PMQs live blog
Peter Hoskin 11:48amLive coverage of PMQs from 1200.
1202: Here's Brown now. First question from Andrew Selous (Con) on specialist hospitals. Guess where Brown goes with this: he brings up Andrew Lansley's "cuts" comment this morning (even though Lansley was talking about areas other than health). I suspecty he may bring this up again.
1204: Second question a Labour plant: "Will the PM turn his back on the 10 percent cuts that the Tories are commited to..." As Fraser puts it: "Brown's Budget, Brown's cuts". This is shameless stuff from the Dear Leader.
1205: Cameron kicks off saying how "delighted" he is to see the Brown still opposite him. He then asks about Brown's electoral reform plan.
1206: Brown: "Finally, after many, many weeks, a question about policy." This is disingenuous but fiery rhetoric from Brown.
1207: Another gaffe from the Speaker. He accidentally moves on from Cameron after one question - laughter, and then Cameron gets his other questions. Cameron pushes Brown to condemn the BNP, which he does.
1208: Cameron asks Brown to confirm reports that that there may be a referendum on electoral reform.
1210: Brown quips that "I said he's mentioned policy, but he now seems to be putting self-interest first." The Tory benches howl with laughter at Brown's hypocrisy.
1210: Cameron's reponse is direct and effective: "That response shows why you are a figure of ridicule across the country ... I think we have a right to know about the PM's plans for constitutional reform.
1212: Cameron's warming up now. He lays into Brown's meagre legacy: "Not just the most useless government we've had in history, although it is..." And pushes the point that Labour have left it until the end of their third term to deal with the electoral system.
1213: Brown: "10 percent cuts" etc.
1214: Cameron's response to the Tory cuts attack is pitch-perfect. He says - rightly - that Labour have hidden 7 percent cuts in their Budget. He adds that the next election won't be about "cuts vs invesment" but about the Government's mismanagement.
1215: Brown reads out public spending projections, and says that there aren't cuts in the Budget. Quite simply: the Dear Leader has just lied to the House. An utter disgrace. The Tory benches sound angry, and justifiably so.
1218: Clegg leads on the headless chicken charge, saying of Brown's housing/mortgage policy: "We've had more announcements that homes". Good line.
1219: Brown reels off the usual tractor production statistics.
1220: Michael Meacher pushes Brown on when he will get the banks to lend to actors in the "real economy". The Dear Leader's response: that there will be "£70 billion" extra money "from what there was last year". Hm.
1222: Backbench questions on housing benefit and economic development in Cleethorpes.
1224: Brown: "We want to invest in the future. Unfortunately, our opponents just want to cut." Same old, same old.
1225: Another Labour backbench question on Tory plans to "cut" spending. Guess what Brown brings up: yep, 10 percent cuts. "This is the day when the Tories have revealed their manifesto for the next election," he says. As always, Brown's enjoying this dividing line.
1227: Health-centric PMQs today: a question now on hospital superbugs.
1228: Here it is again: "We are prepared to provdide the investment that is necessary for jobs ... the Tories are only concerned about cuts."
1229: A Tory MP (I missed who) points out cuts in public services in this area. Brown: "If he wants to talk about cuts, then I suggest he talks to [George Osborne]." And then: "Some time [the Tories] will have to reveal how mny jurses, how mnay teachers, how many policemen ... will lose their jobs." Our PM has no shame. Disgraceful.
1231: PMQs over now, but Brown's segued into a statement on Parliamentary/electoral reform. I'll keep blogging...
1232: Familiar words from Brown about how MPs come into Parliament to help people.
1233: Brown says that all past and future expense claims will be published online in the "next few days". He says that expenses will be supervised by an independent body. And MP will support the findings of Kelly review.
1235: Brown says that a Bill we be introduced "very soon", establishing a new Standards' committee for the Commons and the Lords.
1236: MPs will have to forge a new Code of Conduct - this will be debated and introduced before the summer adjournment.
1237: Brown: "There will be consultation with all sides of the house abour how to deal with inappropriate behavious by MPs."
