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11:25 – Brown is off to Italy today, risking earthquakes and Berlusconi’s questionable charm in the name of the national interest. That leaves us with Harriet Harman, the woman with more job descriptions than she has business suits, including leader of the House, deputy leader of the Labour party and minister for equality. She’ll face off against William Hague. Once upon a time we used to mock the Tories for putting Hague against her, because his position as shadow foreign secretary didn’t match hers. But now he’s deputy leader of the Conservatives, so there is a sort of symmetry to the arrangement. Last time round, Hague mocked the deputy Labour leader for the number of economic salvation schemes which were yet to get up and running. This time, there’s a strong chance he’ll remain with the economy, although with a defence review in the pipeline he might be tempted to concentrate on the area he knows well. Prediction for question one: ‘If you can have a defence review, why can’t you have a spending review?’
11:57 – The Commons is filling up and we’re just about ready to go. Gordon Brown’s most recent Best Friend Forever, Shaun Woodward, is just wrapping up questions on Northern Ireland before the main event.
11:59 – Not that I’m a frustrated cricket journalist, or anything, but England are 34-1 after the first hour of the summer’s Ashes. Follow the second most exciting clash of the titans in Britain today – Harman vs Hague – right here.
12:00 – Big Ben reverberates around Westminster as Woodward wraps up his last question. And we’re underway.
12:01 – “I’ve been asked to supply. Er, to reply,” Harman begins. A great start.
12:02 – A sombre beginning as Harman reads out the name of the seven British soldiers who have died in the last week. “They will never be forgotten,” she says quietly.
12:04 – Malcolm Wicks describes the ageing of Britain’s population as an “unfinished chapter” in the history of the welfare state. Both risks and costs need to be spread, he suggests. Harman “very much agrees”, promising a green paper on the issue.
12:06 – Stephen Dorrell, a Tory backbencher, laments “no action” on the same issue. Harman isn’t having any of it, saying there has been action. She lists a range of measures the government has taken. “Yes, we will take further steps, we will consult on the challenges ahead, but it is absolutely not true to say we have made no progress in the years ahead. We have.”
12:09 – After a question from Linda Gilroy, William Hague is called for the main event. He also laments the Afghanistan “casualties”. He asks whether the government is satisfied when it comes to the number of helicopters available for troops. “There is no complacency on that,” Harman says. “We recognise we want to do more.”
12:10 – Question number two from Hague – a request to explain the “zero per cent rise” gaffe from Gordon Brown last week. Harman, again, isn’t having any of it. She gets an unintended laugh from the Tory backbenches as she says the figures are there for all to see in the Budget. “He wants to concentrate on numbers because he wants to avoid facing up to the fact they have got proposals to cut public investment,” she says.
12:11 – There’s a quick jibe against George Osborne, as Harman mocks him for spending 40 per cent of his time thinking about the economy. “Perhaps the Leader of the House could spend 100 per cent of the next minute trying to answer the question,” Hague responds.
12:12 – Hague presses on with the spending issue. Is total spending set to fall? Harman’s “honest and committed view” – a strange phrase which gets some funny looks from the Tories – is that Labour wants to back the economy.
12:13 – The shadow foreign secretary is a little constrained as he presses on with a substantive policy issue. Harman appears to be under control as she says “we’re bringing forward capital spending”. Labour MPs are loving this as she makes the point so much more effectively than the absent PM. “The truth is there is a big distinction,” she says, accusing the Tories of “pulling the plugs”.
12:14 – Hague takes the high ground, accusing Labour of lowering public trust in politics by fudging the issue over spending. The row continues. He says the big increase in debt interest and the rise in unemployment means departmental spending will fall in the next few years. “Why can’t she admit the facts?”
12:16 – Further defensive manoeuvres from Harman, as she explains away the government’s position. “It is no wonder the government are so deeply out of touch with this country and the condition of the economy,” Hague says, in response to Harman’s claim that by getting out of the recession quicker Britain will benefit from the government’s policies.
12:17 – “We have paid down debt,” Harman says, before Bercow stands up to “calm down” members. She continues, unabashed, confident, in an impressive performance. “The truth is it’s the opposition that’s embarrassed by their past, failing to live up to the present and have nothing to offer for the future.” That exchange went to Harman, no doubt about it.
12:19 – Former defence secretary Des Browne has a new bee in his bonnet today – a complaint against drinks company Diageo, which he claims is threatening Scotch whisky. Harman says Diageo’s chief executive is meeting with the Scottish secretary to discuss the planned closure of the Kilmarnock plant.
12:21 – And now Vince Cable stands up for the Lib Dems. He gets a big laugh for a joke about her gender inequality views and Silvio Berlusconi. Public sector pay is the subject of his question – the poor dear’s worried about inflation. Harman reassures him with the air of a mother soothing a child, but Cable isn’t buying it. He wants to know why two-thirds of civil servants at Britain’s nationalised banks “expect to receive bonuses in order to get out of bed in the morning”. Harman, tip-toes around the impending regulation statement by Alistair Darling.
12:22 – Harman says getting young people involved in politics is vital and welcomes the move that the UK Youth Parliament can use this chamber. “We might even learn something from them,” she suggests. Senior Tory grandees shake their heads.
12:23 – The Lib Dems’ Andrew George criticises the government’s housing strategy, describing his patch, Cornwall, as a “developers’ paradise”. Harman says Cornwall deserves both the power and the resources to ensure there is more affordable housing. A further £400 million for 9,000 more homes to rent or to buy was included in the Budget, she says.
12:26 – After East Anglia’s favourite Anthony Wright asks about dock workers’ rights, John Maples wants to know about public confidence in the Afghanistan mission. She warns against a “crucible for the development of terrorism” on the Afghan-Pakistan border, before putting her touch on the issue. Education for children is very important, she says. “Our troops have paved the way to make that possible,” she insists. “They are paving the way for economic development, for a more secure democracy… we have no doubt about the importance of the mission in Afghanistan.”
12:27 – Chorley MP Lindsay Hoyle is worried by high petrol prices. Harman is reassuring. “We’ve got to make sure there’s fairness,” she says. Tory MP Daniel Kawczynsky presses the government on the ongoing Equitable Life embarrassment. Harman says the government has apologised and has promised to provide support. Sir John Chadwick will report on how to set up compensation, she explains. “This is a very, very important issue and we will make sure there is justice for Equitable Life policyholders,” she says.
12:30 – Alan Whitehead gets exited about low-energy housing. This one has the whiff of a planted question. Harman says the homes will help reduce carbon emissions. Can Lib Dem Julia Goldsworthy do better? She wants a statement on pleural plaque sufferers – a respiratory disease which “comes on people through the result of the work they’ve undertaken,” Harman tells MPs. She says compensation is, again, worth seeking.
12:31 – More pleural plaque questioning from Ronnie Campbell. He notes the Scottish government is pressing ahead. “They want the government to get on with it and we must heed what’s been said.”
12:32 – Richard Ottaway seems somewhat surprised he’s been chosen to be called by the Speaker. He asks a question about unemployment before Hugh Bailey presses Harman on a constituency issue. Harman is taking virtually every opportunity to make some party political points here. Meanwhile, England have lost another wicket.
12:33 – And that’s the end of that. Harman performed extremely competently, a dramatic improvement on her past efforts, as Hague seemed somewhat muted and dampened. Darling stands up to reveal what the government will do about those pesky bankers, and we’ll leave our live coverage there.
