The Convict had escaped, so the Tory and Labour deputies ran through the motions in a knockabout that was pure ritual
At times like these a minister gets to find out who his friends are. Usually the government frontbench is packed with needy cabinet ministers, desperate to show their support and adoration for Boris Johnson at prime minister’s questions. But with the Convict away in Madrid at the Nato summit, it was largely a B-list affair. Only Rishi Sunak and Grant Shapps had bothered to make the effort to come to the Commons for a rare turn at the dispatch box from Dominic Raab. And they were probably only there because they had forgotten Johnson was missing and were too polite to head for the exit. So they were stuck.
Raab would probably have given PMQs a miss too if he had been given the chance. Because even he now recognises his own futility. There was a time when a PMQs between the two deputies might have had some edge. Box office in its own right. A chance to shine: to show the backbenchers what they were missing.
