Andrew Gimson

Sir Keir Starmer has stolen some more of the Conservative Party's clothes. He committed the theft in broad daylight at the Villa Doria Pamphili in Rome, with the help of an Italian accomplice, Giorgia Meloni.

The joys of the contest, and the speed with which the Labour Government has got into difficulties, have raised Conservative hopes.

The queue to hear Tom Tugendhat and Kemi Badenoch face an hour each of questions was almost as long as on the glory day in 2018 when Boris Johnson

As James Cleverly set out to persuade many hundreds of Conservatives he should be their next Leader, he declared in a vainglorious tone that he is not just the one candidate “who has run two great offices of state”, but that he has “the experience to deal with people like you, Chopper”.

James Cleverly began his speech by asking: “What's our job? Why are we here?” He followed this with a Pinteresque pause, during which one reflected that these are profound questions.

The Government is about to announce changes to employment law, so Rishi Sunak wondered, “given the weekend's events”, when the Prime Minister “first became a convert to fire and rehire”.

Johnson may not be as amusing as Disraeli, but he is without doubt the funniest and most literate PM since Macmillan.

The PM engaged in attacks on "the same old Tories" which had nothing to do with Sunak's inquiries about China.

Scrutiny was lost in chumminess. Sir Keir Starmer had left for the Commonwealth meeting in Samoa, so the House instead found itself presented with Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister.

This Budget was well worth waiting for. It dramatised the complete incompatibility between Rachel Reeves and Rishi Sunak.