Hello and welcome to Coffeehouse Shots, The Spectator's Daily Politics Podcast. I'm Patrick

Gibbons and today I'm joined by our political editor Tim Shipman and our economics editor Michael

Simmons. So today it was a noisy PMQs for the last one ahead of Easter recess with

Kirstama and Kemi Badonock clashing over North Sea gas plans

and energy built support and reform walking out of the chamber later on. Tim on Coffeehouse

today James described Stama as plodding and peevish. What did you make of the session?

I think adenoidal is what I would say. This was peak Kirstama. It was wonderful. So Kewa Badock started off by saying, well, you didn't answer a single question last week. Let's have another go. And then talked about whether he was going to give the go ahead to gas fields in the North Sea. And Stama, for question after question, just went into process mode and said,

I'm very surprised that the Honourable Lady is not rendered legislation. The legislation says very

clearly that the decision maker is the Secretary of State for Energy, which of course is Ed Miliband.

And on and on he went, I'm really, he looked genuinely perplexed.

I'm very confused that the Honorable Lady

doesn't understand how this works.

And on and on he went,

basically saying, I am the Prime Minister

and I'm not in charge.

I don't make the decisions around here.

I don't decide what our energy policy is.

The quasi-judicial role of the energy secretary

trumps all. Now, technically everybody knows that's how it works. In practice, if a prime minister

wants something to happen, the energy secretary, quasi-judicial role or not, will give the blooming go-ahead

for it. And this was Stama sitting on the fence in a fairly spectacular fashion.

You know, Ed Miliband is the most popular member of the cabinet with his party,

...