As every seasoned public speaker knows, a well-timed heckle can be devastating. Uninvited utterances are a tradition in Parliament, synonymous with Dennis Skinner’s institutionalised republican discontent, and often followed by an unceremonious dressing-down from the Speaker’s chair.
They can also produce surprising results in the hands of politicians eager to show they can think on their feet, as this week’s Commons culprit, Labour MP Carolyn Harris, found out.
Notwithstanding Jeremy Corbyn’s stated intention of producing a people’s PMQs, he can’t have been expecting the whole Opposition side to contribute to his attempt at a rhetorical roasting.
As he pressed the Prime Minister about cuts to constituency health services, Ms Harris interjected with a reminder of the Cameron matriarch’s reported opposition to cuts.
“Ask my mother? I know what my mother would say. She would look across the Dispatch Box and say, Put on a proper suit, do up your tie and sing the national anthem!”, spluttered the Prime Minister.
This apparently unscripted jibe produced a round of approving ululation unquellable by even Corbyn’s gimlet eye.
More rap battle than policy debate, these two unlikely MCs appeared locked in the same ideological struggle played out in PMQs past – surprising, perhaps, when so much contemporary EU drama has occupied the political stage this week.
Maybe it was a matter of saving face – in particular for the Prime Minister, who must be feeling sore after receiving a mauling in the press and witnessing a string of his own MPs declaring their intention to support an EU “Out”.
With Labour’s Leader disinclined to wade into the messy cross-party territory of the EU debate, it remains for political junkies to get their thrills watching the human drama of a party of Government seriously divided against itself.
Would-be eurosceptic iconoclasts are lining up to set themselves against the PM’s plea to remain this week, plotting perhaps to revive once-burning leadership hopes – while that most eminent of prospective successors, the Chancellor, has been little in evidence.
Intriguingly, Mr Osborne reportedly spent the weekend with one such ambitious associate, Michael Gove – hosting the Justice Secretary at his country home just hours after the latter stated his stance in support of Brexit.
Unlike a “shocked and hurt” Cameron, Mr Osborne is said to be feeling sanguine. Indeed, he is perhaps more preoccupied with the minutiae of pre-Budget negotiations, as favour-seeking MPs plead and jostle.
Pensions have already emerged as a key battleground this Spring. Experts are expecting a cut to tax relief for higher earners, while campaigners representing 1950s-born women have been vocal in demanding a better settlement for this demographic, which has disproportionately suffered from successive eligibility-age hikes.
More broadly, the Chancellor’s relative silence could be one of careful calculation. With tight self-imposed restrictions to meet, recent reports have suggested his economic targets could be coming off the rails.
With next month’s announcement representing a heady mix of danger and opportunity for the Chancellor, his every move will be watched by foes and friends alike.
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