PMQs 8 December 2010

A cross-post from Goodnight Vienna of Prime Minister's Questions from yesterday.  As the Labour leader's questions all related to tuition fees - the debate is currently underway in the HoC - some readers may be interested.  Videos of the session are available here.

Cameron paid tribute to Private  John Howard of 3rd Battalion Paratoop Regiment who lost his life in Afghanistan this week.  He also mentioned the two wounded, currently in Camp Bastion hospital, and "doing well".
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Miliband's questions were all about tuition fees  - was it right that English students will have to pay "the highest fees in any university system in the industrialised world?"  He played on the LibDems being split four ways and the dissent of David Davies (Haltemprice & Howden).

He did better this week, probably stung by the Buzz Lightweight tag,  but he'll have to come up with lines less stilted than " a week really is a long time in politics - not waving but drowning."   (Yes, really.  One sentence, two cliches).  His backbenchers loved it all and his performance may be enough to keep his critics quiet for a while.  Let's hope he included enough soundbites for the BBC rolling news.  Credit to him for not rolling over under Cameron's previous onslaughts.

Cameron, flanked by Clegg and Cable, looked uncomfortable, red & flushed, in places.  He countered that fees were lower than in the USA, that a choice had to be made - to expand universities, see them well-funded.   He pointed out that graduates would only pay if successful, ie after earning £21,000 pa.  Once again he said that the coalition had been left an unsustainable situation - the Labour govt and Labour Party had commissioned and backed the Browne Review. 

The 'highlight' for me was the brief Cameron/ Jack Dromey exchange.  Will Mr Harriet Harman ever be able to live down the fact that the all-women shortlist in the constituency was suspended so that he could stand? Cameron suggested Dromey should dress more apppropriately in future.

Did your MP ask a question?
Mark Menzies, Con, Fylde;  Chris Kelly, Con, Dudley South; Angus MacNeil, SNP, Na h-Eileanan an Iar; Malcom Bruce, LibDem, Gordon; David Crausby, Lab, Bolton North East; AnnaSoubry, Con, Broxtowe;  Kelly McCarthy, Lab, Bristol East;  Stewart Jackson, Con, Peterborough;  Emma Reynolds, LB, Wolverhampton North East; Michael Ellis, Con, Northampton North;  Ian Mearns, Lab, Gateshead;  Anne Main, Con, St Albans;  Gregory Campbell, DUP, East Londonderry;  RichardOttaway, Con, Croydon South; David Hanson, Labour, Delyn; George Eustice, Con, Camborne & Redruth;   Nigel Dodds, DUP Westminster leader;  Karen Lumley, Con, Redditch;   George Howarth, Labour, Knowsley;  Ian Swales,  LibDem, Redcar;   Jack Dromey, Lab, Birmingham Erdington;  DonFoster, LibDem, Bath;   Stella Creasy, Lab Co-op;  JeremyLefroy, Con, Stafford; Gregg McClymont,  Lab, Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East.

Matters raised:
UAVs being manufactured in his constituency invitation to visit;  remand in custody/bail conditions, spending cuts to VSO work; 138% increase in energy prices;  being good neighbours to the elderly;  choice of music from the Smiths; the OECD attainment levels;  cuts to Wolverhampton Uni;  Health & Safety legislation;  funding cuts to tourist industry in North East;  binge drinking & knife crime;  additional resources for N.Ireland - funding for security services;  withdrawal of troops in 2011 - which allies did he discuss it with;  broken pledges (child trust fund/tuition fees); transport regeneration for Camborne & Redruth;  FIFA/LibDem attack;  Armed Forces/Military Covenant;  death of two workers in Knowsley; better facilities for schools in Redcar; Clegg/tuition fees;  relocation of MoD sites;  school sportsd funding;  private endowments to universities;  preparations for bad weather in Scotland.

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PMQs Summary

Cross-posted from Calling England. For those interested the videos of today's PMQs will be posted at Calling England shortly.

PMQs SUMMARY

The faces and names at the Despatch Box may have changed this week but the tribute to our Armed Forces has not.

Marine Jonathan Crookes, 40 Commando Royal Marines
Senior Aircraftman Kinikki (Griff) Griffiths, RAF Regiment
Sgt David Monkhouse, Royal Dragoon Guards
Staff Sgt Brett Linley, 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Rgt, Royal Logistic Corps

It was all a bit of a mess this week. Clegg and Straw faced each other and Straw reminded me of an old ham actor, patently past his best but offered one last chance to grab the limelight. He milked it for all it was worth and, to my mind, didn't come out of it too well, having to look to the prompt box for his lines and still fumbling and stumbling his way through. He mistook shouting and finger-pointing as a substitute for asking strong questions

Clegg stuck to coalition policy lines - blame the previous government, mention Mandelson, Liam Byrne, talk about the structural deficit. I know they've only been in office for nine or ten weeks but I'm becoming tired of hearing them spout the same old lines of defence - just like Labour Ministers used to do.

