Starmer was radiating thermonuclear-level rays of smarminess: HENRY DEEDES gets his smug-o-meter out for PMQs
Gosh Sir Keir Starmer was smug in the Commons today. Anticipating his mood, I managed to sneak in my little smug-o-meter, and no sooner had the Labour leader entered the chamber than the needle shot into the red. Wowzers.
The man was radiating thermonuclear-level rays of smarminess: the smile, the slow walk, the showy twirl in front of his backbenchers. And was that a little wink he shot toward the Speaker’s chair?
Not since I spotted George Osborne sauntering about shortly after Theresa May – who’d sacked him as Chancellor – collapsed in a blubbery mess outside Number 10 has my trusty gadget come so close to exploding.
Sir Keir’s cocky disposition was understandable. The polls are looking good, he maintains an impressively full head of hair and tomorrow’s by-elections are set to be a disaster for the Tories.
At PMQs, Starmer even had the cheek to demand the Government reveal how it planned to pay for its NHS spending plans. Normally Labour no more concerns itself which such things than a footballer’s WAG worries about how her Louis Vuitton store card’s going to be paid off.
Gosh Sir Keir Starmer was smug in the Commons today. Anticipating his mood, I managed to sneak in my little smug-o-meter
Leader of the Labour Party Keir Starmer leaves his home in London on July 19 to attend Parliament for Prime Minister’s Questions
This was the last of the Party leaders’ weekly jousts for six weeks as MPs prepare to head off for summer recess. Usually that means we’re in for a snooze-athon but today’s was refreshingly lively.
Several times Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle had to warn some of the more excitable members they were in danger of being sent for ‘an early cup of tea’. I’ve seen what most MPs tend to drink on afternoons before recess. It ain’t PG Tips, I assure you.
Starmer kicked off by demanding to know about NHS waiting list numbers which Rishi naturally declined to answer. ‘We got more answers when he was away!’ joked Starmer, a reference to Rishi’s recent absenteeism. Hop went the meter’s needle.
The numbers were up of course, as Starmer knew full well but he enjoys seeing the Prime Minister squirm. It’s a lawyerly trick.
Rishi explained that the rise was down to striking doctors. Trying to wrestle things around, he asked Starmer whether he felt doctors should accept the pay increase currently on offer to them, urging him to ‘stop taking inspiration from his friends outside and unglue himself from the fence’.
READ MORE: Keir Starmer refuses to bow down to demands from his own party’s MPs to scrap the two-child benefit cap despite backlash
Sir Lindsay was forced to remind Sunak it was the opposition who asked the questions. Starmer grinned gleefully. ‘With all his time away he’s forgotten how it works!’ he harrumphed. Hop, hop went the needle.
Rishi came back with a joke about Sir Keir’s age which fell flat as he erroneously had Starmer as 61. ‘I’m 60!’ cried Sir Keir triumphantly. Hop, hop, hop!
What else? Sir Jacob Rees Mogg (Con, Somerset NE) raised concerns about Nigel Farage’s recent ding dong with Coutts, after the bank shut down Nige’s on the grounds they found his political views a little whiffy for their refined tastes.
The Mogg, by the way, referred to Farage as a ‘senior politician’ which might have been a tad generous. Rishi promised a ‘crackdown’ on such behaviour. A more forceful response might have been more welcome.
At PMQs, Starmer even had the cheek to demand the Government reveal how it planned to pay for its NHS spending plans
Oh, and there was a delightful attack by Mark Francois (Con, Rayleigh) on his defence committee colleague Tobias Ellwood (Con, Bournemouth E) who this week released a bizarre video appearing to offer praise for the Taliban.
‘Can I make plain that this was not in our name?’ bellowed little Francois. For perhaps the first time ever, the whole House was in agreement with him.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir sat through this little blue-on-blue attack insouciantly chewing on a toffee. At one point, he turned to his culture spokeswoman, Lucy Powell, and shared a private joke. All of a sudden, the smug-o-meter’s needles were jumping again.
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