PMQs today was understandably overshadowed by all the coverage of the US Presidential Election. It also came as no surprise that all three party leaders sought to cash in on Senator Obama’s victory – all trying to associate themselves with the popular President Elect.
Cameron used Obama’s victory to throw Gordon Brown's conference slogan that "it's no time for a novice" back at him. He asked the prime minister whether his congratulatory message to the President Elect included the phrase "this is no time for a novice?" Brown grinned at this as he had expected Cameron to deploy the line. Accordingly the PM was prepared and hit back with another of his conference lines that "serious times need serious people." Brown has been spinning ever since the Labour Conference that this is no time for a novice and that his experience is what the country needs. But Obama's victory has given Cameron the greatest retort given the President-elects popularity. Cameron can now point across the Atlantic – and he did - and say Obama does not have any executive experience but that does not rule him out of the job of being the “world’s most powerful man.” Moreover, Obama's time for a change message and decision to blame Bush (and by implication McCain) for the economic problems are themes that Cameron has, and will continue to run with. If Americans thought it was time to throw out the old and in with the new, why not the British. David Cameron and the Conservative Party clearly think that Obama's victory is good news for them. Not so, says the Prime Minister and Labour Party. They have interpreted Obama’s victory as great news for them. His victory does not mean it is time for a change or that the electorate should embrace the untried and untested, it means instead that the progressive politics of the centre left have just been endorsed by the American electorate and Labour offers just this type of politics, such as a Keynesian spending splurge, the Prime Minister pointed out. This provided the perfect opening for the Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg, who has been calling for tax cuts for low and middle income earners. If, Clegg asked, the progressive policies of Gordon Brown and Barack Obama were so similar then why was the Prime Minister not calling for similar tax cuts? This was Clegg’s way of linking the Lib Dems to Obama’s victory. Brown responded that the big difference was that the President Elect was not calling for £20 billion worth of spending cuts like the Lib Dems. (This is actually not true – it is a misrepresentation of Lib Dem policy - but the Prime Minister does not let truth get in the way of his answers).
Other than the leaders giving their own interpretations of the significance of Obama’s victory on British politics, the leaders did discuss other issues. David Cameron and Gordon Brown clashed over the level of Britain's personal and public debt whereas Nick Clegg and Gordon Brown clashed on tax and spend policy.
David Cameron accused the government of leading the UK into a longer recession than other major economies because of the extent of borrowing. Cameron opened the rowdy exchange by noting that: "This week the European Commission said that Britain is facing a deeper recession next year than the United States, than Japan or than any major EU economy. The Prime Minister kept telling us that Britain was better prepared to face the recession, in fact we are the worst prepared. Why was he wrong?" he asked. The Prime Minister noted this was the only time Cameron had quoted the European Commission! He insisted that combined debt was lower than in comparable countries and government borrowing smaller as a share of GDP than in 1997. Brown told him that: "The reasons why we are better prepared than other countries is that for years we have had low interest rates, we are now getting inflation down and it will come down in the next year, we have high levels of employment, higher than almost every other major industrial country, and we can come through this. At the same time, corporate balance sheets are strong, outside the financial sector," he added.
But Cameron came back saying the PM cannot hide from this. He asked: "If we are better prepared, why is our recession forecast to be deeper?” Cameron said for years Brown had read out lists of countries we were safer than. Now Britain was safer than just two countries - Estonia and Latvia. They escaped grip of Stalin, we're still in it, Cameron quipped. The Prime Minister replied that it was because the economy had benefited from "10 years of economic growth, 10 years of stability, [and] 10 years where three million jobs have been created." He added that several EU economies had been in negative growth in the second quarter of this year, whereas Britain was not.
