PMQs Sketch: A seven week campaign in 40 minutes

Noone watching this week's PMQs could be left in any doubt about how this election campaign will be run.
Prime Minister Theresa MayPrime Minister Theresa May
Prime Minister Theresa May

Like a sneak preview at the end of a Christmas episode of Dr Who, the marathon 40-minute Q&A was a montage of the key slogans and attack lines that voters will hear time and time again until they lose all meaning.

The Tories tell us they will deliver “three things a country needs; a strong economy, strong defence and strong, stable leadership”.

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Labour meanwhile will point with indignation at “another broken Tory promise”.

The SNP, it seems, will accuse Theresa May of “running scared” from a debate with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

And the Lib Dems will avoid committing to a toxic coalition with Labour, while trying to explain how they will nevertheless influence the Brexit process.

May’s assertions that every vote for the Tories will strengthen her hand in Brussels were delivered with a steeliness and zeal lacking from her statement on Tuesday.

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She also gave Labour MPs an unwelcome taster of the stockpile of anti-Corbyn quotes that will come back to haunt them every time a reporter asks whether they have faith in their leader.

Corbyn trotted out a few good lines of his own, as he attacked the Prime Minister’s decision not to take part in any televised debates.

However, the Islington MP once again found himself overshadowed by his own backbenchers, as Yvette Cooper stole the show with a cutting assessment of Mrs May’s premiership.

“A month ago, she told her official spokesman to rule out an early general election, and that wasn’t true...was it,” Cooper jibed.

“She wants us to believe that she is a woman of her word. Isn’t the truth that we cannot believe a single word she says?”

#Cooper2017.