ConservativeHome's ToryDiary

Live blog of PMQs

ToryRadio's audio.

Editor's verdict: "A win for Brown but more because of Cameron's choice of questions rather than because the PM performed well. DC's second set of questions were too trivial although he started with Kosovo, of course. David Cameron should have asked about substantial issues. Labour's record on education would have been a good topic.  Cable's first question was funny.  His question on Iraq was over the top."  Nick Robinson, however, says that Cameron's aim of painting Brown as indecisive could be of great long-term benefit for the Conservatives.

Highlights, not verbatim:

12.25pm: An SNP MP invites Gordon Brown to congratulate Alex Salmond for honouring the police pay award in full.  No, replies Brown - suggesting that Scotland's First Minister has failed to honour a manifesto pledge to put an extra 1,000 police on the streets.

12.19pm: Gordon Brown responds by saying that David Cameron is a man of gimmicks - not long-term planning.

12.17pm: This is a dysfunctional government, Cameron says - unable to decide on an election, unable to decide what to do with Northern Rock, unable to decide whether or not to go to the signing of Lisbon Treaty.  This was the year that Gordon Brown got "found out".

12.16pm: David Cameron asks Gordon Brown why Tony Blair describes the Cabinet as the 'B team'.  Talk about substance, Brown responds.

12.14pm: Michael Fabricant asks why Scottish police officers are paid more than English police officers for doing the same job?

12.11pm: For Cable's second question the subject shifts to Iraq and the acting LibDem leader suggests that the people of Basra have lost one fascist government but gained another.

12.09pm: When Gordon Brown tucks into his Brussels sprouts on Christmas Day, which disaster will he remember most keenly, asks Vince Cable: the electoral non-decision or the incompetence over datagate?  Brown responds by saying that he has taken the long-term decisions for Britain on energy and education.  He thanks Vince Cable for his appearances at PMQs and wonders if it might not be long before he returns to the LibDem leadership.  To cheers from all sides other than Labour, Cable says that the PM is ill-advised to raise the issue of changes in party leadership.

12.08pm: Gordon Brown says that it is premmature to deploy extra troops but that all efforts must be made to convince Russia and Serbia of the right way forward.

12.06pm: David Cameron asks about the situation in Kosovo saying that Kosovo cannot be left in constitutional limbo; that other border issues must not be reopened; and also that NATO's reserve force should reinforce the troops already there.

Live blog of PMQs from noon

ToryRadio's audio of PMQs.

Editor's comment: "Unfortunate first question from David Cameron on the sleazebuster (asking why an appointment of the Chairman of the Standards in Public Life Cttee hadn't been made... and it's being made later today).  David Cameron's canoe line was good but Greg Hand's joke was better.  Sensible, I think, for David Cameron to be asking about issues other than political funding.  Labour will ultimately be judged for its failures on prisons and defence etc rather than political funding."

Highlights, not verbatim:

12.23pm: Great question from Greg Hands MP... With three police investigations under way, two of his Cabinet ministers in breach of rules and his General Secretary faces charges of law-breaking, is this what the Prime Minister meant when he said he was a "conviction politician"?!

12.14pm: Vince Cable asks about Northern Rock.  Borrowing is growing every day, he says.  What guarantee does the taxpayer have that all the money will be repaid?  He encourages temporary public ownership of the Northern Rock, noting that the FT and Economist also support this option.  Brown replies that Cable appears to be better at jokes than economics and says that the current process of seeking a private buyer for Northern Rock is the best route to protecting public funds.

12.12pm: David Cameron: 'Like the man in the canoe he wants us all to believe he hasn't been around for the last five years.'  But, the Tory leader continues, he was the man who underfunded the prison service.  Great line!

12.09pm: Cameron quotes Lord Boyce's claim that Des Browne's status is an insult to the armed forces.  He then asks about Labour's early prison release scheme and says that sentences should fit the crime and not the number of prison places.  To loud Labour jeers, he says 'they don't like to see their Government falling apart'.

12.08pm: David Cameron quotes a former Labour Defence Minister who believes that the part-time nature of the Defence Secretary is unacceptable.  Gordon Brown asks for evidence that Des Browne isn't performing his job and says that the Tory 2001 manifesto promised that the Secretary of State for Scotland job should be shared.  He implies that George Osborne is opposed to any further defence spending.

12.05pm: David Cameron asks if the Whitty report has been suspended.  The PM says it hasn't been put on hold.  David Cameron responds by producing Labour NEC minutes which suggest that parts of the Whitty investigation have been suspended.  Why isn't he being open?  The Leader of the Opposition then asks about the fact that the Defence Secretary is also Scottish Secretary. 

12.03pm: 'Why has it taken seven months to appoint a new Chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life?' asks David Cameron.  Brown replies by saying the appointment will be announced today.  He challenges the Conservative leader to accept Labour proposals on party funding.

Noon: Radio Five Live announcer: We wondered if Gordon Brown might have chosen to disappear down the Thames in a canoe today!

11.57am: John Pienaar has just told me (and a few other Five Live listeners) that it's been hours since a new scandal rocked Labour! :-)

Live blog of PMQs from noon: Cameron questions the integrity of the man Vince Cable calls Mr Bean

5.15pm: Two minute video clip of Cameron blasting Brown is now on PlayPolitical.  ToryRadio has the full audio.

4pm: A great line from Fraser Nelson (my emphasis): "Brown told Peter Tapsell that "this job is an important job and I will continue to do it to the best of my ability". Yes, Prime Minister, that's what we're all worried about."

