The cult of Paddington has gone too far

‘Kindness is like marmalade – a little goes a long way,’ Paddington Bear tweeted recently. But it isn’t only imaginary talking bears who take this approach on social media. The News Agents’ Emily Maitlis was inspired by the rather sickly – and given the seriousness of current events, rather inappropriate – chummy love-in between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer at their final Commons encounter last week. ‘Just imagine if PMQs was like this every week,’ she tweeted wistfully, ‘Conciliatory. Helpful. Bipartisan. Passionate and compassionate.’

Thankfully, as it turned out, Rishi Sunak was faking. His Budget response displayed the fire down below that only gets switched on in some people after they’ve been utterly trounced. Poor Emily, her bipartisan dreams smashed so soon. I pictured her sighing sadly and taking a consoling bite from the emergency marmalade sandwich she keeps under her hat.