VERDICT: An inconclusive sort of PMQs, where neither leader particularly triumphed, nor particularly sank. Ed Miliband was persistent, and more aggressive than usual, with his questions on the NHS — but failed, really, to properly discomfort the PM. Cameron dwelt lazily on the extra money going into the service, but it was enough to carry him through the session. Perhaps the most striking moment was when, during the backbench questions, Cameron pointed out that “[the Tories] were the only party at the last election to promise [real-terms spending increases for health]. If it wasn’t for us, it wouldn’t be happening.” This is, I suspect, all part of the new drive to distinguish the two parties of government. But it will have jarred with some listening Lib Dems nonetheless.
1233: That’s it. My quick verdict shortly.
1231: The military covenant appears to be gaining momentum as a political issue. In reponse to a question on the matter, Cameron says that he wants “a strong military convenant, debated in this House, and clearly referenced in law”
1228: Cameron: “whether it is good for patients — that should be the test of everything we do in the NHS”.
1226: There’s some half-serious speculation that the Tories wouldn’t mind too much about Scottish independence, but, if that’s the case, then David Cameron isn’t letting it show. He defends the Union, here, most vigourously.
1225: Laughter, as Cameron says that “one of the central planks of the Good Ship Balls” has been stripped away: Obama is following a deficit reduciton plan that is broadly similar to the coalition’s. (See our Coffee House post for a full comparison).
1224: Once again, Cameron defends the coalition’s record on health by pointing towards the money that is being spent on the NHS. Although, this time, there a little extra bite in his remarks. “Frankly,” he says, ” we were the only party at the last election to promise this, if it wasn’t for us it wouldn’t be happening” — an attempt to distinguish the Tories from their Lib Dem coalition partners?
1222: It’s almost like last week again, as Cameron praises the cost-cutting efforts of a Tory council.
1219: The Ghosts of New Labour are rising up in PMQs. Last week, it was Jack Straw who asked a question. This week, it’s Alan Johnson. He gives the PM an “opportunity to castigate
himself” over not yet banning Hizb ut-Tahrir. Cameron responds that the organisation is still under review.
1216: The Lib Dems’ Bob Russell acts as both scourge and supporter of the coalition today. He prefaces a question about how the tax breaks for wealthy people with a sweeping attack on Labour’s economic and welfare policy. Cameron agrees that tax loopholes for the super-rich should be closed.
1214: Bercow slaps down Michael Gove for “shouting his head off” — “it’s not a good example to set to the nation’s children,” he says. Not a quip that will endear the Speaker to the Tories.
1213: Cameron finishes his exchange with Miliband with one of his favourite charges: that Labour are opposed to reform in itself, whereas the coalition are the only ones who will deliver it.
1210: Miliband caricatures Cameron’s performance as another one from the Flashman copy book, which isn’t quite true. Cameron hits back, referring to Labour’s underwhelming
performance in the elections last week. The coalition benches cheer as he quips about Miliband “fightback”.
1208: Ed Miliband is on strident form today. He suggests that Cameron has “dumped on” everyone from David Willetts to Nick Clegg. “The poor Deputy Prime Minister,” he
says — part of a new tactic, no doubt, to aim fire at the Tories, and paint the Lib Dems as a betrayed party.
1205: This is spicy stuff. Ed Miliband points out — to huge roars from the Labour benches — that it takes seven years to train a doctor, so the coalition can’t claim credit for a rise in doctors. Cameron asks Ed Miliband for an apology over his claim, made last week, that waiting times are rising.
1203: A simple, but pointed, first question from Ed Miliband: how would the Prime Minister rate his government’s performance on the NHS? Cameron toes his wearily familiar line that more money is being pumped into the service, as though that were, in itself, proof of success.
1201: David Cameron starts with a tribute to the Labour MP David Cairns, who died on Monday night. He then fields a punchy first question from his own backbenches: does the PM agree that prisoners shouldn’t get the vote? Cameron’s repsonse is neither here nor there, really. He says that he doesn’t like the principle of prisoner votes, and adds that he wants the outcome to reflect the will of the House, but doesn’t commit himself beyond that.
Stay tuned for live coverage from 1200.
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