Editor's verdict: "Vince Cable steals the show today with his Mr Bean line.  As the FT's George Parker has just said on Radio Five - Mr Brown thinks himself a serious, weighty figure and hates to be ridiculed.  Well done, Mr Cable!  Another good performance from Mr Cameron.  He provided plenty of good clips for the rest of the day's broadcasts.  Also good to hear John Gummer and Michael Ancram joining the attack so successfully."

Not verbatim highlights:

12.26pm: 'What does the PM want for Christmas?', Sir Patrick Cormack asks.  A day off, the PM replies.  [He can have as many days off as he likes if he goes to see The Queen tomorrow!]

12.24pm: Another good question, this time from John Gummer: The PM said his decision to call off the election had nothing to do with the polls and his inheritance tax cut had nothing to do with what the Conservatives had done.  How can we believe him now when he says he knew nothing about the dodgy donations?

12.17pm: Excellent question from Michael Ancram: Why are all his party colleagues so intent on keeping him in the dark?

12.11pm: Vince Cable highlights the underfunding of the armed forces.  The Prime Minister replies by saying that Britain has the second best funded armed services in the world.  [Fraser Nelson dealt with that claim last week: Des Browne's Defence Funding Fiddle].

12.11pm: Best line of the day from Vince Cable: In a few short weeks the Prime Minister has gone from Stalin to Mr Bean.

12.07pm: This goes to the heart of Prime Minister's integrity, says Cameron.  His explanations beggar belief.  We've had disaster after disaster since he became Prime Minister.  A run on the bank.  Half the country's personal details lost in the post.  Now this.  The Prime Minister is looking less and less cut out for the job.  Enthusiastic Tory cheers.

12.04pm: Has the PM invited the police to investigate? [Ben Brogan thinks that a police investigation is inevitable].  If, as he said yesterday, unlawful acts have been committed, he should call in the police.  The public will see the Prime Minister wriggling.  John Mendelsohn, Labour fund manager, knew about this unlawful behaviour a month ago.  Why is he still in place?  [Guido has the background on Mendelsohn].  Mr Brown replies by saying that Mr Mendelsohn had been led to believe that the donations had been cleared by the Electoral Commission.

12.02pm: David Cameron invites the Prime Minister to say if he believes he still is delivering competence and trust to British politics.  The Prime Minister responds by saying that he has set up enquiries and is determined to ensure that party political funding is all above board.

11.59am: I'm listening to Radio Five Live: Commentator says 'goal gets wider for David Cameron every week'.  Indeed!

Live blog of PMQs: The Prime Minister tries to control everything but can't run anything

Editor's verdict: "A good win for David Cameron.  With such an open goal expectations were very high - which could have made it difficult for the Conservative leader - but he was helped by Gordon Brown's attempt to play politics by suggesting that the Tory James review would have made things worse.  Great line from Cameron: Gordon Brown tries to control everything but can't run anything.  My overall conclusion: Trust in this Government won't be the only casualty of this sorry affair.  The public will lose faith in government full stop.  Libertarians can smile at that."

Not verbatim highlights:

12.29pm: David Heathcoat-Amory ends PMQs by saying that we need to have a generation of nuclear power stations in order to avoid the industralisation of the English landscape with wind turbines.  The Speaker fails to stop the huge noise from the Labour benches as he speaks.  Brown responds by saying that the Tories are divided on the environment.

12.13pm: It's "weird", David Cameron continues, that after what has happened the PM won't even stop and think.  It is now clear that this is a Prime Minister who tries to control everything but cannot run anything.  Brown replies by listing Labour achievements: We have run a very successful economy, he says.

12.12pm: David Cameron asks if it is time to stop and think about the Government's plans for ID cards?   Mr Brown replies by saying that most European nations have ID cards, and names advisers to David Cameron that allegedly support ID  cards.

12.10pm: David Cameron replies that on a day of such incompetence from Labour it's "pathetic" to try and blame the Opposition for anything.  The PM should be a big man and face up to his responsibilities.  Mr Brown repeats his apology.

12.06pm: David Cameron: If a junior official can have access to confidential data not once but twice there are systemic failures.  He goes on to list other failures at HMRC.  "This has been going on for years," he continues.  This is the Prime Minister's problem - he expanded its scope.  Does he accept any responsibility?  Gordon Brown responds by saying that the Tory James Review wanted to make deep cuts in the HMRC.

12.04pm: People are not worried, says David Cameron, they are angry.  Does the PM accept that there are systematic failures at HM Revenue & Customs?  The PM replies by saying that procedures were not followed.

12.02pm: Prime Minister "profoundly regrets" and "apologises" for loss of child benefit records loss in response to question from Labour MP.  Mr Brown says he has ordered a review across Whitehall of procedures and will give Information Commissioner the power to spot-check Government Departments.

We do not need to guess what David Cameron will ask the Prime Minister about today...

Live blog of PMQs: The Prime Minister repeatedly fails to answer questions on the security clearance of 5,000 illegal immigrants

Editor's verdict: "Another very poor performance from Mr Brown.  He dodged the questions of both David Cameron and Vince Cable.  I wonder if the Labour MPs are beginning to miss Tony Blair?!  Gordon Brown's stumbling performances do illustrate how good Mr Blair was at this."

Highlights, not verbatim:

12.27pm: Dennis Skinner makes a long statement about miners, Michael Heseltine and Black Wednesday.  The Speaker doesn't require him to ask a question.

12.23pm: Peter Luff asks what exactly has Lord Malloch Brown done to deserve his grace and favour residence?  The Prime Minister responds by saying that the former UN bureaucrat is doing a great job.

12.12pm: Vince Cable asks the Prime Minister to confirm that the taxpayer is lending Northern Rock £24bn - twice the amount Britain spends on primary schools every year and four times the international development expenditure.  Brown responds by saying that much of the relationship is confidential.  He then fails to answer Mr Cable's second question concerning whether all of the lending will be repaid - in full - by the end of this Parliament.

