QUENTIN LETTS: Shabana Mahmood didn't so much deliver her speech as pebble-dash it at her audience

With Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood in danger of sinking, numerous vessels were launched to rescue her.

Operation Save Shabana saw several government ministers steam into the Commons to be at hand when she made a statement on her immigration capitulation. Backbenchers bounced about on the distant briny, eager to toot horns and assist any way they could. Attendance on the Labour side was high. In other words, they were worried.

The Whips had been busy. A flag signal had been sent to all hands: 'Make life pitchy for the Tories. Andy expects that every man will do his duty.' And every woman? 'Yes, all right, all right, and woman.' Nelsonian analogies are not entirely adaptable to the egalitarian age.

One woman who did not bother to stay, mind you, was Angela Rayner, who led opposition to the Home Secretary's original, stiffer proposals. She had been there immediately beforehand, for Local Government departmental questions.

As Ms Mahmood approached the despatch box shortly before 4pm, Ms Rayner hightailed it for the exit.

Quite the show-pony she is, these days, our Ange. A newly scissored fringe. Short-sleeved cocktail dress. A knowing smirk on her chops. She must know that she has done Ms Mahmood serious damage. Mission successful.

Operation Save Shabana saw several government ministers steam into the Commons to be at hand when she made a statement on her immigration capitulation

Not that you would have guessed this from the Home Secretary's tone. She jabbered forth with beaky determination, hitting consonants with industrial emphasis. In a Labour Party so often glottal-stoppy she is unusual in accentuating her t's heavily. She cut a short, insistent figure, her voice a dry monotone. She does not so much deliver a speech as pebble-dash it at an audience.

Lucy Powell, Education Secretary, sat beside her, trying to look as if she understood it all. The mouth hinged open a bit, like a car ferry approaching the quayside. On Ms Mahmood's other flank was beady-eyed Louise Haigh, First Secretary. Chief Whip Anneliese Midgley, not often seen, had turned up in Charlie Chaplin trousers, novelty tie and clown shoes. It is a pity she does not take wardrobe advice from Bootle's Peter Dowd, the only Labour man to wear a pinstriped suit.

Sir Christopher Bryant, Northern Ireland Secretary, vouchsafed his presence. Ditto Pat McFadden, whose Work and Pensions department will have to pay most of those billions in costs created by Ms Mahmood's surrender.

When the Tories' Chris Philp rose he was pelted by mockery. Speaker Hoyle offered Mr Philp little protection, settling for 'calm down' gestures with his open palms.

Left-wing MPs making the most noise included Burnley's jiggly-kneed Oliver Ryan and the Cornish second-hand car salesman Perran 'Lovely Little Runner' Moon, who have both been in Labour Whips' bad books recently. Mr Moon (Camborne & Redruth) was disporting himself and chortling until his face was scarlet.

A Whip, Sarah Coombes, crouched down for a few words with Tony Vaughan (Lab, Folkestone & Hythe), a potential rebel. Vaughan soon vanished. Andy Burnham's parliamentary aide, Sir Nic Dakin, shimmered in the margins.

Mr Philp bellowed that 'it took a year for the Home Secretary to build a reputation for being tough but she has just dismantled it in 12 minutes'. Antonia Bance (Lab, Tipton & Wednesbury) bellowed baboonishly. It may have been abuse or an order for more bananas, hard to say. Natasha Irons (Lab, Croydon East) closed her eyes and shook her head at Mr Philp's claims that the Mahmood U-turn would cost billions.

Jonathan Hinder (Pendle), a Blue Labour man, looked green. Philp ended his speech and – whoosh – up went a geyser of Labour raspberries.

Jade Botterill, another government Whip, gave her backbenches a connoisseur's nod. Simon Rattle used to do something similar when pleased with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's brass section. Sir Edward Leigh (Con, Gainsborough), one of life's tubas, then essayed a sporty solo in which he said anyone who was a Home Office minister in 2023 (as Mr Philp was) 'should be in sackcloth and ashes'.

Not a great day for Philp. Or, indeed, for the country.

• READ MORE: Mahmood's '£10billion migrant climbdown': Home Secretary abandons tougher residency rules after backbench revolt 
• READ MORE: Just a quarter of arrivals will have to wait longer for leave to remain, Mahmood reveals in her watered-down plans 
• READ MORE: Four in five people who took the Home Office's immigration poll were NOT British, figures show