Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

PMQs Sketch: Cameron is more slippery than a jellyfish emerging from an oil-slick

How did he get away with that? We’re assured that somewhere inside Labour HQ there toils a crack team of sleuths, analysts, Cameron-watchers, policy-fetishists and high-IQ saboteurs who spend all week devising Miliband’s Wednesday assault on the prime minister. And yet these world-class strategists seem to get beaten every time by the most predictable of dodges. Cameron doesn’t even prepare his defence. He just makes it up on the spot.

Today Miliband went for the big one: hit Cameron with corruption charges. Or as near as damn it. The government has spared hedge funds from the duty payable on share dealings which is levied on all other financial players. The sums saved amount to well over 100 million quid. Not that the hedgies need the extra money unless they’re giving more cheques (£47m and counting) to the Tories who arranged their cosy little tax-breaks. A good name for it would be money-laundering.

Miliband asked why Cameron ‘protected hedge funds’ when other banks had to fork out stamp duty on their share dealings.

‘But I have acted on stamp duty,’ cried Cameron. He accused the last Labour government of exempting foreigners from paying any duty on their London homes – an outrage which he had only recently corrected.

Spot the trick?

Miliband spoke of financial transactions. Cameron fought back on property transactions. In a split second he’d twigged that ‘stamp duty’ covers both species of tax. The man is, as they say, slipperier than a jellyfish emerging from an oil-slick.

But the blame for this passage of falsehood should be shared equally between the leaders. Cameron for stooping to it. Miliband for falling for it. Afterwards, in the Labour dressing-room, they must have wondered why their captain didn’t protest at this blatant dive in the area.

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