12.09pm: Does the Prime Minister want to know about a major security breach in our country?  Why won't he answer a simple question?  People will conclude that he is not delivering the candour, honesty and openness that he promised.  Brown fails to answer for a third time - to Tory chants of 'When? When?' - and says that what the Government did about the security breaches was what mattered.

12.08pm: Cameron tries again: When was the Prime Minister told?  Brown fails to answer again.

12.06pm: When was Gordon Brown told about this problem, David Cameron asks? Gordon Brown doesn't answer the question.

12.03pm: David Cameron asks about the Home Secretary's failure to reveal the fact that illegal immigrants were cleared for security work. The Government has been caught red-handed putting spin before public safety. Gordon Brown responds by saying that procedures have now been put in place to stop the problem happening again. 

Starts here at noon.  Watch it live via Sky.

Rebutting Brown's £6bn black hole attack

At the last few PMQs the rather flat-footed Brown has deployed two favourite lines: (1) The Leader of the Opposition isn't listening to me and (2) there's a £6bn black hole in the Tory spending plans.

It's time to hit back at Brown very hard when he next uses that attack line.

Something like:

"The Prime Minister accuses us of having suspect statistics.  What rubbish.  What hypocrisy.  He is the Michael Fish of forecasting.  His Government predicted that 15,000 people would come to Britain each year from EU countries.  The numbers have been twenty or thirty times that number.  We can't be sure because his Government has lost control of the nation's borders.  Last week he had to admit that 300,000 extra migrant workers had suddenly been discovered.  That's the equivalent of the entire population of Coventry, Bradford or Leicester.  And, as for that figure of £6bn?  It's a nonsense number but here are some real numbers about government waste.  His NHS supercomputer.  £14bn over budget.  Olympics: £7bn over budget.  Astute Class submarine: £1bn over budget.  £2bn overpaid in tax credits.  £2bn lost on gold sales.  The Prime Minister is the great waster.  He's wasting our money.  And every day he stays in office is a wasted day - a day longer before Britain gets the change it needs."

I'm sure you can do better than that.  How would you respond to Brown's £6bn line?

Live PMQs blog: Cameron challenges Brown on plan to confiscate the surpluses of well-run schools

Editor's verdict: Another win for David Cameron.  Third in a row.  Good choice of topics: The attempt to penalise well-run schools and the Scottish elections fiasco.  Cameron is also successfully weaving in the same themes into every PMQs: Brown is a centraliser who is less than candid with the British people.  Brown is doing a little better, however - often standing at the despatch box without his guidance book.  Good question from Graham Brady.  If the frontbench won't touch the Barnett formula you can expect bankbenchers to do so - authorised or not."

Not verbatim:

[Speaker rebukes Ian Austin again - Brown's PPS.  Cameron says: That's another one of Brown's cronies who won't behave properly].

12.14am: David Cameron stands up for his second round of questions and invites the PM to apologise for the Scottish elections fiasco.  He says that Douglas Alexander has been criticised for playing politics.  Gordon Brown responds by saying that David Cameron is "misleading" people about the report.  All parties were implicated, he suggests.  Look at p17, responds David Cameron.  The report directly criticises ministerial conduct.  Brown promised a new kind of politics.  He promised candour.  That was in his leadership election.  It feels like a hundred years ago.

12.12am: Graham Brady pops up again for the second time in two weeks and asks: Why should my constituents pay more tax so that his constituents don't have to pay prescription charges?  Brown challenges the Tory frontbench to say whether it supports the Barnett formula or not.

12.09am: Vince Cable asks Brown about doubts over the Government's renewables target.  'Isn't Brown less green than Blair?', he asks.  Brown jokes that he is pleased to see Mr Cable still in position given the turnover in LibDem leaders.  Brown promises to consult on the achievability of the target.  Cable responds by saying that Brown will soon be as green as George Bush.

12.05am: David Cameron says that he should trust the surpluses to headteachers and not interfere.  The PM says the real issue is the Tory plan not to match Labour spending and leave a £6bn hole in the public finances.  Cameron says: Scrap the consultation and let headteachers keep their surpluses.  When will the PM give up his mania for state control?

12.02am: David Cameron asks the Prime Minister why he plans to confiscate 5% of the surpluses of good schools.  Gordon Brown replies that the Government is consulting on how best to use the considerable (£1.7bn) surpluses that exist.

Watch it live via Sky.

Live PMQs blog from noon: Brown bores with £6bn black hole line

3pm: David Cameron's webcameron review of PMQs:

2pm: ToryRadio's podcast of PMQs

Not verbatim

Editor's verdict: Another solid win for David Cameron.  On the NHS and Europe, Brown appeared evasive.  Whereas Cameron was able to think on his feet (ie when he responded with 'People will look at Brown and think of a man who breaks his promises') Brown kept repeating the same lines.  He repeated the Tories will leave a £6bn blackhole in the nation's finances line far too many times.  Whereas in the summer he built up a (false) reputation as above politics the PM is not behaving like a PM but a partisan fighter at every opportunity.  His trashing of his own brand continues. 

12.28pm: Henry Bellingham highlights the fact that there have been a record 400,000 calls to the service family's helpline.  Why won't he honour the military covenant? 

12.25pm: Michael Fabricant asks a question about troops coming home from Iraq. The third Tory to ask a defence-related question.

12.15pm: Vince Cable asks if PM agrees with Andy Burnham's claim that the tax system should recognise marriage.  Brown responds by paying tribute to Ming Campbell and making a joke that if things carry on like this all LibDem MPs will have a chance of being leader during this Parliament.  Brown says marriage was recognised by Labour in last week's IHT announcement but that Labour policy will always support all children - not just some.

