Silent Hunter's PMQs Thread

[Silent Hunter]

PMQs is the only real bit of Parliament that I watch. I've decided to start a thread to discuss it and give my thoughts.

Non UK members can watch it online, either at the BBC or C-SPAN sites. Bear in mind, it may be a few days before they're online.

5 December 2007

The Daily "We don't like immigrants and will slip in semi-naked women at any opportunity" Mail doesn't like Speaker Martin, accusing him of bias. I don't see it. He's just as willing to clamp down on rowdy Labour members.

What does the Scottish Secretary actually do these days? Cameron failed to produce any evidence that Des Browne doing two jobs is harming our Armed Forces. "Feeling insulted" is not enough. I feel insulted by Hugo Chavez, Kim Jong-il and George Galloway. Doesn't affect me much, apart from occasional dreams about the third one.

As soon as I heard Mercer's name called, I guessed it was a defence question. What is causing this backlog of inquests anyway? Surely they shouldn't take that long.

Usual batch of Labour "softies".

Another DUP question. It's been ages since we heard one attacking Sinn Fein and I'm glad of it. They can't insult their coalition partner can they?

On an off-topic matter, why is Salmond still in the Commons?

[Silent Hunter]

Last one of the year today (recess is on Tuesday).

A bit of a surprise not to go straight to the engagements question, with Dr. Julian Lewis starting with one on defence exports. I'm going to have to make enquiries on what we export so much that it gives us 20% of arms exports. It's hardly our rifles... Ann Clwyd, always one to provide a supportive quote (she got Rt. Hon status for her Iraq support) comes in with a major softie.

Cameron split his stuff into two today. The first two was a sombre, low-key set on Kosovo/Kosova (I note the Prime Minister is using the Kosovan form of the name). The PM's view on this whole issue is very close to my own. I'm favour of independence for Kosovo, on the condition that they protect the Serbian population and allow them to have a say in the running of the country.

Cable came in with one lame one on government errors and a slightly better one on Iraq.

Phil Wilson, Blair's successor in Sedgefield, asks his first PMQ, although it's quite a bit of a softie.

Cameron uses his other four for what is ultimately an insult-fest. Next to no talk about his actual policy. He's in danger of turning into a one-trick pony and only Pegasus is a decent example of that.

Angus Robertson really didn't need to bring the subject of police pay. It had already been covered and he just opened himself to SNP-bashing from the PM.

David Amess reminds me of the stereotypical Tory toff.

[Silent Hunter]

9 January 2007

The Cameron-Brown section turned into its usual bunch of "He's not answering the question" and   "Your advisor says something different, so there". Look, the pair of you, there's a thing called collective Cabinet responsibility. The Cabinet or Shadow Cabinet are not a bunch of robots under the control of the PM or Leader of the Opposition.

Clegg's first one was on Winter Fuel Allowance and pensioner fuel payments. While sad, short of price controls, I don't know what the Government can really do about that. I can't help being reminded of David Cameron though. It's just the way he looks.

Begg's work question was good. A softie, but good nonetheless. She omitted to point out that the reason that a lot of people are out of work is that many jobs require experience or qualifications they don't have. Hence we need the New Deal...

You hear a Northern Irish accent, you just know its going to be a Northern Ireland question. Guess the DUP guy didn't want to mention Unionist terrorism during The Troubles.

Is it me or is there just a Tory look these days? As soon as Mark Lancaster stood up (and I didn't note his seating location), I guessed he was a Tory. You can tell a Labour person as well- even if they don't wear donkey jackets these days. The red tie helps too...

Poverty question was interesting. Poverty line is, what, 60% of median income? What is media income these days any way? One must note that poverty in the UK is not the same as poverty in Ghana. In Kingston-upon-Hull, Kaylee will almost certainly have a teddy bear. In Accra, Kayin probably won't. Of course, both of them should have as many teddy bears as they want, but let's get things into perspective...

[Silent Hunter]

I watched this somewhat in chunks and out of order.

One thing stands out. Cameron going second-person on Brown. He's either angry, desperate or both.