The first question, from Ian Mearns, Lab, Gateshead, concerned the cutting of the Building Schools for the Future programme at the cost of five schools in his area . Osborne's face at Mearns' mention of LibDem councillors 'fearing losing their seats' was a perfect picture of pained disdain.

David Burrowes, Con, Enfield Southgate, asked the second question which concerned the extradition of Gary McKinnon. Clegg reported that the PM had had discussions with Obama and 'that notwithstanding the gravity of the alleged crime they hoped to find a way forward'.

Then it was time for Straw: his presence raised cheers and laughter from all sides of the House. He first asked about the the Kabul Conference & the timetable for withdrawal of our AF from Afghanistan and the remainder of his questions related to the loan to Sheffield Forgemasters, which for some reason initially elicited groans. The long-winded and shouting Straw really pushed and prolonged his questions and managed to also mention marriage tax breaks and Lord Ashcroft.

If nothing else, do watch the first ten/fifteen minutes of the exchange and see how many times both Clegg and Straw are self-referential and Bercow feels he has to intervene, in fact I heard his voice as often as I heard any other. He almost denied Straw his 6th question too, which only added to the sense of confusion.

Questions asked by backbenchers included:

Civil liberties; Big Society; Sheltered Housing; the raising of VAT; the decline in social mobility; Disability Living Allowance; Crown Dependencies & Overseas Territories; investment in Sedgefield; detention of children (immigration); Afghanistan; funding to rural areas.

Is your MP here?

Claire Perry, Con, Devizes; Ian Lavery, Lab, Wansbeck; Margot James; Con, Stourbridge; Elfyn Llwyd, Plaid Westminster Leader; Phillip Lee, Con, Bracknell; Kate Green, Lab, Stretford & Urmston; Andrew Rosindell, Con, Romford; Phil Wilson, Lab, Sedgefield; Julian Huppert, LibDem, Cambridge; Jeremy Corbyn, Lab, Islington North; JesseNorman, Con, Hereford & South Herefordshire.

You only need to look at the comparatively short list of backbenchers who had time to ask questions this week to realise how long the Clegg/Straw exchange lasted.

Videos to follow.

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PMQs 23 June 2010

It was another good one. This is what PMQs should be; it's what we've missed for so many years and is a sharp contrast to the dirge of Labour. It was sparky, energetic, confrontational and revealing. I could go on but I'm in danger of sounding like a PMQs groupie. The truth is I'm just so delighted at the raised standard of debate, that questions are answered and backbenchers have more time to pose questions. Everything in this half-hour cruelly highlights the lack of respect the previous government showed to Parliament and to the people in the past thirteen years.

Cameron paid tribute to Marine Paul Warren, 40 Commando Royal Marines, and an un-named soldier from the same unit who both died this week. I can't find the words - the conflict and the roll of honour seem interminable. It's clear that there is a great deal of concern amongst govt backbenchers about the loss of life, how it's progressing overall and how well-supported our troops are.

The first question was to new Labour b/bencher, Lisa Nandy(Lab, Wigan) who asked about freezing funding to the Coalfield (? sorry, I'm a northerner myself but untangling some of these accents is getting beyond me) Communities Regeneration Programme and referred back to the pit closures in the eighties. 'Is he seeking to close down the coalfields all over again?' Cameron said what you'd expect him to say plus there's to be some sort of additional announcement next week.

Simon Hart (Con, Carmarthen West & Pembrokeshire South) asked about the 23,000 TA Reservists who have served in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans in the last six years. Twenty-two have lost their lives in these ops "and those who survive are twice as likely to get PTSD than their regular counterparts". He essentially asked what recognition & support the govt would give to employers who allowed them time off.

Cameron: Absolutely right to raise the contribution the TA plays in serving our country. Standing up for our Armed Forces is "not just a govt responsibility, it's a social responsibility, something we should all do and we should pay tribute to those businesses..."

Harman, resplendent in toning shades of bronze and copper, with a frisson of grey roots, referred to the govt bringing forward the linking of state pensions to earnings to 2011 rather than 2012 and asked how much money had been set aside to accommodate the increase.

Yvette Cooper (Balls) sat to her right and Rosie Winterton to her left. Unfortunately, the camera angle meant that PeterHain, he of the fuchsia tie, blue suit and orange complexion, was always in shot.

Cameron: 'It's more complex than this'. He spoke of the triple-lock (RPI, CPI and inflation rate) meaning a guaranteed increase of 2.5% and mocked Labour for their 75p increase for pensioners.

The rest of the exchange will be on video so you can see for yourselves how Cameron laid into her (the answer btw is £1bn over the term of the Parliament). We even have a new word courtesy of this govt: ' Greconomics'. Harman's an unredeemed remnant of a dying and archaic political system but, like the Terminator, they keep renewing themselves. It's time they were also melted down for scrap value once and for all and, since every penny counts, sold off to help pay our debts.

