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There will be a border police!

If you missed it - the audio of PMQs is here:-

http://www.toryradio.com/jcms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=783&Itemid=45

Yvette Cooper is even more replusive than her husband. I didn't think that could be possible.

How did Brown get away with that last answer. A pure Party Political Jibe which had no relevance to the question. He's turning into the old Gordon. Let's just hold our nerve while he does that.

DC did well today, we must hold our nerve. The EU question will blow up in the face of NULabour. The Brown bounce will not last.

Is it just me or does anyone else find it hard to distinguish between Harriet Harman, Jacqui Smith and Tessa Jowell?

From their identical haircuts to the matching suits, I'm beginning to wonder where the labour zombie clone factory is!

Perhaps there is a rule that female labour frontbenchers can't have long hair....

I must admit the Labour front bench is pretty ugly.

Brown is beginning to slip into the "I will regurgitate a bunch of figures and that will make it look like we are doing something".

Long may this continue. The Autumn seems a long way to go before we can say the Brown bounce is over.

More annoying: Hazel Blears on Yvette Cooper?

As far as PMQ's goes, I thought DC came out of it looking the better. He didn't shirk away from the flooding, and he made a point of calling for an EU Referendum in the last PMQ's of 2006/7.

Brown has an irritating habit of not only stuttering at the start of his responses, but NEVER answers DC's questions - he'll either go off on something else, or launch a Conservative jibe.

Ming has actually surprised me recently - he's not a pain to listen to!

More annoying - I agree it's a difficult one.
If you've ever heard YC interviewed she says "y'know..y'know" to an extent that it's really irritating.
Brown not answering..but Blair never really did either.

More annoying - I agree it's a difficult one.
If you've ever heard YC interviewed she says "y'know..y'know" to an extent that it's really irritating.
Brown not answering..but Blair never really did either.

The problem with the Brown Bores (Downgrade from Blair Babes?) is the distinct lack of personality, and when they do have one, they make you want to attack them with a wet fish and generally screaming at them for the utter tripe they spout.

Possibly.

Cameron did well.

Doing three questions on Europe was a masterstroke (pandering to the Eurosceptic Right or not) as Brown is clearly in the wrong on the subject (even if you don't agree with a referendum, you have to hold one if you promised one in 2005), and judging by the (hardly scientific) BBC Daily Politics 'perception panel', it was a hugely popular subject to touch on - even with Labour voters.

Cooper couldn't handle Andrew Neil - she looked clueless on Europe and reverted to the default Labour stance of 'The Tories are obsessed with the issue" which played into Alan Duncan's capable response: 'We press on the issue because it's important to the British people.'

However, she is not as bad as Blears - yet!

Clear win for Cameron, as the Daily Politics perception panel made clear. Watching Duncan's response to Yvette Cooper afterwards was delicious, rarely have I seen such unmasked contempt!

Considering what he's had to cope with in the last few days I thought DC was good in PMQ's and excellent response to Brown's Security Statement.
On PMQ's Brown failed to deal with the Referendum question at all, and everyone except Brown's apologist Nick Assinder will have noticed.
Cameron also showed a good grasp of detail and breadth on security with a well balanced response making the point that Brown continues shamelessly to steal Tory policies that he and his colleagues rubbished previously.
A good end to the Parliamentary session for DC and I hope it sends the troops away for the holidays in a better mood.

I couldn't help but notice the rather convenient BBC "sound difficulties" when they were talking to James Landale on the 1pm News today. They were just getting onto talking about Brown's u-turns and acceptance of TORY policies when there was a muffled sound, as if somebody was fiddling with the sound cable and the piece was cut completely. This left a very Brown-biased spin on events in the commons today. Coincidence, I think not!

Yep - Cameron did well on a difficult day. On the Daily Politics Ms Cooper was horrendous and Andrew Neil could not mask his irritation. Alan Duncan did well to not overdo it and let her just shoot herself in the foot. The problem is she was not even aware how shallow she looked.

There are faint signs that wherever you stand on the EU issue - the blatant abandonment of a manifesto promise by Labour is becoming clear.

