Clear win for Corbyn. Bad PMQs for May

Life is too short to read or write a long review of PMQs. The weekly ding dong, in which the Prime Minister is theoretically held to account, is a dreadful circus that most people avoid. But sometimes it is a useful and revealing affair. This was one such week. Here are five observations:

1) Today was a clear win ‎for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. His questions were properly honed and his delivery almost professional. He bested May in their exchanges.

2) On Brexit the government does not have a plan (really?! astonishing!) and the strategy that got the Tories through the summer and party conference has now run out of road. The government’s strategy is a mess.

‎3) Lisa Nandy, a Labour rising star, is on May’s case on the shambolic Child Abuse Inquiry. She asked a sharp question and got a poor response. This is one May can’t blame on her predecessors. She set up the inquiry. This is going to get more challenging.

4) One bright spot for May was that she wound up the SNP and they hated it. Scotland must stay in the EU Single Market they said. Ah, Scotland leaving the UK would have meant being out of the EU (at least initially) she responded. They howled with rage. There were some good questions from angry chaps on the SNP benches, but they are very angry. Are they disliking irrelevance after all the hype of last year? Anyway, May then fluffed a question on Farage getting a peerage, making it sound as though this is indeed a possibility. MPs shifted uneasily. Had she meant to give that impression? Pass.

5) PMQs is properly difficult to do. David Cameron, it becomes ever more apparent, was very good at it. May has not yet found her footing. She is struggling and the Commons – which is ruthless and unforgiving – knows it.