The view from the front bench

Ken Clarke walked back into the chamber to cheers as if he’d just won a by-election, itself an indication of how little we’ve seen from the man who took an MP’s salary for the last 11 years but has seldom been seen around the House. It was his first time, ever, on an opposition front bench and he looked around at the view. Together with Cameron, he flanked Osborne. Clarke hasn’t worked out yet that his job is to make facial expressions of support when Osborne speaks, and to feign disdain at Darling. It’ll take a while to relearn the techniques of active politics.

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Matthew Lynn

Spain will regret its 100 per cent expat property tax

Osborne was on good form. How much of our money is Darling spending? We need to know. “They didn’t have a clue what they were buying, and didn’t bother to find out,” he said.