The only parts of PMQ's they're showing on the news is where the Labour backbenchers are laughing when Cameron talks about the floods and Brown mentions how he visited there.

Whilst it may seem like a Cameron victory, when you look at the clips on the news it often looks bad for him.

Another good day for DC. Brown like Blair doesn,t answer the questions.
I can,t understand the indiscipline by some in the party, we get the Brown bounce assisted at every turn by the regular bootlicking from the BBC by the likes of Jenny Scott and suddenly we supposedly have a Tory rebellion from a few cowards.
For me its very simple, my enemies are the socialists and the destruction they have carried out on my country since 1997 I find appalling and the quicker they are sent back to the gutter the better.
Now I might argue about policies within the Tory party but when it comes to the fight my principles are Tory principles, freedom under the law and personal responsibilty. I don,t sellout these for anyone and certainly not too so-called New Labour and I,ve nothing but utter contempt for those who do.
So its up to everyone in the party to stand up and fight for what they believe in, to know who the real enemy is because another 10 years of socialism will make this country totally unrecognisable so much so that some of us might decide on an alternative startegy to beat our enemies

Interesting you mention BBc bootlicking. Is it me, or does Jenny Scott have a leftest bias?

david cameron did well at pmqs after a hard week iwas proud of his response to the flooding and the europe issue it was needed.gordon brown just wants a consencus on everything and therefore no need for an opposition.the tory voters are still here and we wont go away keep on fighting

I think Labour should actually be worried about the Brown Bounce.

Its speed and size, suggests that there is a fairly large swathe of the population, in the middle ground that are happy and fickle enough to swap over to Brown from Cameron. Labour surely must be worried that the voter's could just as quickly return to the Conservatives.

If Browns rise in the polls was a slow-burner, as was the Conservatives rise since David Cameron took over, then that would be more worrying for us.

This is different, and Brown must know his honeymoon will be short lived. If he also realises that there are 10% of the electorate that could vote either Brown or Cameron, I doubt he'll chance an early election, as it could swing against him if the Conservatives run a good campaign.

Brown and Labour are very scared of David Cameron, hence Brown is using all his friends in the media to run a campaign to unseat him. Its Brown's best tactic to ensure Labour win the next election.

The Conservatives must stick with the current programeand not return to old failed policies. The swing to Labour suggests that these voters are in the middle ground, and are the key ones to win. Brown's bounce will fizzle in the next few months, then its a return to politics as normal.

John F:

Fully support yours and the other supportive comments on here. This is not the time to fight among ourselves.

We need to attack Labour at all levels. Speaking of which.....

Editor:

Instead of restricting diary threads to emotive poll results, PMQ's and media attacks on David Cameron can we please have threads which discuss policy (e.g. David Cameron's article on Prisons, David Davis's on terrorism and William Hague's on the EU)
and diary threads that actually criticise the Governments current and past actions.

Over recent weeks your diary threads seem to have polarised on attacking David Cameron and you are at risk of seriously damaging the Conservative cause by doing so!

After all you are supposed to be the unofficial voice of the Conservative Grass Roots and not another arm of Labour's propaganda machine!

I thoroughly agree with John Leonard's comment at 16:03. I have been a frequent reader of this site and there has been a distinct decline in the substance of the articles, less about policy and more scaremongering about possibly defections etc. Please more analysis of the policy reviews and less negative press.

I agree with John Leopard. Conservative Home has become a default port of call for lazy journalists looking for some dirt to spin against David Cameron.

The anti-Cameron rants on here by a dozen or so prolific posters are being re-written as representative of nationwide grass-roots Conservative opinion

I agree with everyone commenting and complaining about the BBC's bias. Nick Robinson's piece on last night's news was nauseatingly sycophantic, and Nick Assinder's review of PMQ's is equally biased. How he thinks Brown won today is beyond me.
I hope Central Office is complaining vehemently to the BBC. Regardless of our politics licence payers have a right to some objectivity. The BBC has failed abysmally in this regard since Brown became PM. No wonder he's doing well in the polls with the help BBC is giving him.

DC did well under difficult circumstances.

