PMQs: Theresa May had no answers to Jeremy Corbyn’s questions – and it showed

The Labour leader went back to the ‘old politics’ of soundbites and trying to exploit the governing party’s divisions – and put the Prime Minister on the defensive

Jeremy Corbyn is getting the hang of this. He started by welcoming the child refugees from Calais, a good compassionate gesture. Then he wished Nick Boles a speedy recovery, referring to the Conservative MP’s announcement this morning that he had a tumour in his head. This made up for his unfortunate comment two weeks ago, when he accidentally implied that a Tory MP had received favourable treatment from the NHS. And then he asked a question about Brexit, a subject that he has been reluctant to touch since the referendum.

The Prime Minister’s answer was confused. He asked for clarity about the role of devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in Brexit negotiations. She said, cryptically, “there are those who talk about means and those who talk about ends”.

Corbyn devoted four questions to Brexit, getting in a soundbite for the news bulletins about the Prime Minister “dithering over this chaotic Brexit”, and ending with a reference to the Blackadder character Baldrick, who said “our cunning plan is to have no plan”. It was hardly rhetorical rapiers at full-power wit, but it was the sort of slightly groanworthy stuff that was considered reasonably effective in Prime Minister’s Questions in the bad old days – the bad old days from which Corbyn once wanted to get away.

This time it was better than effective because Theresa May was so unexciting and defensive. Her answers, where they weren’t incomprehensible, were to repeat that she was listening to the voice of the British while Corbyn was trying to “frustrate” the will of the people. Given that Corbyn is more Eurosceptic than most Labour MPs, it was a line that didn’t work in the Chamber.

The question is whether it works in the country: will she be able to fight through the next six months claiming to be delivering what the people want while accusing Labour of trying to block it?

And her punchline was to point out that the actor who plays Baldrick, Tony Robinson, is a Labour Party activist. Not even the most sycophantic Tory MPs could muster a cheer for that.

Then Corbyn asked two questions about Saudi Arabia. This was a subject that made Tony Blair and David Cameron cringe, but they managed to put up a front, talking grandly about geopolitics and intelligence cooperation, and making it sound as if one of the great burdens of high office was to make morally doubtful compromises in the national interest.

Theresa May just said, “where there are concerns” about Saudi Arabian human rights abuses, “we raise them”, and that the UK was providing humanitarian aid in Yemen. It was miserably unconvincing.

And that was it. Corbyn’s questions gave the Prime Minister enough difficulty that there was no need this week for the substitute leader of the opposition, Angus Robertson of the Scottish National Party. He asked his questions anyway. Would she call on Spain to refuse to refuel the Russian aircraft carrier in view of the suffering of civilians in Syria? It sounded like a tricky problem, but she brushed it aside, pointing out that Russia was, “sadly”, already able to unleash attacks on civilians in Syria.