There were a few 'good' jokes - red book/unread book - which cheered the backbenches on all sides but not Yvette Cooper who threw metaphorical daggers at Cameron & Osborne and sat po-faced throughout. What a miserable life it must be to be a true believer; always envious, always denying human nature's innate desire to achieve and improve, always deriding those who do well for themselves while doing pretty good, thank you very much, for themselves.

There was a wonderful intervention at one point from the govt backbenches - someone, and no doubt the 'culprit' will be outed soon, shouted: "Three-Nil" which amused everyone but the Labour MPs.

I think I feel sorry for Dennis Skinner (Lab, Bolsover). He has retained the reputation of being a firebrand leftie ('the Beast of Bolsover') but no longer deserves it. It's said that Labour are better in Opposition and, if by 'better' one means more bolshie, that could be true. When Labour was in govt Skinner was silent, obedient, supine but now they're in Opposition he's constantly on the edge of his seat, thrust forward, one buttock raised and hands resting on knees. He has the unfortunate appearance of an old man beset by piles.

Q.13 ("What is the military purpose of routine foot & vehicle patrols in Afghanistan?" Julian Lewis, Con, New Forest East).

Other backbenchers who posed questions:
Topics raised (apart from the usual ones about Labour and the deficit 'legacy) included the EU (2), Sky News, Trident, Sinn Fein, Armed Forces Day, the NHS in Scotland, VAT.

Paul Maynard (Con, Blackpool North & Cleveleys); Karen Buck (Lab, Westminster North); Chris Pincher (Con, Tamworth); Chris Evans (Lab Co-op, Islwyn); John Thurso (LibDCem, Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross); Pamela Nash (Lab, Airdrie & Shotts); Graham Evans (Con, Weaver Vale); David Crausby (Lab, Bolton North East); Andrew Selous (Con; South West Bedfordshire); Helen Goodman (Lab, Bishop Auckland); Peter Bone (Con, Wellingborough); David Cairns (Lab, Inverclyde); Matthew Hancock (Con, West Suffolk); Fiona Mactaggart (Lab, Slough); Julian Huppert (LibDem, Cambridge); Rev Wm. McCrea (DUP, South Antrim); Guy Opperman (Con, Hexham); Angus Robertson (SNP Westminster Leader); Jonathan Evans (Con, Cardiff North); Anne McGuire (Lab, Stirling).

I'll leave it at that because there's a football match to watch and a curry to stir.

A cross post from Calling England where you can watch the video.

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PMQs Verdict

PMQs 9 June 2010

Cross-posted from Calling England where you can view videos of the event.

Today's PMQs began with a one-minute silence in memory of the victims in Cumbria last week.

Cameron also paid tribute to this week's fallen in Afghanistan: Marine Anthony Hotine, Lance-Corporal Alan Corcoran, Corporal Terry Webster, and an as yet unnamed soldier from 3rd Regt Royal Horse Artillery who was killed this morning. Perhaps every PMQs should in future begin with a one-minute silence; it will give MPs time to reflect on the issues they support with their votes, influenced as they are by partisan politics and a gung-ho attitude towards the lives of others. (See this and this).

PMQs, as always, revealed little apart from the political leanings of the participants. In many respects it isn't a forum for intelligent debate but a chance to be seen and heard, to pose a question which will bring an ambitious MP to the eye of the leadership and mark him/her as one to watch.

Videos will follow so I won't bother writing out verbatim the Q&As but here are a few, very personal, observations:

Devolution and Assembly sharks are circling the coalition and smacking their lips. Albert Owen (Lab, Ynys Mon) asked about Welsh devolution and pressed Cameron to be transparent in his intentions towards greater powers. This really gets my goat because no-one ever mentions England in all of this horse-trading. We've already been traded off to Brussels but people don't realise it yet. The reason England fell first is because, for a long time, the rest of the world referred to us all as 'England' - no wonder the Scots, Welsh and N. Irish got upset. England fell first, through ignorance, so should be the first to fight back. It's time for St George to fight the dragon again.

Cameron did say that "the people of Wales" will have a referendum on the issue (as will the Scots). I think any referendum on such an important issue as the breaking up of the UK should be put to the English as well, but then what do I know? I'm not a politician.

One point was made many times in response to Labour whining: if it was so important to you why didn't you do something about it in the past thirteen years? The Labour Party: so desperate for power, so desperate to cling to power, that they dare not challenge their own leadership. Rank, stinking hypocrites the lot of them.

It fell to Dear Hattie, as Deputy Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition (that's a joke - cf Dennis Skinner and pals), to set the pace and tone of the session. At first I thought she'd brought her mother along today but then I did a double-take and realised it was Tessa Jowell sitting beside her. Their copper-tinted haircuts and 'furnishings-by-Sanderson' suits were interchangeable.

