In what was a new and uncomfortable experience for Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe, jeering, singing opposition MPs drowned out large parts of his speech at the opening of parliament in Harare on Tuesday.

For the most part, the 84-year-old Mr Mugabe seemed unfazed, taking the opportunity to accuse the west, especially Britain and the US, of using food as a political weapon and of imposing harmful, illegal financial sanctions on Zimbabwe. “Food is their latest weapon in their regime change agenda,” he said to applause from the government benches.