Westminster sketch: Nick Clegg�s pounding heart could almost be heard up in the Press Gallery. His face was drained of any colour and he was holding tight to a piece of screwed up paper, which appeared to act as a kind of comfort blanket.

Nick Clegg's pounding heart could almost be heard up in the Press Gallery.

His face was drained of any colour and he was holding tight to a piece of screwed up paper, which appeared to act as a kind of comfort blanket ahead of the big moment. Colleagues patted him on the shoulder for reassurance as zero hour approached. The ghost-like leader eyed the ceiling nervously and gulped a big gulp.

Placed between his erstwhile rival Chris Huhne and his temporary predecessor Vince Cable for moral support, "Calamity" as someone somewhere once cruelly dubbed him, stood up for his first taste of PMQs with the Commons hairdryer on full blast.

The noise level shot up, supporters cheered and opponents jeered as Mr C launched himself into the maelstrom.

Unfortunately for his detractors, "Calamity" was no such thing and pulled it off his debut with aplomb, making a couple of serious points about energy price rises.

Gordy stood up and welcomed the new kid on the block, referring to how he had already had "private conversations" with Nick and there was an open door at No 10. MPs oohed. For some reason, the image of Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf in grandma's clothes suddenly sprung to mind.

Mr Clegg might well have wanted to talk about a totemic issue for LibDems - ID cards - but David Cameron cannily had stolen a march.

Although the Tory leader welcomed Mr Clegg to his new role, there was a barb. Noting how the new boy was the fourth LibDem leader he had had to face, the Cameroon quipped: "I'm simply relieved that it's no longer my party that has got the habit of replacing its leaders on such a regular basis."

ID cards provided the basis of the usual ding-dong with the Tory leader asking the PM if it was still government policy to make ID cards compulsory.

Gordy insisted that was the policy but then appeared to heavily qualify it by saying it was subject to a vote by MPs and "after we have looked at the voluntary system in place". Hmmm. Some suspected wriggle room was being created.

Mr Brown then began to dig himself into a deeper hole by referring to "all the evidence we've had over the last few months" at which Conservative back benchers cracked up as they thought of story after story about lost data.

Amid the guffaws, the PM stuttered and declared: "Oh yes. Oh yes." And when he suggested that two of Mr Cameron's key aides supported ID cards, the Tory leader decided to trade quotes.

He said Chancellor Alistair Darling had once said that ID cards were unnecessary, quoting him: " I do not want my whole life to be reduced to a magnetic strip on a plastic card.' " Mr Cameron told the PM: "I have to say, that compared with being the Chancellor in your government, being a magnetic strip on a plastic card is probably a welcome relief."

As Tory tails were up Gordy responded by asking if the Cameroon supported ID cards for foreign nationals, but by now the Conservative leader had moved on to economic matters.

The PM suddenly spotted a weak spot in Dave's armour, declaring: "I see his incursion into identity cards did not last long." Labour tails were now up.

Mr Brown ended this particular knockabout session by insisting that Mr C had not answered the question on foreign nationals, adding to Labour roars: "If he can't answer that question, then he is not fit to be able to ask other questions about other issues."

Over in Clegg corner, the LibDem leader's heartbeat was returning to normal and he was mentally sipping a cool Martini. His first ordeal by fire was over and he had, to the curses of his enemies, survived.