PMQs: Cameron asks Brown to guarantee that he won't weaken Tory union reforms

Highlights, not verbatim:

12.18pm: If you want to ask questions call an election, Cameron responds.  Brown says the Conservatives aren't making the big decisions.  He says Labour have made all the big decisions on nuclear power, airport expansion and housing.  David Cameron, he says, ducks all the big decisions.  You can get away without substance some of the time, but not all of the time.  The Conservatives are only offering opposition for opposition's sake.

12.16pm: David Cameron says "no plans" doesn't mean anything from a PM who said he had "no plans" to raise taxes.  This is a PM who is about to sit down with the unions - the unions who provide 92% of Labour income - and the unions only see weakness when they look at Brown and know he'll lurch to the left if they push hard enough.

12.15pm: In David Cameron's second set of questions he turns to industrial relations and asks for a categorical assurance that Conservative union reforms won't be weakened.  Brown says he has "no plans" to change union laws but invites the Conservative leader to say that he will commit to three year public sector pay deals.

12.11pm: Before he became PM, people thought he was a man of principle says Nick Clegg.  Will Mr Brown meet the Gurkhas who are surrendering their medals today in protest?  The PM responds by saying that the Government is improving pension arrangements for serving and some retired Gurkha servicemen.  The LibDem leader says that the PM is missing the real issue.  Gurkhas have to rely on charity and risk deportation because this Government won't give so many of them citizenship.

12.07pm: Cameron says EU sanctions must mean visa bans and asset freezes on the families of the regime as well as the regime leaders themselves.  He also says that businesses have a responsibility to divest from Zimbabwe if they are sustaining the regime.  Brown says that more moves are being taken to identify every member of the "criminal cabal" surrounding Zimbabwe and subject them to the overall sanctions regime.

12.05pm: David Cameron welcomes sporting sanctions against Zimbabwe and asks what it practically means to end recognition of Zimbabwe.  Brown says Britain is bound by international laws and can't completely ignore the legal fact that Mugabe remains Zimbabwe's head of state.  Says lots of other things but doesn't answer question.

12.03pm: David Cameron asks about Zimbabwe. Calls for G8 - due to be attended by South Africa - to have declaration on Zimbabwe that commits S Africa to tougher line.  Brown promises to raise the issue at every international gathering. 

Comments

[Mark Fulford]

Gordon Brown would make quite a good drummer.

[BW]

Brown's attitude to the Ghurkas should be no surprise. He has no interest in Defence and probably has no knowledge of the heroism of these great soldiers in British service. Even if told he would not have any real interest over and above 'appearance sake'.

[Alexander King]

Brown is getting better each week.

[Gezmond007]

I agree Alexander and Cameron is getting weaker with his stupid jokes and laughing all the time , people are beginning to see that he is all talk and no substance !

[David]

"people are beginning to see that he is all talk and no substance !"

Precisely. His lead in the polls is down to a piffling 20 points.

[Jaz]

No one pays attention to PMQ's anyhow, David Cameron knows this too.

However, PM's DO pay attention and their morale is the only thing to be affected.

[Serf]

Cameron is holding back. He wants the patient in critical condition, but still alive. That way lies a landslide.

[Norm Brainer]

"You can get away without substance some of the time, but not all of the time."

he should know!

It's getting absurd him pleading to cameron to ask what he should do next, like "please tell me the tory policy, I've not a clue what to do!"

[David (One of many)]

I confess I actually had no idea where Cameron was going with the union questions, but it all tied together really well in the final barrage. The idea of Labour being in debt, trying to avoid strikes, and reliant on the financial contributions of the unions is both a powerful memory and an indication of the sorry state of affairs we are in as a country.

[Gezmond007]

David ( One of many ) are you mad ! Or do you have no memory ! or are you just turned eighteen !

[MrB]

I think we should actually stay on the "no substance" course....No, really!

Think about it- last time we gave Brown substance he nicked all our policies. We've got a 20% lead that shows no sign of falling so we should go for as long as we can with just a steady "drip drip" of policies. It also gives us room to maneuver.

The official line to the media should be "This far away from election we don't want to go into heavy detail, as Gordon Brown simply steals our ideas but fails to impliment them".

[David (One of many)]

Gezmond007, get back to your cave.

[Gezmond007]

Mr B , I'd welcome any detail on anything ! Slagging off people is not enough , people will see through this well before the next election.

The 20% lead against Brown will disappear as quickly as it came.

[Brian W]

Gezmond007, Mr B has got it right. It is the role of the Government to govern and produce policies that can be debated. It is not the role of the Opposition to answer the question 'What would you do?' and then suggest that the Opposition has no policies. Brown as PM has become a disaster!

[Gezmond007]

Brian, Mr B , your absolutely wrong , Cameron needs to tell people now what he stands for , the only reason there is a 20% lead is because Brown is so unpopular.

That is not enough , people are starting to ask what the Tories stand for ! Mark my words this lead will disappear as quickly as it came !

[Steve]

Excellent - someone who can predict the future.

Please detail winning lottery numbers.

[Gezmond007]

Ok I will just for you 20% 15% 12% 8% 4% 1%

Hows about that Steve !

[Deus Ex Machina]

Gezmond, Blair was incredibly thin on substance throughout his period as leader of the opposition, as evidenced by his self-confessed slow progress in his first term. he still enjoyed whopping poll leads followed by 2 election landslides. substance in opposition is overated and often untenable

[Steve]

Not to everyone - just to me!! Ha ha!

[Serf]

The 20% lead against Brown will disappear as quickly as it came.

