Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

PMQs: If only Theresa May had been this aggressive towards the EU

The US jobs miracle continues. Donald Trump has just created another vacancy at the British embassy in Washington. Sir Kim Darroch’s resignation was the opening issue at PMQs and Theresa May expressed her shock and regret at the diplomat’s departure, ‘after a lifetime of service to this country,’ she added pointedly. Sir Kim isn’t the only victim of an unfair campaign to oust him.

The PM usually favours formal attire at PMQs but today she was sporting a white t-shirt and a knee-length kung-fu jacket. Lime green, loose around the bust and faintly shiny, it looked like a sex club bathrobe.

Jeremy Corbyn brought up her ‘burning injustices’ speech when she entered Downing Street. The PM defended herself with a list of her achievements in office. Here’s a flavour.

‘The Race Disparity Audit shines a light on inequality in public services which is enabling us to put measures into place that enable us to ensure that people across this country whatever their background will have access to the services they need.’

These witty insights will form the basis of her performances on the after-dinner circuit. (No need to book in advance). But apart from that lapse, she did pretty well. She’s keen to correct the impression that she was solely responsible for the Windrush scandal. And she’s particularly concerned that history will portray her as a Powellite xenophobe who deported Caribbean migrants by the boat-load. Having done her homework she revealed that only 18 migrants had been removed incorrectly. ‘And of these six were deported under the last Labour government.’

Then she rounded on Corbyn. She damned his hypocrisy on the EU, on anti-Semitism, on malpractice in the workplace.

‘Labour policy is to ban NDAs but his staff have to sign them,’ she crowed.

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