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PMQs verdict: Calm down Dave, and listen to the Doctors…

February 8, 2012 1:13 pm

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This week was a little Deja-PMQ. It was a patchwork of some of the worst elements of the last six months of these gruelling (for the
viewer) encounters. We all remember when David Cameron killed satire at PMQs. Labour tweeters beware, the Prime Minister – or at least someone paid by the public purse to prepare him for PMQs – is watching your tweets. Matt Zarb-Cousin got just the faintest of mentions (and not by name). He didn’t receive – as we shall come to know it – the full Bozier, but the references to online personalities is becoming something of a leitmotif for the PM. Soon they won’t be special – everyone will have one.

Another PMQs lowlight in recent months was the Flashman explosion, otherwise known as “calm-down-dear-gate”. Until today, that was the apex of Cameron’s cool-losing. Today, riled by Ed Miliband, he appeared to surpass that. Every answer was a shout, a bark or a yelp. The “crimson tide” of facial reddening that indicates his ire was a Terracotta Tsunami today, washing away his sense of proportion. It looked awful.

And what was it that had so irked our not-so-amiable (call me Dave) PM? The NHS. Ironically the man who so desperately wanted Labour to ”calm down” and listen “Listen to the doctor” wasn’t quite so keen to ”Calm down Dave, and Listen to the Doctors.”

That’s doctors (plural, GPs), rather than Doctor (singular, mysetery medic) Dave, if you’re reading. I know you’re such a fan of lefty online media.

But I digress – and it’s an unfair digression because it detracts attention from Ed Miliband, who gave by far his best PMQs performance
today. Six questions, all on the NHS, and he won the resulting verbal jousts resulting from each and every one. No gags, fewer stats, more narrative, and incredible discomfort for the rattled PM, who tried to dig himself out of a hole with a Gordon Brown-esque stat list.

Alas, even with this tactic (now as much of a Cameron tactic as it was for his predecessor) Miliband bested him. He defended Labour’s proud record on the NHS. If Cameron was Brown, suddenly Miliband was…dare I say it? Blair And even if I don’t dare to say it, Adam Boulton did. I actually stood up watching it. “I think he’s starting to believe”, I muttered – like a low-rent blogger version of Morpheus in the Matrix. Except in that moment, he actually did seem to believe in himself. The confidence is back. The same couldn’t be said of Andrew Lansley, who looked like a man who has been eating a bag of raisins, only to be told that those aren’t, in fact, raisins.

In many ways today was a reheated stew of some of the worst elements of Cameron’s reign over PMQs – the death of satire, Flashman, Listen to the Doctor and the PM’s inner Gordon Brown. Cameron was poor, but Ed Miliband won’t care a jot. He bested the PM comprehensively today. That’s three wins in a row. Now that is momentum. And that, I do dare to say…

Related posts:

  1. PMQs verdict: Say hello to Bad Dave (and Desperate Dave)
  2. PMQs verdict: Desperate Dave and the Mystery Medic
  3. PMQs verdict: Calm down Cameron
  4. PMQs verdict: Miliband lets Cameron off the hook
  5. PMQs verdict: Cut the gags, Ed
  • Anonymous

    He’d better start believing because PMQs will not win Labour elections simple the public do not listen or watch ,they watch the news and they read the media which is basically Tory in the main.

    You say he killed Cameron that’s it then for another week.

    • Anonymous

      The good thing is though that if Ed Miliband can boost his confidence he will be in a stronger position to fight off Big Brother and the other schemers who are just waiting for him to fail. 

      I think if he can continue to mature in this way he WILL be able to exert his influence and we will, I hope, see what sort of Labour party he wants to lead – and I sincerely hope it is different from the Blair/Brown years

  • Anonymous

    Ed rocked, great performance. PMQs filters through media outlets and has some influence. He now needs to apply the same skill on economic debate. Keep it up.

  • Anonymous

    He has indeed performed well three weeks in a row.  I think today was an improvement from last week.  When he is gifted an open goal, he now shoots and scores, before he may have hit the post and then score, or missed completely.
    David Cameron was completely mocked today; there was lots of laughter in the chamber, none coming from the Conservative side.  I noticed that Nick Clegg tried to suppress a smile but it didn’t work, and his facial expressions are usually quite  neutral.
    I don’t think PMQ’s has that much influence unless someone slips up and then it is all over the news.  It certainly wasn’t today, since both Sky News and the BBC concentrated their attentions to Harry Redknapp.

    • Anonymous

      Clegg did not smile that was wind, he’s full of gas that bloke.

      • Anonymous

        Ha ha!  No, he did smile.  He seemed quite amused, actually.  I looked at Cameron and he seemed stony faced.

  • Mike Homfray

    Ed was calm and spoke in a measured way – that is his style and whoever was encouraging to tell jokes and bluster wants shooting. Ed isn’t Cameron and the aim should be to accentuate the positive differences – because there are elements of Cameron that appeal only to Tories but repel others

  • http://twitter.com/MatthewSDent Matthew S. Dent

    A sterling performance from Ed, and an excellent note to go into the recess on. He really seems to have found his feet in recent weeks, and my feeling is that we might be on the cusp of the tide well and truly turning.