He's right of course, but it will be replaced by a 20% lead over Miliband.

[Gezmond007]

Blair not only had an unpopular government but the Tories had interest rates at 15%, three million unemployed, people dying waiting for operations , etc,etc,etc....

Say what you want but Labour do not have these problems, if the economy turns round in the next two years and petrol prices come down , watch the poll lead go !

Come on Dave give people an alternative !!

[Stewart Geddes]

If the economy turns round.... You have got to be joking. This is a mess created by GB and sparked by external forces. There will be no turn around in the next two years unless GB tells Alistair Darling to go back to the 1997 records and pull out and reintroduce all the conservative policies that GB implemented which gave him a reputation for prudence.

The alternative will be the conservatives coming to power and dealing with the monstrous levels of waste in government caused by GB's profligacy of so called investment.

[Casino Royale]

Gezmond007:

Give me a break.

You Labour muppets repeat this propaganda ad-nauseum like it were gospel, without thinking how much b*llsh*t it really is..

"Tories had interest rates at 15%"

Er.. They were at 15% for A FEW HOURS. Yes. That's right. A FEW HOURS. From lunchtime until 7pm on 16th September 1992.

Contrast that to the years of economic mismanagement we had to put up with Labour, that statement is slightly disingenous, don't you think?

"three million unemployed"

There are still three million unemployed. It's just you've created SureStart, Newdeal and haven't reformed incapacity benefitm so you can massage the figures.

And have you seen the reports recently which have pointed to the fact that virtually NONE of the net new jobs created in the 10 years have gone to native British workers? They've all gone to immigrant labour.

Nope. Didn't think so.

"people dying waiting for operations"

People still die waiting for operations you doofus. They always will. Especially those not on your national "5-year" strategies which distort clinical priorities.

And it's worth noting waiting lists had dropped substantially by 1997 anyway, without the billions of pounds splurged and wasted on the NHS.

Try thinking for yourself next time, rather than putting up Labours straw-men.

This government has achieved NEXT TO NOTHING.

[Gezmond007]

Casino Royale your obviously living in cloud cuckoo land ! You believe what you want, all your explanations are wrong and are just plain fiction.

You carry on kidding yourself ! It,s about being realistic and not dreaming of a landslide two years before an election. People want an alternative not just catchphrases. It,s easy to slag other people off , but more difficult to come up with a credible alternative.

I'm not a Labour muppet or a doofus , you are just typical of the reason why people think of the Tories as the nasty party . Grow up ! or buy a dictionary !

[ChrisD]

"I confess I actually had no idea where Cameron was going with the union questions, but it all tied together really well in the final barrage. The idea of Labour being in debt, trying to avoid strikes, and reliant on the financial contributions of the unions is both a powerful memory and an indication of the sorry state of affairs we are in as a country."

David(one of many), pretty clever strategy from Cameron to go on this issue. I suspect that Osborne is already one step ahead of the strategy game again.
The Labour party are now beholden to the Unions and desperately need their donations to keep the party afloat financially.
The Unions have a long shopping list of demands, but in the short term, they want key policy changes now and they are now in their strongest position for many years to get them.
It not just the precarious financial position of the Labour party which has brought this about, they know how weak Gordon Brown has become and they are in a powerful position to keep him in place if they so wish. Remember Brown has backed down on key issues many times and one Union is already withdrawing its individual funding to a list of backbench MP's with more to follow. I think that's quite a clever way to muzzle any protests from the PLP who might not agree with them.

[Andrew S]

"Casino Royale your obviously living in cloud cuckoo land ! You believe what you want, all your explanations are wrong and are just plain fiction.

You carry on kidding yourself ! It,s about being realistic and not dreaming of a landslide two years before an election. People want an alternative not just catchphrases. It,s easy to slag other people off , but more difficult to come up with a credible alternative.

I'm not a Labour muppet or a doofus , you are just typical of the reason why people think of the Tories as the nasty party . Grow up ! or buy a dictionary !"

Thats a really poor response.

[ocean neil]

When we have given people an alternative we have been beaten at each election. We sat on the right and gave people an opposing view of anti european right wing slashing services.

What happened? Labour won

When Labour gave the people an alternative with no nuclear, trade unions and socialsim then what happened? We won.

Now you might be a reactionary but must people are not and are turned off by it.

We are on track.

[M Dowding]

Gezmond007, we pay your pathetic little Spaz wages and your immediate task just once a week, is to invade CONSERVATIVE home with your useless and mythical dirge on behalf of the worst ever non-government this Country has ever known. Just look around you, in between staring out of The Downingkremlin window at the awful economy, sky high taxation and national bankruptcy. Infection riddled hospitals, post code lottery drug treatments, feral knife wielding kids, educational failure, destitute service men and women, total collapse of pension funds, (apart from gold plated but unfunded civil service pensions), uncontrolled immigration and people traffiking, politicisation of the police forces, a Labour Party in financial crisis begging the Unions for money. I could carry on but even your stupid brain must have extra issues that we could bring up, including our being in hock to The EUSSR project! Of course for Labour read EU read no means yes!
Please call an election and see this miserably inaccurate 20% Conservative lead for the the real numbers. My guess is 55 to 60%.
Kindly leave, Gezmond Labour moron and polish your desk for a real person, post election.

[Gezmond007]

Well the old saying comes home to roost once again when people resort to childish , pathetic name calling they have lost the argument.
If you cant debate properly and with good manners, dont debate at all. As I said before people like you are the reason the once great Conservative party got in such a mess,

I feel sorry for you .