.’
Moving to more substantial issues, Miliband chose the neutral topics of monsoons and roulette machines.
He saluted the work of the flood-wardens and the efforts of courageous citizens who had leapt to each others’ aid during the storms. Cameron replied by vowing that river defences would be reinforced with huge sandbags stuffed with cash.
Then Miliband moved to fixed-odds betting machines. These electronic banditos are capable of grabbing up to £300 per minute from the pockets of self-deluding and ignorant fantasists, (most of whom seem to live in Labour constituencies, for some reason.)
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