Brown does a Hillary (again) – and fights back
Fraser Nelson 1:14pmAn angrier Brown was in front of us today, holding handwritten notes for his exchanges with Cameron rather than anything given to him by No10. He would scribble furiously, and went on the offensive - asking Cameron whether he supports ID cards for foreign nationals. It seemed a bit daft at PMQs to hear the PM ask questions of the Opposition leader so often, but it won't be repeated on TV and he needs to show the House he is on the attack. Cameron appeared to say yes, but it wasn't clear. Those normally ashen Labour faces lit up.
Brown again brought up Cameron's role "as the principal adviser to the Chancellor" (as if) on Black Wednesday. Cameron responded by listing things Brown believed in his 20s: wholesale renationalistion, etc. I don't think it worked. There is no equivalence between being a Treasury bag carrier and backing loony policies, as brown did, at a time when sensible labour folk had moved on.
Brown repeated his Marr line: that inflation was 10% then and 2% now. This is a fake comparison, as I blogged yesterday. RPI inflation was 10%, for just there months in 1990, and is now 4.3%. The 2% Brown refers to is CPI, which peaked at 8%. Pulling this trick on journalists is one thing, but misleading the House in such a petty way is another. It was beneath him. Brown later said "inflation is half what it was". This is the truth.
Again, we hear brown created 3m new jobs. Now we know that 69% of new jobs are accounted for by immigration, it's bold of him to stick to this figure. Perhaps he feels he'll get away with it unchallenged. He may well be right.
A strange opening question from Clegg. Is it "enough" to summon the energy regulator to complain about N-Power's 15% rises? Many may argue it's too much, given that the regulator is supposed to be independent. But he goes on to make a point I'm delighted to see raised at PMQs. There are 25,000 people predicted to die this winter from the cold. Like most of the Lib Dem's better questions, this point was first made on this blog some time ago.
Perhaps Cameron stole clegg's best line by going in on identity cards. So a respectable start by Clegg, but not killer Cable. And that is something which, alas, we'll all have to get used to at PMQs.
Anyway, from my perch the chamber it looked and sounded a lot better for Brown. There was spirit of the bare knuckle fight about this, probably because the microphones up here weren't working as they should.
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GS
January 9th, 2008 2:08pm Report this comment"...it looked and sounded a lot better for Brown" Shock! Horror! Prime Minister doesn't have nervous breakdown whilst trying to do his job! It was atrocious - Britain's PM babbling daft questions at the Leader of the Opposition, whilst refusing to respond to the ones he's paid large sums of taxpayers' money to answer.
Slim Jim
January 9th, 2008 3:12pm Report this commentI reckon the 'improvement' you noticed is due to new medication or at least the optimum dose of whatever Brown's on. I would agree that he appeared to be slightly more confident, but as usual the bastard never gave a straight answer to most questions. Unsurprisingly, that idiot Speaker didn't pull up his master for ASKING questions - he's supposed to answer them! We also had the predictable gush of useless statistics and 'it was the fault of the Tories' line. This theatre is irrelevant, but entertaining. What you haven't reported Fraser, is the looks on the faces of the front bench. They know they've got a pig in a poke, and so do we.
Judy from the North
January 9th, 2008 3:44pm Report this commentIn order to improve at PMQS Gordon Brown has started to demand answers from David Cameron.I presume the speaker turns a blind eye to this as I am sure it is against the rules.
Nigel Bradshaw
January 9th, 2008 5:42pm Report this commentThings economic that go wrong e.g. Northern Rock, rising energy prices, pricier mortgages, etc. are blamed on the US or global trends; while Brown's mantra of low inflation, high employment, sustained growth (though enjoyed by the rest of the world over the last few years) are exclusively credited to the genius of the last Chancellor. Funny that.
Independent voter
January 9th, 2008 6:40pm Report this commentFraser are you on Brown's payroll or something?
Fraser Nelson
January 9th, 2008 8:12pm Report this commentIndependent voter, unlike 28% of Britain I am not on the payroll. I know there's nothing CoffeeHousers hate more than me saying Brown wasnt that bad at PMQs. But I have three points in my defence. 1) Watching PMQs in the chamber is a v diff experience to watching it on TV. Brown played to the chamber today. 2) I've followed this bloke for too many years. There's an aspect of Dr Johnson's dog when he does less-than-disastrously. 3) Okay, there isn't a third. But this wasnt a rave review. It was "Brown fights back" - a narrative I suspect you'll read in a few papers tomorrow because that is the feeling here in the Westminster village.
Independent voter
January 9th, 2008 9:00pm Report this commentFraser, the reason for my post was that it seems as though you always call it for Brown even when the consensus is totally different. Dont get me wrong I am no Cameron kool aid drinker and frankly dont think he is doing enough to defeat Brown any time soon!
Tiberius
January 9th, 2008 10:18pm Report this commentI can't say I've tried Cameron kool aid. Is it as satisfying as Old Speckled Hen?
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