PMQs sketch: Miliband nutmegs Cameron, while the Speaker seemed preoccupied

That should have been a tap-in. London is currently crippled by a Tube strike thanks to the noted beach enthusiast, Bob Crow, and his high-earning chums at the RMT. So David Cameron had a superb chance to tip a bucket of manure over Ed Miliband’s head. The political connections are self-evident. Red Ed, union militancy, London throttled, all Labour’s fault.

But Cameron was nutmegged by Miliband’s tactics. Ignoring the strike, the Labour leader asked about the newly formed inland sea which used to be known as the West Country. He accused the government of a slow, tight-fisted and shambolic response.

Cameron assumed the facial expression of pumped-up severity that he usually reserves for Syria. He reeled off a list of statistics intended to give the impression that he wields personal authority over the sun, the wind and the tides. As he gave these answers, one sensed him asking himself if he dared to introduce the Underground strike as a related theme.