The BBC give it hands-down to Brown and his put-downs. The news summaries show Labour backbenchers laughing at DC. The the BBC is very even-handed in it's coverage. Not

But watching it I was impressed with DC. What stood out was Brown's evasion of the question around the EU referendum.

Ride out the bumpy polls over the next few weeks, the EU treaty / constitution and the promised-but-not-delivered referendum is a ticking timebomb on no.10's doorstep.
DC needs to keep the pressure up on this, and get the Mail & Sun onside (the only papers NuLab care about).

The odious Hain said supporters of a referendum should put away their placards last time...and then NuLab buckled.

The BBC give it hands-down to Brown and his put-downs. The news summaries show Labour backbenchers laughing at DC. The the BBC is very even-handed in it's coverage. Not

But watching it I was impressed with DC. What stood out was Brown's evasion of the question around the EU referendum.

Ride out the bumpy polls over the next few weeks, the EU treaty / constitution and the promised-but-not-delivered referendum is a ticking timebomb on no.10's doorstep.
DC needs to keep the pressure up on this, and get the Mail & Sun onside (the only papers NuLab care about).

The odious Hain said supporters of a referendum should put away their placards last time...and then NuLab buckled.

Cameron was excellent today - the blip is finally over. Brown looked crestfallen.

Will be interesting to see the effect this PMQs has on the polls at the weekend - I predict a Tory lead after DC's performance today and a few posters on here eating their words.

"the blip is finally over"

Oh please!

Rather Optimistic Oliver. As has been said, the media are on a Cameron witchhunt at the moment. Until they start reporting Brown's failings, we have no hope of a poll lead.

The border police policy is unashamedly and typically Labour Magpie. And you can tell, because it lacked that certain overall coherence.

Which is just as well that we remain mum about any specific details of our policies until they are past the point of vulnerability to being stolen and copied.

COMMENT OVERIDDEN

Ghosty of Leo Amery:

Then do tell how we can improve our performance and beat Labour.

What can David Cameron do?
What policies should we change?

BBC bias is an absolute given and how can you trust an organisation that has to go on a crash course in 'honesty'.

But Brown did have one fair point in quoting against Cameron , the leader of his own Democracy Task Force (Ken Clarke)

We should get rid of Clarke now - how can someone pontificate on Democracy and still support sneaking through unchanged EU Constitution - presumably he hasn't read this one either.

On the subject of Yvette Cooper, her PR skills are dreadful. She reminds me of one of those duffelcoated Socialists from the 1970s who used to hang around Manchester city centre handing out leaflets, then when you refused to take a leaflet they would chase you ten yards and ram the leaflet into your hand!

David Cameron did another good job at PMQs, he definately has the whip hand over Brown. I'm glad David is pushing hard on the issue of the EU treaty/constitution. This issue must not be allowed to fade away. Our nations future depends on it.

If there is a referendum what will D Cameron do. If he opposes the treaty will he support withdrawal or suggest re-negotiation. The latter has been tried before without making any great difference to the drive for a united Europe. Will any major British party really support withdrawal. They all enjoy the foreign travel too much to give it up.

If he succeeds in achieving a referendum will he really stand up and say he supports the treaty but only wanted to give the people a say.

He may be in danger of following the example of Wilson and using a referendum as a means of avoiding a split in the party. I am not sure the people will enjoy being used again to get the politicians off the hook.

The diversions offered by windmills and Africa can't really offer him a hiding place for ever. He needs to set out clear policy statements on the big issues. If Labour steals his ideas well and good. At least everyone will know where he stands.

As soom as Cameron bangs on about Europe he is doing a good job! Brown's point about going Cameron back to the old issues. Be careful as it will be easy for Brown to portray the party as unreformed and unelectable. People are far more concerned about health, education, stability, crime than they are about Europe and the party needs to understand that while Europe may be the defining issue for most Conservatives it is not the defining issue for most other people.

Cleo, I think it is Brown who needs to be careful on this one. Cameron and the Conservative party should not bang on about Europe to the detriment of all other issues, but equally Cameron should not be afraid to bang on about the lack of a referendum on a new treaty, especially when other European leaders are being a wee bit more honest about what it actually contains unlike Brown or Blair before him.