Harman's first question concerned the regulation of guns following the shootings in Cumbria. She's still talking about 'learning lessons'. The lesson I took from this is that you can't legislate for nutters and that, contrary to quango opinion, if law-abiding citizens were allowed guns, crime would shoot down (bad pun, sorry).

Cameron said there would be a review (hooray for the change from Labour) and that ACPO (why is this unelected private limited company still in existence?) had also been asked to carry out "a peer review", but not to leap to conclusions. Don't forget about the UN's proposed gunlaw which I posted about ages ago (anyone interested in seeing the video will find it tagged under UN or USA).

Harman's second question was about the Electoral Commission and the number of people who are eligible to vote but not on the electoral register. She asked that changes to electoral boundaries weren't made until all these non-voters were on the register and what is the govt going to do about it? If Labour were still in office I think we'd be seeing compulsory voting legislation on the horizon - in fact it may still come.

Apparently it's half of all "young people", a third of all "black people" and "half of all private sector tenants" that concern Hattie most. So, no presumed vested interest there then.

Kelvin Hopkins (Lab, Luton North) asked about unsustainable fish stocks and whether Cameron would renegotiate the terms of the EU's Common Fisheries Policy.

Some musings:

• Cameron has the beginnings of a wide parting.
• Purple ties are out of fashion on all benches and sprawling bellies are out of fashion on the Conservative benches.
• Clegg still looks like little boy lost in a man's world although he did manage to raise a few half-hearted "yeahs" and "hear-hears" to support his Leader.
• I thought Harriet had brought her mother along today then I realised it was Tessa Jowell. Her husband's problems with Silvio Berlusconi and their subsequent 'separation' seem to have taken their toll.
• Planted questions aren't a thing of the past.

John Woodcock (Lab, Barrow & Furness) asked about changes to gun law and whether sportsmen should be allowed to keep guns at home. He seems like a nice, earnest young chap but placing the onus on sports' clubs and shooting ranges isn't the answer. If he can develop his own ideas and not follow the knee-jerk crowd he could do well.

Cameron responded that "there is a huge number of guns in society we need to get rid of". I suggest he doesn't follow Labour policy of targeting nutters and the law-abiding and look to our open borders and the criminals instead. I'm really coming round to the idea of law-abiding people in the UK being licensed to own guns.

It was good to see so many new faces: Pauline Latham (Cons, Mid-Derbyshire) and Claire Perry (Con, Devizes) have an honourable mention, as does Nadhim Zahawi (Con, Stratford-On Avon) for eliciting the response from Cameron that the flag of England will fly over Downing St for the duration of the World Cup. It's a small sop to the regions previously known as England but I'll take what I can get.

To be honest, and I mean this most sincerely folks, I'm really not interested in the whining and accusatory questions of the Labour Party; they should sit down, shut up, and f/ck off. I have no interest in what the likes of Caroline Flint, Harman or Straw have to say. They had thirteen years to do what was right and all they did was ruin the country. It annoys me that they're still there in Opposition: something went very wrong with the last election.

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PMQs 24 March 2010 - cross post from Calling England

The Vick's Vapour-Rub Edition:

Not much of a summary this week, I'm afraid - I'm too full of cold and I can't bear to listen to any of them banging on about the same old things.

Tributes paid to Sgt Steven Campbell who died in Helmand on Monday.

Cameron led on the BA strike and goaded Brown about crossing the picket lines at the Treasury.

Clegg asked again about Party funding.

Brown has used this line to Clegg on two previous occasions to my certain knowledge: 'I think he has prepared his second question before he'd heard my answer to his first'.

Ashcroft (twice), Chilcot, Party funding, Liars and Lobbyists, peerages, mephedrone, ('methederone'), index-linked state pensions, in-patient mental health units, personality disorders.

A frail Ian Paisley posed a short and eloquent question and Brown paid tribute to him.

Vidoes of the sessions can be seen at Calling England.

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PMQs: Summary

Jowell, Byrne, Hain and Harman look on as Cameron takes another swing at Brown

Overall, it was fairly boring this week. Only two Conservative backbenchers stood out: Redwood and Howarth, and the Brown/Cameron exchange and the Brown/Clegg exchange are worth watching in the vids. Gwyn Prosser, Labour MP for Dover asked again about the forced sale of the Port of Dover.

Brown was flanked by Harman and Hain, who's face was a picture of sunny adoration as he gazed up at our own Dear DH. All in all it began rather subdued and resembled a Still Life tableau. Not for long though.

Brown paid tribute to Ashok Kumar, the Labour MP who died suddenly this week and to the three soldiers kia in Afghanistan though I wasn't clear whether he accounted for the two soldiers reported killed this morning. "1st Battalion Royal Angligan [sic]Regiment attached to the Household Cavalry Regiment battlegroup..."

