All that was missing was the music from ‘Dead Man Walking’, but maybe Jeremy was humming it to himself.
You had to hand it to the leader of the Labour Party for having the nerve to turn up.
But he clearly reckoned there were too many witnesses at Prime Ministers Questions for actual bodily harm.
It is but one step, said Tom Paine in The Age of Reason, from the sublime to the ridiculous.
And that step was happily taken at lunchtime today by Ed Miliband who said Jeremy Corbyn should quit because he did not have the necessary skills to be leader.
Jeremy had entered the chamber to silence,making his way to his seat past the few MPs he had promoted into obedience.
If looks could indeed kill, he would have been back out in a body bag within seconds.
But with at least his exit guaranteed, he turned his attention to the man formerly known as the PM in PMQs.
Now happily on the bus to elder statesman-land Dave batted off Jeremy’s first few questions; but old habits die hard.
As the PM was pressed his inner Flashman, not quite packed away, popped out.
“It might be in my party’s interest for you to stay”, he said, “but in the nation’s interest, for heavens sake man, go.”
On Dave’s front bench, the runners and riders to replace him were too busy doing their sums to listen.
Theresa May looking indifferent as usual – was waiting to make a run for it as soon as she could.
The lad with a beard from Wales who announced he was running this morning was introducing himself to his colleagues.
Boris was somewhere trying to remember what he promised if he won.
And Jeremy Hunt was strapping on the brass neck he’d need to put his name forward.
Across the aisle Labour MPs tried to cope with Cameron’s support; Tom Watson, squeezed next to his leader, slipped on his sphinx mask; Angela Eagle up to oppose Jeremy had borrowed some indifference from Theresa.
Outside the Commons Gordon Brown said Jeremy was not up to the job. Inside the Commons Jeremy said he was.
Gordon said he couldn’t do the job without the support of his MPs. But he forgot;
Jeremy has spent 30 years in the Commons without the support of his MPs; they have spent 30 years without his.
“bully” flickr photo by Sparticus https://flickr.com/photos/sparticus/105219636 shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC) license
