At PMQs, 'mansplainer' Jeremy Corbyn had a lot options – and chose not to take advantage of any

Saudi human rights abuses and the rough sleeping epidemic should have been clear wins for Jeremy Corbyn, but they were not

International Women’s Day was first organised by the Socialist Party of America at the suggestion of a woman called Theresa Malkiel, so you’d imagine it might be something the Prime Minister and the leader of the Labour Party might be able to come together on instead of squabble about. But, obviously, you’d be wrong.

Prime Minister’s Questions began today in typically edifying fashion, with Jeremy Corbyn mentioning that it is “International Women’s Day tomorrow” and then being accused by Theresa May of “mansplaining” over it. The alternative, of course, was not to mention it at all, for which you can be certain Theresa May had an equally damning putdown pre-prepared. Such is the way we do things. Such fun.

On an unimaginably busy day in politics, with the Saudi Prince in town, Donald Tusk again explaining the UK can’t have what it wants on Brexit, Donald Trump again starting an international trade war, and a Russian spy (again) poisoned on a British street, Corbyn had a wide range of options.

His topics of choice – human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia and the ongoing rough sleeping crisis – should have been clear wins for him, but they were not.

For time immemorial, Saudi princes have come to see the Queen, and the role of the opposition is always to draw attention to outrageous human rights violations in the kingdom, and the role of the Government is to do their best to shrug their shoulders but not too aggressively. Traditionally, by the time of the next visit, the roles have been reversed.

Saudi Arabia is the West’s partner in the region. The West, generally speaking, is content to overlook its appalling record on human rights and women’s rights. In broad brush terms, the alternative is to have Iran control the region instead.

Jeremy Corbyn is the first potential prime minister in some time to disagree with that established way of doing things, and there are large payments to Jeremy Corbyn from Iranian state TV on the register of members’ interests that appear to prove it. But the Iranian side does not necessarily come with the moral high ground either.

The Prime Minister told him that cooperation with Saudi Arabian security forces has “saved hundreds of lives” on British streets, a claim Corbyn has little choice but to take at face value.

She also told him the Saudi Prince would at least be spending International Women’s Day eve discussing such things with a “woman Prime Minister”.

On rough sleeping (which is not the same as homelessness), the Prime Minister was all over the place, but again helped rather than hindered by Corbyn’s return to habits of old, and the asking of long rambling statements instead of incisive questions.

Theresa May repeated her pledge to “eradicate it by 2027” which a) no one can possibly believe will happen and b) rings desperately hollow after eight years in which it has risen by a range of estimates between 500 and 1,500 per cent.

She also sought to claim that rough sleeping and the housing crisis are not the same problem, mentioning that “half of rough sleepers have mental health problems”, an issue she has set aside more money for. It’s true, but it’s even more true if you don’t end by bringing up Jeremy Corbyn’s criticisms of Labour’s housing policy, which are more than a decade old, and irrelevant on your own terms.

Another edifying session then. More of the same next week.