Daily View: Ed Miliband's first PMQs
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Political commentators give their verdicts of Ed Miliband's performance at his first Prime Minister's questions as the leader of the opposition.
The [subscription required] is not alone in mentioning Ed Miliband's similarity to a panda:
"Red Ed, arriving at PMQs to cheers of hope rather than expectation on his side, was nervous as he sat down, pulling up his socks, blowing his nose, glugging water. The circles around his panda eyes were as black as the dark side of the Moon, no doubt a result of practising in the mirror all night long...
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"Dave isn't used to losing PMQs but yesterday, much to everyone's surprise, he did just that. Ed may not be Ed the Shred but he had gained some credibility (Ed the Cred?) Dave may have to start practising in the mirror."
to Ed Miliband as a panda three times albeit a panda that managed to get David Cameron to sound rattled:
"It was Ed Miliband's first prime minister's questions, and he wasn't bad at all. This clearly came as a surprise to many of his backbenchers, who've been chuntering on for weeks about union members foisting on them a lefty who looks like a nervous panda on his gap year."
Ed Miliband's appearance, looking for some advantage in it:
"In that dense, thrilling atmosphere, one word out of place, a hesitation, a misspeaking, a hiccup, a stammer - and the House falls in on you. But as all agreed, he did well. And not merely because he kept control of his face and failed to start ranting about evil penguins...
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"One thing, Edward's face. You have to go back to it. It does have a marvellous collection of darkness in it. That may very well come in handy, and sooner than we think."
Staying away from panda references, the faint praise for Ed Miliband, referring to him as "Comrade Ed":
"The Miliband voice remains gummy, befluffed like a half-sucked pineapple chunk which has fallen on the carpet. There was no jolt of electricity when he spoke. But he found a composed, mature-sounding tone. He did not look too out of place."
Ed Miliband's criticism of the plans to stop universal child benefits "cold, clinical and effective":
"This wasn't quite a demolition, but it was complete deconstruction of the prime minister's argument.
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"Some would call it passive aggressive, and indeed you can imagine Miliband gets pretty weird when he has a barny with the girlfriend. Personally, I thought he was like Terminator: emotionless, accurate and dangerous. You don't particularly want to have a pint with him, but you do want him taking on the prime minister at the despatch box."
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