VERDICT: To paraphrase that famous football cliché, this was a session of two halves. Cameron put in a confident performance against what should have been the trickier set of questions: on the economy. But when it came to Ed Miliband’s second topic of choice, the NHS, it all went suddenly awry. The PM’s arguments were unusually messy and convoluted, lost in themselves. And he only made matters worse with his Winner-esque exhortation at a Labour frontbencher, “Calm down, dear!” You can argue whether it was sexist of the PM, or not, particularly as it’s not clear whom the remark was aimed at (although the smart money’s on Angela Eagle). But it was, at least, a moment of frustration that played up to the worst Flashman caricatures of the PM. All in all, he defeated himself today.
1231: And, after a few detours into AV, that’s it. My short verdict will be up soon.
1229: The Labour MP Paul Flynn suggests — gleefuly, one presumes — that the drive towards nuclear power will be “stillborn” after Fukushima. Cameron repeats the argument he made in PMQs a few weeks ago: that, of course, care needs to be taken, but Japan and its reactors are very different to Britain and her proposed reactors.
1227: More on the NHS, where Cameron deploys rather Brownite language to reassure on hospital closures: “Investment in the NHS, that is what is happening.”
1224: Ed Miliband has been sitting down for a while now, but we’re still on health questions. Cameron reassures his own backbencher, Sarah Wollaston, that the health reforms won’t have a
negative impact. (And is that a dig at Bercow? As the House quietens to hear Wollaston, Cameron says that she “is clearly a future Speaker in the making). In response to more explicitly
hostile questions from the Labour beckbenches, he stresses that health spending will not be cut, and that waiting times will ony come down by modernising the service.
1220: Clear risk of a sexism row after Cameron’s Winner Moment. Ed Balls is motioning towards Yvette Cooper and Angela Eagle, as ithough Cameron was referring to them, but I don’t
know either way.
1218: Ooh, Cameron does his best Michael Winner impression as he urges a Labour frontbencher “to calm down, dear.” I’m not sure who it was aimed at, but it has certainly riled
the red side of the House. Jon Bercow has to step in to defuse the roars and the catcalls. Cameron starts again: “I won’t apologise.”
1217: Miliband tries to turn the debate around to waiting times, to which Cameron offers a stumbling repsonse. The points from both sides, whatever they are, are rather getting lost amid
some sloppy verbal ping-pong.
1215: And here’s Ed Miliband again. He asks why the government’s reform plans are opposed by the majority of nurses. Cameron responds that change always meets concern — but that’s
why the government is pausing and listening, etc. now. He adds, sharply, that Miliband should some up with some constructive suggestions.
1212: Miliband has taken a break from questioning, so it falls to Labour’s Kevin Brennan to try to rile Cameron. “Is Andrew Lansley going to keep his job?” he asks. To
which Cameron gives the stock response: “Andrew Lansley is doing an excellent
1211: Cameron refers to the lines of Labour MPs who are wearing red “No to AV” badges (presumably, in part, to embarrass Ed Miliband): “I don’t normally like to see red
badges everywhere, but I quite like these.”
1210: The PM deploys a line that is a favourite of Nick Clegg’s: by the Darling plan, Labour would be cutting £7 of every £8 that the coalition is cutting this year.
1209: The exchange continues along the same lines. Cameron tries to add a new note by pointing out that during Ed Miliband’s time in the Cabinet there was never a quarter of growth higher than 0.5 per cent. “That is his record,” Cameron swipes. A slightly strange point, given that he’s talking about a recession not a recovery, but it deflates the Labour cheers somewhat.
1208: Cameron replies that Labour warned of a double dip — and yet the economy is growing. “Why don’t you apologise for talking the economy down?” he quivers. Miliband says that the PM is “complacent.” This is a fiery session, so far.
1206: A joke, a joke from Ed Miliband, who quips that the party leaders “will all do our best to make sure we are properly attired” for the Royal Wedding. The Labour leader soon changes his tone, though, as he brings up today’s growth figures. “Would the PM say that it’s good news that the economy is flatlining?” he asks sternly.
1204: The first question is on the faltering situation in Ireland. Then a tricky question from the Tory MP Brian Binley, who highlights the shrinking construction sector and lower borrowing to small businesses. In his response, Cameron agrees that some figures are disappointing, but adds that “the good news is that the economy is growing again.”
1200: Right on time, Cameron starts with condolences for fallen troops. He also wishes Prince William and Kate Middleton a “long and happy life together.” The Commons breathes its approval.
Stay tuned for live coverage from 1200.
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