Who won?

After a clear cut victory on his first outing as leader of the Labour party, Ed Miliband must avoid repeating lines from earlier weeks and respond to Cameron’s charge this afternoon at the dispatch box that after four weeks of exchanges like this: ‘we know what he is against, but what is he for?’

There is definitely success for Ed and for Labour in unearthing the huge amount of broken promises that now lay strewn across a Tory view of broken Britain. But without an effective narrative that explains what savings he and they would make in government, we are vulnerable to Cameron’s claims of denial and irresponsibility, as well as risking being seen by the public as not having caught up with these coalition times.

Early questions from Ed enquired, in support, as to the government’s response to the recent bomb plots involving air freight. However, without taking the chance to pause between the topics of his questions – an approach which appears no longer in use but offers handy punctuation between theme and tone of the line of attack for an opposition leader – Ed Miliband rightly accused the PM’s effort to restore trust in politics as damaged after ‘cast iron’ guarantees about rises in tuition fees were to be ignored, with students now facing up to £9,000 a year to attend university.

The PM used a much-worn line as to the courage undertaken by members of the coalition government in making such difficult decisions, smugly and cutely sidestepping the real division on this matter on Tory and Liberal Democrat benches – an approach that won’t work for long. And Ed astutely took the chance to list Liberal Democrat constituencies among those to be affected, citing the deputy PM’s Sheffield and Vince Cable’s Twickenham seats. Clever.

Cameron accused the leader of the opposition as being opportunistic on a matter that is difficult but necessary, as he claims, and used an easy line ‘along goes the Milibandwagon’. Dull. Cameron is not using any variety in his defence but peddling the same lines about a view on the deficit Labour left them. His lack of varied response to the range of causes to oppose this government on should offer greater chance to attack if an alternative view on the cuts can be portrayed by Ed’s opposition.

Repeating the line about ‘I ask the questions’ should be discouraged at risk of looking as though the cupboard is bare. There is a strong opportunity to highlight the inconsistency at play with the government’s view on being ‘all in this together’ while Cameron hires a photographer paid for by the public pound or breaks a long held promise, now in power examples which many backbenchers successfully highlighted today.

Ed’s imagining a scenario of cabinet photograph day saw him use his best line at the expense of the deputy PM, ‘just a little more to the right Nick’ he instructed, to much chuckling. He stumbled a little in the delivery of another line, taking too long a run-up to assure the PM that ‘the photographer does a nice line in airbrushing.’ Airbrushing jokes were pre-election and so do not carry the weight assumed it might with this joke. Whether on one-liners or policy – post-election is where Labour and Ed needs to focus on now.

The PM offered a helpful summary as to what Labour has opposed under Ed – cuts in child benefit, a housing benefit cap and tuition fee hikes – he listed objections Ed’s Labour can remain proud to have opposed. Cameron followed this though by delivering the key line of the exchange claiming ‘we know what the leader of the opposition is against, but what is he for?’ We have yet to articulate this clearly as recent polls have suggested. Verdict: a narrow home win for Cameron though neither side performed particularly strongly.

Best backbencher?

Heidi Alexander, Lewisham East, provided the best and most pointed question to the PM about the scrapped education maintenance allowance with an impassioned, detailed and local experience of Cameron abandoning more of his promises while in Lewisham, now her constituency. Heidi asked:

‘Before the election, the prime minister told Lewisham college: “We’ll keep the education maintenance allowance; we’ve taken a look at it and we think it’s a good idea”. Now this is set to be replaced with a means-tested payment, would the PM tell the 1150 students receiving it currently in my Lewisham East constituency why you are now scrapping it?’

It was an excellent and pointed question further highlighting the broken promises and double-faced tendencies the PM and coalition have demonstrated since being in power. Cameron trotted out the much rehearsed line about confronting the deficit. This line’s impact and effectiveness will weaken once cuts are felt and examples of real people like those Ms Alexander represents are represented in these exchanges.

Best question, answer, comment or joke?

After Cameron had declared himself physically ill at the suggestion of prisoners being given the right to vote, Steve McCabe, Labour MP for Birmingham Hall Green, asked was there reason to have further concern about prisoners having the chance to vote for new police and crime commissioners – a policy the Tories are pressing ahead with.