1240: Brown talks about "involving the public". He adds that over the next few months, the Government will put forward proposals on other matters of constitutional and parliamentary reform.
1241: Brown: "I personally favour a written constitution." He says that a written constitution will come from the "widest possible debate with the British people themselves." Looks like he's trying to do something historic...
1243: Brown says that all proposed reforms will come out of discussion with the public, other parties and external figures, such as academics.
1244: "Let us seize the moment to life our politics to a higher standard." Beyond hypocrisy.
1245: Brown says that the House should stand together for "integrity" - the Tories start laughing.
1245: Cameron begins his response by saying that we need a general election.
1246: Cameron: "There is much in this statement that I support ... not least because I proposed so much of it in my address to the Open University."
1247: Cameron makes the good point that Brown has been going on about constitutional reform since he first became PM - but "nothing has happened". So far, the Tory leader is concentrating on ditching quangos and other unelected bodies.
1249: This is solid stuff from the Tory leader. He brings up Labour's broken promise to hold a referendum on the European Constitution. And raises one of the best Tory ideas for transparency: to publish details about public spending.
1250: Cameron says that "People don't want an 'alternative vote' - but the chance to vote out this government".
1252: In response, Brown puts on his Son of the Manse voice, saying that "all the parties need to come together ... the Tories need to recognise that all parties have been affected by the expenses scandal." Careful, Gordon: you might be getting a bit party political there.
1255: Brown says that he suspects that "only the Tories" want to "turn back the debate on reform".
1256: Another good line from Clegg: "I welcome this deathbed call for change from someone who has blocked reform for the last ten years."
1257: The Lib Dem leader again raises his proposal that parliamentarians forego their summer recess until "all this is sorted".
1258: Surprisingly acidic attack on the Tories from Clegg, saying that "they won't want to change this cosy Westminster stitch-up."
1300: Brown: "Let's be honest: constitutional reform has been blocked by the House of Lords not the House of Commons."
1302: Some backbenchers are having their say now, but I'm going to sing off. Thanks for tuning in. Expect more on Coffee House about Brown's disgraceful lie on public spending.
Previous
chris
June 10th, 2009 12:21pm Report this commentWhy should we put up with this lying swine? Please, please can we have a major media campaign, similar to the expenses scandal, exposing this. The whole rotten swindle.
tenpin
June 10th, 2009 12:24pm Report this commentClearly, Brown has changed his approach....I noticed how uncomfortable Brown was at the press conference last week when Fraser challenged him on the stealth cuts...now he seems keen to press this "investment vs cuts" line which has been the plan all along. Transparent Brown.
An election is desperately needed.
Sally Chatterjee
June 10th, 2009 12:25pm Report this commentPMQs: more plants than Kew Gardens!
Jeremy
June 10th, 2009 12:30pm Report this commentI don't think we've ever had a more dishonest Prime Minister than this one. First we were to have a referendum on the EU constitution, then not. Then we were to have a referendum on the unasked-for "radical political reform", now not.
This bloke will simply not "trust the people" with anything, will he? One wonders what he is doing in democratic politics if he does not like either elections or the electorate.
True Bred Pomponian
June 10th, 2009 12:31pm Report this commentWhy does Michael Meacher think that luvvies should be a special case?
coops
June 10th, 2009 12:42pm Report this commentphil woolas being humiliated by andrew neill on daily politics. i don't think GB's line today on cuts will go far in the papers...
Tiberius
June 10th, 2009 12:43pm Report this commentWell that will send Francis Maude back into the Tranquillity Room.
It will be interesting to see whether the "Tory cuts" line has as much traction as it used to, despite Brown continuing to spout his shameless lies.
We on here mostly want Cameron to be honest about cuts. Well that cat is out of the bag now.
Stephen Solley
June 10th, 2009 12:48pm Report this commentAbsolutely staggering – Gordon Brown continues as though nothing happened last week!
Absolutely amazing – He sees no need for any cuts, even in this current climate!
