Wednesday, 11th June 2008

42-days dominates PMQs

Fraser Nelson 1:27pm

It was a 42 days special, with Brown referring five times to the advice of the "security services." On Monday a CoffeeHouser named "Smiley", claiming to be from MI5, said the Service has never offered any advice in public or private, and added that the phrase "security services" was devised by Blair to obscure this point. A hoax comment, I thought, but intriguingly the head of MI5 issued a statement later in strikingly similar language. My point: MI5 doesn't arrest or detain anyone, is stridently neutral on this, and it is disingenuous of Brown to hint otherwise.

But Cameron was on simply superb form, deriding Brown for quoting comments on ConservativeHome website. Yes it's popular to lock people up, he said, but the job of parliament is to do what is right. Tory benches roared, and Labour sat like waxworks. It was a striking moment: this was a line that Labour likes to deliver, its MPs will hate to think of themselves giving in to populist pressure. Cameron will have just added a vote or two to the rebellion, I suspect.

Afghanistan also featured heavily. CoffeeHousers had a debate about the names of the fallen being read out in PMQs. Cameron said it is "quite right" that the names are read out and went on to ask about setbacks in Afghanistan. Brown says 6m are in education and 2m girls. It's actually 1.5m, according to Nato. You feel sometimes feel that he has an inbuilt exaggeration chip. Brown says that Des Browne recently want to Afghanistan and reported that poppy free provinces doubled to 13 so we are making progress he says. Another Brownie. I was on the trip with Browne where we were told that Afghan opium production is at record levels because Helmand province now makes almost half the world's opium. This metric of poppy free regions is designed to deflect attention from the overall picture

Towards the end, Michael Howard asked Brown to explain how locking someone up for six weeks would not prejudice their trial - Brown has failed three times to answer this, he said. Brown replied: "He knows a lot about not answering questions." He then beamed: a joke! A real joke! Sadly for Brown, it served as a reminder of how rare these events are.

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Mo

June 11th, 2008 2:38pm Report this comment

If Gordon Brown had been as interested in public opinion when the Lisbon Treaty was being debated as he is now, he would have allowed a referendum. And he accuses the Tories of being opportunists!

GeoffH

June 11th, 2008 3:24pm Report this comment

This whole 42-day thing is so unutterably depressing.

Our freedoms are being tossed aside like old newspaper fish and chip wrappings and all Brown can do is give out a few sweeties to his truculent rebels.

And the loyal government backbenchers behave like sheep herded by Brown's sheepdogs onto transport to the slaughterhouse.

No attempt to justify this miserable measure just arm-twisting and free gifts.

We've had some pretty bad government for the past 11 years and it's come to this - repression.

It's not just an election we need but a revolution.

Jonny Mac

June 11th, 2008 3:25pm Report this comment

I didn't read Smiley's comment, but he is quite right. Whenever a politician mentions "the security services", alarm bells should ring. MI5 is the Security Service; MI6 is the Secret Intelligence Service. Together with GCHQ, they are sometimes properly referred to as "the security and intelligence agencies". But "the security services" is a meaningless phrase, and while it hints at MI5 it doesn't have an official or even unofficial-but-agreed meaning.

Dave B

June 11th, 2008 3:28pm Report this comment

Re poppies, I've read recently (here? can't remember) that the price of wheat is now high enough to attract farmers who might otherwise be growing poppies. Is that wrong?