PMQs as it happened
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10:42 – This is one of those weeks where David Cameron must be glad it’s not him facing the questions. With his shadow chancellor dominating headlines and the impression that front bench Tories socialise in impossibly rich circles simmering away in the public consciousness, Mr Cameron may have to accept a third consecutive Labour victory this week. Gordon Brown probably has some barbs lined up for use if he gets the chance, but Labour will be still be nervous about Lord Mandelson’s (yes, we really do have to call him that now) presence on the Corfu island and Oleg Deripaska’s yacht. Not only that, but the prime minister is intent on appearing statesman-like and authoritative during the economic crisis, meaning he may hang back from any overtly party political knockabout.
11:57 – The House is full as MPs wait for the prime minister to arrive. There are several conspiracy theories doing the rounds in Westminster today, including deep-seated suspicions about why the abortion amendments to the embryology bill were shoved back to the point where there will be no time to debate them this afternoon. Some pro-choice MPs are saying this was the deal struck between the prime minister and the DUP when they helped him get 42-day detention through. According to this account, that support guaranteed no abortion in Northern Ireland – something one of the pro-choice amendments was trying to force through before the Northern Irish government has more powers devolved to it.
12:02 – Brown enters the House. He expresses sadness about the death of Christian aid worker Gayle Williams in Afghanistan yesterday. He announces new guidance to the judiciary over repossessions. “We’re determined to do everything we can to help homeowners with repossessions,” he says. Only under Gordon Brown does the phrase “everything we can” amount to the issuing of new guidance.
12:04 – David Cameron stands up with George Osborne sat behind him, more than a little nervously. Cameron leads on how much the government is borrowing. Apparently Britain has one of the biggest budget deficits in the western world. The prime minister makes mince meat out of him with some contradictory statements on a radio interview. He defends government borrowing during a downturn. “Of course borrowing goes up in a downturn, his problem is he racked it up to such high levels before the downturn began,” Cameron answers.
12:06 – Brown can’t lecture banks on borrowing because he was borrowing so much and he can’t lecture them on transparency because he hides so much, according to Cameron. This is met by some serious noise. Tories cheering, Labour jeering. Labour are worse because they are in a better mood. The speaker has to tell off a few MPs. It takes a full minute for MPs to listen to the speaker’s calls for the leader of the opposition to speak. When the noise eventually dies, Brown soon starts reeling off a list of countries with more debt than the UK. One MP shouts: “What about Russia?”
12:09 – Cameron launches a successful attack. For years Brown lectured us on prudence, and now he praises spending. “Doesn’t he realise how ridiculous he sounds?” Cameron shouts. But on debt, Brown can devastate him with sheer reality. Would Cameron not have saved Northern Rock, would he not have recapitalised the banks? Of course he would. Brown quotes him: “I always think leaders of the opposition should not talk down the economy.”
12:11 – Cameron asserts Brown is responsible for the economic chaos in the UK. “Will the prime minister admit he didn’t abolish boom-and-bust?” he asks, for a second time. You don’t need me to tell you that the prime minister doesn’t really answer the question. Brown implies the Tories just don’t understand the economy.
12:13 – “Let me ask him one more time,” Cameron says. “Has he abolished boom-and-bust?” Brown, as is his habit, reels off a list of things the Tories got wrong – duty on petrol, Northern Rock, etc. It’s actually a pretty convincing list, as convincing as the fact that Brown was foolhardy in the extreme to say he had abolished boom-and-bust. Cameron asks him to admit, once again, that he didn’t abolish it. That’s four times. Obviously Brown was naive to have ever said such a thing, but this is not the way to win the argument. The Tories are still going over the past and Labour are still doing something about the present.
12:15 – The use of a repeated question, an unanswerable one, insinuates the man who is refusing to answer it has something to hide. Cameron adopted this strategy for a reason. But it wasn’t quite effective. The Conservative comes across as somewhat churlish. Nick Clegg stands up and takes a far more appropriate stance, by asking what Brown is doing to help pensioners with fuel payments throughout the winter. Brown’s response is to mock him for getting the pension amount wrong during the summer (Clegg said it was £30 a week). Now it’s Labour concentrating on the past.
12:18 – “This prime minister is all at sea, although not on a yacht like some members of the opposition,” Mr Clegg says. It’s lost in laughter and shouts and the generally high spirits of the Commons today. It sounded planned as well. “His protestations about what should be done would be better heard if he hadn’t committed his party to cuts in expenditure,” Mr Brown replies, with an assured and steady tone that fits the phrase perfectly. It works. He is still not the best speaker (Clegg and Brown are both poor in the Commons in roughly equal measure) but the subject suits his strengths.
12:21 – Every question is about the economy. Tories are like angry, ageing dogs over Brown’s plan to spend his way through a recession. They should be. This is meaty, philosophical stuff – you know; politics. That thing MPs are supposed to do. Labour are digging up Keynes’ withered corpse and forgetting all about that time Brown rather insanely decided to invite Thatcher round for tea.
12:24 – Brown answers an absurdly friendly question from a Labour MP about how well the government is doing building hospitals. He says what you’d expect him to say but doesn’t mention the dire state of public services in the UK during early Labour government years. Many, many Labour MPs want more about this: When the Tories complain about spending when “the sun was shining” they omit the fact that quite a lot of money really needed to be spent. Brown doesn’t go near this angle. My guess is he wants to avoid the charge at all costs, rather than address it and thereby give it legitimacy. It’s an old PR trick – never mention the event until you really, really have to.
12:28 – Questions on knife crime and water charging follow. Brown answers the first one in an extremely uninteresting way, and the second not much better. Dennis Skinner stands up. “Will the PM give us a rock solid assurance – whatever he does to clear the nation’s debts, he will never, ever meet a Russian billionaire to get more money?”
12:31 “This is a very, very serious matter indeed and I hope its investigated by the relevant authorities,” Mr Brown answers. As far as I know – and I really should know – this is the first time Brown has actually referred to the Corfu incident. It’s also the last thing of any interest said in the session. Mr Osborne spent the entire thing sitting remarkably quietly. He’s usually right in there, having a good little shout and the demure faces on the opposing benches. This probably wasn’t helped by the fact that when Cameron spoke of government borrowing the Labour benches rose as one – like some horrible, boring animal – to point at the shadow chancellor. OK, that’s it for today. See you next week.
Ian Dunt
