What did we learn from the first Prime Minister’s Questions of the decade?

Boris Johnson’s defeated opponents tried and failed to embarrass him, writes John Rentoul

The PM got the best of exchanges with the SNP (Reuters)

This was the first Prime Minister’s Questions since the election, and it showed. Not only because the Conservative Party was still on the government side of the chamber, which was full, but because the Tories were in high spirits, while the more thinly populated opposition benches were shrouded in gloom.

It was also, in effect, a post-Brexit PMQs. There was only one question about leaving the EU, from Ian Murray, the Scottish Labour MP who is running for the deputy leadership of his party. He asked Boris Johnson to take responsibility for any job losses as a result of Brexit; the prime minister replied that he would get Brexit done.

So that meant a return to normal politics, although with Jeremy Corbyn still in post. He asked the prime minister what evidence he had that the killing of Soleimani was “not an illegal act by the US”, which is a reasonable question, but not one that would be asked in such a direct form by any other leader of the opposition.

Any other Labour leader might have asked a neutral question about the grounds for assassination in international law, while condemning Soleimani’s record as a promoter of slaughter in the Middle East. But Corbyn’s own view was clear, and if it wasn’t, Seumas Milne, his director of strategy, made it explicit to journalists afterwards, saying the assassination was “clearly illegal” unless there was evidence of an imminent attack, and “no such evidence has been forthcoming”.

Johnson’s response was to say that Soleimani had “the blood of British troops on his hands” and to point out that Corbyn had received money from the Iranian regime’s Press TV.

But that felt like the knockabout politics of a previous age. The substance of the prime minister’s answers was that he had tried to stay in with Donald Trump and with the Europeans at the same time – supporting the right of the US to defend itself while urging de-escalation.

That probably explains why he was so slow to make any public statement at all, and why he sent the emollient Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, to speak to the Commons on Tuesday.

Then it was time for Scottish National Party Questions, another throwback to an earlier age, but in this case likely to remain a feature of politics for as far as the eye can see. Ian Blackford, the SNP leader in Westminster, walked into a rather obvious trap, asking Johnson: “Who should determine the future of Scotland?”

He meant who should decide whether there should be a second referendum on independence, but the way he asked the question allowed the prime minister to reply: “The people of Scotland – who voted decisively only four or five years ago to stay members of the most successful political partnership in history by a decisive majority in a once-in-a-generation choice.”

Blackford then compounded his error by opening his second question by declaring: “This is about democracy.” Tory MPs roared their agreement. “Yes, it is,” they shouted. Respecting referendums is one thing about which they feel strongly.

Another SNP MP tried to return to the subject later. Brendan O’Hara, the mild-mannered member for Argyll and Bute, unwisely started his question by saying, “Margaret Thatcher...” setting off boisterous Tory cheers. He stopped and then started again, “Margaret Thatcher...” which set them off again.

Other than that, everyone agreed that the railways were in a terrible state and that the prime minister ought to do something about them, including the prime minister.

And then Lindsay Hoyle, presiding over his first PMQs since he was elected speaker a day before parliament was dissolved for the election, brought proceedings to a brisk close by announcing “Final question” at 12.32pm. A half-hour session, after years of John Bercow’s extended play 50-minute version, felt like the most radical break with the recent past.