Mount Etna erupted this week. Kemi Badenoch did something similar at PMQs. Blew her top. Pop!
Who could blame her? Sir Keir Starmer has become idly, sarcastically evasive. On his weekly trip to the Commons – how little this tiresome place merits a statesman of his hair-gelled importance – he has swapped tight dialectic for ironic vituperation.
Who does he think he is? A sketch writer?
Mrs Badenoch had opened with short questions about the winter fuel allowance and the two-child benefit cap. The latter could be fruitful territory for Conservatives now that Nigel Farage has switched to supporting high benefits. Sir Keir, in response to Mrs Badenoch, puckered his superior lips. He said she was struggling to ‘catch up’ with political events.
He leaned an elbow on the despatch box and twisted his neck, throwing his witticism towards his backbenchers so that they can savour its cleverness. He then resumed his seat with a satisfied moue and examined his notes for the next precooked slander.