12.13pm: Cameron quickly comes back and says: People will look at Brown and think of a man who breaks his promises.  If he doesn't grant a referendum they'll know that his word can't be trusted.

12.12pm: Cameron quotes Labour's Gisela Stuart who says that the red lines are red herrings.  Brown quotes Ken Clarke back and his suggestion that a referendum would be "dotty".  Failing to break through the jeers from his accusation that Cameron used too many soundbites, he makes a flat joke about Cameron's suggestion that when people look at him they should think of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

12.11pm: Brown responds by saying that the Tories didn't grant a vote on the far more important Treaty of Maastricht.  William Hague (he mistakenly calls him "Foreign Secretary", he said, denied the British people a vote.  He then talks about his red lines. 

12.10pm: Cameron's fourth question turns to Brown's EU Treaty referendum promise.  Why won't he grant a referendum?

12.09pm: Brown: Tories have £6bn hole in the nation's finances.  They will cut the NHS.  [Yawn].

12.08pm: Cameron: Bureaucracy is hampering the war on superbugs.  The nurse of the year is quitting.  MRSA is up.  When will he start listening to the NHS?

[The Speaker ticks off Ian Austin, Brown's PPS for barracking Cameron!  Naughty, naughty.]

12.05pm: David Cameron says that Mr Brown hasn't read the report properly.  Most hospitals, he says, are saying that targets are getting in the way of attempts to counter hospital infections.   He quotes the NAO in support.  Gordon Brown responds by attacking David Cameron for opposing Government investment in the NHS.

12.03pm: David Cameron asks the PM if Brown's top-down targets are frustrating the attempt to tackle hospital superbugs.  The PM responds by saying that targets are an inevitable component of a modern healthcare system.  He quotes the Healthcare Commission in support.

Noon: Graham Brady MP asks about the growing tax burden on small businesses.

Until then you can relive the roar'n'rage of last week's PMQs by watching this highlights video.

Live PMQs blog: Cameron questions Brown's honesty

1pm: ToryRadio has the audio.

Editor's verdict: "A very good performance from David Cameron.  The roar of support he enjoyed from behind him from his own MPs was testimony to the new unity of the Conservative Party.  Rather than focusing upon the cowardice of the Prime Minister, David Cameron chose to focus on Brown's alleged dishonesty.  He questioned the PM's explanation of why he decided not to go the country - when it was decided to cut IHT - and why Brown had broken his promise to hold a referendum on the EU Treaty.  Interesting tactics."

Not verbatim.

12.24pm: Graham Brady asks about need for review of Market Abuse laws following Northern Rock.  Brown says Chancellor will address this subject tomorrow.

12.22pm: Damian Green highlights the "transparent hypocrisy" of the Government deporting Burmese dissidents to a regime that the Prime Minister regularly attacks.  Brown invites Mr Green to bring individual cases to him.

12.13pm: Ming Campbell attacks the twice-the-rate-of-inflation increase in council tax.

12.12pm: Brown says the Tories have published their election manifesto and he looks forward to dissecting it week after week in the Commons.

12.09pm: To very loud Tory cheers, Cameron - 'We have a PM who bottles out of an election, won't come clean on inheritance tax, won't honour a promise on the referendum.  This is a PM of calculation not conviction.  Of no vision, just vacuum.'  PM responds by attacking Cameron for abandoning his 'no more Punch & Judy politics' and then lists Labour Government 'achievements'.

12.08pm: After Brown attacked Tory plans on IHT and taxation of non-doms Cameron says if the PM had the bottle for a real debate he would have called an election, he raises the issue of a referendum on the EU Treaty.  Brown responds by saying that the Tories, when in power, didn't have a referendum on Maastricht.

[BTW: Brown is chewing away like Sir Alex Ferguson at a Manchester derby game].

12.06pm: Brown declines to answer a question about whether the IHT announcement was in the pre-Budget report draft before the Tory conference.

12.05pm: Great line from Cameron: 'He said he would go to the country if polls suggested a Labour majority of 100.  He's the first PM in history to flunk an election because he thought he could win it.  Has he found a single person who believes his excuses for calling an election?'  Brown responds by saying that only 26 people had signed a Downing Street petition calling for an Election.

12.03pm: Cameron begins by saying that Brown's reputation for honesty is at stake.  Brown hits back by saying that he won't take lectures from a Leader of the Opposition who has flip-flopped on VAT on flights, grammar schools and charges for supermarket parking.

Noon: First blood to Bob Neill MP.  He highlights Tory Bromley's recycling record and then invites Mr Brown to visit one of the council's bottle banks.

PMQ's Review

On the last Prime Minister's Questions before the Summer recess and both Gordon Brown and David Cameron gave strong performances; Brown does now seem to be getting the hang of PMQs.

David Cameron's First Question: Cameron started asking a question on flooding but hadn't got far before the Labour jeers started. He sought for improved communication between the Environment Agency and local authorities and Brown replied mentioning that he had seen "first hand" the problems and the floods would be fully investigated. David Cameron then asked about the compensation local authorities will receive for flood prevention schemes and what steps the Government will take to make insurance companies pay out quickly, and for help for those who are uninsured. Brown said the Government had been talking to the insurance companies and they are moving quickly. 

David Cameron's Second Question: Cameron went on the EU saying the Irish PM has said that 90% of the Treaty is the same as the Constitution, the Spanish foreign minister says 98% what figure would the Prime Minister put on it? Brown replied quoting Ken Clarke's criticisms of the call for a referendum. Cameron quoted another former chancellor - Brown- who signed up to a manifesto promising a constitution. He quoted Digby Jones' comment that it is "a con to call it a treaty, not a constitution". Brown said "the wheels going off the Tory bicycle" and quoted Lord Kalms.