Absolutely arrogant – Jack Straw sitting on the front bench grinning!
Tenpin – you are so right, an election is desperately needed.
Wily Trout
June 10th, 2009 12:56pm Report this commentAll the state maintained schools in our area have had to cut teachers and front-line support staff, both this year and last year, owing to reductions in their budgets. Labour cuts.
Moraymint
June 10th, 2009 1:00pm Report this commentOK, so the great British public - sadly unable to analyse or grasp the truly horrific looming disaster that is Brown's economic genius (for this blame our education system as much as anything else) - vote in a Labour Government in 2010.
I think that there is a real possibility of this happening: Brown is obsessed with power and cunning to the point of being a bare-faced liar; Cameron fails too often to land good punches, still less a knockout blow.
From 2010 onwards, with Labour in Government, Brown's economic genius will swiftly convert into a big, boomerang-shaped clunking fist. The nightmare that is Brown's continuing obsession with spending and, moreover, wasting hugely more sums of money than he can ever possibly tax or borrow will result in the inevitable collapse of the UK's socio-economic stability. The first signs pop up now and then already.
At that point it may, perhaps, dawn on the citizens of the UK that they have had enough of Brown's incompetent, cynical and deceitful style of government. However, I fear that by then the damage to our way of life - already disintegrating rapidly after 12 years of shysters-at-the-helm - may be so bad that the term 'holocaust' comes to mind.
If this scenario comes to pass then, of course, the British people will get all they deserve.
EyeSee
June 10th, 2009 1:05pm Report this commentI believe that The Labour Government is now largely an unelected quango.
Simon Stephenson
June 10th, 2009 1:06pm Report this comment"1237: Brown: "There will be consultation with all sides of the house abour how to deal with inappropriate behavious by MPs.""
Has anyone else noticed that this announcement only mentions consultation about how to DEAL WITH inappropriate behaviour and not with how to define it.
For a moment there I thought that MPs were going to be allowed to waste everyone's time by being allowed to suggest, for example, that it is inappropriate behaviour for a Prime Minister to come along to PMQs every week and not answer those questions he doesn't want to.
But no, you can be relieved that this is not the case. It is already known what is and what is not appropriate behaviour and this is quite capable of being policed by the Prime Minister and his henchmen in Fortress Downing Street, thank you very much!
What is slightly surprising is that with such a panorama of knowledge available, the Prime Minister sees the need to "consult" about how to DEAL with breaches of such behaviour. With a less proficient government, this could easily be interpreted as a vacuous PR stunt designed to divert attention away from the serious issues. Thankfully, there can be no such suggestion in this case.
The Bellman
June 10th, 2009 1:08pm Report this commentIt seems increasingly likely that McSnotty repeats the 'Tory cuts/do nothing/no policy' soundbites not because he thinks it's effective, but because he *has* to. They form a calming mantra that enables his tired mind to grope its way to his Happy Place.
sean
June 10th, 2009 1:09pm Report this commentActually Cameron's top line was very sharp. 'Glad to see the Prime Minister in his place'.
Sir Graphus
June 10th, 2009 1:11pm Report this commentElectoral reform watch is paramount; NO ELECTORAL REFORM WITHOUT REFERENDUM.
Clearly, it's not up to MPs to choose how they are elected. The people should decide all matters about how they should elect those who represent them. This is permanent change, and needs to be thought about exhaustively, and not in time to save a useless PM's bacon.
And if Brown believes he'd be allowed to lead a Liberal-Labour coalition, then he's more deluded than we thought.
dorothy wilson
June 10th, 2009 1:21pm Report this commentSurely someone should make the point that the choice is between cuts and putting up taxes. Otherwise can we take it that Labour is trying to take us into a repeat of the situation where we have to go to the IMF with the begging bowl?
patricia
June 10th, 2009 1:29pm Report this commentDidn t that clown Cameron pledge not to indulge in the barracking of the classroom when he became leader?
To become statesmanlike at Question Time and not resort to the tactics of the fish market?
