PMQs Verdict: Fiery Corbyn goes on the attack over junior doctors

Today we caught a glimpse of angry Jeremy Corbyn. Gone was his usual quiet, stern demeanour – dubbed “the disappointed geography teacher” look. Instead, we saw Corbyn with fire in his belly, rising to the noise of the Chamber, at times almost shouting as he denounced the Government’s handling of the junior doctors’ contract negotiations.

It was a topical area to go on, following yesterday’s announcement of three more 48-hour strikes in response to the Tories’ imposition of new contracts. And with public support on the doctors’ side, it made sense to lead with.

Corbyn cannot have known what farce the debate would descend into. Cameron angrily responded to heckles from Labour MPs about his own mother signing an anti-cuts petition with a remark that will surely be recorded as one of the oddest in a parliamentary exchange.

Turning to Corbyn, Cameron jabbed a finger and bellowed: “I think I know what my mother would say – she’d look across the despatch box and say ‘put on a proper suit, do up your tie and sing the national anthem’.”

“If we’re talking of motherly advice,” Corbyn responded, “My late mother would have said ‘stand up for a health service free at the point of use for everybody’. Because that’s what she dedicated her life to, as did many of her generation.”

Surely, after sinking to the level of ‘My Mum says’, there is no further depth left to plumb in a political debate? You’d have thought. But Cameron quickly grabbed a shovel and took us another six feet under, to declare that none other than Nye Bevan would be supportive of Jeremy Hunt’s NHS fiasco.

Corbyn was understandably a little dumbstruck. “Nye Bevan would be turning in his grave if he could hear your attitude towards the NHS,” he said. “He was a man with vision, who wanted a health service for the good of all.”

While the junior doctors’ row is undeniably a huge issue this week, the absence of Europe was telling. Twice since Christmas PMQs has fallen within a day of a doctors’ strike, and on both occasions Corbyn did not mention it – focussing instead on housing each time. And yet today, he devoted all of his attention to it.

There are two obvious reasons not to go big on the Tory splits over the EU; one public, one private.

Publicly, Corbyn’s team point out there was a Prime Minister’s statement on the EU referendum earlier in the week, which Corbyn responded to. Having covered that, it was better to concentrate on another important topic today.

Privately, however, they must be concerned about the inability to make the most of the burgeoning Tory war on the issue. It is all too obvious that any attempt to mock Cameron’s lack of support from his MPs would receive an easy rebuttal about Corbyn’s popularity on his own benches. The fact that the Labour leader is attending a rally against Trident this weekend would make it all the easier.

But the Conservatives are at loggerheads. Their leader is in such a weak position that a leadership contest is effectively underway – and that is certainly not something you can throw at Corbyn. He simply can’t let internal Labour disputes affect his ability to hold the Government to account. The Tories are going to be in chaos for the next four months, and Corbyn needs the confidence to make the most of it.