Ming moment of the day: Ming also mentioned he had seen the problems for himself. He sought to find out whether the review the Prime Minister announced would cover the whole country and then said that the floods show that we should follow the advice of the Stern Report on climate change. Brown lapped that up!

Backbench Question of the Day: It wasn't an inspiring question but Dari Taylor raised an important subject when she asked what the Government would do to help more children out of care into family homes. 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.

Open thread on PMQs

12.23pm: Julian Lewis MP asks for a commitment that the number of Royal Navy frigates would not fall below 25.  GB gave no such guarantee and taunted the Tories by saying that George Osborne was unwilling to make any commitments to increased defence spending.

12.16pm: Ann Widdecombe asks if the Prime Minister is aware that Britain - in 9 hours - is about to deport a Christian lady to Iran who is under a death threat.  GB promises to look at the issue urgently.

12.15pm: Ming asked about the Rowntree report and the growing gap between the rich and poor.

12.11pm: At the end of his questions - to loud Tory cheers - DC listed Labour's failures on prisons and said that the country was witnessing the same old broken promises, the same old incompetence and the same old Labour.  Expect those lines of attack - broken promises, incompetence and no real change - to be key themes from the Conservative leader.

12.06pm: DC says that violent offenders were released early.  He alleges that prison and probation staff had objected to certain releases of violent prisoners and they had been over-ruled.  When GB said that he would ask the Justice Minister to write to DC about the 'over-rulings', DC attacked the Prime Minister for not  knowing that these over-rulings had taken place.  He accused GB of not knowing what was going on in the prisons and asked for a guarantee that early releases would not happen again.  GB countered that releases were an exceptional measure and said that the Conservatives had twice undertaken early releases.  He said that the Tories were unwilling to invest in the extra prison places and neighbourhood policing.

12.04pm: David Cameron asks about early prisoner releases.  GB says that noone serving for a serious violent offence was released early and noone was released more than 18 days early.

12.02pm: In answer to a question from a Labour backbencher on drug policy, GB promised a review of policy and hinted that cannabis might be classified more tightly as a result.

11.23am: This is Cameron's third clash with Prime Minister Brown.

Live PMQs blog (12.30: Tory MPs lead coordinated attack on Brown's 'Scottish problem')

12.29pm: Ben Wallace becomes fourth Tory MP to raise the 'Scottish problem'. Newly promoted to the frontbench as a shadow Scottish spokesman Mr Wallace says that it is unfair that the Prime Minister is able to make health policy for people in England but MPs for English seats cannot do the same for Scotland.  GB responds by saying that the Tories have failed to accept devolution.

12.28pm: A second Labour MP raises the SJPG report.

12.23pm: Angela Watkinson repeats an unanswered question from David Evennett about why nurses in Scotland get paid more than nurses in England.  AW's questions follows a question from Andrew Rosindell seeking support for English Votes for English Laws.  Tory MPs are clearly working away at the PM's 'Scottish problem'.

12.17pm: In response to a question from a Labour MP for Blackpool GB says that investment in the tram system, a new museum of the theatre and a new conference centre could all be ways of renovating the town.

12.15pm: Peter Tapsell asks about pensions.

12.11pm: Ming raises the issue of fraud and tax credits.  GB responds with lots of stats about lots of extra welfare benefits from Labour.

12.09pm: David Cameron says that under Labour there'll be "more closures, more removal of services, more job cuts". GB responds by saying that the Government has delivered 80,000 more nurses and 30,000 more doctors.  He attacks DC as focusing on PR.  He'll focus on being PM, he declares to Labour cheers.

12.03pm: David Cameron challenges Gordon Brown on the NHS.  DC focuses on the danger of hospital closures.  GB responds with statistics on hospital investment and says that the Conservatives will never invest to the same extent as Labour.   

12.02pm: Labour MP Andy Reed invited Brown to scrap his predecessor's plans for super casinos.  GB did not rule out doing so.

12.01pm: Henry Bellingham MP asks Gordon Brown about the fact that one of the 21/7 bombers was a Hizb ut-Tahrir member and had thwarted UK border controls.  The Prime Minister said that he would keep Hizb ut-Tahrir's status under constant review and that ID cards would help the fight against terror.

11.45am: Great graphic on the Daily Politics to mark Brown's Queen's Speech preview exercise...

11am: What would you ask the Prime Minister about?

Cameron Vs Brown: Their first PMQs

2.40pm: Earlier on I said a narrow win for David Cameron.  Other observers are suggesting a pretty conclusive win for the Tory leader.  A journalist from the BBC has just used the word "triumph" to me!  Ben Brogan has a good post looking at what went wrong for Brown.

Editor's view: "A narrow win for David Cameron - mainly because of GB's silly defence on Hizb ut-Tahrir that he'd only been in the job for five days.  John Reid's intervention almost belittled the new PM.  This is a tricky time for David Cameron.  He cannot go for Brown's jugular in the way he would if we did not have the security scares.  Overall Nick Robinson says that the Tory MPs have a spring in their step after PMQs.  A good PMQs for Ming, too, because of that joke."

ToryRadio has the audio.

12.30pm: Anne Mcintosh asks about flooding and cuts in flood protection measures.

12.27pm: James Gray repeats Rob Wilson's complaint that the Defence Secretary should not share his workload by also having to be SoS for Scotland.

12.18pm: Rob Wilson asks why the Defence Secretary is now a part-time job. Brown responds with a lame joke.