Baldry, (Con, Banbury) asked re Chilcot and discrepancies between accounts in defence expenditure. "Will the PM now set the record straight and will he write to Chilcot to ensure their record is also corrected?"
Brown: "Yes Mr Speaker and I am already writing to Lord Sir John Chilcock [sic] about this issue... Defence spending rose from £21bn to this year around £40bn from 1997 to this day... " This was not greeted well by Cons b/benchers. "..but I do accept that in some years defence expenditure did not rise in real terms." Amazing, that must be a first for Brown to actually admit something.

Plaskitt (Lab, Warwick & Leamington) was on his feet next asking a question about Surestart and no one was taking any bets that Brown would use it to accuse the Conservatives of wanting to cut it. True to form he bemoaned the lack of "all party consensus" and attacked the Cons for a policy which they do not actually hold. The Conservatives, however, didn't take it lying down, which amused Jack Straw no end. I wish someone would move the microphone further away from Brown's stabbing fingers - bang, bang, bang on the dispatch box.

After acknowledging and associating himself with the tributes paid Cameron went on to thank Brown for answering Baldry's question about defence expenditure: "In three years of asking the PM questions I don't think I've ever heard him make a correction or a retraction ... there have been years when there have been real terms cuts and at last the PM has admitted it." Cue Brown smirk.

Cameron moved on to the BA strike. Brown's thoughts are"with the customers of BA and my thoughts also are with those who depend for their jobs on the success of BA... I don't think an industrial relations dispute should be brought into the House of Commons in this way." Called for a consensual resol-yewshun.

Cameron accused him of being weak. Would Brown join him in"urging Unite members to join them by crossing the picket line, going to work and getting the business moving."

Brown accused him of being partisan. Cameron said it was back to the 1970s. Hand-wringing from a weak PM while companies go down. Brown read from an old Daily Telegraph article and said the Cons were opportunistic. Cameron said the response was 'pathetic' (which Brown seemed to like judging by the smile on his face) .. and the question was batted back and forth. Brown didn't answer, preferring instead to practice his electioneering soundbites and accuse Cameron of not calling for management and unions to sit down and talk. Cameron accused Brown of acting in the union interest, not the national interest - he's also picked up Brown's nasty habit of stabbing the despatch box. Good performance from Cameron this week.

Clegg was also good again this week. He asked about CharlieWhelan and Lord Ashcroft - both exactly the same - "one is the Baron of the Unions and the other is the Baron of Belize..."

Brown replied that Labour and the LibDems had agreed changes to political party funding a year ago but the Conservatives rejected the deal. Clegg corrected Brown and accused him of re-writing history - a short but strong exchange worth watching. Ashcroft pays UK taxes on UK income so Brown's statement that he doesn't pay tax in Britain is very misleading - as it's designed to be.

Of the backbenchers Redwood had a short and sweet question about Royal Bank of Scotland: "Taxpayer-owned RBS has £700bn less today in loans and other assets than a year ago. Where has the £700bn gone?" I couldn't detect anything that could be construed as an answer from Brown.

Prosser ( Lab, Dover) "Does my Rt Hon Friend agree with me that to sell the Port of Dover would be the wrong thing. (I don't expect he'll agree with that)..."
Brown: "There'll be no forced privatisation under Labour ...but we must look for new options...and necessary investment for Dover's regeneration..."

Howarth (Con, Aldershot) raised the matter of "Charlie Whelan who was copied into all the smeargate emails and was, apparently, part of the 'forces of hell' of which the Chancellor spoke. Can the PM explain why he's now back in No.10 advising the PM or has his moral compass suffered the same fate as the telephone and other items beaten up in the bunker?"
Brown gave almost exactly the same answer he gave to a Conservative b/bencher last week. "He has a chance to ask a question about his constituency. He has a chance to speak up for the people of Britain. Once again the Conservatives are trying to turn an industrial relations dispute into a political football; they should be ashamed of themselves."

Winterton, ( Con, Macclesfield) asked about manufacturing in the area and the impact of regulation, particularly from Europe, which it needed "like a hole in the head."
Twigg (Lab, Halton) - public sector investment.
Robertson (SNP Westminster Leader) asked a question about Stephen Purcell which could barely be heard against the backdrop of Labour thugees disgracefully chanting, "Sean Connery". Doesn't it make you proud? Brown said he knew nothing about it - par for the course.
Gilroy (Lab, Plymouth Sutton) - marine renewables and low-carbon jobs for the future.
Steen (Con, Totness) (he of the very large house that resembles Balmoral) asked a long rambling question about a human trafficking campaign which made me lose the will to live.
Hoyle (Lab, Chorley) Jessica campaign to stop scamming of 'vulnerable people'.
Hughes (LibDem, Southwark N & Bermondsey) re index-linked pensions
Ruane (Lab, Vale of Clwd) - another angry display by an ignorant b@st@rd - interest rates.
Swinson (LibDem, Dunbartonshire East) re Tesco - too much power over communities?
Clapham (Lab, Barnsley) - asbestos-related diseases.