  • Ayub Khan

    Do not be embarrased to say it.  Ed was more Blair like today and thats what we need at PMQ’s.  Belief, Confidence and gravitas.  These 3 things will always bring Falshman out of Cameron. Well done Ed.  Keep it up 

  • mactheanti

    This is the real Ed Miliband, he doesn’t do jokes, he does quiet calm intelligence and he asks the questions people want asked (pity that Cameron never answers them).

  • Redshift

    lol, I did very much enjoy the Morpheus comment…

  • Bill Wells

    I expect that the Tory Central Office will send our Arry a bottle of the best for his acquital allowed our biased news media not to lead on Ed’s demilotion of purple face Cameron.  Perhaps some people on Labour List will now get behind our leader.

  • http://twitter.com/tommilleruk Tom Miller

    “The same couldn’t be said of Andrew Lansley, who looked like a man who
    has been eating a bag of raisins, only to be told that those aren’t, in
    fact, raisins.”

    Too good not to be plagiarism…

  • AmberStar

    I think that Ed previously had the same attitude to PMQs which treborc does. i.e. the majority of the voting public neither see nor care about it so why spend much time & effort preparing for it?

    Having belatedly realised that it does feed into the general media narrative & also that the ‘troops’ were becoming demoralised by his ‘PMQs is not important’ attitude, Ed decided to get in the game. Result: 3 wins in a row.

    • Anonymous

      The way to win is when Cameron changes his mind for example ED for 3what ever reason decided to come out in favour of the NHS but for months we had nothing, the Tories were getting away with Murder nobody seemed to care.

      I do not know what Ed or Burnham was thinking Burnham seemed to think some privatisation  was fine, but he did not say how much or how far that then leads to people thinking does anyone care  is the NHS gone is it over.

      Today in Wales it was made plain with no miss understanding Wales would not be changing and no sell off in Wales.

      But I’ve no idea what labour stand for , will we have social housing, will we have an NHS, will we have welfare, because what I’m hearing today hundreds of thousand of people with cancer who are under going treatment are having to appeal being told they are fit to work.

      My own sister in law who has  Hodgkinson Lymphoma, she also has bone cancer she under went treatment and lost the tips of her fingers, she is in a wheelchair and she weigh seven stone, has been told she is fine no problems, her consultant is going with her to the appeal.

      Come on people for god sake, if you have an ingrowing toe nail and your claiming fine, if your cheating the system fine, if your disabled for god sake are you all saying people and welfare do not count.

      I do not mind going to medicals and I do not mind having doctor  doing tests, but picking up and empty carton, by using your stumps or any party of your body, not a full carton mind you an empty one.

      This is Labour not the Tories.

      I need to know if labour care and if not who are they hoping will vote for them.

  • Anonymous

    I’ve taped this PMQ’s in typical political anorak style so hope to add something later.
    But your account is wicked Mark!

    Ed M must know he’s on very firm territory, and perhaps the “higher moral ground”?

    What really matters though is the outcome for the public, and NHS.

    If people pull together on common ground- this could produce powerful
    momentum.

    I honestly don’t believe this issue should be reduced to point scoring
    or becoming a political football- but the points of substance have to be made.

    Also, there’s a cross party comnsensus building, as well as amongst the experts.

    Re the point about “95%” of GP’s already rolling out reforms in primary care(?)
    -I think needs to be looked into.What choice did they really have,
    and why has this been enacted before leglislation has been passed?

    We just need full transparency and the full facts to pass judgement
    on process.

    Thanks, J.

  • Anonymous

    PS- re title:

    Listen to nurses, midwives,doctors,radiogrophers, physiotherapists, psychiatrists,
    mental health workers, GP’s, medical students, ancillary staff, allied professionals in hospitals and community; research experts, medical peers in the HOL, and cross party
    MP’s, Tory led Health committee, patient groups, and the public view.
    BMA, RCN, BMJ, RCGP’s and other professional groups representing members.

    How does this possibly reflect widespread support?

    • Anonymous

      The Tories are not interested in what we think, to many of these Tories can see a way of making money out of the privatisation  of the NHS.

      The fact is if the Tories can spend less, make more  companies make money and we all know how you do that, cuts to the bone lower wages longer hours, cheapest tenders.

      But the Tories could not care a dam about what  staff think unless the public also say no, or if we end up having a national NHS strike.

      I suspect in the end it will be watered down it will hardly seem the same policy.

      • Anonymous

        I think this issue goes beyond party politics in some ways though Robert.
        Also, there are some sensible and pragmatic people, some with direct experience of working in healthcare across the whole House and peers,
        from what I’ve read for some months.

        If it was excellent reform, I wouldn’t mind who or what enacted it-
        but it’s clearly not, in so many ways.I think it’s been handled wrongly
        also- and imposed top down to such an extent so many are really unhappy
        and genuinely fearful about implications further down the road.
        Once setting certain factors into motion, could set up a precedent that will be impossible to reverse.

        Some of the big issues, like economy, health and education, should involve
        cross party collaboration and a wider public discourse/debate I think.
        That way, people might get more on board and have more trust in political process.

        This could be “worst case scenario” in more ways than one,
        politically as well as practically; but it’s never too late
        to take a brave step by admitting going down the wrong path
        or by wrong process.

        I’ve just found “NHS Reforms live blog” on Guardian too;
        apparently- “ministers lose first NHS Lords vote.”

        J

  • Dave Postles

    Have you signed Dr Chand’s epetition?

    https://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/22670/signature/new

    54+k have, but 100k is the target.

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