I think it is very bad the way Cameron is seeking to make political advantage from the floods.

"I think it is very bad the way Cameron is seeking to make political advantage from the floods." !!!!

Comstock, has Labour moved on to yet another completely off the wall angle on blaming Cameron. With all this spin I am dizzy trying to keep up!

I was very impressed with Cameron today. He deserves our support as he is the ONLY hope of kicking this government out next time. Forget the BBC and the media, we have the right policies on EU, on ID cards, on a real border police, on social breakdown and when Brown calls an election we will be able to appeal directly to the voters. Now is the time for unity and hard work as we build up to a GE, not for internal sqabbling.

"Interesting you mention BBc bootlicking. Is it me, or does Jenny Scott have a leftest bias?"

Man, that is a massive understatement.

You should have seen her on the BBC 2007 Local Election coverage - she didn't even try to hide it. It was embarrassing to watch.

Brown and Labour are very scared of David Cameron, hence Brown is using all his friends in the media to run a campaign to unseat him. Its Brown's best tactic to ensure Labour win the next election.

The Conservatives must stick with the current programme and not return to old failed policies. The swing to Labour suggests that these voters are in the middle ground, and are the key ones to win. Brown's bounce will fizzle in the next few months, then its a return to politics as normal.

Great point, JP.

The only way to defeat Brown's insidious tactics of unseating Cameron is to remain united behind DC.

Cameron showed today that - unlike the 3 previous leaders - when things are flagging he comes out fighting; today, it was with a robust, well-thought through PMQs.

He's got a bit about him. Even those who dislike him have to admit that.

"David Heathcoat-Amory pointed out that we were told devolution would not threaten the union but that we have a separatist Scottish Executive and growing disquiet in England "

When are the Conservatives going to pick up and run with this issue ? The floods are almost entirely in England which has no specific representation / budget /government /civil service or leader . The British government have gone out of their way to cut England's already stingy flood control budget and no one gets up and shouts about it . This is an issue absolutely crying out for highlighting and yet all we get is " Britain " . Flood control in England is typical of the sort of issue which should be debated in an English Parliament .

Cameron should have belted on about this and captured the hearts of those who are currently mopping out their lounges . If the floods had affected Scotland in any significant way you can bet your wellies the Scots would be examining the topic where it matters - in the Scottish Parliament .

Why cannot Cameron see this and act . Several hits avilable all in one go and because of the Conservative self denying ordinance on England , he passes them up .

Steve, Good points! When a general election is finally called we will see David Cameron's skills as a dynamic communicator completely outshine Gordon Brown's plodding constipated style. The last month has been awkward with Labour getting a bit of beathing space. However they have now played their best hand and its now downhill all the way for Labour. All those who want to see the end of Labour should give their support to David Cameron.

"David Heathcoat-Amory pointed out that we were told devolution would not threaten the union but that we have a separatist Scottish Executive and growing disquiet in England "

When are the Conservatives going to pick up and run with this issue ? The floods are almost entirely in England which has no specific representation / budget /government /civil service or leader . The British government have gone out of their way to cut England's already stingy flood control budget and no one gets up and shouts about it . This is an issue absolutely crying out for highlighting and yet all we get is " Britain " . Flood control in England is typical of the sort of issue which should be debated in an English Parliament .

Cameron should have belted on about this and captured the hearts of those who are currently mopping out their lounges . If the floods had affected Scotland in any significant way you can bet your wellies the Scots would be examining the topic where it matters - in the Scottish Parliament .

Why cannot Cameron see this and act . Several hits avilable all in one go and because of the Conservative self denying ordinance on England , he passes them up .

"Comstock, has Labour moved on to yet another completely off the wall angle on blaming Cameron. With all this spin I am dizzy trying to keep up"

Could I just two things quite clear.

I don't speak for the Labour party. I'm not a member of the Labour party.

I *do* however vote Labour, and I do happen to disagree with the Tories on most things. I only stumbled across this site by accident when Googling something a couple of years ago, found an article on here and realised you could comment. I'd actually never read a blog in my life before that happened.

I actually find chatting on here more enjoyable than watching the TV, and thats why I've stayed, not because I'm some kind of organised Labour troll.


