Brown and Cameron back at it
Fraser Nelson 12:57pm
Back refreshed from the recess, Cameron (41) starts off by wishing Brown a “happy 57th birthday” – when “happy birthday” would have done.
Nothing groundbreaking in their exchange. Cameron had a few good lines responding to what Brown had just said. “There always is an inquiry with this government. Frequently a police inquiry.” And then “That facts were left on a civil servant’s desk for a year he presents somehow a triumph of government policy.” And bad jokes “nationalisation that would make Castro proud”. I suspect these were memorised – Cameron’s speciality is reeling off memorised lines with the fluency of a stage actor. At PMQs, it works.
Clegg was right to go on Northern Rock. His party (okay then, Vince Cable) has emerged better from this than Tories/Osborne by demonstrating a superior grasp of the situation. Brown had obviously prepared for Cameron asking this question and gave his response to the Tories instead – “he has six policies for this.” As ever, Clegg loses credibility on his second question: the “excess profit” of energy companies which should somehow be “handed back through lower energy prices”. Wrong target. The liberalised UK energy market is one of the world’s better-performing ones – and recent hikes are all the more stark because they follow years of real terms price cuts. What should be “handed back” is the outrageous VAT imposed on fuel. That, not the thinning margins of energy companies, is the scandal.
Cameron then came back for a second round, going on Northern Rock Brown was ready for this, attacking those six Tory policies. It would, he said, be “a fire sale of assets, getting less than market value for them”. As the architect of the calamitous gold sale, he’d know plenty about that. “We are the party of stability,” bleats Brown. Problem is, no one believes that anymore.
I love how he drops in “I was talking with Premier Wen by telephone yesterday” – oh how well Brown would have fitted into 1970s Moscow.
Labour’s Kerry McCarthy asked a planted question: youth unemployment is down 55% in her constituency. Really? A brief check suggests those on benefits simply shifted into other categories. There were 10,610 on benefits in Bristol East in August 1999 (the earliest figures available) and 11,970 in May 2007 (the latest available). This is what she should be worried about.
Brownie Alert Here is Brown’s response: “Youth unemployment has fallen by more than 60 per cent in the last ten years”. Really? When I blogged on this last May unemployment amongst under-25s was, staggeringly, higher than the 14.5% rate when Brown walked into power.
We’re getting almost 80 comments on the Brownies, and we’ll start to deconstruct his little statistical tricks next week. And if anyone has found Tories or LibDems using porkies too, send them in – Coffee House is an equal opportunities myth-buster.
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Comments
Mike O'Callaghan
February 20th, 2008 2:07pmEach week Brown is allowed to provide statistical lies and seemingly gets away with it although anyone with an ounce of intelligence is not fooled.Can I suggest a tactical ploy fof Cameron. Each week analyse the Brown statistical lies and the following week ask him specific questions relating to those figures. When Brown is unable to back the figures up he loses credibility. This tactic would allow the public once anf for all to pick up on the lies being told.
Tiberius
February 20th, 2008 3:26pmThat would be great theatre, Mike, but no doubt someone would find it a reason to criticize Dave for concentrating on last week's news. I think you are right that no one is fooled by Brown, so it is in the Tories' interests to concentrate on other things, and just let Gordon continue to make himself look like a berk.
Mike O'Callaghan
February 20th, 2008 3:59pmTiberius. The trouble is the average voter is fooled by this governments figures and until facts become more important than emotional comments we will still be stuck with this government after the next General Election. I also despair evey week at seeing Labour MP's who do not have the ability to ask a twenty word question without the need of a script in front of their face. I nearly crack up laughing until I realise these bufoons are running the country.
Chuck Unsworth
February 20th, 2008 4:33pm"Cameron’s speciality is reeling off memorised lines with the fluency of a stage actor" And Brown's speciality is what, exactly?
Travis Bickle
February 20th, 2008 5:29pmSo 600 people in Brighton are worried that "we are not doing enough to reduce carbon emissions". Well whoopee, doo and hurrah for them, I wonder if 6000 in any other constituency wanting an EU referendum would be given such publicity.
sturgess
February 20th, 2008 5:34pmMike O'Callaghan.Tiberius. The trouble is the average voter is fooled by this governments figures. Thankfully we have conceited little plonkers like yourself to point these average voters in the right direction, God bless you guv.
TGF UKIP
February 20th, 2008 5:46pmMike O'Callaghan I would agree with your suggested tactic completely but Fraser has made the perfectly fair point to me in the past that fewer things are more of a turn off for the ordinary voter than statistical ping pong. If the Tories really were the bare-knuckle fighters for power that Labour were pre-97 they wouldn't shrink from using the 'L' word. "Tory Lies" as well as "Tory Sleaze" was all part of the New Labour chant. The use of that word would certainly grab the attention of the media and then of the public. Fortunately for Gordon, Dave and his gang are anything but power hungry streetfighters.
Mike O'Callaghan
February 21st, 2008 8:04amSTURGESS. I'll mark you down as an average voter then.
sturgess
February 21st, 2008 11:19amMike O'Callaghan..STURGESS. I'll mark you down as an average voter then. Yes, and I'll mark you down as an arrogant plonker.
Nick Kaplan
February 21st, 2008 11:50amThe problem is that the PM continually fails to answer any question Cameron asks, he merely responds by criticizing Tory policy and asking Cameron what he would do. I wonder whether Gordon realizes that it is called Prime Ministers Questions, he seems to be under the impression it is leader of the opposition questions. Or perhaps Brown genuinely wants Cameron’s advice, given how prone he is to stealing Tory policy.
CS
February 21st, 2008 2:35pmMaybe though if Cameron picked Brown up just a couple of times on his dodgy stats the following week, it might make Brown more reluctant to be so free with them in future - if he knew they would be questioned publicly. Calling Brown a liar may go down well with the party but it comes across as plain rude elsewhere. Much better to politely "show" him to be a liar by trashing his stats. After all, if Brown isn't allowed to use his spurious record on the economy to justify his existence, he hasn't many other options.