And that's about it for this week. I'm going for a well-deserved cup of tea and then I'll be back to post the videos.

The videos of the half hour can be seen at Calling England who kindly cross-posts this every week.

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PMQs: The Verdict

Parliament, 1857: "Please Sir! I've made it nice and clean."

Brown = 5; Cameron = 5; Clegg = 5. Delicate flowers need not read further.

I don't think I can do it this week. I hold up my hands and admit that I dislike Brown (as you may have noticed) and just listening to him gives me a sick-to-the-pit-of-my-stomach feeling that I've never had before. I've always tried to put feelings aside and, whatever has happened in previous days, judge PMQs as a stand-alone. He is really trying my patience. He's such a lying, blustering (intrans to speak in a boasting, angry or threatening way, often to hide fear) bombastic, fraudulent f/tard as he parrots the same lines ('the right thing to do' made yet another appearance) week in week out. His script-writers must be as p!ssed of as I am.

His MO is plain to see for anyone who cares to watch and there is a discernible pattern to it - pre- and post- Whelan, Campbell and Mandelson. I've been watching this treacherous b/stard for more years than is psychologically helpful and it's reached such a stage that I'd rather have Nick Clegg as PM than listen any more to the scripted and typed lines of Brown. The thought that some people might actually vote for the Labour Party in the upcoming GE just so they'll have to acknowledge and sort out their own mess, fills me with dread.

Videos will follow so you can make up your own minds.

We had the awful roll-call of remembrance plus a tribute to Michael Foot.

Richard Benyon, Con, Newbury, a former Officer with the Green Jackets, had the first question: The Army Families Federation has carried out postal trials which show that the majority of the Armed Forces won't be able to vote in the GE. "Will the PM intervene to avoid "the perverse situation" where they are fighting abroad to give others the right to vote while being denied that right themselves?"

Brown: The Justice Secretary (gesturing to a bemused & blinking Straw) is making "the best arrangements possible so that every soldier and every member of the Armed Forces overseas ... will be able to cast their vote and I will personally write to him about all the arrangements that are being made. It is absolutely right that everyone should ha-ha-have the chance to cast their vote in every election."

David Drew, Lab, Stroud, asked about Ashcroft. Brown denied he'd been involved in any investigation of Ashcroft. The Cons cried, "Shame!" and from that moment Labour b/benchers found their collective voice and found another use for their Order Papers rather than sticking them where they rightly belong.

Roaarr-aargh! (You have to remember that I'm watching this for the second time around).

Cameron associated himself first with the tribute to Foot and then to the soldiers who've died in the past week. He asked Brown about the Coroner's verdict yesterday. You really need to watch the videos for the exchange. Cameron was angry. I think he came into the Chamber having already decided to be angry and, in my book, he did very well indeed until he blotted his copybook right at the end when he half-smiled at Brown's comments and Brown turned and smiled at Darling.

Clegg also read out the names of the dead servicemen and Foot. NAO - led on crime - prisons as colleges of crime. Brown always treats the LibDem leader as an indulgent school-ma'am would treat a wayward and retarded child. (Am I still allowed to say that?)

Enough - these are my notes, make of them what you will and enjoy the videos:

Brown ran his finger along the lines and read his speech, head down and sotto voce.
Brown red-faced. Harman smirking and pointing. Darling subdued and old.
I-I-I. implied the Conservative Party weren't patriotic preferring to deflect the question back to Ashcroft.
Hain laughing like a drain.
Straw with a yellow flower in his buttonhole (?)
Khan, slumped and arms crossed.
Slurs & impugns integrity of others.
Bercow ineffective. Do Labour MPs think he owes them?
Lots of stomachs, of both sexes, overflowing waistbands on the Labour and LibDem benches.
Brown defended extended use of cctv and dna
A red-red robin redbreast asked about MumsNet (wtf?)
Mine-detection equipment - lessons have been learned.
Always accusing the Conservatives of being divisive, not being consensual or patriotic.
Anne Widdecombe has stepped into the 1960's with a wonderful Quant/Sassoon hairstyle
Brown should be afraid - he falls short and he's been uncovered.

There were some very good questions, angry exchanges and catcalls worthy of St Chav's Comprehensive. It was an interesting half-hour.

Cross posted from CallingEngland where you can see video footage of today's half-hour.

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Today's PMQs: The Verdict

1850

Pinched from Calling England, (where you can also see video of the occasion), a summary of today's PMQs.

Absolutely terrific this week. It was funny, it was barbed, it was humiliating. This session between Harman and Hague was a definite Hague 'win'. How different when questions are asked of our own dear queen? Videos of the full session will be posted later so you can make up your own minds - it will be half an hour well spent and might raise a smile to your lips, as it did to mine.


