Wednesday, January 12, 2011

PMQs: Cameron ahead on points

Parliament is back in session after the Christmas break and that means PMQs is back as well. So what did the weekly cockpit punch up bring us this time? As expected, bank bonuses were at the top of the agenda. Miliband Junior tried to lay some punches by taking up this issue. He had mixed results. He scored a hit when he was able to quote Cameron's remarks in opposition about the need to clamp down on bonuses. It wasn't a knockout blow but it could have been damaging if Cameron hadn't beaten him back with Miliband's own record, and that of Labour in office.

Most Labour members I speak to seem to believe that history began on the day the Coalition was created. That conveniently allows them to ignore their own record. It allows them to ignore the fact that Fred Goodwin was allowed to leave RBS when they nationalised the bank with a payoff so large it puts nearly every likely bonus in 2011 in the shade. It allows them to ignore the fact Labour knighted Fred The Shred for services to banking. It allows them to ignore the fact that the bonus culture became the norm in banking under Labour. And it allows Labour to ignore the fact they they too did little to stop bonuses.

Cameron however was able to throw all this back at Miliband. Cameron won on points. Nevertheless, it was a rather tetchy performance by both of them.

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