The Real Keir comes out fighting and turns the tables on deluded Kemi

‘Starmer was on the back foot for some exchanges, but he wasn’t as discomfited as he might have been. You could feel the disappointment from Kemi’s backbenchers.’ Photograph: House of Commons/PA

To have one Labour peer with a close association to a child sex offender may be regarded as a misfortune: to have two looks like carelessness. This was never going to be an easy prime minister’s question for Keir Starmer.

The opposition was spoilt for choice. The peers in question – Peter Mandelson and Matthew Doyle – as well as the topics of Morgan McSweeney, Tim Allan, Wes Streeting … These were just some of the crisis points of the past seven days. Even by the political psychodramas of the past 10 years, it’s fair to say Starmer has had the week from hell. Just one damn thing after another.