VERDICT: It’s nigh impossible to overstate what a pickle David Cameron found himself in this morning: the strain of the recent health debacle continues and he has had to orchestrate a u-turn on Ken Clarke’s liberal prison reforms, although don’t call it a u-turn. But, somehow, Ed Miliband contrived the PM’s escape.
Miliband’s brief reconnaissance of the sentencing reform issue served only to highlight his one-time support for Clarke’s controversial reforms. Try as he might, he could not outflank the government. He merely looked opportunistic and Cameron made light (and hay) of this. After two misfired questions, Miliband moved on to the NHS. He was better here, but not much. Cameron had sufficient room to manoeuvre the debate around to Labour’s dismal performance in charge of the Welsh health service, where waiting lists are up and budgets are down. Miliband is in danger of becoming the keeper of failed orthodoxies.
As so often in this parliament, Cameron was under most stress from his own rebellious backbenchers. Philip Hollobone launched a less than subtle assault on Ken Clarke’s liberal prison policy. Cameron was forced to defend the justice secretary, which undid the morning’s work. The government remains liberal on law and order, which will displease Hollobone et al.
13:33: That’s it. My quick verdict to follow shortly.
12:30: Health select committee chairman Stephen Dorrell shows Miliband how it’s done, albeit at some length. Is the key to the NHS to make money work better to improve productivity? And isn’t that about integrating fragmented care? Cameron says it is and that his policy will secure that. Time will tell.
12:25: There have now been two questions about the extra time women will have to wait to receive their pensions. On both occasions, Cameron said that 1, not 2 years, is the appropriate amount of time to wait, which seems to contradict current policy.
12:21: Tory James Wharton calls on Cameron to engineer Sepp Blatter’s removal as President of FIFA. Cameron says that he wasn’t impressed with FIFA and urges the FA and its equivalents to pressure FIFA into reform.
12:18: We’re well into backbench questions now. A couple have stood out: Chukka Umanna asked a long question about gang crime in the Lambeth area, which Cameron offered to tackle in the spirit of bi-partisanship. And serial Tory rebel Philip Hollobone essentially asked if Ken Clarke was too old to be in government. Cameron reacted to this whiff of right-wing mischief by giving his backing to the embattled Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor.
12:15: Now Miliband turns to the health disaster. Miliband has two points: first, the PM’s health proposals are in trouble because he broke a promise about not making a top-down change to the health service; second, the Tories can’t be trusted on the NHS. For example, why did he abandon the 18-week waiting list time target only to reinstate it yesterday? Why, above all, has he allowed a competition free-for-all to intrude on the NHS. Miliband is on firmer ground here and Cameron flounders a little; but Miliband fails to land anything like a savage blow. Cameron says that health is another area where Miliband has nothing to say beyond maintaining the failed orthodoxies, which is a strong argument.
12:08: Miliband repeats the question again. Cameron denies that this is a u-turn and digs up a quotation from Sadiq Khan, the shadow justice secretary, ‘the sentencing reforms are robust, in keeping with Labour’s approach to law and order in government. Cameron shoots a barb at Miliband: ‘Why the u-turn?’ Miliband fails to score a hit here and has been caught jumping on the bandwagon: the phrase ‘own goal’ comes to mind.
12:06: Miliband opens with one of his slowly formulated questions. It’s about the Ken Clarke sentencing furore. Cameron denies that this is a u-turn.
12:04: Tory MP Jackie Doyle-Price opens up with a question about the situation in Syria and wants to know what the government will do about it? Cameron reveals that France and Britain will table a UN motion today about sanctions. He suggests that no country VETO this motion, lest it be on their conscience.
12:02: And we’re off, with Cameron reading the list of dead from Afghanistan since the House last met.
11:55: Stay tuned for live coverage from 12.
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