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< Back to listCameron's PMQ debut
Laura Wyld
David Cameron’s first PMQs as the boss won’t go down as a classic, but he gave a typically polished performance.
With the details of the Cumbrian shootings still emerging, and the world’s eyes on Israel, stand-in Labour Leader Harriet Harman didn’t have a huge opportunity for a knockabout session. Where she tried to land some punches, Cameron easily avoided them, often cheered on by his Lib Dem Cabinet colleagues.
The leaders had a robust exchange over Tory plans to allow those accused of rape anonymity, but Cameron was very careful not to be boxed into seeming to undermine rape victims’ evidence. He gave determinedly measured responses to Harman’s forceful argument that rape victims were being singled out as untrustworthy, so by question 4 the Commons was still looking calm.
Maybe the marriage tax allowance proposals could be used to irk the Lib Dems and reveal a glaring chink in the Coalition’s armour. But again, Cameron reacted calmly, defending his own position but pointing out that others could abstain. From the benign expressions on the faces on Lib Dem frontbenchers, it was clear that they are still bathing in honeymoon sunshine, and have no plans to allow any storms on the horizon any time soon.
But with the first year of marriage apparently being the hardest, when summer turns to autumn the Government benches may well feel less cosy.
Posted by Laura Wyld
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