Sketch: Davey, Davey, give me your answer do Ever since Ed Miliband announced Labour's plans to freeze energy bills, George Osborne and Ed Davey have been rummaging frantically down the back of the Treasury sofa. Between them, the two have succeeded in locating a half-eaten Tracker bar, two elastic bands, a copy of Radio Times for the week 9-15 October 2010, and a plastic spork from a John West Mexican-Style Tuna Salad Light Lunch. But also, by some miracle, they've managed to lay their hands on enough cash to offer a cut to energy bills. This afternoon Mr Davey, the Energy Secretary, told the Commons about the cut to bills. "I can today announce proposals that will reduce the average household bill next year by £50," he said. Labour jeered, and continued jeering until Mr Davey's slipper-soft voice could no longer be heard. Mr Davey pointed and spluttered, but he is rarely at his best on the defensive. Despite his crumpled, boxer-like looks, he comes across as a gentle, herbivorous creature, easily wounded; when mocked, he frowns less in anger than in bewilderment. Also - and somehow this contributes to the impression of vulnerability - he always looks as if his shirt collar is slightly too tight; he spends a lot of time fingering it. He received some unwitting help - with his argument, rather than with his collar - from Labour's David Winnick (Walsall North). "An increasing number of people are terrified, terrified to use their heating!" shouted Mr Winnick. We are returning to the fuel poverty that existed under the last Labour government! Tory MPs cheered his mistake. The MPs behind Mr Davey didn't seem much more impressed with him than the ones facing him. Throughout the Energy Secretary's statement, Philip Davies (Con, Shipley) sat shaking his head and muttering darkly; afterwards he rose to tell him to drop his environmental "claptrap," because the public wanted the cheapest energy, not the greenest. "I'm grateful for my honourable friend's contribution as always," replied Mr Davey. It was meant to be sarcastic, but in that poor gentle voice it sounded merely apologetic.