Tory MPs give May an easy ride at Prime Minister’s Questions

Given relations with her own party, Theresa May will have been far more worried about the second half of Prime Minister’s Questions than the first. On the basis of the backbench questions that were asked, the session went pretty well. Only one Tory MP raised Brexit at all, and that was Jacob Rees-Mogg, who asked for assurances that the European Court of Justice would not get the final say on cases arising from the Brexit withdrawal agreement. May was able to tell the Chamber that this wasn’t true – though the Sun’s report this morning on the matter was pretty strong – and that was all for Brexit. Instead, her MPs asked a range of constituency-based questions and didn’t cause trouble, which bodes well for tonight’s 1922 Committee meeting.

As for the clash with the Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn didn’t produce one of his best performances. Last week, he contrasted the Prime Minister’s claim that ‘austerity is over’ with the reality for a range of frontline services.