12.17pm: John Reid urges Brown not to be rushed into precipitate bans on organisations like Hizb ut-Tahrir.

12.17pm: Ming uses his second question to encourage Brown to reverse Government support for nuclear power stations and to abolish council tax.

12.16pm: Best joke so far... Brown says that his door is always open to the Leader of the LibDems... Ming responds by saying that Brown's door is more like a trap door!

12.15pm: Ming Campbell calls for a fresh start from Brown on withdrawing from Iraq, the BAe arms deal and the one-sided extradition deal with the USA.

12.12pm: The Prime Minister gets the last word in response to DC's sixth summarising question by encouraging the Tories to support the spending that will be necessary for security and says that the best message that Parliament can send out to terrorists is bipartisan resolve.

12.09pm: GB promises to consider DC's recommendation of a national border police force.  In the spirit of bipartisanship he urges DC to embrace ID cards and quotes Dame Pauline Neville-Jones' alleged support for them.  DC responds by quoting Alistair Darling's historical opposition to ID cards.

12.07pm: DC presses GB again - saying that this is an organisation that has supported the killing of Jews.  GB says that he's only been in the job five days.  Cameron says the Government promised to outlaw Hizb ut-Tahrir two years ago.

12.05pm: DC urges the PM to outlaw extremist organisations like Hizb ut-Tahrir.  A plea he made a year ago.   Gordon Brown fails to answer the question.

12.04pm: David Cameron encourages the Government to authorise the use of intercept evidence.  The PM promises co-operation with the Opposition on the issue.

12.01pm: Daniel Kawczynski MP asks Gordon Brown his first PMQs question on the status of Shropshire as a unitary authority.

11.59am: Andrew Neil hands over to live coverage in the Commons and says 'We do not want to miss ANY of this historic occasion?'  What could he be meaning?

11.45am: Nigel Griffiths MP tells the Daily Politics that Gordon Brown does have a sense of humour and recounts a joke that he made at Nicholas Ridley's expense in the late 1980s.  Andrew Neil says that was twenty years ago - has he said anything funny since?!

David Cameron speaks to WebCameron about today's PMQs and Gordon Brown

"Tony Blair's remarkable achievement" - not a headline you'll see again soon on conservatives.com

Vaizey attacks "incredible" decision of BBC to cut coverage of Blair's farwell statement to Commons

In my live blog of today's historic PMQs I wrote this: "In what has to be one of the lowest points in public service broadcasting BBC2's Daily Politics coverage stops halfway through the Prime Minister's concluding remarks to cut to Wimbledon."

Shadow Culture minister Ed Vaizey MP has just emailed me this reaction to the BBC's decision:

"I find it incredible, whatever your view of Blair, that the BBC should cut historic coverage of a unique parliamentary affair to cover a second round match at Wimbledon."

4.30pm update: Just spoken to IDS.  He was part of the Daily Politics panel when the coverage was cut.  As he walked through the BBC offices at Millbank he said that there was a furious reaction with BBC staffers protesting with strings of four letter words!  Iain himself said that it was an "appalling" decision.

LIVE BLOG of Tony Blair's final PMQs

After a brief tribute from the Father of the House Tony Blair ends by making a speech paying tribute to the House of Commons.  All sides of the Commons stand and applaud Tony Blair as he walks about.

In what has to be one of the lowest points in public service broadcasting BBC2's Daily Politics coverage stops halfway through the Prime Minister's concluding remarks to cut to Wimbledon.  I have now switched to Sky.

12.29pm: Rev Ian Paisley concludes by making a speech (The Speaker indulges him) - thanking him for the progress made in Northern Ireland. 

12.26pm: David Blunkett thanks the Prime Minister for everything he has done.  Tony Blair in return thanks the former Home Secretary for his work in tackling the causes of crime.

12.23pm: Another Winterton - Nicholas - tells him that the majority of Britons feel betrayed by him into the suffocating bureaucracy of the EU.  If he and his successor really believe in trusting the people the Government should grant a referendum.  Tony Blair disagrees in his answer and wishes 'Au revoir' to Mr Winterton.  The House erupts into laughter.

12.22pm: LibDem Richard Younger-Ross asks about disestablishment.  Tony Blair declines to answer.

12.21pm: PM makes joke about receiving his P45.

12.18pm: Ann Clywd thanks the Prime Minister for ridding the world of Saddam.

12.15pm: Ann Winterton asks a question about under-resourcing of armed forces.

12.14pm: Barbed question from Labour backbencher Jeremy Corbyn about the need for troop withdrawals from Iraq.

12.12pm: Ming asks about Iraq and Afghanistan and then pays tribute to Tony Blair for his courteous dealings with him at all times.

12.11pm: Tony Blair responds in kind - wishing David Cameron and his family well.  Cameron gave Mr Blair no opportunity for Quentin Davies taunts.  Mr Davies watched the exchanges from the Labour benches.

12.10pm: David Cameron paid tribute to Tony Blair for his public service and, in particular, his work in Northern Ireland and for the developing world.  In a perfectly-pitched fifth question he wishes Tony Blair and his family well for the future.  Well done, Mr Cameron.  Statesmanlike.

12.07pm: Cameron's third question focused on Israel and Tony Blair's possible new role in the Middle East.  Cameron then raises the captivity of BBC journalist Alan Johnston. Tony Blair repeats general principles of Middle East Peace Process.

12.05pm: David Cameron begins by asking about the flooding.  Tony Blair replies by saying that flood defences are going to require a lot more investment in the years to come.

12.04pm: Tony Blair defines socialism as about being a philosophy for the many, not the few.

12.01pm: David Burrowes MP asks about Labour's NHS record.  I wonder if the question came from a Facebooker?