After explaining that Gordon was greeting President Zuma Harman read the roll of honour with as much grace as a primary school pupil reading from Janet and John Have Two Mums.

The first question came from Eleanor Lang, Con Epping Forest: Why has manufacturing declined faster under this Labour govt than under any other administration ever?


Lots of rumbling at that opening question and Harman accused the Conservatives of talking the country down, while denying the allegation and saying what Britain 'will be'. "British manufacturing is strong and British manufacturing has a great future." I wonder what she means by "advanced manufacturing"?


With a yawning Ainsworth to her left and an 'anywhere-but-here-please-God' Alexander to her right it seems like they've given up believing in their own lies and spin. As for Harman herself, she wore a cluster of enormous black beads around her neck which seemed to create a worsening rash. The longer the session lasted, the worse the red rash from her chest to her face became. Nod - nod - rhubarb - rhubarb.

Andy Reed, Labour, Loughborough, found little sympathy for his question on the 1200 jobs with Astro-Zeneca will be lost from his constituency to Cheshire. 'Be grateful t'jobs are still in t'country' seemed to be the response. Reed actually looks like a nice chap - genuine man with the interests of his constituents at heart.


Hague was up next - just watch the videos, there are many moments worth treasuring in this PMQs after the dearth of the past months. He was authoritative and dismissive. Harriet was in a spin; she called Hague 'the Foreign Secretary' and he took advantage. From there it was all downhill for Harman.


Ashcroft of course came into it as a means of deflecting questions from Hague and Cable (who also got off to a good start - pity about the weak ending though).


The govt benches were routed. Perhaps Gordon should think twice in the future before he opts out of PMQs. Perhaps the 'clunking fist' is all they've got? I've never seen GeorgeOsborne laugh so much; I hope he makes the most of it because when the govt finally releases the full details of the country's indebtedness, he won't be laughing - and neither will we.


Bercow had to intervene so many times I lost count. He was elected by the Labour Party who don't respect him; his election was purely to get up the noses of the Conservatives and that's not a good foundation for a Speaker of The House of Commons.

One comment I'd like to make about PMQs is that it's all very well but, in the context of the EU, it really isn't relevant now. Michael Foot has passed away - his day has gone. In passing, I wonder what he'd make of the current Labour Party which embraces the EU. What matters now is the fight for the future.

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PMQs Wednesday 24 February 2010 (from Calling England)

'As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly'.

Proverbs 26:11

PMQs has returned after last week's recess and so here I am, Gentle Reader, pen poised, ears pricked and tail up, like a dog greeting a bullying master hoping to be tickled behind the ears for once instead of kicked up the rear.

Sadiq Khan, the Transport Minister, is a guest of Andrew Neil today so he isn't in his usual cheer-leading, order paper-waving position on the front bench - a sad loss to Brown who'll have to rely on the braying Balls-Coopers and Straws.  Khan, by the way, was on the receiving end of a terrific grilling by Neil who isn't one to suffer fools.  Let's hope for a video! UPDATE:  Hooray - here it is.

Brown led the sad tribute to the seven servicemen kia in Afghanistan in the past two weeks.

Cameron first asked about the appalling death rate at Stafford Hospital (report out today) Burnham, the Health Secretary, sat po-faced and pouty while Cameron said that victims' families wouldn't be happy with the Inquiry which was behind closed doors and with no public hearings.

Cameron then moved on to the Darling episode while Brown pretended not to  hear and had a cosy chat with Darling.  We really should have a  lip-reader on the team.

Cameron seemed to think he was auditioning for the comedian's slot on X-Factor: 'If they get any closer they'll be kissing...Why does the moral compass always point at someone else other than him?  I gather things have got so bad in Downing Street that even the security guards need protection.'

Bercow made a good second intervention which seemed to calm down the rabble, for a while at least:  "If Honourable and Rt Honourable Members do not stop shouting I may have to ring some sort of helpline myself - or worse still, suspend the sitting.  It makes an extremely bad impression, this sort of noise and ranting, on the British public. I appeal to the House to have some regard for the way in which we are viewed by the electorate.  The House will hear the Leader of the Opposition."  Nice touch but too late - the damage has been done and is irrevocable while the majority of this clique of MPs is still in office.

Clegg led on A Future Fair For All ('not a slogan but a warning') and took Brown to task over the growing gap between rich and poor which has widened under Labour.  All denied by Brown who instead accused the Conservatives of wanting to abolish Child Tax Credits.

Clegg wasn't having any of it.  He's been doing quite well at challenging Brown at PMQs lately; it's a pity I don't like his left-wing, EU-hugging, statist policies.

David Heathcot-Amory, Con, Wells, raised the matter of government spending  on 'advertising, marketing & self-promotion', which has increased by 40%+ in the past year.  'Since it obviously isn't working, will he cut it out?'

