Clegg shines at PMQs
Fraser Nelson 3:19pm
I watched PMQs from the vantage point of Simon Mayo’s Radio Five studio today, with John Pienaar. We both scribble furiously during the PMQs – John has to select clips and present a narrative instantly. Now Cable has gone, only Cameron provides the jokes. And he was on especially good form today. John spotted that Cameron used the word “useless” three times. This must have been deliberate. I can easily imagine Andy Coulson in a meeting saying Brown’s main claim to fame is being dull-but-competent. Strip out competent, and you’re not left with much.
“The Prime Minister has a nerve to accuse me of inconsistency,” said Cameron. “I said he was useless a year ago, and still think he is now.” When Brown tried to mock Cameron’s (thankfully dumped) slogan “vote blue, go green” slogan, Cameron turned it on him instantly: “vote blue and get rid of this useless Prime Minister.” Cameron’s best lines are the ones he makes up on the spot. I suspect that, two or three times, he raised a smile amongst those listening to PMQs on Five Live. And that, in itself, is enough to win.
But while Cameron performed best, I’d give Nick Clegg the best attack line. He went on the economy, and raised the prospect of a Winter of Discontent. One of the Treasury bench smiled here, which gave Clegg a great chance to say “I don’t know why he’s smiling when unemployment today is up for its highest rate for 16 years” – but I rather doubt whether one can spy a smile from that far across the chamber.
Brown was, as always, caught between his two responses on the economy. Response A is “it’s bad out there, your Great Helmsman will guide you through the storms.” And then there’s Response B, “I’m a great Prime Minister, things are really good here, record employment, lower inflation than anywhere in the world.”
Unwisely, he chose Response B claiming that British inflation was the lowest in Europe (it’s not) and that employment is at a new high (a crude function of record immigration and naturally rising population). Seduced by his ability to produce Brownies like this, Brown is tiptoeing closer and closer to Callaghan “crisis? What crisis?” territory. No one reading any newspaper today, or buying anything in the supermarket, will believe inflation is lower. And no one cares about the price of sauerkraut in Germany. Clegg’s response “he’s so out of touch he doesn’t know how bad things are” was precisely the right one – even if he then veered off into fuel poverty.
But when it comes to out of touch, MPs who still refer to the Dear Leader’s efforts to “get hard-pressed families on to the housing ladder” take the biscuit. You feel like screaming at the TV: “there is no housing ladder, the downturn is the sharpest since the Great Depression”. A friend of mine is an estate agent, and we discussed what kind of fool of a first time buyer would buy a house today, given he’s guaranteed to get it cheaper in three months time. Then I heard Brown talking about his plans to spend taxpayers’ money buying unsold houses. There’s one born every minute.
He was asked if he thinks petrol price is too high. Yes, he said, and that’s why he went to Jeddah to talk to oil producers. The President of Nigeria is the latest oil producer being used as a prop, with Brown pretending to lobby him on behalf of the British motorist. But as the AA tells us with its monthly fuel price report, 66p of the 118p litre price of fuel is pure tax. If Brown thinks it’s too high, he can lower it tomorrow.
I will, as usual, incur the wrath of CoffeeHousers by saying that Cameron – for all his superior rhetoric - didn’t really corner Brown on any issues and that the Dear Leader had an answer (albeit a nerdy, and usually misleading one) for everything. So I’ll score this as a win for Nick Clegg.
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Craig Strachan
July 16th, 2008 3:55pm Report this commentRight, the housing ladder is now a slide.
Mike, Brighton
July 16th, 2008 4:02pm Report this commentIt's frankly painful to watch. Cameron asks a question Brown either doesn't answer and answers a different question or gives a non-answer. Cameron asks a different question and Brown responds with Ural region tractor factory production statistics about how good he and Labour are, how well the economy is doing; statistics that are totally unbelievable and disproved with less than a minute or so of googling.
Awful!
cityboozer
July 16th, 2008 4:08pm Report this commentMr Nelson,
Off-topic here but re the prime/sub-prime Scotland/Britain thing I thought this paper from US think-tank Demos (not the London-based comedians with the revolving door joining them to the Guardian) was interesting: http://demos.org/pub1514.cfm
It posits a definition of "middle class" which I think bears scrutiny.
