It was quite the moment. The first Labour budget in 15 years. The first ever UK budget delivered by a woman. Labour backbenchers had been queueing up since 8.30am to get their place in history. The moment the doors were opened three hours later, they dashed for their seats. Within minutes even the standing room was gone.
The Tory MPs, not so much. Ten minutes before the largely pointless prime minister’s questions began there were still plenty of seats free on the opposition side of the chamber. One of the upsides of having only 121 MPs is that there is no premium on space these days. Up in the gallery above, Theresa May sat impassively apart from the odd shake of the head. The Maybot never gives much away. She inhabits a world of her own.