Noon: PMQs begins with tributes to the latest three dead in Iraq and then makes a bigger tribute to Britain's armed forces: "They are the bravest and the best."

Blair wearing a red tie. Brown a blue tie.

11.58am: The Daily Politics is talking about the lucky brogues that a superstitious Prime Minister believes are crucial to his PMQs performances.

11.55am: Cherie Booth and the four children are in the gallery watching.

A question for Tony Blair's final PMQs

David Burrowes MP has been allotted the first of the last questions to Tony Blair at PMQs this Wednesday.

David has emailed his Facebook group for suggested questions and has given me permission to ask ConservativeHomies for their ideas.

What do you think?

PMQs: Prisons

After paying tribute to the late Piara Khabra Cameron hit Blair with six questions in a row on the prisons "scandal", repeatedly asking him when he was told that the total number of prisoners would exceed 80000. In what became a slightly angry exchange Blair didn't answer but said that year-on-year projections had been exceeded and that there had been a 25% increase in sentencing.

Being Blair's penultimate PMQs, Brown came up a lot. Cameron blamed him for the fact that more prisoners had been released this year than the entire prison population of Australia, saying "The person sat next to him [Blair] is the one responsible" for reduced funding for prisons. Brown later cheered enthusiastically when Blair said that the only reason money can be invested in public services in Scotland was because of his management of the economy.

Leaning forward onto his Despatch Box he forcefully finished with: "Shouldn't he apologise just this once for what can only be described as an abject failure to deliver".

Menzies Campbell struggled to be heard in asking if it's right that "private equity executives pay tax at a lower rate than those who clean their offices" and saying it would be fair to offer tax cuts for those on low incomes.

Deputy Editor

Related links: Brooks Newmark MP defends private equity and David Davies MP advocates a doubling of prison places

PMQs: Liveliest House for some time

Regarding the way that "Sarah's law" issue had come out (exaggerated "chemical castration" headlines in the tabloids), David Cameron asked Tony Blair if he was at all surprised at the cynicism the media held for him. He used his next two questions to try to get Blair to admit that he hadn't yet kept his promise of bringing in a new information sharing system recommended by the Bichard report.

In his second set of questions Cameron tried to use some of the statements made by the deputy leadership contenders against Blair. He said that the contenders were lurching to the left, made Prescott "look like a cross between Ernie Bevan and Demosthenes", and that the contest was a cross between Big Brother and the Muppet Show. He asked if Blair agreed with them in their calls for higher taxes, more money and power for trade unions. Blair said he didn't, but he took the opportunity to taunt Cameron by first quoting him saying "consistency in politics is vital", and then pointing out some inconsistent statements on grammar schools and the Married Couples Allowance.

He was shameless in going off the subject but did get people laughing at Cameron, particularly when he joked that he showed "the imprint of the last person that sat on him". Cameron rolled with the punches saying "Only two times left. I'm gonna miss him, gonna miss him".

PMQs: Pensions, Darfur and HIV

Back from last week's recess, this was presumably the third to last time that MPs will see Blair at the Despatch Box as he resigns three weeks today.

Cameron started with the Conservative pensions lifeboat proposals in the House of Lords, asking Blair about the completely unacceptable figures showing the government had only helped 1000 of the 125,000 people who had lost money, but at the high cost of £10million. Blair tried to balance saying it wasn't responsible to promise unfunded spending commitments with saying that a lot of people were actually being helped, although Cameron contested that a loan could be taken from the Treasury.

Menzies Campbell asked what the people of Darfur could expect from the G8, saying tougher sanctions an effective arms embargo and logistical support for AU were needed. Other notable questions included:

• Blair agreed with two good statements from Labour MPs, in support of Edinburgh university rescinding an honorary degree given to Robert Mugabe, and in opposition to the ban on Israeli lecturers at universities
• John Redwood asked why carbon emissions rose this year in UK and EU, but fell in America
• James Gray asked if Blair expected a similar accolade from Iraq as the one he got from Sierra Leone
• Sir Nicholas Winterton said considering the great style and flair Blair had brought to office would he leave with honour by not giving further powers and competences to the European Union without the promised referendum.

There was also plenty of jubilant taunting about grammar schools from the Labour benches.

Deputy Editor

PMQs

The first PMQs since it was confirmed that Gordon Brown would be elected unopposed was a subdued affair, perhaps recognising the pointlessness of asking questions to a Prime Minister who won't be there in two months time. At least the man who will have the power, Gordon Brown, turned up this time.

David Cameron's first subject: David Cameron took advantage of the long handover of power from Tony Blair to Gordon Brown by asking the "Prime Minister if he would advise the next Prime Minister" to reverse planned closures of maternity units. Tony Blair declined to do so. David Cameron then asked about the planned closure of accident and emergency units, again asking him what he would advise his successor to do. The Prime Minister again did not answer. 

David Cameron's second subject: David Cameron challenged Tony Blair on the last minute postponement of HIPS. Comparing the different answers on issues of substance given by Ruth Kelly and Yvette Cooper this week and last week David Cameron asked the Prime Minister if he would advise Gordon Brown to retain them. When Tony Blair insisted nothing was wrong Cameron said that "the walls of the bunker must be pretty thick".

Ming moment of the day: Ming Campbell asked the Prime Minister why he didn't seek a mandate for building new nuclear power stations in his 1997, 2001 and 2005 manifestos and why more money was not being invested in renewable energy.

Backbench question of the day: Simon Burns asked the Prime Minister about the link between dyslexia and crime. He said that a pilot project in Chelmsford Prison help was available to help prisoners with dyslexia but once they were outside no help was available.