CB
Liz Brown
July 16th, 2008 4:26pm Report this commentI am not convinced that DC nees to shine at every PMQ - just asking the question points out how useless and spineless Heathcliff is. The only answer ever given is to those questions which are so blatantly planted as to make me squirm
R. Hewitt
July 16th, 2008 4:28pm Report this commentAre we realy the second biggest defence spenders in the world, or was that just another "Brownie" ?
Tiberius
July 16th, 2008 4:36pm Report this commentI can only surmise, Fraser, that you are again applying their respective golf handicaps to the debate, these being Cameron 8, Brown 16, and Clegg 20.
Chris SE9
July 16th, 2008 4:45pm Report this commentIt is like shooting fish in a barrel attacking the PM, but Cameron overstepped the line today with the "useless" jibes. Such personal contempt demeans Cameron and the office to which he aspires. He doesn't need to do it to succeed - he should play the ball not the man.
cityboozer
July 16th, 2008 4:53pm Report this commentChris SE9,
In this case the man is the ball. (A right heid-the-ba' in fact.) Brown's government is achieving *nothing* because he is in denial about the real problems.
CB.
BrianSJ
July 16th, 2008 4:58pm Report this commentChris SE9; he was very deliberately playing the man. I am sure Fraser is right; the 'useless' word was pre-planned. There is a smart motive behind it. Brown could start answering questions; that would be a form of refutation
Mark
July 16th, 2008 5:05pm Report this commentBrown's justification for clinging to office is that he, and he alone, is the one to save the country. He has put his supposed competence in issue. Of course it's fair to point out that he's useless.
Baskerville
July 16th, 2008 5:05pm Report this commentWhy is calling Brown 'useless' worse than Brown calling Cameron a 'shallow salesman'?
Fraser Nelson
July 16th, 2008 8:29pm Report this commentTiberius, you're right. it was such a welcome change to see Clegg ask something useful. cityboozer, tks v much - have printed out and will read tonight.
Praguetory
July 16th, 2008 9:25pm Report this commentYes. That was indeed Clegg's best PMQs. It's rare for him to get a mention, so this has to be progress.
Athesius the Facilitator
July 16th, 2008 9:38pm Report this commentCHRIS Why shouldn't Cameron call Brown 'useless'. Mr Brown dished it out to the Tory's and now the great clunking bully is getting it back. He deserves every jibe and every put down that comes his way either in or out of the chamber. The man is a power mongering control freak who lies constantly.
Tina
July 16th, 2008 9:49pm Report this commentAs usual analysis spot on Fraser. Cleggy done good today!
Chuck Unsworth
July 16th, 2008 9:57pm Report this commentChris SE9 - and that ball is what? The man's useless and a liability to his party and, much more importantly, to the nation.
Useless is the mot juste.
If you want people to play the ball, try examining Brown's responses to direct questions. How often does he veer off into unknown territory? Brown wouldn't even know what a ball was - apart from lacking a pair.
TrevorH
July 16th, 2008 10:17pm Report this commentPMQs are not as a rule instructive in eliciting information from the PM - in this case Brown.
Basically Cameron should concentrate on getting labour backbenchers squirming in their seats. How Brown answers the questions is irrelevant.
Silent Hunter
July 16th, 2008 10:52pm Report this commentChris from Section E9 of the Labour Party HQ Bunker:
'...but Cameron overstepped the line today with the "useless" jibes. Such personal contempt demeans Cameron and the office to which he aspires...'
Is that all your own work Chris?....
....only it looks suspiciously like it was lifted virtually word for word from the Politics Home site. LOL
Cameron was perfectly right to call Brown 'useless'.........he is!
As for answering straight questions with straight answers.....Brown's only recourse is to plunge into yet more 'tractor production statistics' which are meaningless to the rest of us.
Face it! Brown IS completely 'useless'.
Dave
July 17th, 2008 9:14am Report this commentGood stuff from Clegg, and making just the right noises on tax this morning on the Today programme.
At this right I might even vote for him!
Ian C
July 17th, 2008 11:27am Report this commentChris SE9 - you have a point that would generally be well made, because our Parliament and government should be of a standard that this is not required. But in the case of Broon he has set himself up for everything that is now rightly thrown at him. I do not go along with those who say that the opprobrium the man has attracted from so smany sources recently goes too far because he is a real, clear and present danger to us all, both personally and as a nation.
Frank Pulley
July 17th, 2008 11:43am Report this commentClegg shines: yes I thought that myself. He looks like a plate of tapioca. Sounds rather similar too, when it's gently simmering on the hob. Uggghh!
Anyone here wanna buy London Bridge ... again?
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