PMQs live blog
James Forsyth 11:52amToday’s PMQs comes at an awful time for Gordon Brown. But weirdly if he can make it through this half-hour without being bloodied further, he might buy himself some time. But if Cameron pummels him, he might be weakened even further. It’ll be one of those occasions when one watches the faces of the Labour front bench as much as anything else.
Brown starts with the names of those British soldiers who have been killed in Afghanistan and with words about the murder of a British hostage by al Qaeda-inspired terrorists.
12.05 Cameron leads on the resignation of Hazel Blears and others. Brown responds by praising the great work of Blears and Smith. Brown accuses the last Conservative government of ‘doubling crime’.
12.10 Brown is trying to spin Blears and Smith going as part of the toll that the expenses scandal is taking on members from all sides.
Cameron asks Brown to guarantee that there will be no more resignations before the reshuffle? Brown dodges and then starts to praise Blears.
Cameron asks if Darling is staying as Chancellor or not? Brown tries to dismiss the question by saying it is not about policy. So far, this is going OK for Brown given the circumstances: Cameron has yet to land a proper blow.
The questions move back to the backbenches, Brown has to be happy with how that went. Certainly, no further damage was done to him which considering the circumstances is a pretty good result for him.
12.15 Clegg says is there not a danger to democracy when people feel ‘no one is in charge.’ Brown bats it away. Clegg comes back saying the only choice now is between the Tories and the Lib Dems. Ed Balls laughs hard, Alan Johnson looks pained.
12.20 Sir Peter Tapsell asks a long-winded question about whether Brown will call an election. This really is going fine for Brown. It’s the best twenty minutes he has had in the last 100 hours.
12.25 An SNP MP asks Brown a question about whether he has embarrassed about widening inequality. Brown rattles off a string of statistics.
12.28: Brown gets a softball about the second jobs of the Tory front bench from a Labour backbencher.
Verdict: That must have been the best half an hour Brown has had in the last 100 hours. He comes out of PMQs without sustaining any further damage, a result that he would definitely have taken before PMQs started. It was also odd for Cameron not to remind voters of Labour’s broken promise on the EU constitution on the eve of the European elections.
Previous
Charlie B
June 3rd, 2009 12:02pm Report this commentDave needs to be the statesman today, not the playground bully. The good of the nation should be his concern, not the good of his party, or his personal dislike of Brown.
Paul Hughes
June 3rd, 2009 12:16pm Report this commentThe point should have been that whilst Brown is occupied with saving his own skin, the nation remains ungoverned. He didn't make that with enough clarity or force.
Good for the tories if they want him to hobble on, bad for the chances of an imminent election and bad for the country.
Michael Booth
June 3rd, 2009 12:18pm Report this commentWell Charlie, he failed.
mac
June 3rd, 2009 12:23pm Report this comment"Cameron has yet to land a proper blow."
Perhaps he wasn't trying to, James.
Dave B
June 3rd, 2009 12:24pm Report this commentwhat an anticlimax.
TrevorsDen
June 3rd, 2009 12:31pm Report this commentGoing well - good lets all breath a sigh of relief. Brown still up that river in Egypt.
It just shows how useless PMQS is. Brown can tell a load of lies about the conservatives and get away with it because by convention he cannot be accused of lying.
Cameron clearly got over that Brown was not going to admit Darling was going to stay in his job.
The doormat that is Darling is clearly just there to be trod on.
For how long will our war dead have to be insulted by having their name dribbled out before (well actually as part of) PMQs?
Oscar
June 3rd, 2009 12:31pm Report this commentMac - agreed. Cameron, of couse, wasn't trying to batter Brown - just lightly toast him. The media consistently don't get quite what a superb chess player Cameron is. He's always several moves ahead of the game. Cameron was suitably statesmanlike today and can't be accused of bullying, while Brown's performance should give hope to Conservatives everywhere. He is clearly living in a parallel universe and has no intention of resigning. Labour are saddled with him to the bitter end.
