PMQs: vibes turn to jibes - time to stop soft-soaping the nation, Prime Minister
Sir Tony Blair wrote of PMQs in his memoir: it is the most nerve-wracking, discombobulating, nail-biting, bowel-moving, terror-inspiring, courage-draining experience in my Prime Ministerial life, without question.
Little wonder, then, that as Prime Minister Andy Burnham took to the despatch box yesterday for the first time at Prime Minister’s Questions, he opted to run for the cover of answers oft-preferred so often by Sir Keir Starmer, his predecessor.
From best-in-class G7 growth to put-downs for the former Tory Prime Minister Liz Truss and her infamously catastrophic mini-Budget, it was not-so-much a case of barnstorming Burnham as cautious Andy, as Mr Burnham sought to navigate the notoriously difficult challenge posed by PMQs.
Following a summer of pints quaffed, bar snacks munched and hard hats donned (and dropped), published eagerly across myriad social media channels, the Prime Minister has been accused of running the country on vibes alone.
Yesterday, though, in the pressure cooker of the House of Commons, it became very clear that his honeymoon is over as vibes turned to jibes; the new boy who had turned up in the September drizzle for his first day of term found himself faced with an adversary in Kemi Badenoch who has sharpened her craft for some time, on the toolmaker’s son, Mr Starmer, no less.
The Prime Minister and leader of HM Opposition left the chamber with points apiece, a score draw that offered a glimpse into a battle of ideas and ideologies that will pivot around welfare and defence in particular. Enough time has now been spent soft-soaping the nation on social media; there are crises everywhere. From welfare and benefits to triple-locked pensions; social care and defence to the dereliction of local authorities. It, is crunch time.