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PMQs - The verdict
Edward Davie
Normally the Commons is packed for prime minister's questions but, with the absence of deposed leader Charles Kennedy and former leadership hopeful Mark Oaten, the Lib Dem benches had a little more room than usual .
That didn't stop surviving contenders Chris Huhne and Simon Hughes vying to "donut" acting leader Sir Menzies Campbell in order to get their faces on TV.
However Vince Cable put paid to their efforts, refusing to budge from his seat next to Sir Menzies.
There was a somewhat Scottish theme to proceedings with Ann Moffatt using the opening question to remind everyone it was Burns day/night and offering an appropriate insult to David Cameron for a speech comparing Scotland to Bosnia, Iran, North Korea and the Gaza Strip.
The leader of the Tories was derided as a "Wee Sleekete, cowren, timorous beastie".
Her question allowed Blair to say he had read the speech and proceed to outline how Labour had turned Scotland into a paradise on earth since 1997.
Then the "beastie" himself got to his feet.
"I'm glad the prime minister is reading my speeches that's very welcome," Cameron said.
He asked: "I just wonder if he's been reading the deputy prime minister's speeches. The deputy prime minister said, and I quote, 'if you set up a school and it becomes a good school the great danger is that everyone wants to go there'. Does the prime minister agree with me that there can be no compromise with someone who thinks creating good schools is a bad idea?"
Prezza is reported to be furious with Blair and Gordon Brown for slapping down this very comment, leading to the Sun labelling and picturing the deputy prime minister as a dunce.
The DPM's absence from the chamber prompted cries of "where's John?" from Tory backbenchers.
Cameron sought to get Blair to paint himself into a corner by committing himself to all the education reforms in the white paper and thus making it harder to win round Labour backbench malcontents with a few compromises.
Blair said he was committed to everything in the bill and questioned Cameron's consistency given he has changed policies almost daily.
Cameron hit back saying he wasn't going to take lessons from "a man who came into politics to soak the rich and ban the bomb and ever since he's been sucking up to the rich and dropping bombs".
The prime minister started quoting contradictory Cameron statements until the Speaker was forced to intervene - "I think the prime minister has made his point."
Then it was the temporary Lib Dem leader's turn and Sir Menzies started by quoting Blair's phrase that "Africa is a scar on the conscious of world", before asking about the failure to act in Darfur.
This shut up barracking Labour MPs but it was a return to his foreign affairs brief, reinforcing the sense he might be less comfortable on home affairs.
It also did not trouble Blair in the slightest because, whatever else the prime minister may or may not have done, he can hardly be responsible for the entire world's response to the situation in the Sudan.
Having got not very far once, Campbell asked pretty much the same for his second question, inviting Blair to talk about the UK leading the world.
With the oldest Lib Dem failing to trouble the PM the youngest, in the form of Jo Swinson, had a go - asking Blair to ensure he did not "come bottom of the class" on domestic violence.
Not long out of school herself it must have been the obvious metaphor.
Cameron then had another go, trying to split Blair from his home secretary on police merger plans.
It was reasonably handled but the best question on the subject came from Tory backbencher Alan Jenkin who suggested police mergers were "exactly the kind of remote regionalism that the people of the North East rejected in the referendum".
His question is worth repeating in full: "Isn't it somewhat Orwellian to argue that by abolishing the Essex chief constable and transferring his powers to some regional super force that somehow policing is going to be made more local?"
Hard to argue with that.
The verdict
Sir Menzies: 5/10 - Middle of the road after a better performance last Wednesday
Blair: 7/10 - Has more trouble handling his own backbenchers and deputy these days
Cameron: 7/10 - A couple of good gags and reasonably assured handling of two subjects the electorate really care about.
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Published: Wed, 25 Jan 2006 15:09:33 GMT+00
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