Ironic Tory roars greeted Miliband’s ascent to the vertical at PMQs today. He assumed his habitual spanked puppy look. It’s quite a sight, Ed’s expression of frosty endurance. Part dismay, part weariness, part moral indignation, it makes him look like a nun who’s just discovered her favourite choirboy reading a porn mag.
On went the jeering and the cheering, and a change overcame Miliband’s mug. ‘I’ve got a joke for them,’ he remembered. His face softened. His eyes brightened. An experimental smirk stole across his lips. Then it hardened into a grin. And out came the quip.
‘Let’s see if they’re still cheering on Friday.’
Cameron improvised fast.
‘I make this prediction. The people behind me will still be cheering him on Friday.’
This is the paradox. Miliband is desperate for Miliband to survive. And so is Cameron. The recovery may be proving voteless but the Labour leader isn’t.
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