It was clear from the start that this was largely a domestic dispute. The Labour benches were as tightly rammed as they are for prime minister’s questions and everyone had come determined to have their say. No longer willing to be sidelined by ministers as “noises off”. No one had just turned up because they had nowhere better to be.
On the other side of the Commons, only a handful of Tory backbenchers had made the effort to show up. Fair enough. Disabled and vulnerable people have never really been their priority. To be charitable, maybe they just found it a bit awkward intruding on the government’s private grief.