IT was Jezza’s farewell. His last PMQs after 150 appearances before he hangs up his leader’s boots.
If there was a tear in the eye or a lump in his throat, they were not discernible.
Indeed, the hairy Leftie was in a feisty mood, declaring to the last his socialist campaigning credentials as the sun slowly set on his time as chief comrade.
Bozza, looking dog-tired tried his best to summon up some nice words to say about the departing Labour chief.
He paid tribute to Jezza’s “service to party and to the country over the last four years in a very difficult job. We may not agree about everything but no one can doubt his sincerity and his determination to build a better society”.
All the way through the Old Etonian’s encomium, the chief comrade was chewing a bee and looking decidedly unimpressed.
When it was over, Jezza graciously thanked the PM for his kind remarks but noted: “He was talking as though this was a sort of obituary; just to let you know my voice will not be stilled, I’ll be around, I’ll be arguing, I’ll be campaigning and I’ll be demanding justice for the people of this country and, indeed, the rest of the world.” So there.
Bozza, later earned more quizzical glances from the septuagenarian socialist when he referred to Jezza’s retirement but then, observing the Labour chief’s grimace, quickly corrected himself, saying: “He is not retiring, warmly welcomed by his successor.”
Amid the grim seriousness of the coronavirus crisis, a smile fell across MPs’ faces when the Orkney and Shetland champion Alistair Carmichael rose to talk about “when this is all over”. Liberal Democrats are ever the optimists.
He suggested once coronavirus was history, the PM would have earned himself a “proper break on a paradise island,” not another trip to the Caribbean delight of Mustique but a trip to, er, the Northern Isles.
“In that regard, can I commend to him the paradise islands of Orkney and Shetland, where we have a fantastic tourism offer…” The political point being about helping the islands’ self-employed café managers, tour guides and those who run food and drink outlets.
Bozza, spied the Scot, and jumped up with a quip to laughter: “As for his generous invitation, he should be careful what he wishes for.”
As the nation grapples with the pandemic, Tory backbencher Charles Walker summoned up the blitz spirit and, while making a perfectly valid point, used perhaps a somewhat overblown metaphor.
“There is an army of black cab drivers in and around London, itching to get involved like the Spitfires of 1940. Can we find a way, if we need to get doctors and nurses safely across London, to use these black cab drivers.”
The PM noted his colleague’s “superb” point and revealed this had already been discussed by ministers and mandarins in Whitehall. Describing the cabbies of London as a “fantastic…unsung service,” he insisted: “They can certainly rise to this challenge.” Chocks away!
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