The Tory leader then asked whether: "One of the reasons why our recession is predicted to be deeper is that we have got such high levels of personal debt?" Cameron claimed the UK has the "highest level of household debt of any major economy." Cameron told Brown that he could not build a new Jerusalem on a mountain of debt. The PM said France’s debt was 55.5 percent while Germany’s was 56.1 percent. He said Cameron had to look at personal and public debt together and that was what he would do.
Cameron said the IMF had warned Brown about debt levels before. He started to read a quote from Brown taken from the 1995 Brown Labour conference but was cut off by Labour jeers. The Speaker hilariously intervened getting in on the fun by telling Labour MPs: “I want to hear what was said at Labour party conference as I'm not allowed to be there!” Cameron continued with his Brown quote saying the PM had said in 1995: "because I care we will not build a new Jerusalem on a mountain of debt." Cameron then asked when will there be an enquiry into the failure of our regulatory system as the new Treasury minister, Lord (Paul) Myners, had called for? The Prime Minister said Myners had said no such thing. He said Cameron was showing himself to be a novice in procedure.
Cameron quoted Lord Myners agreeing with a fellow peer in the House of Lords that such an enquiry was necessary. Cameron finished by saying that the PM was demonstrating that he cannot provide the change people want. He said today the US had voted for change and asked how much longer do we have to put up with more of the same? Brown said the reason people voted for change is that they wanted progressive politics - all policies opposed by the Conservatives. Tory party policies were rejected in the US & UK. The PM finished by saying it was a truly historic occasion in the US but this was met by chants of ‘change’ from the Conservative benches.
Nick Clegg congratulated Obama and wished him luck as he said the hopes and expectations to change the world were immense. He said the central policy of Obama was to cut low and middle-income taxes. Why would the PM not follow suit? Brown said the American electorate had not voted for Lib Dem policies as Clegg claimed.
Clegg accused Brown of copying the Tories by offering to give more money to millionaires. He called on the Prime Minister to put more money into the pockets of low income right now. The Prime Minister said tax and spending policy must add up. He said that if Clegg was going to oppose then he was out of touch with British people.
PMQs Ratings
Verdict: Score Draw
Gordon Brown - 7/10
David Cameron - 7/10
Nick Clegg - 7/10
Cameron used Obama’s victory to throw Gordon Brown's conference slogan that "it's no time for a novice" back at him. He asked the prime minister whether his congratulatory message to the President Elect included the phrase "this is no time for a novice?" Brown grinned at this as he had expected Cameron to deploy the line. Accordingly the PM was prepared and hit back with another of his conference lines that "serious times need serious people." Brown has been spinning ever since the Labour Conference that this is no time for a novice and that his experience is what the country needs. But Obama's victory has given Cameron the greatest retort given the President-elects popularity. Cameron can now point across the Atlantic – and he did - and say Obama does not have any executive experience but that does not rule him out of the job of being the “world’s most powerful man.” Moreover, Obama's time for a change message and decision to blame Bush (and by implication McCain) for the economic problems are themes that Cameron has, and will continue to run with. If Americans thought it was time to throw out the old and in with the new, why not the British. David Cameron and the Conservative Party clearly think that Obama's victory is good news for them. Not so, says the Prime Minister and Labour Party. They have interpreted Obama’s victory as great news for them. His victory does not mean it is time for a change or that the electorate should embrace the untried and untested, it means instead that the progressive politics of the centre left have just been endorsed by the American electorate and Labour offers just this type of politics, such as a Keynesian spending splurge, the Prime Minister pointed out. This provided the perfect opening for the Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg, who has been calling for tax cuts for low and middle income earners. If, Clegg asked, the progressive policies of Gordon Brown and Barack Obama were so similar then why was the Prime Minister not calling for similar tax cuts? This was Clegg’s way of linking the Lib Dems to Obama’s victory. Brown responded that the big difference was that the President Elect was not calling for £20 billion worth of spending cuts like the Lib Dems. (This is actually not true – it is a misrepresentation of Lib Dem policy - but the Prime Minister does not let truth get in the way of his answers).
