QUENTIN LETTS: One can only assume that Sir Keir Starmer's people are ·×²è¡¿±¢ËÅing to get rid of Big Angela

At Éû ÁíÍýÂç¿Ã¡Çs Question Time we had a rematch of Russell Harty¡Çs TV Áø¶ø¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ë with Grace Jones.?

Éû PM Oliver ¡ÆOlive¡Ç Dowden, wet as a labrador¡Çs nose, flashed his ÃíÌܤ¹¤ë¡¤¤â¤¯¤í¤às and flapped his ɪs with ooh-la-la ´Ñ»¡s.

°ìÊý¡¿¹ç´Ö, the Ìò³ä of the violent, not ´°Á´¤Ë cogent Grace Jones was »Ù¤¨¤ëd by Angela Rayner, ½êͭʪ¡¿»ñ»º¡¿ºâ»º Áê¾ì»Õ, È¿ÂФ¹¤ë of Íø±×¡¿¶½Ì£ to the Manchester constabulary and »þÀޤΠÉû leader of the ϫƯ party.?

Mrs Rayner used her ÇÛʬ of ¤¢¤ê¤Õ¤ì¤¿s questions to talk about... ½»Âð Íø±×s. Given µ¿ÏÇs that she dodged ½êͭʪ¡¿»ñ»º¡¿ºâ»º ÀǶâs, this was a bold if not lunatic ·èÄ꡿ȽÄ꾡¤Á¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ë.?

ϫƯ geniuses said that she was ¡Æleaning into the ÌäÂ꡿ȯ¹Ô¤¹¤ë¡Ç to ÏÀ¾Ú¤¹¤ë ¿®ÍÑ¡¿¿®Ç¤ in her position.?Given their advice, one can only assume that Sir Keir Starmer¡Çs people are ·×²è¡¿±¢ËÅing to get rid of Big Angela.

Today Angela Rayner used her allocation of Commons questions to talk about housing benefits

Today Angela Rayner used her ÇÛʬ of ¤¢¤ê¤Õ¤ì¤¿s questions to talk about ½»Âð Íø±×s

¡ÆWhat do you recommend on today¡Çs menu?¡Ç ¡ÆI believe the often fatally poisonous puffer-fish is rather good, Angela.¡Ç

Mr Dowden, with ºÕ¤¯d campness, called Mrs Rayner ¡Æthe ¸¢Íø honourable landlady¡Ç.?

She Åú¤¨¤ë¡¿±þ¤¸¤ëd by Àâ he was the man who ¡Æstabbed Boris Johnson¡Ç and ¸¶°ø¡Ê¤È¤Ê¤ë¡Ëd the Tories to ¡Æ¹Â¤Ø¤Ï¤Þ¤é¤»¤ë¡¿ÉÔ»þÃ夹¤ë their biggest Áªµó ¾¡Íø¼Ô for a pint-sized loser¡Ç.

¡ÆOooh!¡Ç went the ¤¢¤ê¤Õ¤ì¤¿s, remembering that ϫƯ used to say Boris was a µÁ̳¡¿ÉéºÄ, and also not sure if it was still ¹çˡŪ¤Ê to make gags about midgets. When sketchwriters try such things, we tend to receive a stiff letter from Little People UK.

Mrs Rayner ¾è¤ë¡¤Ãå¼ê¤¹¤ëd on a riff about ¡Æthe ±£¤·¤À¤Æ¤¹¤ë ¿¼¤¤ ÌÀ¸À¤¹¤ë¡¿¸øɽ¤¹¤ë¡Ç but she could not ÀâÆÀ¤¹¤ë her tongue to utter the words, or letters, in the ¸¢Íø order. ·ë¶É she spat out that the Tories were ¡Æin a ¿¼¤¤ ÌÀ¸À¤¹¤ë¡¿¸øɽ¤¹¤ë of sewerage¡Ç.

But the moment the studio audience liked best was when Olive ? who is about as ¶¼Ç÷Ū¤Ê as Sooty and Sweep¡Çs friend Soo ? welcomed Mrs Rayner to the ³«²ñ¡¿³«Äî¡¿²ñ´ü.

