PMQs as-it-happened
Welcome to politics.co.uk’s as-it-happens page. Here, you can keep up to date with speech, debates and major political events live, in real time. Just hit refresh on your browser to see the latest developments.
This event is now over but you can see how it happened below.
By Ian Dunt
11:00 – Just under an hour until we get going and it’s harder than usual to predict the subjects which will dominate the session. That’s alright – I usually get it wrong anyway. Today’s news agenda is vast and diverse: Iraq inquiry, bank overdraft charges, British policing, teaching children about violence towards women. You’re unlikely to see David Cameron go anywhere near the last two, and the first is old hat now – he already won that battle. There is political capital to be gained out of pushing the government on legislating on overdraft charges, especially given the government has made noises indicating it may go that way in the financial services bill anyway. Or, of course, they could go for something completely different. This is the first week we’ve seen a noticeably narrowing of the Tories’ poll lead. Will it see Cameron go on the attack? The session kicks off at 12:00 GMT.
12:01 – And we’re off. Gordon Brown begins by paying tribute to the troops who died this week, and those who lost their lives in the floods.
12:02 – He is asked if help will be available to Cumbria. Brown reiterates what a terrible time it’s been and pays tribute to the local MP. He says 39 bridges are still closed. Military engineers are assessing a temporary bridge. Forty are still in rest centres. Consultation is ongoing with insurers. The flood and water management bill will come before the House before Christmas. Cameron stands up.
12:04 – Theresa May looks like an astronaut, a colleague of mine says. She really does. Cameron asks about the bridges in Cumbria. Brown again praises the emergency services. He’s examining the temporary bridge idea, and looking at financing a temporary rail station in the area. He thinks it can be done “fairly quickly”. Cameron says people will be grateful for the answer and the funding.
12:06 – Cameron asks if everything that can be done will be done to help families in the run up to Christmas. Brown says the Association of British Insurers (ABI) will act quickly. The PM seems composed and confident – maybe it’s those poll results. “It is true that it does take time when houses are flooded to get them back,” but the government is doing all it can. Cameron again says he’s grateful for those answers and moves to a new subject. The extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir: does it get public money? Brown says he’s not aware of it. Cameron says two schools have been established by a front organisation for the group. Some of the public money came from the Pathfinder scheme, which is designed to combat extremism. Brown says it will be looked into. Interesting developments here. Brown says he knows the schools have been inspected. He’ll let Cameron know what the results are.
12:10 – Cameron says the headmaster of the Slough school is a member of the group. He finds it hard to believe the PM doesn’t know about it. Bercow tells off government backbenchers for getting too excited. “How can the government have an anti-extremist fund that results in a Labour local authority giving money to extremists?” We need a bigger inquiry, Cameron says. Brown says everything he said will be investigated.
12:11 – “The vast majority of Muslims in our country are part of the law-abiding majority,” Brown says. That’s not really the point being made. He reiterates that the group is not proscribed, and if Cameron has new evidence for why it should be he must present it. He won’t make a decision without looking at the evidence. Cameron quotes from their literature – including a passage on killing Jews. He brings up another: Islam for UK. He quotes passages calling for “blood on the streets of London”. Why hasn’t the group been banned? “We have a government that says it is against extremism and yet it’s funding it. When is the prime minister going to tell us when he’s going to get a grip on this issue?” Brown again relies on the evidence argument and says: “I think he may regret some of the statements he’s made this morning.” He then defends his anti-terrorist policies.
12:13 – He mentions ID cards, the DNA database. “Proscription should be on the basis of evidence.” William Hague looks at Brown like a fox watching cattle: it can’t quite kill them, but it would like to.
12:14 – Clegg stands. Next to him, Chris Huhne looks like he’s been startled in the night. The Iraq inquiry must be able to reveal the full truth behind the build-up to law. Is Sir John Chilcott’s report able to publish all information apart from that essential to national security? Brown says he gave Chilcott the freedom to conduct the inquiry as he pleases. It’s a matter for the inquiry. Clegg disagrees. He cites a protocol about the information in the final report. It includes nine reasons why information can be suppressed, none of which are to do with national security. Whitehall has individual rights of veto in the final report. Shouts of “outrageous” in the Chamber. Brown says only national security and international relations affect what can be included, and stresses Chilcott is happy with how he is able to conduct the inquiry.