Nice to find a politician we can trust.
patricia
June 10th, 2009 1:29pm Report this commentDidn t that clown Cameron pledge not to indulge in the barracking of the classroom when he became leader?
To become statesmanlike at Question Time and not resort to the tactics of the fish market?
Nice to find a politician we can trust.
CDF
June 10th, 2009 1:31pm Report this commentThe Prime Minister is base, disgusting and vile; he is solely clinging on for the sake of continuing his term in office. If we ever needed a Cromwell, it is now. In the name of God, GO!
N Evans
June 10th, 2009 1:46pm Report this commentI just don't get this angle that 'cuts are automatically bad' and 'spending money we don't have is automatically good'
Even to a Keynsian it doesn't ring true. It just sounded a weak argument that failed to address anything. A poor show from Brown today.
Nice to hear my old MP Andrew Robathan getting told off though - the man is unbearable!
peter
June 10th, 2009 2:02pm Report this comment"We don t want the alternative vote", says master of the weasel wording, Cutie Cameron, "we want an alternative government".
Trite
And completely wrong.
If that's what Cameron thinks the British public want, he should hang up his ego and go fiddle under the arches of his old boarding school.
Nick Kaplan
June 10th, 2009 2:05pm Report this commentThat was an absolutely shameless performance from totally discredited, dishonest and despicable PM.
I cannot believe that he twisted Lansley’s words to imply that the Tories would make 10% cuts in NHS spending, when they would increase it. I cannot believe he actually stated that the Tories would decrease the number of nurses and teachers. I cannot believe that he denied outright that Labour will also be decreasing spending on public services when this is exactly what his own budget implies! What is the point of PMQs if the PM is simply going to lie in response to every question? Does he not realise that it is a method for holding the government to account, not a weekly Party Political Broadcast? Has he no shame??
At least Andrew Neil tried to expose Brown's lies at PMQs on the Daily Politics. He may be the only BBC journalist with some integrity. What is the chance that BBC news will do a detailed account of what Lansley actually said (on the basis of Brown's own figures) and how Brown manipulated it to imply the Tories would decrease NHS spending when in fact they (stupidly) plan to increase it?!
I have never been made so angry by simply watching PMQs!
peter
June 10th, 2009 2:07pm Report this commentCDF - keep taking the tablets - we re worried about you!
Publius
June 10th, 2009 2:07pm Report this commentWill an elected Lords have its pre-1911 powers restored, and will it be able to vote down Commons legislation? Or is this something else Brown has not thought about?
And if those powers are not restored, how will he deal with the Lords' enhanced authority? Will we be left in a situation where a recently elected Lords is overridden by a long-ago elected Commons?
He has no idea, of course. The whole thing is unworkable without a root-and-branch remodelling of the whole British constitution, which is likely to throw up more problems than it solves.
Labour thought they were being very clever with Scottish devolution... and that has already come back to bite them.
Nick Kaplan
June 10th, 2009 2:16pm Report this commentpatricia;
Do you think it would be more honest for Cameron to avoid asking our lying PM any tough questions, and instead congratulate him on his wonderful performance over the last few weeks (or indeed the last 12 years)?
When Cameron promised to end Punch and Judy politics he didn't mean he would stop scrutinising the PM and let him get away with his lies and crass divisive politics. Don’t be so puerile!
David
June 10th, 2009 2:23pm Report this commentpatricia, is that really the best Labour can do? Point out that Cameron is being mean to precious Gordon? Cameron already said he was naive to think you could end that sort of politics, and with someone as partisan, tribal and downright nasty as Brown as PM, it would be utterly impossible to do now. Perhaps we should all just agree with everything Labour do, and then we won't need to bother with pesky elections ever again...
JONNY
June 10th, 2009 2:36pm Report this comment'To become statesmanlike at Question Time and not resort to the tactics of the fish market?'
Patricia PMQs is a bear pit.
Always has been. Always will be.
So sorry but that's the nature of the beast.
And after all, bear pits can be quite ferociously entertaining.
Much more watchable than all that statesmanlike guff.