There was a shameless piece of politicking from David Clelland, Lab, Tyne Bridge, ostensibly about the OFT's Scams Awareness Month (!) in which the word 'Scameron' was used.  Brown, never one to let a jibe go by, answered: "They're a a Party led by the airbrushed and they're financed from off-shore."  I think he should have a word with his script-writer.

Some further questions:

On the Dubai assassination from part of the anti-Israel brigade (Mark Durkan SDLP, Foyle).
When Blair described him as 'the big clunking fist', did he mean it literally? (A cheap shot from Stewart Jackson, Con, Peterborough).
Corus and Tata - 80% full order book in December now mothballed & 1700 made unemployed (good, relevant question from Dari Taylor, Lab, Stockton South)
A moral imperative to articulate and inform about our Troops and Afghanistan (Richard Benyon, Con, Newbury). Welcome back Alchy Ada.
The insufferable Stephen Pound (Lab, Ealing North) really likes to be centre-stage.

Cameron made some reasonable points and actually sounded quite cross at times.  Brown, as ever, was in denial - shouty, condescending, dismissive and evasive.  He stumbled over many of his words and the slicing,  chopping, stabbing and clawing actions were back in full swing.  He doesn't like to be challenged, and it shows.

Contributed by Calling England where you can also see videos of the action.

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NATO Isn't Working

Possibly the most expensive office in the UK

This week, after 3 months holiday from the office, our 646 political representatives finally returned to their desks. These MPs voted for our military to go to war in Afghanistan yet they still have their annual 12 week summer holiday. There is no War Cabinet to plan strategy and troop movements; all we've had in the past 3 months is various politicians singularly popping up in the media insisting the military is well equipped. Because there is no structure within the government, the military bosses have also used the media to further their cause and at times their comments have been less than helpful but where else could they air their concerns? There is nowhere.

Parliament should have been in session throughout the summer and with a full War Cabinet in operation. Discussions between politicians and military chiefs should have been kept within this group and not played out in the media. The enemy will know, just from a simple internet search, how disorganised we are and using this to their advantage.

At PMQs yesterday Gordon Brown read a roll call of our war dead - all 37 of them. Thirty seven soldiers who died when our MPs were not in their place of business where national issues are debated.

Gordon Brown at PMQs: “This is a solemn moment for this House and our country. It is a day on which we put on record our gratitude and our commemoration of the sacrifice made by 37 of our armed forces serving our country in Afghanistan.”

Pity these brave soldiers had to wait 3 months before their ultimate sacrifice was acknowledged by our leaders isn't it. No, it's far more than a pity, it's shameful and shows the level of concern the UK government has for Her Majesty's Forces.

We have over 9,000 of our troops in a war zone - in a war which has no direction and one which the PM can't even justify, yet our Prime Minister decided the UK Parliament can take the The reasons for it are explained as "protecting our streets", "helping the Afghani people and getting them onside", "assisting with the training of the Afghan army".

Yesterday I noticed, when any politician was asked "Why are we there to help a corrupt Afghani government?" the above reasons, plus a few others, poured forth.

One of the most honest answers was from a politician (I can't remember his name) on radio yesterday. "We can't withdraw from Afghanistan, America needs us. Nato would collapse and Britain's standing as a military power would be greatly diminished."

That's more like it. NATO isn't working, many countries refuse to send troops to this war and others intend to withdraw troops next year, yet there's no mention of an emergency NATO summit to sort out problems. Why not? Is it because this is seen as America's war? Why aren't America and Britain insisting NATO meet to resolve the manning issues?

Now we're sending an extra 500 soldiers to the front. On Newsnight the Afghani ambassador said he was waiting for confirmation that Obama is also sending more troops. The spin being issued yesterday was that the 500 will only be sent if other NATO countries contribute. They won't, we all know that.

Meanwhile our soldiers will continue to be killed and maimed while they await orders from on high. Orders which should have been in place before they even left these shores and not made on the hoof by inexperienced politicians. Of course situations change instantly during war but our armed forces can handle instant changes of direction even when they're being pulled from pillar to post by various defence chiefs and politicians singing from different hymn sheets.

And yet, throughout the posturing and misinformation from the US and Britain, NATO continues to survive intact - no questions asked.

Not one more British soldier should be sent to Afghanistan until all NATO countries engage their military in this conflict and honour their NATO agreement. As most of my regular readers know, I would prefer we started a withdrawal schedule because this war will never be won.

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Life Doesn't Get Better for Gordon

Thanks to Crown Blogspot, those who didn't see PMQs today can watch the latest 'spin', regarding spending cuts, from Gordon Brown. Crown calls it the best PMQ answer ever, I would call it a reflection of Brown's incompetence.

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PM's Humour Deficit

My thanks to CrownBlogspot with whom I agree entirely.  The tories really need to be asking serious questions and light hearted ones like this should be left to the media.  Still it's worth watching the body language. 

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