12:18 – That’s two excellent PMQ performances in a row for Clegg. He’s upped his game recently. Theresa May and Jack Straw are both wearing white ribbons, which, rather embarrassingly, mean nothing to me. I have no idea what they symbolise. Ah – I’m told it’s to do with violence against women. I think we can presume it’s against it. Patrick Cormack gets up and asks: “When did the prime minister first realise he’s infallible?” Very odd. Brown backs his judgement on the financial crisis. Bit of a David Lynch moment there.
12:20 – Why is Jack Straw always so happy? It’s very disturbing. He’s the only happy person in the Commons and Bercow really should do something about it. Ben Bradshaw, on the government benches, looks like Sherlock Holmes discovering his own fictional existence.
12:22 – George Osborne laughs at Brown like a little boy. Brown again attacks the Tories on inheritance tax, while talking about terrorism. God knows why. He says its beneficiaries are on Cameron’s Christmas card list. Ah, that’s why he brought it up. He has a sound-bite.
12:24 – Eric Martlew, Carlisle, talks about when his constituency was flooded. Will the PM promise the government will help the people of Cumbria foot the bill for repairs? He’s pretty much already done that, but fair enough. Brown repeats his previous points. David Burrowes says the school secretary has basically ring-fenced his department’s spending. Brown laughs it off as only an insane Tory would ask questions like that, when all they want to do is cut. Dr Alan Whitehead congratulates the PM on his early decision to attend Copenhagen, which many other leaders have now followed. Will he make sure a workable package is on the table by the end? Brown talks about building consensus. Hillary Benn is unmoved. They could be talking about anything.
12:28 – Brown is asked about his Afghan strategy. If we’re there to prevent terrorism, why would we leave in protest at Karzai not implementing reform? Good question. Excellent, intelligent question really. Brown reiterates the terror argument. And then defends his arguments with Karzai. He doesn’t tackle the nub of the question though, he simply repeats his arguments. “I think it is as clear as that.” In fact that was a highly evasive answer.
12:30 – A quick question on the privatisation of the police is brushed aside by Brown, who calls for Cameron to withdraw his policing policies. Dr Evan Harris asks about his private members bill on Catholics in royal succession, which was thrown out with promises of impending government action. Is that happening anytime soon? Bercow cuts him off. Brown says the Act of Succession is outdated. He says the Commonwealth countries have to be involved. The process will be undertaken in due course.
12:32 – Hard to really say who came out victorious today. That will be decided later, when we get a look at Cameron’s evidence on the Islamic groups. Darling gets up to discuss the emergency liquidity given to the banking system, as revealed by Marvyn King yesterday. We’ll stick around for this. Darling says for the Bank of England to effectively support the sector, it must be able to do so in secret sometimes, because giving the money can exacerbate the problem. “Some operations needed to be kept confidential,” he says.
12:34 – A year ago the world banking system was on the brink of collapse. No one should underestimate this, he argues. He committed himself to taking any and all actions necessary to prop it up. He supported the decision to throw emergency liquidity at the problem. Confidence is best maintained when disclosure only comes during periods of calm, King said yesterday, and Darling reiterates that point now. “I agree with his judgement,” Darling says.
12:37 – In front of Darling, Osborne is furiously writing notes. Harman watches him, like a cat. Darling is essentially making the same point again and again. But basically he supports the governor’s decision. Osborne says the Tories support the actions taken, and accepts the principle of lending as a last resort with “the discretion it deems necessary”.
12:40 – Osborne asks if the chancellor’s authorisation was sought. Surely the chancellor should have informed parliament of an operation of this scale, Osborne says. That’s a good point. What discussion has the chancellor had about disclosing earlier? Once the government had guaranteed assets, why keep it secret?
12:43 – Darling stands to reply. He defends the UK regulatory system, which Osborne lambasted a bit. Merging the FSA and the Bank of England would be “destructive”, Darling says. On disclosure: during Northern Rock there was consensus that the bank’s inability to act in a stable way was ruining things. The Banking Act 2009 gives banks discretion to reveal what’s going on – but the responsibility lies with the governor of the Bank of England.
12:46 – Darling keeps talking about indemnity, but isn’t addressing the question of why he didn’t announce the loan. OK, we’ll leave it there for now. We’ll be back next week for another PMQs.
