We’re living in a golden age of parliamentary sketch writing; never have so many been made mincemeat of by so few. Our own Madeline Grant combines coruscating character assassination with a sense of humour so light and playful that she often appears like a kitten prancing on a keyboard, delighted by the sound she’s making. And of course there’s Quentin Letts, the doyen of sketch writers, formerly of the Times and Telegraph and most recently returned to his natural home at the Daily Mail. I reviewed a book of his some years back and found it elegant, muscular and witty.

It’s always a joy to behold someone who excels at what they do – that is, if the beholder is also good at their job. If not, then excellence can appear somewhat… threatening. This crossed my mind on reading the alarmingly lame X post by Stella Creasy criticising Mr Letts for writing this of Andy Burnham’s press conference on Wednesday: ‘V slow delivery from Burnham. He keeps almost losing his thread. Maybe he is distracted by amazingly short skirt in front row.’

Creasy gasped at the gall of this fellow daring to look at the legs of women without written consent and then produced this gem of Lady Muck-style self-regard: ‘This man stares down on us from the parliamentary lobby into the chamber on a daily basis. Shudder doesn’t begin to cover it.’

What exactly is Creasy going to do if that nasty man keeps looking at her – have a boo-hoo?

What exactly is Creasy going to do if........

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