The mood in the Commons is grim

By Lisa Nandy MP

There is very little talk of anything but the budget in the Commons this week. The mood is grim, although many of the announcements were expected, had been made already, or are yet to come.

Wigan, which suffered disproportionately under the last Tory government, looks set to be hit again. The coalition have called a moratorium on spending by the Regional Development Agency – one of the economic engines of our economy – and last week said they were abolishing the RDAs altogether. It’s a crazy policy: the RDA funds our workless programmes, our apprenticeships and supports small businesses that are in trouble. It couldn’t be more important at the moment. With no decision about the future of those programmes in sight, it looks like the Tories are seeking to close down the coalfields all over again.

I had been mulling over the best way to raise this when I discovered I had been drawn first at Prime Minister’s Questions. PMQs seem to be a golden opportunity to draw attention to an issue, but also a likely place to make a complete fool of yourself with the eyes of the world (well, the political world) on you.

When I was first elected, Paul Flynn MP kindly gave me a copy of his legendary book, ‘How to be a Backbencher’, which I dug out for instructions. Being drawn at PMQs, it said, is the jewel in the crown of Question Time. The chances of being drawn first are about once every six years. Failure at PMQs, he said, is lonely and agonising. I decided the best option at that point was to stop reading.

I was spared lonely, agonising failure in the end – although I didn’t get much in the way of an answer. The Prime Minister said he was not (actively) trying to close down the coalfields but he had been to Wigan to visit the site of the planned new Lads and Girls’ Club. Strange answer, especially as no-one seems to remember him visiting, not least the local Tories who are against the new youth club. But it was very much in keeping with most of the answers I’ve had from this government so far. Many of the answers have either played for time, promising a decision or announcement at some indeterminate further date, or been wrong: stating that housing projects that have been axed are going ahead or listing projects now under review that were never planned.

Teething problems for a new, chaotic government, or a sign of cracks in the ConDem coalition? I’ll keep you posted.