You wouldn't want to deprive us of that now would you.
Nick Kaplan
June 10th, 2009 2:43pm Report this commentPeter;
There is absolutely no evidence that anyone wants AV. There is however plenty of evidence that people want a new government. Consider any poll for the last few months. Or the fact that Labour doesn't control a single county council. That it came third in the last 2 elections. That it got beaten in Wales, Scotland and England in the European elections. That it got its lowest poll rating in an election since it became a party (just over 15%). On what possible basis can you say it is ‘completely wrong’ to think that people want an alternative government?
Percy
June 10th, 2009 3:02pm Report this commentChernenko gets more deluded by the week. I don't know how he does it; he surely must know that his party doesn't want him, that most people can't stand the sight of him yet still he goes on and on. It's quite admirable in a scary kind of way.
dorothy wilson
June 10th, 2009 3:29pm Report this commentPatricia: if Brown answered some of the questions put to him Cameron - and Nick Clegg for that matter - might be able to have a reasonable debate with him.
Brown's only line of defence seems to be to attack. That seems to suggest that he knows he knows his arguments do not stand up to scrutiny and so he tries to divert attention to Cameron.
As I've mentioned before I have an inkling that Brown grew up in a household where Daddy preached compasion in the pulpit but was a bully at home. That conflict still seems to be eating him.
Andy
June 10th, 2009 3:32pm Report this commentBrown's "but he now seems to be putting self-interest first" confirms that electoral reform is a cynical ploy to stop the Conservatives. Why else would he mention "self interest"? If Labour intends to overturn a centuries old practice, we, the electorate, have a right to be consulted.
Michael Booth
June 10th, 2009 3:33pm Report this commentA word about schools and budget cuts - its all in the wording, with every school forced to make 'economy savings' of 1 or 2 percent. This is then clawed back by government, but of course, it is not a cut. Shameful.
Anya Conway
June 10th, 2009 3:41pm Report this comment"Trite
And completely wrong."
Not in this household, Peter. We desperately want an alternative government rather than tinkering with the voting system in order for a discredited clique to cling onto power at all costs.
Derek
June 10th, 2009 5:00pm Report this commentWatching evenys of the last few weeks from outside the country, I am having difficulty in understanding why there have been no decent-sized demonstrations for a general election. There were creis of "the mob!" from one journalist when constituents got a bit stroppy with their MP at a meeting to grill him over his expenses and a few old soldiers booed Brown at Arromanches; but, really,we seem to have been unbelievably docile. Is it because the Left - usually so quick to put rent-a-mob on the streets - are not unhappy with the course of events, while the conservative right don't do demonstrations? Where are the saucepan beating housewives? Where are the lateral-thinking politicos like B. Johnson? Where is there any sign that Joe Public is ready to get off his backside and bring some street pressure on the government for an immediate election? Don't we do freedom anymore? Please, someone closer to the scene, explain my country to me...
john miller
June 10th, 2009 5:30pm Report this commentWhy are the Torys reluctant to use the word lie?
Brown lies and I don't suppose anyone would deny it.
Cameron is trying to be honest - which is why he is only marginally ahead on the expenses scandal.
So why not accuse Brown of lying when he does?
David Ossitt
June 10th, 2009 7:03pm Report this commentPeter - Patricia
Your in the wrong ball park.
Verity
June 10th, 2009 8:13pm Report this commentJeremy writes: "I don't think we've ever had a more dishonest Prime Minister than this one."
May I introduce you to one Tony Blair, who makes Stalin, Andropov, Ceauçescu, Castro, Mugabe, Waldheim and Franco look like Boy Scouts.
AWoodward
June 11th, 2009 2:54pm Report this commentI can't even bear to look at Gordon Brown any longer or lisen to a word he says. It is hard to put into words how I feel about the last few weeks but I just feel so angry I feel permanently sick. I care about this country so much and to see this mendacious (non-elected Prime Minister) reduce this country to a laughing stock and take it to the brink just to save his own skin is beyond anything words can describe.
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