Peter Hoskin

PMQs live blog | 6 May 2009

Live coverage from 1200.

1201:
And we’re off.  The DUP’s Gregory Campbell asks what further assistance Brown can offer the devlved regions to help them during the recession.  Brown: “We will continue to offer real help now”.

1203:
Cameron kicks off: “A series of U-turns…”.  Then asks whether these are “signs” that the “government is in terminally in decline”.  Brown responds angrily, saying that Cameron doesn’t ask questions about the economy and reduces things to “personality”.

1205: Woah, this has become angry quickly.  Cameron says that Brown doesn’t realise it is about him: “Your failure to reform public services; your failure to handle the deficit…”  Brown reponds that the worst thing to do would be to “follow the Tories”.

1207:
Cameron proceeds at a rat-a-tat pace.  Now he’s reading extracts from Hazel Blears’ infamous YouTube article.

1208: Brown says that the biggest U-turn was Cameron reneging on his promise (and rightly so) to match the Government’s public spending.  Brown’s sticking to his main “investment v cuts” dividing line, while hoping no-one notices the hidden cuts written into the Budget.

1209: Incisive quip from Cameron: “I’m sure that sounded just great in the bunker, while the mobile phones were flying.”  He then demands a general election.  This is fiery stuff, and there’s plenty of noise coming from the benches.

1211: Brown says it explicitly: “We’d invest; they’d cut.  This is the main dividing line between the parties.”

1212: Now it’s Clegg’s turn.  He lays into Brown’s speech on education yesterday, questioning Labour’s record on schooling.

1213: Brown responds by citing “increased investment”.  No surprise there, then.

1214:
And now Clegg’s getting angry. “Isn’t there a point when stubborness becomes stupidity?” he asks.  When the Labour benches groan, Clegg retorts: “At least I say it to his face.”

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