David
June 3rd, 2009 12:35pm Report this comment"It was also odd for Cameron not to remind voters of Labour’s broken promise on the EU constitution on the eve of the European elections."
Not really. The only people who watch PMQs already know about that, and that soundbite wouldn't get any air-time at all tonight since the news cycle is all about the Cabinet.
JingoFett
June 3rd, 2009 12:36pm Report this commentDisappointing performance by Mr Cameron.
Ken
June 3rd, 2009 12:36pm Report this commentUseless.
Open goals by the half dozen, all missed - what a wasted opportunity.
Fumble and stumble, tumble and drown.
Where is the fire in Cameron's belly?
luke
June 3rd, 2009 12:38pm Report this commentOuch. Cameron got a bit of a battering didnt he. No doubt the Cameron supporters will say this was all a clever attempt to keep gordon in post.
Vulture
June 3rd, 2009 12:46pm Report this commentVery anti-climactic. But Bruin is so weakened and vulnerable that another puff of wind will topple him and usher in Pat.
Its in the Tories' interest for him to stumble on until the crack of doom.
Peter Wilson
June 3rd, 2009 12:48pm Report this commentI disagree James, I think Cameron was deliberately keeping a dignified distance otherwise he would look like a bully. Best to watch the meltdown from afar looking Prime Ministerial.
More interesting to note was the virtual silence most of Cameron's question were heard in, hardly any barracking from Labour backbenches until the end. It's almost like they knew they were doomed and were watching the future PM
Dirty Euro
June 3rd, 2009 12:49pm Report this commentAn amazing display of never say die attitude. Beat that tories.
If you want someone who crumbles under pressure do not look to the PM. If you want someone whoc an cope with pressure then hets let keep him. Vote labour for strong leadership.
Sir Graphus
June 3rd, 2009 12:50pm Report this commentI wondering whether Cameron doesn't have the bottle, which bodes v badly.
Maybe there was some tactical reason to go easy on him (though I can't see it). On the eve on an election, with the PM dangling in the wind; if not now, when?
Hereford
June 3rd, 2009 12:50pm Report this commentBlears handed Cameron the gun. Smith provided the bullets and the other two even cocked the hammer for him.
I wonder why he didn't pull the trigger?
James
June 3rd, 2009 12:52pm Report this commentOperation "keep Brown as leader" is going to plan.
Well done Cameron!
sub-Editor
June 3rd, 2009 12:53pm Report this commentTop job Dave.
What's worse for Cameron? Brown or Johnson?
Do the math.
JONNY
June 3rd, 2009 12:55pm Report this commentHe won't have an election until the Tories come up with a few policies.
That seemed clear enough.
john miller
June 3rd, 2009 12:55pm Report this commentOn the subject of the EU referendum, I do not believe for one second that a Tory government will keep its "manifesto promise" on this.
Bearing in mind the precedent established in Brown's case in the courts that "manifesto promise" means whatever gets you elected and bugger all to do with reality.
Watching PMQs I was astounded at how genuinely cheerful Brown seemed.
He really does enjoy being up that creek doesn't he? Doubtless the macho bunker mentality in Number 10 sees all these rats abandoning ship (especially the lady rats) as wimps who can't stand the pressure. Looking at Harman, Balls and Brown they obviously thrive on it. Oh wait, Harman isn't a bloke is he?
D
June 3rd, 2009 12:56pm Report this commentCameron's pathetic performance is either calculated genius or lamentable incompetence. Frankly, it doesn't matter. Time for emigration me thinks.
Tiberius
June 3rd, 2009 12:57pm Report this commentBrown is doing a "Thelma and Louise", and Cameron has judged he doesn't need to give him a push.
TBH, I'm finding it hard to indulge in schadenfreude as the Party I have detested since 1994 aproaches relative oblivion.
Our collective future deserves all our energies if you ask me.
Denis Cooper
June 3rd, 2009 12:57pm Report this commentA solid performance from Brown, in party political terms, and a strong show of support from the Labour backbenches.
