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PMQs review: an end-of-term triumph for Miliband

The Labour leader is growing in confidence as Cameron's woes multiply.

By George Eaton Published 11 July 2012 13:14

David Cameron and Ed Miliband. Photograph: Getty Images.

Ed Miliband said of Cameron: "the redder he gets, the less he convinces people". Photograph: Getty Images.

Perhaps the only consolation that David Cameron can draw from today's PMQs is that he won't have to do it again for seven weeks. It is hard to recall a more confident performance from Ed Miliband or a more faltering one from Cameron.

If Cameron thinks that the solution to his woes is to revive the "Red Ed" jibe, he's in even more trouble than we thought. That was the put-down that he fell back on after Miliband quipped: "the redder he gets, the less he convinces people". When the Labour leader referred to the PM's altercation with Conservative MP Jesse Norman, Cameron denounced him for recycling "tittle tattle" and "half-baked gossip" (note that he did not deny the encounter). But it was Cameron who came unstuck when Miliband turned to two issues of substance: the double-dip recession "made in Downing Street" and the "millionaires' tax cut". Cameron has still not found a convincing way to rebut the charge that he "makes the wrong choices and stands up for the wrong people". His tactic of blaming "the mess" left by the last Labour government ("we will never forget what we were left by the party opposite," he said) may have worked in the early days of the coalition but it is subject to ever-diminishing returns. Most voters view it as an evasive attempt to shift the blame for Britain's economic woes.

Cameron's strongest line was his declaration that "we back the workers, they back the shirkers". As the polls indicate, the benefits caps is (lamentably) the most popular coalition policy. But the problem for Cameron is that he has failed to live up to the first part of this injunction. He has raised VAT and cut tax credits for the working poor, while handing a £40,000 tax cut to 14,000 millionaires. Back in January, when Miliband's leadership was at its lowest ebb, almost no one would have forecast that he, not Cameron, would end the session in a position of strength. That he has done is reflective not only of his improved performance but of the series of disastrous blunders Cameron has made.

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Tags: PMQs review David Cameron Ed Miliband

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12 comments

Wed, 2012-07-18 14:04 — Goji (not verified)

Nice article..... interesting.
Goji Goji fructe goji

Thu, 2012-07-12 01:29 — tyrete (not verified)

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Wed, 2012-07-11 21:16 — niuqqa

http://dv.gd/oej

Wed, 2012-07-11 19:40 — millibandphobe (not verified)

This is the most stomach churning piece of sycophancy I have ever read. Is the author angling for a post as spin doctor in some future Labour administration? Millibland is a weirdo geek with the charisma and leadership qualities of a baked potato. Does ANYONE, even the most loyal Labour voter reagrd him as a credible candidate for PM?

Thu, 2012-07-12 10:00 — Nominal Thickness (not verified)

The answer to your question is "Yes" We have had two PR men as prime minister.One had a real occupation also Blair and the other just served his time until he was elevated to his rightfull position (In his own mind)
What the country needs now is an Attlee to do the same job as after the war.
Milliband can do that if he removes the NuLab faction and takes government back from the lobbyists and installs a working cabinet of experienced real world individuals to represent the 99%.

Wed, 2012-07-11 21:47 — Steve AM (not verified)

How childish can some people be hey?

Wed, 2012-07-11 19:09 — martybee (not verified)

Ed...you can have this one for free...the next time he tries to use the 'Red Ed' line you can counter by calling him Red Head...

Wed, 2012-07-11 16:18 — Redjohn3 (not verified)

Cameron is pure PR, lots of bluster, zero content, a poor man's (ok not poor) Tony Blair.

Ed is maturing, understanding modern day politics and like any seasoned hunter, waiting for the wounded animal to drop its guard. The trouble is for all those folk in the government, their animal was barely alive in the first place.

Wed, 2012-07-11 16:11 — Jimminy-Wicket

One of Ed's Miliband's greatest assets is he is single minded and even under the most intense provocation he remains cool,calm and collective whereas Cameron turns red in the face and retaliates more like a petulant child rather than a mature adult!!!

Wed, 2012-07-11 14:14 — SammyW (not verified)

The reason why Ed can end this session in this position is because he is honest and tells the truth, unlike the habitually lying ever evasive David Cameron. I was never one that doubted Ed Miliband, even though he was my second choice for leader of the Labour party; I have always seen something in Ed Miliband that is worth cultivating and I knew he would start to win through.

Cameron's response to be asked to apologise for the disgraceful way in which George Osborne deliberately maligned Ed Balls and ministers of the previous Labour government was truly terrible, absolutely pathetic, he spluttered, rambled and attacked, typical signs of being under stress. I make this prediction, if Cameron and Osborne do not apologise for Osborne's utter madness in deciding to play party politics with this financial issue concerning banks and bankers, so serious that it greatly affects peoples lives, (while they still have a little time to do so), then they will truly live to regret it. Cameron's reaction today and totally evading the question was an absolute farce and a disgrace and many people will recognise it as such.

Wed, 2012-07-11 13:38 — frances smith

I thought ed miliband did well, and came over as confident, and more mature seeming.

his questions were well organised too, and they progressed well, and were well connected. partly, i think that is because the more mistakes cameron makes the easier it becomes to create a coherent narrative on his failure, but milibands questions did seem very well organised.

Wed, 2012-07-11 13:22 — Salop_Ian

There was also he irony of Cameron castigating Labour for having un-costed policies on the same day as the Government announced a health policy white paper that avoids the costing details.