[Silent Hunter]

23 Jan:

Northern Rock dominated proceedings, with Cameron doing his "how much" thing and Brown refusing to answer (I think he's right. Even if he was to give loan figures and state the vital caveat that the assets would cover most of it, the Tory media would just ignore the caveats- as usual).

I can't stand Nick Clegg.

Another Clywd softie. Ask something harder, please. I know you got a PC from Blair, but still...

[Silent Hunter]

Questions asked by Cameron that if he actually got an answer to he wouldn't distort more than the Doctor Who title sequence: 0

30 January 2007:

Brown-Cameron was mainly on policing. Cameron spent his time asking if the form was going to be scrapped. Brown cited the usual crime lowering figures.

Words of advice for Mr. Cameron:
1. If you're not getting an answer, change the subject.
2. Don't expect an answer to a question that Brown knows you'll just ignore anyway.
3. Join Labour, because we rock and the Tories don't.

Words of advice for Gordon:
1. Try and actually approach the question in some way- say its under review or something.
2. Emphasise Mr. Cameron is a say-anything to get elected kind of guy.
3. Try some jokes. You're too dour.

On the whole issue of stop-and-search, I'm in favour of increasing its use, but there has to be some kind of record taken, so we can be sure that it isn't being used in a discriminatory manner.

Brown-Clegg (I really dislike this guy) was on defence. What are the Lib Dems proposing to do about it anyway? And don't say scrap ID cards, because that doesn't actually bring in that much money at all.

Usual batch of softies. Nicholas Soames should lose some weight (fat is a lifestyle choice- you're not born that way and it's not good for you). Why is Cable getting questions when he's a Lib Dem front bencher?

[Silent Hunter]

5 February 2008:

Mercer's ex-military, IIRC. Explains his question on Afghanistan. Personally, I'm not too fussed as to whether the bayonets on the ground are attached to SA-80s, G36s or FN 2000s, provided they do the job properly...

Brown actually answered Cameron on A-Levels- he hasn't decided yet. Mr. Soundbite failed to realise that.

Speaking of dithering, Brown does take decisions- he did prop up Northern Rock, he's signed Lisbon etc. Other things are waiting for the reviews. Frankly, I'd rather hear it from a review than Mr. Cameron.

Vis Lisbon, if we reject it and everyone else supports it, I'd imagine every other member of the EU is going to be very annoyed with us.

I really dislike Clegg.

[Silent Hunter]

20 February 2008:

I still dislike Clegg.

Northern Rock was more heat than light- Brown's points are valid here, Northern Rock is not really the same as the Tote.

Seriously, what is up with the Civil Service?

What was the RAF Valley question? My recording cut off there.

[Silent Hunter]

27 February:

I know Cameron can't exactly discuss the Speaker in front of his face (where does one discuss that in the Commons?), but his choice of topics was somewhat strange. The whole televised debate thing, for example...

Sir Gerald Kaufman facing cat-calling was unfortunate, considering the subject. Then again it was a party-political slant.

If we were to withdraw with the EU, am I right in thinking that most of the free trade stuff would go with it?

[Silent Hunter]

27 February:
If we were to withdraw with the EU, am I right in thinking that most of the free trade stuff would go with it?

No; it could easily be reconstructed on a nation by nation and bloc by bloc basis. However I would expect the EU to impose restrictions. We can't expect to drop out and expect things to continue as normal trade wise. It's why I support remaining within the EU.

Which is what I kind of meant- how much of the existing stuff would we lose?

[Silent Hunter]

5 March:

This was the pre-Lisbon vote, so Europe featured a great deal. The usual discussions and repeated lines on that. I wouldn't mind a referendum, but a post-ratification one that essentially de-ratifies it makes the UK look very stupid.

BTW, 98% similar means nothing. Take the First Amendment out of the US Constitution and that would still be 98% similar.

Apart from that, not spectacular (then again, I've largely forgotten about it, which must indicate something)

[Silent Hunter]

12 March

Bit of a weird one today. Beef for example- I'd just had Argentine corned beef for lunch before watching this.

Boris Johnson's first question that I can recall, having earlier been attacked by the PM.

