David Cameron unleashed a stream of Shakespearean jokes at Prime Minister's Question Time in Britain's Parliament, after one of his MPs hailed the poet as the “greatest living” playwright.

Nadhim Zahawi, the Conservative MP for Statford-upon-Avon, had called for the country to “unite” in marking the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death.

“Can I invite my Right Honourable friend, the whole House and the world to come and celebrate the greatest living bard,” he concluded.

There was little time for members to register the gaffe before Mr Cameron’s swift response, which quickly devolved into rapid-fire puns after he thanked Mr Zahawi for his “soliloquy”.

 “I find that Shakespeare provides language for every moment,” he continued. “There was a moment when it looked like this (Labour) reshuffle could go into its Twelfth Night.

“It was a revenge reshuffle so it was going to be As You Like It. I think though we can conclude it’s turned into something of a Comedy of Errors, perhaps Much Ado About Nothing?

“There will be those who worry – Love’s Labour’s Lost.”