DAVID Cameron's plea, made shortly after he became leader of the Conservative Party, for an end to the Punch and Judy character of Prime Minister's Question is by now thoroughly discredited, although he does not seem to realise that. His appearances at PMQs are increasingly bad-tempered under the gentle goading of Ed Miliband and the rougher asides of Ed Balls. On Wednesday he tried to hide his irritation at an intervention by Angela Eagle who is shadow chief secretary of the Treasury. Calm down, dear said Mr Cameron, and repeated the phrase five times.
A photograph shows Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne at the prime minister's side laughing his head off while on his other side Nick Clegg does not move a facial muscle. Such off-the-cuff moments tell us much more about Mr Cameron and his closest allies than any number of carefully crafted answers and scripted statements will ever do. The prime minister's treatment of Angela Eagle was condescending at best and chauvinistic at worst. The attempt of his staff to downplay its importance by explaining that the words come from a Michael Winner insurance advertisement made matters worse. Ms Eagle's comment that it was a phrase no modern man would use towards a woman was spot-on.
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