With MPs waiting for the chancellor’s autumn statement to see just how bad things were economically and how George Osborne was going to spin the fact that his plan was failing, this PMQs was a rather muted affair overall. It did come to life with a lively exchange between Ed Miliband and David Cameron on health spending.
Who won?
I thought today’s PMQs was a draw, with both Ed Miliband and David Cameron having their moments over the other. There were two clear lines of attack from Labour, one around the NHS and the other on tax avoidance. With the help of the head of the statistics authority, Labour has managed to call into question the Tory assertion that NHS spending is not being cut. A battle of statistics is never very enlightening but Ed’s attack on Cameron is that he’s failing to live up to his much-vaunted pledges on the NHS. With Cameron lashing back using his favourite lines of Labour would have cut the NHS and brining into his argument the Labour government’s spending on the NHS in Wales. Nick Clegg could be clearly seen gesturing a pair of scissors in a cutting motion to the shadow frontbench opposite, obviously taking some lessons from Ed Balls in gesturing. What stuck out for me in these exchanges is the extent to which no party can say they will cut NHS spending. That’s surely a testament to the Labour values which created the NHS and must stick in the guts of many Tories.
Best backbencher
With Starbucks in almost full retreat on its payments of corporation tax in the UK, Margaret Hodge’s question on tax avoidance to Cameron had him in full agreement with her and having to pay fulsome praise to her and the work of the public accounts committee which she chairs. She must have felt like the cat that got the cream!
Best question, answer, comment or joke?
This moment goes to a very emotional Ann Clywd who asked about the NHS and how care is provided by nurses. Ann was fighting back tears as she spoke following the loss of her husband and she captured what the NHS really means to many people and how we depend upon it. In Cameron’s reply and his own personal experiences with his son, in that split second they both became ordinary people touched by personal tragedy.
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Vijay Riyait is secretary of Leicester West CLP and a small business owner. He tweets @vriyait