The Darfur issue turned up quite a bit. While this is ultimately going to need peace talks, can't a no-fly zone be set up now? Does the USN have a carrier group to spare? It may not be total coverage, but it would do something.

The question on conscience votes was very odd. Cameron's perfectly capable of allowing a free vote for his own party- he doesn't need the PM to authorise it at all.

Elfyn Llwyd. Sorry, mate, I'm not going to take your party, or indeed much of the left, seriously on foreign policy, until you show an actual willingness to protest against Bulava as well as Trident.

What is Nick Clegg doing unilaterally vis party donations?

[Silent Hunter]

19 March 2008

Not a good one for David Cameron at all. Tibet one was reasonable. Then he wasted the next question with a mere congratulations.

The next four were just poor. I've said it before that if Cameron wants to give his party a free vote, the PM's not stopping him.

ID cards- exact rehash. It may not be "Opposition Leader's Question Time" (Personally I think that'd be a good idea ), but going on about it isn't going to help at all.

The spin doctors one, just weak. I make decisions based on the evidence and after careful consideration, as does the PM- not across the Commons chamber.

The A-Levels was an exact repeat and his logic doesn't stand up to scrutiny, IMO (An abolition of A-Levels, if one is announced, wouldn't take place until 2015, if not later and I don't think parents are thinking about A-Levels just yet).

Clegg's got a point on the Gurkhas- although there's a logic to the argument against it, there's a good case for the automatic citizenship thing.

Iraq- standard question, standard response. Could have been done much better.

Post Offices- while I regularly have to queue at my Post Office (not on the closure list), it's not the case everywhere. You got a better idea to make the Post Office profitable, I'd like to hear it.

Not that many Labour softies today. Surprising, but somewhat pleasant.

Brown dodged a lot, but did actually answer some.

[Silent Hunter]

26 March 2008

Cameron's lost was on the economy. Since this isn't an area I know much about, I can't really discuss it in massive depth. The two leaders threw facts at each other, but I'd have to say advantage Cameron.

Anyone got a graph of interest rates since the war?

Clegg's was on home repossession, another subject I'm not familiar with either.

Thoughts on the rest:
* Bob Spink has clearly lost any loyalty he had to the Tories.
* Why can't the Tories get control of their councils and make them half-way competent (including mine)
* No-one commented on Mrs Sarkozy, but that's really not a relevant topic anyway.
* I still don't see the Speaker bias against the Tories.
* OK, Brown dodged a lot there.
* Only one questioner mentioned the Fertility Bill- and that was Paisley, who didn't want abortion for NI through the back door. What's the current status vis Labour voting?

[Silent Hunter]

2 April 2008

Harman's first go at this. For some reason, Hague (a guy with more experience at this thing) took  Theresa May's role, which meant that we didn't get another first.

Harman wasn't that good at all. Brown does this far better. Hague's years of experience meant he beat Harman, albeit with inaccurate facts.

Cable got his first question rejected for not being relevant, but shouldn't he have got another one. He only asked one in the end.

Not much else of note.

[Silent Hunter]

23 April 2008

Most of this was on the 10p issue- although I note the Labour benches weren't really mentioning it.

Cameron, to use his own rhetoric style, is a one-trick pony in a three-trick minimum circus. He spent virtually all his time attacking Brown, the U-turn (let's be honest, it was) and not proposing anything of his own. Nice on Brown to call the contradiction on Tory policy. He's all style and rhetoric, but no substance.

Have the Tories got a finalised tax policy on-line, or is £10 bn just the idea of some think-tank?

Clegg wasn't much better in that regard.

Rest was largely a non-event. Fallon on emergency services (how old is he?), Zimbabwe, Army Cadets.

Advantage Brown, slightly.

[Silent Hunter]

30 April 2008

David Cameron says he hasn't been able to end "Punch and Judy politics". He hasn't even tried. Virtually every question of his was a direct attack on the divisions in the Labour Party or the Prime Minister himself. The same applied for the Tory backbenchers.

If they're like this in opposition, I wonder what they'll be like in government.

Vote Labour!

[Silent Hunter]

7 May 2008

The Tory "Punch and Judy" stuff continues...

