The Prime Minister portrayed himself as a sane, sober, consensual person who is hard at work improving people’s lives.
But how grateful ,after 40 minutes of solemnity, the House was to be given a licence by Johnson the ex-PM to laugh.
All concerned were anxious to declare in the clearest possible terms that they and their colleagues oppose sexism and misogyny.
Outside Westminster Hall, a baffled group of tourists noticed Oliver Cromwell giving a nod of approval.
He was placed under no real pressure by the Leader of the Opposition, whose questions were far too long.
The questions are posed with a ponderousness that recalls Polonius as his most sententious: too much evidence, too little wit.
The Prime Minister dominated a House stilled by death