Oh that's so fucking weird

Welsh questions now btw, then PMQs at noon https://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/5495714d-0e79-4feb-98ea-d2cb83ae5dc7

Oh wow it really is unbelievably strange, I can't get over it at all.

"Thank you very much Mr Speaker. Does my rt hon friend agree with me and most people in Dudley that we are stronger as one united kingdom at responding to coronavirus?" Yep, the questions are still shit. A dose of normality.

Starmer vs Rabb kicking off. Labour leader's first PMQs. https://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/5495714d-0e79-4feb-98ea-d2cb83ae5dc7

Strong start for Starmer. Says 18K tests a day right now. How will we get from there to 100,000 in eight days, as per Hancock's promise. Rabb says capacity is realy 40K. Starmer: "I didn't need correcting, because I gave the figure for the actual tests a day."

"It's really important that we fully understand what the first secretary just said. That means that the day before yesterday, 40,000 tests could have been carried out, but only 18,000 were actually carried out."

Rabb not having a great time here, but then he so rarely does.

Already, after just a few minutes, there's been more scrutiny - in the practical sense of the word - of the govt position than we've seen from the leader of the opposition for five years. Starmer is actually listening to the answers and then asking questions of them.

Starmer asks how many NHS and social care workers have died. Rabb says 69 NHS workers have died. No figures for care home.

Starmer: "I'm disappointed that we don't have a number for social care workers and I'll put the first secretary on notice that I'll ask the same question again next week and hopefully we can have a better answer."

Starmer: "There is a pattern emerging. We were slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow on protective equipment, and now slow to take up these offers from British firms [for PPE]."

Polite but punishing.

Raab gets tetchy. "We have been guided by scientific advice at every step along this way. If he thinks he knows better than they do then that's his decision."

OK so Starmer quite clearly doing proper damage to Raab in that exchange. There is a limit to what we can learn from it though. I think the silence in the Chamber helps the leader of the opposition. Doesn't have to fight to be heard.

Also, Rabb is properly dreadful. Even when he's telling the truth, he looks as if he's lying. He isn't intellectually up to the task - any task at all, and certainly not this one. Plus he always looks nervous.

Johnson isn't a great performer. The Commons isn't ideal for him. But he's better than that.

Despite all that though, the Starmer performance did exactly what you would expect: Looked the part, got the tone right, exercised sensible judgement, and focused on the detail to hold the government to account.

It was impressive. And reassuring. Just when we really need it - in terms of the size of the government majority and the severity of the dangers we face - there is finally an opposition leader who can do the job.