A Prime Minister’s Question Time like no other saw the debut outing of Sir Keir Starmer, the new Labour leader, in the midst of a national crisis. Times like these require a cross-party consensus but that should not shield the Government from criticism if things are not going to plan. Indeed, Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, standing in for Boris Johnson, welcomed the return of the Commons and the opportunity for MPs to hold ministers accountable.

Yet Mr Raab and later Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, seemed reluctant to accept that anything had gone wrong. Since everyone accepts that ministers and officials are working around the clock to improve the delivery of personal protection equipment (PPE) and ramp up the provision of testing, it is not a weakness to concede that there have been serious shortcomings.

Sir Keir sought to explore them with a series of forensic questions that contrasted with the class-based invective often deployed by Jeremy Corbyn.As a lawyer and former Director of Public Prosecutions, the new Labour leader knows how to marshal his thoughts and to follow through on questions if he thinks there are flaws in the answers. His first foray suggests he will be a more formidable opponent for the Tories than his predecessor.