The old politics

The first Deputy Prime Minister’s Questions was the worst of the old politics. I’m all in favour of robust exchanges in the Commons but the Labour side was just shouting at Clegg today. As he was answering one question — and, I mean, actually answering — on Sheffield Forgemasters, one Labour MP tried to drown him out with cries of traitor. Although, I thought the question about whether Clegg could help Crimestoppers with the whereabouts of the fugitive Lib Dem donor Michael Brown was delivered with wit.
 
One thing worth noting is that the soft-ball questions to Clegg came from Tory—not Lib Dem—backbenchers. I was also struck by how Clegg had no answer to Nigel Dodds’ question about how if the 55 percent rule is meant to be for good can the next Parliament be bound by legislation passed by this parliament.