The Communication Workers Union has just confirmed that there will be a national postal strike tomorrow and on Friday, effective as of midnight tonight. From a purely political perspective, this largely vindicates David Cameron’s decision to major on the strikes during PMQs earlier. You imagine that the story will dominate news broadcasts later, and the Tory leader can expect to have some of his attacks on Brown inserted into the coverage.
A poor showing by Dave today. All he managed was a spot of outmoded Labour-bashing and a biscuit joke that didn’t exactly take the biscuit. He attacked the PM over the postal strike and quoted a minister of state admitting that union militants had been emboldened by the government’s indecision over part-privatisation. ‘This trade union,’ said Cameron, ‘can sense weakness and they see weakness in this prime minister and this government.’ Brown got huffy – but not very. He accused Cameron of cynically trying to drag the strike ‘into the political arena,’ It’s already there, said Cameron, ‘not least because the communications workers pay half his bills.’ He used all
Poppy day came early to Westminster today. Brown began proceedings by reciting the names of the 37 men killed in Afghanistan over the summer. This took two minutes. The house was silent, funereal, almost awe-struck with the solemnity of the occasion. Brown looked like a man deeply moved by personal grief as he worked his slow way through the deadly list. Ann Winterton punctured the mood with the first question, suggesting that once the Lsibon treaty is ratified the government’s first duty will be ‘to further the objectives of Europe in preference to those of Britain’. Brown denied this again referenced the Afghan conflict in response. When his trun came,
One of the strangest and most dramatic parliamentary terms ended today in bizarre fashion. The fiasco over fiddled expenses has preoccupied Westminster for months but it was helicopters in Afghanistan that dominated PMQs. From whoppers to choppers. The Speaker seems to have ruled against public lamentations over battlefield casualties and, without these solemnities, our MPs had more time to ask questions and the PM had more time to avoid answering them. David Cameron said the Afghan mission needed, ‘a tighter definition, greater urgency and more visible progress,’ in order to maintain public support. Brown’s definition was looser rather than tighter. ‘To prevent terrorism coming to the streets of Britain, to
Stay tuned for live coverage of PMQs from 1200. 1202: And we’re off. John Maples asks Brown to clarify our objectives in Afghanistan. Brown says that “since 2001, our main objective has been to stop terrorism”. 1204: In response to a question from Anne Begg, Brown says he is “committed to increasing the diversity of Pariament”. 1205: Cameron now. He asks whether to maintain support for the Afghanistan mission, we’ve got to “make more visible progress”. Brown repeats his point about “tackling terrorism,” and that the mission also aims to bring “social and economic development” in the country. He adds that the Government will review “equipment and resources” after the
I’d be tempted to call it listless. But everyone was reading from lists. At today’s rather sleepy PMQs I counted six MPs who recorded their sympathy for those affected by the recent tragedies in Afghanistan and Camberwell. The Speaker needs to act or these sessions will turn into Prime Minister’s Condolences. Gordon Brown’s in Italy, saving the world, so Harriet Harman took his place and gave her much-loved impersonation of a rather tetchy duchess supervising the kitchen while Cook recovers from hives. William Hague, unsurprisingly, took her to task on the government’s investment plans and invited her to ‘translate into plain English’ the Prime Minister’s claim that spending in 2013
Brown’s away at the G8, so it’s a Harman-Hague-Cable match at PMQs today. Stay tuned for live coverage from 1200. 1202: Here we go. Harman leads with condolences for the servicemen killed in Afghanistan over the past week. She adds condolences to those killed in the fire in Camberwell. The first question comes from Malcolm Wicks: would Harman agree that “we need to develop a robust social policy” which deals with the costs of an ageing population. Harman: “We’ll bring forward a Green Paper which makes sure there is choice in the provision of services … and affordability.” 1205: Stephen Dorrell stick to the same issue, asking why the Government