Line of the day: Gordon Prentice got the biggest laugh when he asked Tony Blair about "out mutual friend the Chancellor"

Andrew Burkinshaw

PMQs: Prescott's Last Stand?

Tony Blair is on his farewell visit to Washington so John Prescott is, perhaps for the last time, standing in for him. William Hague takes David Cameron's place and Vincent Cable Ming Campbell's. The encounter takes place in a chamber full of MPs wearing big yellow ribbons in support of the McCann family.

William Hague's first subject: William Hague asked Prescott about the recruiting system for junior doctors. Prescott responded by ignoring the thrust of the question and resorted to attacking the Conservative party and William Hague in a typically incomprehensible manner.

William Hague's second subject: Hague asked Prescott whether he would be supporting the Conservatives this afternoon in opposing Home Information Packs. By this time Prescott had found the right page so he started talking about junior doctors. When Hague said that Gordon Brown would not be "the change this country needs" Prescott seemed to confirm it when he said that Brown has been responsible for "an awful lot" of the Government's record.

Vincent Cable's subject: Cable asks Prescott about his environmental record. He asks Prescott whether he, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have the same "talent of the Conservative leader for making environmentally friendly but empty soundbites".

Line of the day: Hague referred to Gordon Brown's love of invisibility but said that at his leadership launch "making himself invisible was taking think a bit too far".

Andrew Burkinshaw

Paralysis in the Government of the living dead

After joining Tony Blair in paying tributes to Lord Weatherill, Cameron again attacked Blair over the Home Office split. He quoted Charles Clarke who said splitting the Home Office was a "completely batty idea that would damage national security", and asked why John Reid wasn't hanging around to see the changes through if they were so good.

Brown was present for once, and didn't look impressed when Cameron said "Thank God he's come out of his blacked up limo and come into the Commons.". Blair made a lot of hay out of yesterday's speech by Letwin, mocking its language and picking out the line "it all goes back to Marx"... to which he joyfully retorted: "that's Groucho I assume".

Using all of his questions in one go, Cameron shifted his attack to the "paralysis" and instability of a Government whose senior ministers are due to resign at crucial times in their briefs. He finished off with the best soundbite of the day, "the government of the living dead", as Conservative MPs literally waved goodbye to Blair at the end of Cameron's questions (although he'll still be around for several weeks).

<paragraph about Menzies Campbell deleted for being too boring>

Other notable questions included Sir Peter Tapsell asking a typically pointless but funny question  that referenced both Walter Mitty and King James II. Brian Binley angrily said Blair had failed on crime and the causes of crime, and Daniel Kawczynski got a big laugh for a loud solo cheer to a question about Shropshire.

Deputy Editor

PMQs: Cameron presses case for independent inquiry into 7/7

With David Davis sat next to him, a very bronzed David Cameron (lots of canvassing) asked the Prime Minister if he had ruled out an independent inquiry into 7/7.  Mr Blair said that he had.  Another inquiry would not, he suggested, reach a different conclusion from the Intelligence and Security Committee but would divert the police and intelligence services from their vital work.  The Prime Minister also challenged David Davis' contention of yesterday that the security services had not been adequately resourced.  Their funding had doubled, he said.

Ming Campbell (whose party has issued an anti-war ad for the local elections) asked about Geoff Hoon's admission that there had been inadequate post-war planning in Iraq.  Tony Blair replied by saying that Saddam Hussein would still be in power if the LibDems had had their way.

Dennis Skinner amused the House with his question.  He called for a fresh inquiry into Black (White?) Wednesday given that new information had come to light.  That 'new information' being David Cameron's backroom role on the day and the fact that he had not been trailed since.

Mr Cameron's second question teased Tony Blair about his promise to serve a full term and his failure to do so.  'Was this his last broken promise?' David Cameron asked.  The Prime Minister teased back by noting David Cameron's attempt to enlist Greg Dyke as the Tory mayoral candidate.  I can assure the House, Tony Blair said, that his successor would be a member of his party.  David Cameron didn't ask his sixth question which might have been an opportunity to ask about the Newsnight poll which found that approximately three-quarters of Britons would like an immediate election to affirm Blair's successor.

It was interesting to see the chamber relatively empty.  Lots of our taxpayer-funded MPs are obviously in their constituencies campaigning in the local elections.

Editor's comment: "Tony Blair was on form today - ridiculing the LibDems - and perhaps beginning to look forward to being free from office.  David Cameron's second set of questions didn't quite work and he might have been better to have focused on some issue of local government responsibility."

Cameron asks Blair for an independent leak inquiry

In Prime Minister's Questions today David Cameron advocated setting up a full-scale independent inquiry into continuous leaks to the press about anti-terror operations. The Head of Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism command, Peter Clarke, criticised those who leak at a Policy Exchange event last night, and also said that Muslims weren't doing enough to help counter-terrorism:

"The people who do this either do not know or do not care what damage they do. If they do know, then they are beneath contempt; if they do not know, then let me tell them: they compromise investigations; they reveal sources of life saving intelligence; in the worst cases they put lives at risk."

Blair resisted the idea, saying that as far as he was aware the leaks weren't coming from any ministers, civil servants or speciaI advisers - to which Cameron replied: "But if you haven't had a leak inquiry, how on earth can you know?!". In his second round, Cameron called for Treasury loans that help people who lose occupational pensions to make payments. Blair's response was typically crystal clear:

"The problem with a Treasury loan is that, having looked at it, we don't think it's a very suitable or correct way of trying to provide that help because in the end all of this has to be paid back."

Michael Howard called the planned break-up of the Home Office ill-considered, asking Blair to draw a comparison to how well it worked at the time he was Shadow Home Secretary. This just gave him the excuse to list unfavourable crime statistics.

Deputy Editor