PMQs: The Leader of the Opportunists won the day but he missed the point entirely
Jack Blackburn 3.38pm
Was it the operating theatre or the morgue at Prime Minister’s Questions? Perhaps it was a macabre combination of the two.
On the operating table lay Mr Lansley’s NHS Bill: sick, deformed but on powerful life-support sustained by Number 10.
Above it there are two surgeons, Dave and Edward, wielding scalpels not on the patient but at each other.
In the corner is a helpless Mr Lansley, who looked on while his reforms were tossed around the operating room like a chew-toy.
This was the scene of a particularly rowdy PMQs. Armed with endless quotations and declarations of opposition from various royal colleges, the Leader of the Opposition took on the manner of a boyish irritant, constantly poking the Prime Minister until Dave got upset. “I’m not surprised he’s getting so agitated,” Edward said, with a hint of smugness.
The Prime Minister struggled today. The NHS Bill is certainly a thorn in his side. He attempted to argue it out on facts and figures, but Edward gave far better than he got on this occasion. By four questions in, David Cameron was losing the session, finding it nigh on impossible to carry the weight of an unpopular bill and a split coalition.
The only reason why Mr Cameron was able to get a decent showing in today, and he did, was that Edward over-stretched, as he tends to do.
He couldn’t quite control himself, choosing to query openly the Health Secretary’s job security. The lack of grace gave Mr Cameron the opportunity for some return fire. He characterised Labour as “opportunists”, said that Mr Miliband was not trying to save the NHS but his own job, and responded to the goading of the Health Secretary by quipping that Lansley’s job prospects were “considerably better” than Edward’s.
Today, the Tory Reform Group has been subject to the type of over-zealous citations that the Leader of the Opportunists loves.
Edward said that the TRG was against the NHS Bill, presumably referring to Craig Barrett’s piece on these pages. In that blog, Craig did advise Mr Lansley to accept defeat and drop the Bill, though not the much-needed reform of the NHS.
We are of course flattered that Mr Miliband reads these pages, which must frequently be a somewhat masochistic experience for him. But his family history ought to teach him that the views of some do not necessarily represent the opinion of the whole. This is a blog that takes pride in the free expression of opinion and debate and posts do not represent the corporate view of the TRG, as our disclaimer (see to the right) and this earlier statement state very clearly.
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