More often than not, when it comes to Ed Miliband and comedy, it is usually the case that the laughs fall at the Leader of the Opposition’s expense. However, yesterday at PMQs it was the Labour leader who made fun of the Coalition government’s front bench as he finally showed signs of feeling comfortable at the weekly contest.
Although PMQs started with the very sad news concerning the death of David Cairns, the 44 year old MP for Inverclyde, the tone of the debate soon moved on to the typical politicking which takes place every week. Ed Miliband started, as he has often done, by questioning the PM on the NHS reforms. He criticised the Cameron for shirking responsibility when it comes to troublesome Coalition policies by saying; “This morning we have seen the Universities Minister being dumped on for the tuition fees policy, we see the Schools Secretary being dumped on for his free schools policy and the poor Deputy Prime Minister, he just gets dumped on every day of the week!”.
Very good Ed, that’ll hurt Nick, thought the shadow cabinet. Yet in actual fact, the Deputy PM looked far happier than he had done for weeks (perhaps in reaction to the observation that last week he looked particularly glum) as he mocked the Labour leader for standing up to speak while Cameron was in mid-flow. Maybe Miliband was just eager to let out a few more of his jovial put-downs. Yes; there was more.
Earlier in the week, there were stories which suggested that David Cameron was going to change the tone of his answers at PMQs, after he had been criticised for appearing “too flash”. But Ed was not impressed with the PM’s effort; “the PMQs makeover didn’t last long” he said, “Flashman is back!”. David Cameron’s came back by describing the Labour leader as “Eddie the Eagle”, but by comparison the joked failed miserably. Today was Ed Miliband’s day to appear flash it seemed; he even found time to mock a letter sent by (only) 44 GPs to the Telegraph. You can almost imagine him clapping his hands and sarcastically saying “Oh well done Dave!”. And if that wasn’t enough, he even managed to get a “calm down dear, calm down” in there for effect. Well done Ed, a polished performance.
On a more serious note however, PMQs recently has become a recognisable contest between the accusations of a Tory lead government which, as Labour like to put it, “can’t be trusted on the NHS” compared to an opposition which is just pursuing “empty opportunism”. The Leader of the Opposition may have succeeded at creating a few laughs today in the chamber, but he still leads a party which is struggling to offer an alternative to the government’s radical reforms.
Robert Smith is Editor of Politiker. Follow on Twitter @RobertSmithUK
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