The exchange about rail fares in PMQs earlier was, it’s true, not one for the photo album. But the way it’s resolved itself this afternoon has been considerably more diverting. You see, it turns out that David Cameron was right: Labour did arrange for these fare increases when in government. And, what’s more, Ed Miliband was wrong: the coalition didn’t ‘reverse’ the cap on fares that Labour then conveniently introduced in the run up to the general election. That cap was limited to one year by the Labour government itself. It was always intended that it would expire on 1 January 2011, at which point — barring a new cap — the train companies could go back to the hyper-inflated fares they’d imposed previously. And that’s what happened. No coalition reversals, just the logical unwinding of the system that Labour had put in place.
‘So what?’ you might say, ‘score one to Cameron, and let’s be done with it.’ But I’d say it matters a bit more than that. After all, what does this tell us about Miliband’s team? After a week in which they haven’t exactly excelled themselves, they sent their boss into PMQs with a line of attack that wasn’t just uninspiring, but also fundamentally flawed. It’s barely forgivable when a Prime Minister doesn’t know the facts that he’s being quizzed about. But when an Opposition leader is unclear about an attack that he has launched himself? That’s a finer vintage of incompetence. Team Miliband may try to twist and prevaricate this evening, but the simple fact remains: they brought this subject up themselves, and now they’re being pummelled by it.
And then, more importantly, what does this tell us about the Labour leader? One of the most persistent assumptions behind his rule has been that, okay, he may not be the best orator, he may not have rock star charisma, he may have knifed his own brother to get the top job, and so on — but, oh yes, at least he knows his stuff. Call it the ‘Wonk Defence’ if you like: Miliband is the guy who has read and memorised the most think-tank reports, and will always come out on top in any statistical sparring with Cameron. But today undermines that claim. Were something like this to happen again, then Miliband’s dwindling attractiveness to his own party would dwindle even faster.
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