Cameron won that exchange with Brown, but hopefully his lack of substance will become clear soon. I still don't know what he would do about 10p, but he refused to say he would restore that band to a guy in Crewe.

Brown dodged Clegg's second, but the Lib Dems have the same problem as the Tories here.

Llywd's question was pointless, it wasn't really nice to shout down Gilroy before she'd said a word and there were the usual bunch of Labour softies.

When does Boris Johnson take the Baliff of the Chiltern Hundreds position (or the other one) and leave the Commons?

[Silent Hunter]

14 May 2008

The "Punch and Judy" politics continue...

Brown isn't being straight, I agree. David Cameron isn't either- I can't recall many exact Tory policies.

Burma was interesting. Brown's point about air-dropping is a very valid one. That and if the Burmese lob a missile at an aid plane, things turn very nasty.

The guy asking about Crewe and Nantwich should have put that down as a written question- the   few word response was inevitable and he could have done a follow-up.

Clegg is too loud when he's doing things.

"History lesson"? As long as the economic adviser to Norman Lamont leads the Tories and shows no sign of contrition for three million unemployed (he hasn't, IIRC), then we're entitled to raise it.

[Silent Hunter]

21 May 2008

Cameron is like Shane Warne, only without the actual delivery.

Clegg fails on defence.

Skinner continues to be a funny Tory-basher.

[Silent Hunter]

4 June 2008

No point denying it, Brown v. Cameron was a complete victory for the latter. Brown's performance was bad even by his own standards.

That said, Cameron still remains a used-car salesman, I still can't remember a single distinctive policy of his and his "replace family tax with green taxes" thing not only doesn't add up, it doesn't provide an incentive to reduce carbon use.

Brown got better from then on in, starting from a very low base.

Boris Johnson's final question was a bit exuberant and I worry about any possible gaffes from that guy as Mayor of London.

"Trivia Tories" count- 2. There is no place for this. Ask a relevant policy question or don't ask anything at all. Labour-bash on policy, not people.

[Silent Hunter]

For Britons, is the bashing of Brown based on racism on his Scottishness. Is it possible to sound smooth and still be a Scot.

To a certain extent for some people, yes. It's a dislike of the "Scottish mafia" in the Cabinet and a feeling that England is getting a raw deal.

[Silent Hunter]

11 June 2008

A tad more civilised this time, with much focussing on the 42-day debate that would follow.

Trivia Tory: Greg Hands, Hammersmith and Fulham.

Brown dodged the question on Afghanistan. He could have mentioned some of the problems there.

Cameron's comment that he understands the threat of terrorism because people he knew were killed by the IRA sounds like opportunism. It makes his argument sound weaker, IMO.

Clegg was largely forgettable.

Brown shouldn't have kept mentioning the security services after Jowell said they hadn't specifically asked for 42 days.

Nothing much else stood out.

[Silent Hunter]

18 June 2008

A fairly sedate affair, at least noise wise.

Brown and Cameron's quiet exchanges on Afghanistan were appropriate given the subject.

Clegg/Brown was the same old "Why don't you do this?" "We're already doing it" thing I've heard before.

Much of the topic was on Europe. A case of more insult-trading than light. I think Cameron was looking for "jelly" rather than "jellyfish"- as someone pointed out, jellyfish have poisonous stings. IMO, we should try and negotiate another treaty, with opt-outs as need be.

Zimbabwe also featured. Brown managed to confuse the Security Council with the Secretary-General, so his answer was meaningless.

Cameron did well, Brown did well. Slight advantage Cameron.

No Trivia Tories this week, although the "strikes" question came close.

[Silent Hunter]

25 June 2008

Cameron/Brown was a bit poor. While Cameron is all style and no substance, Brown is all substance and no style.

Clegg's point on the Gurkhas is good and I'm not sure where the citizenship thing stands. They should all be able to claim it if they were honourably discharged, IMO.

Brokenshire's "Casino Royale or Temple of Doom?" question shows that he hasn't really understood the plot of either movie. Hint, the latter is a happy ending where hundreds of children are rescued from poverty. Not quite a Trivia Tory, though.