1157, Peter Hoskin: Welcome to Coffee House’s live blog of the first PMQs of this Parliamentary session (you can watch it here). Expect a lot of back-and-forth about the £50 billion bailout, all in a spirit of aggressive cooperation. And stay tuned for Fraser’s detailed report later.
1204, PH: Here we go…
1204, PH: Brown confirms that interest rates have been cut by 0.5 percent. That could be the most significant thing to come out of this PMQs.
1206, PH: First question from Robert Goodwill – “Does the PM agree with the IMF that the economy will contract next year?” Brown’s response: the usual “Every across the world is facing this…” and that “everything that can be done will be done”.
1207, PH: Sir Gerald Kaufman asks for assurance that the “fat cats” of the City will not “profit” at the expense of the poorer in society. Brown: “excessive risk-taking will be punished not rewarded”
1208, PH: Cameron takes to the stage. First question is mostly fashioned as a statement of cooperation. An opportunity for Brown to just describe the bailout plan. The theme du jour is “we are doing everything we can”.
1211, PH: Cameron: “Aren’t the real measures of the success of this measure whether small business and individuals can get loans?” – i.e. not whether big banks can get loans. Important question, but one that’s a bit flat. “We will not accept that banks should cut off credit lines,” says Brown. “We will do everything
1213, PH: Now onto taxpayers. This is punchier from Cameron. “This should mean no more irresponsibility” etc. But Brown is dealing with all this with a straight bat made of financial jargon. So far, the editors putting together highlights for the evening news will be struggling.
1215, PH: Bit of annoyance from Brown. “I’ve been asked a question, and I should be allowed to answer it” he mumbles in response to Tory jeers. Only spark so far.
1218, PH: Soundbite from Cameron: “No-one wants the banks to fail, but no-one wants rewards for failure”. Well-delivered, but Brown just responds in the same way as he did to Sir Gerald Kaufman. And finishes off with a smart dig at Cameron’s claim to Andrew Marr that he won’t use “cheap jibes” which will undermine cooperation / the markets. Labour benches cheer. Cameron is really being straitjacketed by the background of cross-party cooperation.
1221, PH: Nick Clegg now. He also supports the rescue package, and throws in an analogy about rocks and lifeboats for good measure. It’s quite astonishing just how much room Brown is being given to recycle the contents of his statement this morning.
1224, PH: Better question from Clegg about whether funds would be better spent on lowering tax for low-income earners. Brown cycles through measures like the Winter Fuel Allowance. But I can’t help but think that Clegg’s onto a promising line of attack here – particularly post-10p tax.
1226, PH: Questions from the backbenches: Afghanistan, small business, growth figures. On Afghanistan, Brown says that a military solution is not enough by itself. On growth: he refuses to commit to matching the IMF growth figures for next year.
1231, PH: Andrew MacKay asks “when did the Age of Irresponsibility begin?”. Brown jokes “I’m tempted to use my experience of history to go back quite a long time…”. He stresses that he meant irresponsibility within the financial sector. Of course, the just begs the follow-up question of who was supervising the financial sector, and who set up the tripartite supervisory system?
1235, PH: Statement by Alistair Darling now on the bailout. Little that wasn’t in his annoucnement this morning – this is just a repetition for the benefit of Parliament.
1240. PH: Darling will be meeting with other finance ministers.
1244, PH: According to Darling, the measures will “protect taxpayers” by improving the the stability of the economy.
1245, PH: Darling will guarantee the deposits of UK savers in the Icelandic bank Icesave.
1247, PH: Osborne repsonds – repeats the point made by Cameron that “The real test of this measure will be whether it gets credit flowing through the economy” – to individuals and small businesses, as well as banks.
1249, PH: Osborne: “Will interest rate cuts be passed on?”
1251, PH: Osborne is pushing the IMF growth forecasts.
1252, PH: Before Darling responds…
PMQs VERDICT: Brown won this encounter. Cameron, in particular, was straitjacketed by the spirit of cross-party cooperation – leaving the PM free to regurgitate financial jargon unchallenged.
1252, PH: Darling repeats the “grateful for Tory support line”. Again cycles through the components of the bailout package.
1256, PH: Darling: the Tories are being more “interventionist” than they have been previously – an effort to undermine Tory efforts to woo the business community? No word on whether HMT will guarantee UK deposits in all foreign banks.
1259, PH: Vince Cable gets a big cheer. He puts forward similar messages of support to those made by Osborne, and makes similar points about the bailout too. One extra thing: he points out that 8 London councils have money in an Icelandic bank which has gone into administration. The situation is “fast-moving,” Cable claims.
1301, PH: Darling indicates that he won’t help out the councils who have money with Icelandic banks.
1302, PH: The questions following Darling’s statment are still ongoing, but I’ve got to sign off for now. You can continue watching here.
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