Cameron is psychologically hampered not only by knowing that Brown is right to say that the Tories have few concrete policies, but also by knowing that he himself has created an insurmountable obstacle to the early election which he claims to want.
There are in principle two Tory positions on the Lisbon Treaty which would not couple our general election with the repeat referendum in Ireland.
The first is to say that the UK has already formally ratified the treaty, and that ratification cannot be reversed.
That would mean that it would be safe to allow him to become Prime Minister at any time which seemed convenient.
The second is to say that although the UK has already formally ratified the treaty, that ratification is devoid of democratic legitimacy and a Tory government would put the treaty to a national referendum as promised, no matter what had happened in other EU member states.
That would mean that there was no point in trying to delay an election until after the treaty had come into force, because he would hold a referendum anyway.
Cameron is not stupid, and I'm sure he understands that the half-baked position he has actually adopted is not only illogical - because a treaty which lacks democratic legitimacy in the UK cannot possibly gain democratic legitimacy in the UK through a vote taken in another country - but also ensures that every means will be adopted to keep him out of Downing Street until the treaty has come into force.
Henry Rogers
June 3rd, 2009 12:58pm Report this commentJames,
Best half hour? Bollox! Ask yourself, would you as somebody sensible have felt very satisfied at 12.30 if you had been in Brown's shoes after that performance? Clearly he was, but that's part of his problem. Ours too, of course, and we have to accept the blame for that.
Nicholas
June 3rd, 2009 1:00pm Report this commentClearly PMQ's has become a vehicle for Brown and his gang to make a contrived attack on the opposition. If the Tories have no policies and are so useless why are Brown and his gang so concerned to attack them at each and every opportunity?
Thought the smug appearance of the government front bench very inappropriate to their record, the circumstances and the announcements about our war dead.
Just waiting now to see Brown and his gang of devious shysters get their long overdue comeuppance.
TrevorsDen
June 3rd, 2009 1:04pm Report this commentMr Forsyth - why 'odd'? The country are not interested in the Euro elections and why should Cameron mention Europe and allow Brown to bring in Ken Clarke?
When will people realise Cameron is not a green as he is cabbage looking?
Brown is still hated by his cabinet and at least half his backbenchers. he is still regarded as an idiot by the public and sadly job losses are still going up. A bank just announced 500 job losses.
PS - the Telegraph says Blears did not pay CGT on another house (but then, Hoon and darling are in that boat)
Michael Booth
June 3rd, 2009 1:14pm Report this commentWas waiting for something suitably cutting about D-Day, wanting to bask in Obama's glory and snubbing HMQ but no...
Oscar
June 3rd, 2009 1:21pm Report this commentSir Graphus - what's not to get? Conservatives are the only party that want to keep Brown in place until the GE. That should tell you all you need to know. BTW - the clip of Cameron at PMQs played on WATO showed just how well he played his hand today. It's not all about Punch and Judy - and when Cameron does go in the kill (as he's demonstrated he can do when he chooses) we get a chorus of complaints. The last thing he wanted to do today was finish Brown off as no doubt the Guardinistas were secretly hoping.
Publius
June 3rd, 2009 1:40pm Report this commentWell said, Oscar. Pity is more effective than bullying. Cameron knows what he is doing.
As for Brown, he has shafted one decent Labour person after another. Is Darling going to put up with taking the blame for Brown's mistakes, and sit and listen to Brown humiliate him into the bargain?
dorothy wilson
June 3rd, 2009 4:15pm Report this commentDirty Euro: An amazing display of never say die attitude. Beat that tories. If you want someone who crumbles under pressure do not look to the PM. If you want someone whoc an cope with pressure then hets let keep him."
Eactly the opposite is the case. Brown showed all the signs of being under stress. He fluctated between denial and fantasy and those are two of the early stages in the trauma curve. When the next stage, reality, hits him he will deflate like a balloon when the air is let out.
I've always said he will end up with a breakdown and today's performance gave me no reasons to change my mind on that.
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