Turbo-Hattie just keeps going

Her old foe William Hague rose warily, having had a savaging from Labour's wannabe Mrs Thatcher last time they stood in for their respective bosses.

Ms Harman sounded nervous - as well you might if you had promised to remove a pension from Fred the Shred with zero Cabinet support for the plan.

Mr Hague enquired why small businesses had not yet received promised government help due at the start of March.

Harriet furrowed her brow. Small businesses are not really her thing. She inhabits a world of lovely big public-sector thingies which never go bankrupt.

But she soon hit her Valkyrie stride and was bellowing out the gospel according to Gordon on do-something Labour versus do-nothing Tories.

Politicians love teasing their peers about their leadership ambitions and Mr Hague chose his moment carefully.

"When Eden was in America," he reflected, "Supermac came forward." Might Ms Harman be distracted by her own leadership hopes?

"You'd know about that," shouted someone at the rougher end of the Labour terraces. "I'm only a deputy - but I'm a loyal one," shot back Mr Hague.

Ms Harman had brought a cosh in her handbag too - her opponent's record as an avid deregulator. It wasn't much use against the feline Tory teasing. Still, we were left with the impression she wasn't averse to being the name in the frame.

She had all her usual vices - a machinegun delivery and a predictable line of Labour defence on the economy.

One great asset: she just keeps on going, right or wrong. You would not necessarily want to back her on the basis of this performance but she left no doubt she is a serious contender.

The faces on the front bench were a picture. David Miliband (a potential leadership rival) nodded sporadic agreement but did not look too thrilled. Yvette Cooper flicked an imaginary speck from her pastel suit.

Alan Johnson (another hopeful) slid into that semi-slump you see at the end of long meetings in airless rooms. Three minds wondering what life would be like if Ms Harman were at the reins - and what would happen to them.

It took a Plaid Cymru intervention to bring us back to national whipping boy Sir Fred Goodwin. He was knighted on the Government's recommendation - how so?

Ms Harman resisted the temptation to try to strip the fallen banker of his gong, having failed to strip him of his pension.

"It was for services to the Prince's Trust, not services to banking," she said.

Another case of Hattie's wandering facts. I thought I saw some of her colleagues turn pale.