The Moon of Liberty

Prime Minister's Question Time - 19th March 2008

Venue - Palace of Westminster at 12.00 pm

The Final PMQ's before easter, and with the budget having gone down like, well, it just went down really, and Cameron now having amassed huge leads in the polls, Cameron would surely have a field day against the poor beleagued Prime Minister right? er, well, to a degree, but it took a while to get going.

After the usual first question from a  Labour backbencher asking if the Prime Minister agrees hes the best thing since sliced bread, well not quite but it must have been dull, as I don't remember what she asked, Cameron stood up and asked about the violence in Tibet. No points to be scored on this one obviously, this became very clear when Brown announced he was going to meet the Dali Lama and Cameron, get this, congratulated him on doing the right thing. To much hilarity Brown responded that the Governemnt always make the right decisions, like decisions in the Budget that now has them only 16% behind in the opinion polls, hmm.

Cameron only used two questions on Tibet, he has six, so this means he could come back again later. So for now we were treated to the pleasure of the new Lib Dem leader, that's Nick Clegg for those who have never heard of him. At first he made a smart point regarding a group of service people who do not get British citizenship. He then came with a fine line about Brown as Chancellor (In the days when Tony Blair was PM, remember him) 'signing the cheques but not have the courage to take repsonsibility.' So far so good, sadly he then went into a dull rant about the Iraq war and lost the plot, Brown responded by suggesting we don't want Saddam back do we? I sometimes wonder if some people do.

So back came David Cameron, he invited the Prime Minster to answer question he has failed to answer over the last few weeks, a sort of Prime Minister's waffle, the best bits. Cameron asked about a free vote on the embryo research bill, Brown told us it was an important bill that must go through, suggesting no free vote, but people 'will be allowed to vote on their consciences.' That would mean a free vote. At least the question was answered, but he gave both possible answers, so which is the right one? Who knows?

Cameron then moved to ID cards, and Brown, while not answering, asked Cameron about ID cards for foreign nationals. Cameron didn't answer that to be fair, but when you can respond with 'If you want to ask me the questions, call an election and you can ask six a week.' bringing back the ghost of the election that never was, you really don't need to.

Cameron then tried on final time on A levels after 2013, Brown this afternoon gave the impression of not knowing what was going on now, never mind after 2013, by then of course, he may no longer be in office, so maybe he is wise not to answer it afterall. Cameron informed us Gordon Brown's new spin doctor's favourite book is called 'The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organisations.' Characterising the last few weeks perfectly, that was game over, Brown ended with a flustered rant about things Cameron did not ask about, a sure fire sign he was beaten, he then finished by saying 'The Conservatives have no answers to the nations problems.' So after 11 years of Labour rule, we need answers to the nations problems, not a great advert for the record of a man who signed the cheques, but his inadvertent admission of Goverment failures may yet mean he is starting to find the courage to take responsibility.

THE MOON OF LIBERTY SCORE - Gordon Brown 1 David Cameron 3 - Not the greatest of Cameron performances, but more than enough to finish before easter ahead of a Prime Minister wilting on a recent tide of bad luck and unpopularity.