He’s doing it deliberately, isn’t he? The twisted tie and splayed collar and that ghaaaaastly coat and shirt combination. The vanity of being above appearances. The Labour leader is manifesting Vogue levels of virtue-signalling in his dress.

Then all that rubbish about the “very sad news” of having a United Nations committee coming over to investigate the human rights of the disabled. It was “deeply embarrassing”, he said. Cameron classified that as left-wing cack and that proper Britons couldn’t give two flying fingers for a UN committee (I translate). The miserablisation of Labour continues.

Still, Corbyn’s better than Miliband. And better than the next leader (as long that’s Eddie Izzard).

The left is looking ridiculous. They can’t afford to look ridiculous (not with their tax credits taken away). They’re demanding steel be a protected industry. One of them wanted a guarantee that no child in her constituency would be worse off in five years time. Another wanted justice for the people of Teeside. They all want more money spent on their voters.

But as Cameron said, that Teeside company lost £600m in the last parliament and he can’t dictate the world price of steel. He might have added that God alone can guarantee five years of prosperity for all children. Not even socialism can do that.

Corbyn’s tax credits line may backfire spectacularly. At his every question we heard of people getting their pay subsidised, living in public housing at minimal rents, being paid for having children, paying almost no income tax . . . There’s a constituency out there who resent that. We (what a giveaway) do not like paying part of our incomes to give to these people. And in our shameful cunning we do not admit this in public, and certainly not to pollsters.

The left should beware any false dawn in the polls. The Labour Party right (who won a great victory last night in the select committee elections – not one Corbyn-supporter got elected) may care to point this out to their colleagues.

If the Tories’ luck holds, the economy bundles on and the tax credit shortfalls are made up in time – they’ll have a landslide in 2020.

PS: The Speaker cut short a Tory’s maiden question. Chris Philp was pointing out that the steel crisis was partly caused by Ed Miliband’s green surcharge on electricity prices, rendering us woefully uncomp-

Bercow stood up waving him down, “We don’t need to waste time with this,” he said rudely. “Nothing to do with Government policy!” (How did he know that?)

It is a little too early to despair. Yes, Bercow has squared off his many enemies using his powers of patronage and position. And yes, he is unassailable. However, it is under those conditions that people like him go mad. His treatment of Philips may be an early indicator of this. We can yet dare to hope.