Other than the leaders giving their own interpretations of the significance of Obama’s victory on British politics, the leaders did discuss other issues. David Cameron and Gordon Brown clashed over the level of Britain's personal and public debt whereas Nick Clegg and Gordon Brown clashed on tax and spend policy.
David Cameron accused the government of leading the UK into a longer recession than other major economies because of the extent of borrowing. Cameron opened the rowdy exchange by noting that: "This week the European Commission said that Britain is facing a deeper recession next year than the United States, than Japan or than any major EU economy. The Prime Minister kept telling us that Britain was better prepared to face the recession, in fact we are the worst prepared. Why was he wrong?" he asked. The Prime Minister noted this was the only time Cameron had quoted the European Commission! He insisted that combined debt was lower than in comparable countries and government borrowing smaller as a share of GDP than in 1997. Brown told him that: "The reasons why we are better prepared than other countries is that for years we have had low interest rates, we are now getting inflation down and it will come down in the next year, we have high levels of employment, higher than almost every other major industrial country, and we can come through this. At the same time, corporate balance sheets are strong, outside the financial sector," he added.
But Cameron came back saying the PM cannot hide from this. He asked: "If we are better prepared, why is our recession forecast to be deeper?” Cameron said for years Brown had read out lists of countries we were safer than. Now Britain was safer than just two countries - Estonia and Latvia. They escaped grip of Stalin, we're still in it, Cameron quipped. The Prime Minister replied that it was because the economy had benefited from "10 years of economic growth, 10 years of stability, [and] 10 years where three million jobs have been created." He added that several EU economies had been in negative growth in the second quarter of this year, whereas Britain was not.
The Tory leader then asked whether: "One of the reasons why our recession is predicted to be deeper is that we have got such high levels of personal debt?" Cameron claimed the UK has the "highest level of household debt of any major economy." Cameron told Brown that he could not build a new Jerusalem on a mountain of debt. The PM said France’s debt was 55.5 percent while Germany’s was 56.1 percent. He said Cameron had to look at personal and public debt together and that was what he would do.
Cameron said the IMF had warned Brown about debt levels before. He started to read a quote from Brown taken from the 1995 Brown Labour conference but was cut off by Labour jeers. The Speaker hilariously intervened getting in on the fun by telling Labour MPs: “I want to hear what was said at Labour party conference as I'm not allowed to be there!” Cameron continued with his Brown quote saying the PM had said in 1995: "because I care we will not build a new Jerusalem on a mountain of debt." Cameron then asked when will there be an enquiry into the failure of our regulatory system as the new Treasury minister, Lord (Paul) Myners, had called for? The Prime Minister said Myners had said no such thing. He said Cameron was showing himself to be a novice in procedure.
Cameron quoted Lord Myners agreeing with a fellow peer in the House of Lords that such an enquiry was necessary. Cameron finished by saying that the PM was demonstrating that he cannot provide the change people want. He said today the US had voted for change and asked how much longer do we have to put up with more of the same? Brown said the reason people voted for change is that they wanted progressive politics - all policies opposed by the Conservatives. Tory party policies were rejected in the US & UK. The PM finished by saying it was a truly historic occasion in the US but this was met by chants of ‘change’ from the Conservative benches.
Nick Clegg congratulated Obama and wished him luck as he said the hopes and expectations to change the world were immense. He said the central policy of Obama was to cut low and middle-income taxes. Why would the PM not follow suit? Brown said the American electorate had not voted for Lib Dem policies as Clegg claimed.
Clegg accused Brown of copying the Tories by offering to give more money to millionaires. He called on the Prime Minister to put more money into the pockets of low income right now. The Prime Minister said tax and spending policy must add up. He said that if Clegg was going to oppose then he was out of touch with British people.
PMQs Ratings
Verdict: Score Draw
Gordon Brown - 7/10
David Cameron - 7/10
Nick Clegg - 7/10
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