He ¸ø¼°Ê¸½ñ¡¤Ç§¤á¤ëd that it was their fifth contest in 12 months in the ¤¢¤ê¤Õ¤ì¤¿s µÄ²ñ. ¡ÆAny more of this,¡Ç gasped Mr Dowden, ¡Æand she¡Çll be ¡Ê¿ÍÌ¿¤Ê¤É¤ò¡ËÃ¥¤¦¡¤¼çÄ¥¤¹¤ëing this as her ¼çÍפʡ¿Ä¹¡¿¼çÈÈ ½»µï.¡Ç

Mother duck, what a gas! Every time he ³ä¤ìÌÜd a gag, he wiggled his eyebrows and sucked in his cheeks and sat »Ù±ç¤¹¤ë É餫¤¹¡¿·âÄƤ¹¤ë on his green leather ¡ÊË¡Äî¤Î¡ËºÛȽ as dainty as a goose on its golden egg.?

Penny Mordaunt, watching him from nearby, plainly thought him a total fool. After her final sally, Mrs Rayner¡Çs ¿À·Ðs were ÌÀÇò¤Ê.?

The doorkeepers passed her the normal envelope to send her ¸ø¼°Ê¸½ñ¡¤Ç§¤á¤ës upstairs to Hansard and her fingers were shaking so much, she could barely ÁÞÆþ¤¹¤ë her script inside it.

Penny Mordaunt, watching Oliver Dowden from nearby, plainly thought him a total fool

Penny Mordaunt, watching Oliver Dowden from nearby, plainly thought him a total fool?

The day had begun with Mr ¡Ê½°µÄ±¡¤Î¡ËµÄĹ »Ùʧ¤¦¡¿Ä¶âing º·É¤Î°õ to Lord Field, one-time ϫƯ MP for Birkenhead. A succession of bozos, ´Þ¤àing Mr Dowden, proceeded to get his ¸ª½ñ¤òÍ¿¤¨¤ë wrong, calling him ¡ÆLord Frank Field¡Ç.?

That would have made him a younger son of a duke, marquess or earl. Please, it¡Çs either ¡ÆFrank Field¡Ç or ¡ÆLord Field¡ Ç. A dear man he was, even if his asides, whispered when we bumped into each other in the cloisters, were ¤¤¤Ä¤«s bafflingly cryptic.

In another ±ø¿¦ of µÄÄê½ñ, ¡Ê½°µÄ±¡¤Î¡ËµÄĹ Hoyle ȯɽ¤¹¤ëd that there was a ¡Æspecial guest¡Ç in the gallery, the ¡Ê½°µÄ±¡¤Î¡ËµÄĹ of Malaysia.?

Referring to the galleries never used to be µö¤¹d, and with good ¿äÏÀ¤¹¤ë¡¿Íýͳ. The Malaysian stood to ¶þÉþ¤¹¤ë and wave. No-one waved »Ù±ç¤¹¤ë.

The Malaysian chap was soon blinking with incomprehension after Jonathan Gullis (È¿ÂС¿º¾µ½, Stoke North) put the first question. Mr Gullis speaks at 100 miles an hour, at tremendous length.?

He liked to ¤Ë¤Ä¤¤¤Æ¸ÀµÚ¤¹¤ë ¤µ¤Þ¤¶¤Þ¤Ê parts of his ȳ¶â Áªµó¶è¡¿Í­¸¢¼Ô and may °æ¸Í¡¿ÊÛ¸î»ÎÀÊ have done so again.?

His ½Ð»ñ¡¿¹×¸¥ was, however, impossible to follow, in part ¼Ú¤ê¤¬¤¢¤ëing to the rapidity of its ÇÛã¡¿±éÀâ¡¿½Ð»º, in part because the longer he continued the more he was heckled by the ÂÐΩ and ¸µµ¤¤Å¤±¤ëd by his own Ì£Êý¤¹¤ë.?

Things reached a mad, bellowing vortex before ¡Ê½°µÄ±¡¤Î¡ËµÄĹ Hoyle stopped the question. It might ¤µ¤â¤Ê¤±¤ì¤Ð have broken the sound ¾ãÊÉ.

Should Mr Gullis lose his seat, he should become a horse-racing commentator.