Our virtual parliament has proven far more cordial than our real one – but it won’t last

Editorial: The measured tone will inevitably revert as the crisis wears on and as frustrations over major basic failings persist

(AFP via Getty Images)

No Boris Johnson; no farmyard noises; no Jeremy Corbyn. The new-look new Commons wore an unfamiliar face, but a welcome one. Prime Minister’s Questions, taken by “acting” prime minister Dominic Raab, were far superior, from the point of view of an anxious public, to the usual mix of music hall and bear pit.

Sir Keir Starmer, in his first outing as leader of the opposition, made his task look misleadingly easy. He asked the right questions at the right time and, most importantly, maintained the right tone. Mr Raab suppressed his usual rebarbative ways, and put on a passable show of “doing human”. Both are trained lawyers, and their exchanges resembled two busy advocates carefully getting through the details of a sensitive case.

The session, statement and debate, featuring a more confident Matt Hancock opposite Jon Ashworth, were models of parliamentary scrutiny at its best. The technology mostly held up, and it is reassuring to know that the entire task of holding ministers to account no longer falls to half a dozen journalists every afternoon and the intermittent attention of select committees. Even Mr Corbyn, back on the backbenches, managed to ask a pointed but sensible question.