Tory MPs have a strange way of showing their disdain for Boris

That was a barmy idea. Sir Keir Starmer led on macroeconomics at PMQs and attacked the government over its economic failures. But next week’s elections are for local authorities which have no influence over the national coffers. It’s as if Sir Keir wanted to change the subject and talk about anything other than Labour’s ability to deliver local services.

He seemed ill-at-ease and disengaged. In need of a battery recharge. Very little stomach for the fight. And he relied on pre-scripted insults rather than improvising his comebacks. When Boris defended the Tory record with a list of memorised statistics, Sir Keir jeered at him:

‘These must be the Oxford Union debating tactics we’ve heard so much about lately: failing to answer the question, rambling incoherently, and throwing in garbled metaphors. Powerful stuff, Prime Minister.’