Who won?
Chalk this one up for Ed. Even the Telegraph blog says ‘Miliband is wiping the floor with him’ and ‘Rare to see Cameron bested so completely’.
For the second time in 24 hours the progressive bested the millionaire in political argument. Obama showed passion and lanced a policy full of holes from Romney. Miliband needs to beware, though, as Romney’s five-point plan for cutting unemployment sounds like Labour’s. Is it progressives who find themselves in a good place, or incumbents, if and as the economy recovers, as we all hope? Cameron’s strongest lines were a gift of better-than-expected unemployment figures and he was very good at repeating key lines about Labour’s record and rebalancing the economy, plus apprenticeships and private sector investment.
But it was on the police that Ed hit home. He quoted the police minister as saying 6,778 frontline police posts have been cut since 2010, after Cameron failed to respond. But cleverly he combined this attack with a hit on ‘Plebster’ Mitchell, using the fact he has not lost his job as evidence of Tory ‘one rule for the elite, another for the rest of us’. Unfairness and a lack of ‘One Nation’ rules is a theme that can run and run, though Mitchell looks to have kept his position as chief whip for now.
Best question?
Chris Bryant raised the issue of non-release of correspondence with Rebekah Brooks. It was an error by Cameron to refuse angrily to answer, as this just draws attention to the issue and raises a parliamentary conundrum: can a PM refuse to answer questions?
Best backbencher?
Wonderful tributes to Malcolm Wicks and Sir Stuart Bell, Labour greats who died in recent days. Their contribution has been immense, and the genuine emotion on all sides of the house was good to see.
—————————————————————————————
Duncan Enright is a Labour and Cooperative councillor on Witney town council and West Oxfordshire district council. He tweets @DunxE
yet the fact of the matter today we see crime is down it’s these figures that matter to the Tory swing voters, if the Tories are seen to have cut crime, cut unemployment cut what ever it’s going to be difficult for Ed’s one nation, because to be honest it spin, and spin does not do well these days