Got that off my chest :D........... now are you going to deny that question 1 of Cameron's performance today was a blatent attempt to turn a natural disaster to his advantage?

"Got that off my chest :D........... now are you going to deny that question 1 of Cameron's performance today was a blatent attempt to turn a natural disaster to his advantage?"

Right, we have had accusations of Cameron using the trip to Rwanda as a PR stunt, but the fact that Iain Dale and others were there working and reporting made that backfire.
We then had accusations of Cameron going to Rwanda instead of being more involved in the floods, but hang on a minute he was there on the ground in his wellies but Brown took longer to arrive and then used a helicopter so that backfired.
Now Brown has visited properly and questions are being asked of the government about cutting back flood defences, continuing to build on these flood plains and not being quick enough dish out aid that will get here before 2010. Everything is a review at the moment and nothing will happen before 2010 except that and promises so I take it he plans to go to the polls before then.
But hey, Cameron is a constituency MP in an area effected by the floods so he is going to have first hand knowledge of how well the government delivers an efficient and speedy response to the recovery. So just call me a cynic but the accusation now that Cameron is blatently attempting to make political capital out of the floods is a cynical attempt to blunt that. After the way this government has cynically used spin to its electoral advantage it is a bl**dy cheek.

On subject of BBC bias - what's with the BBC constantly mentioning "the opposition" then immediately refering to the Liberal Democrats rather than the Conservatives?

This is happening time and time again - it started around after Browns 1st/2nd PMQ when he refered to Ming as "the Leader Of the Opposition"

Scotty,

"So just call me a cynic but the accusation now that Cameron is blatently attempting to make political capital out of the floods is a cynical attempt to blunt that"

Yes, I'm really going to 'blunt' something by making 'accusations' on a politcal blog! Flattering though it is, I don't expect Cameron is quaking in his boots at my every word :D

After the way this government has cynically used spin to its electoral advantage it is a bl**dy cheek

I clearly post above that I am NOT A MEMBER OF THE LABOUR PARTY yet you still choose to accsociate my comments with 'accusations' made by the Labour party on Cameron's visit to Rwanda (about which I have made no comment whatsoever) and the spin of the Labour party in general.

T a l i b a n T i m overwrites posts once again.

He even blocks the words T a l i b a n T i m as Spam - how cute.

Stuff usually only gets overwritten if it is a nasty personal attack. I've had it done a couple of times, but tbh I deserved it.

Cornstock

I think I said we were 5h1t at the moment - Tim clearly does not like potty mouth. He lives around politicos - he must spend his whole life tutting if that offends him.

"Language Timothy"

I must admit the stuff I got deleted was worse than that (if that was all you said), but there you go......

Jomo @ 18.31 asks:

"If there is a referendum what will D Cameron do. "

Answer: Win!

Several of the previous comments include variations on "Cameron did well under the circumstances". That's a value judgement and open to different interpretations. More to the point, who and what caused those circumstances?

Nor is Wednesday noon some kind of swimsuit round. Therefore the chauvinist comments on "looks", aimed at female MPs (of any party), are not going to work with 51% of the electorate.

And then there are the double standards on the media-is-the-message. It's no good whinging about commentators whom you feel don't share and openly espouse your particular bias if you simultaneously applaud "Brillo Pad" Neil for repeatedly pursuing a private agenda.

Calling for a referendum on a not-quite-constitution-that-nobody-really-understands may be a useful bit of Elastoplast, but it's not a policy on Europe. There simply will not be a referendum, not because the Government fears to lose one, but because the Dutch or the Danes will bury it before we have to spend big money on such a daft abstraction.

It was a gross error of judgement for DC to go to Rwanda while his constituency and others were being flooded. He does appear shallow and a light weight with not much substance.

I really don't have any hope that DC will become Prime Minister. He is too much like Blair and time has moved on. Brown did appear to better David at PMQ's and David looked tired and defeated.

Calm down Ghosty - bad language is against the comments policy, you can sound off elsewhere if you have a problem with that.

Cameron's response to flooding whilst he was in Rwanda 'Crisis, what crisis?'

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