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By Sam Macrory - 2nd December 2010
This prime minister's question time should have come with a health warning.
Even the more sadistic members of the press gallery began to squirm at the sight, while one MP hid his face behind his hands as the mismatch of a contest was played out.
Anyone with a nervous disposition should look away now.
Those who were able to stomach the show witnessed a savaging of Ed Miliband.
The weekly half hour joust at PMQs doesn't win or lose elections, but many more encounters like this and the Labour leader could be facing discontent from his own MPs sooner rather than later.
And David Cameron, briefly back from a round of last minute lobbying in Switzerland for England's World Cup bid, had hardly even had time to prepare.
For some reason Miliband decided to ignore the week’s big news story – all those Wikileaks just begging to be used for PMQs fodder.
Cameron, and his chancellor George Osborne, were described as lacking depth by Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England.
Surely that was worth a mention?
Didn’t Miliband commission a briefing paper on how to plan for PMQs?
Instead he chose to delve into the footnotes of Monday’s Office of Budget Responsibility report, accusing Cameron of being “complacent” over possible rising unemployment.
Even the prime minister looked surprised, with Osborne leaning across to offer last minute coaching.
But, care of a previous Miliband interview, Cameron always has a stock answer to unveil: Miliband's “blank page” on economic policy just won’t go away.
This made Miliband angry. “Ok, Mr Speaker”, he began with a roll of the eyes.
“Oooooooh!” responded the distinctly unafraid Tory MPs.
They may not be the most muscular bunch themselves, but a tetchy Miliband is hardly a terrifying sight.
His killer line was equally unimpressive: “You can only rewrite history for just so long.”
Pandemonium!
The Tory front bench cried hyposcrisy, leaping up and down like a syncronised dance troupe. Miliband slumped in despair.
Behind him Labour MPs sat with their arms folded in gloomy silence.
David Winnick quietly cleaned his glasses.
Even the usually relentless heckling of Harriet Harman was not to be heard.
When Miliband tried to question Cameron on the planned rise in VAT, the PM again had an obvious response: don’t worry Ed, it’s exactly what the former chancellor had proposed anyway.
Deep in the undergrowth of the backbenches, Alistair Darling didn’t move a muscle.
At last, Miliband turned to the Wikileaks, quoting William Hague’s description of the Tory frontbench as “children of Margaret Thatcher”.
But this was another clumsy move: Miliband himself has a rather close association with a former prime minister.
“I’d rather be a child of Thatcher than the son of Brown,” Cameron replied, apparently off the cuff.
Not one for his Liberal Democrat friends perhaps, but for the Tory MPs behind Cameron this was red meat of the the most succulent variety.
Miliband looked shattered, and when Richard Fuller, a Tory backbencher for all of six months, described him as “a novice out of his depth”, the Labour leader veered dangerously close to earning feelings of pity.
Inevitably the day got worse: it's a low moment when the prime minister looks more troubled by questions from the not normally thrusting backbench pair of Lindsay Roy and Louise Ellman, but both outdid Miliband with limited effort.
Former sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe went further still, appearing to set the prime minister up to reveal a u-turn on schools sports funding.
A well-timed answer, what with that World Cup bid to win.
It left Sutcliffe the only happy-looking Labour MP in the room. For the rest of them, the Christmas holidays can't come soon enough.
Sam Macrory is political editor of The House Magazine.
Article Comments
All the sporting metaphors come out for the savage mauling Ed received.
Back of the net, hit for six, Knock-out.
The previous couple of PMQ's had been much more even, with Cameron missing the opportunity to remind people about the scale of the deficit when Miliband reminded him of Black Wednesday. He could have stated that Labour left us with a deficit in fiscal terms the size of a Black Wednesday every single week.
However no such holding back this week. Miliband is the very first labour leader that I have very nearly gained a speck of pity for.
People are saying that he will no longer be the Labour leader by the next general election. If he carries on like he has been over the last couple of months, he won't be Labour leader by the next council elections.
Mr Ned
2nd Dec 2010 at 11:42 am
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