Cameron's quoting of Shakespeare at PMQs is mere prattle without practice

It’s all very well quoting Shakespeare, Mr Cameron, but let’s focus on the real issues. If you cut us, do we not bleed?

If Cameron likes Shakespeare as much as he says he does, perhaps he could learn from him (PA)

In today’s Prime Minister’s Questions, David Cameron was invited by Conservative MP for Stratford-upon-Avon Nadhim Zahawi to celebrate the 400^th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death.

Seemingly delighted to seize the moment to wax lyrical about the UK’s most famous playwright, Cameron paid a moving tribute to some of the world’s greatest works of literature by firing off a series of cringe worthy puns taking a swing at the leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn.

So much for the Swan of Avon: Cameron himself has proved a worthy successor to Shakespeare, dazzling us with his dextrous wordplay upon the parliamentary stage. Or not. All credit to Corbyn for having the decency not to respond with a joke about Cameron’s alleged dealings with Hamlet.

Still, Cameron’s back-benchers loved it, cheering and bellowing their appreciation. Of course, this is not the first time Shakespeare has been used for political point-scoring.

Mr Zahawi is to be credited for once again representing his Stratford constituents by using Shakespeare’s words: in November 2014 he mocked MP Emily Thornberry with a speech from Richard II when she tweeted a photo of a house in Rochester covered in England flags. He said the image made him feel valiant about his country: ‘this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England!’

Of course, had Mr Zahawi bothered to finish the quote, he might not have wanted to use it. John of Gaunt uses the speech to bemoan the fate of the nation and the ruler who oversees its demise, and it’s worth reading on: 'That England, that was wont to conquer others, Hath made a shameful conquest of itself.’

This England has been leased out. Our nuclear power stations have been sold off to China. Our NHS is facing a death by a thousand cuts and privatised to within an inch of its life. Our universities are now run for profit, saddling thousands of students with life-changing debt simply for wanting the right to an education.

The irony of Cameron trying to celebrate the life and work of Shakespeare is all too sad when those who want to study him at university must fork out nine thousand pounds per year. But it’s okay: if you can’t afford to go into Higher Education you can always go to a public library and… Oh, wait, you probably can’t.

If Cameron likes Shakespeare as much as he says he does, perhaps he could learn from him. In 2015, Britain is a nation whose poorest people rely on food banks, but Cameron’s cuts to welfare might as well be Coriolanus’ reponse to the starving of Rome: ‘hang ‘em!’

The Sisters Uncut activists campaign with the slogan: ‘They cut, we bleed.’ A line which recalls Shylock’s ‘If you cut us, do we not bleed?’ because government cuts disproportionately affect women.

You may not be a magician called Prospero, Prime Minister, but you have the power and the responsibility to protect this country and run it for people, not profit. You see it’s great to celebrate Shakespeare, it’s just a shame that you haven’t bothered to actually read him.