Party Lines: October 27th

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

Douglas Alexander was quick out of the blocks after PMQs in his attacks on the Prime Minister for refusing to changes his housing benefit plans – something which Ed Miliband repeatedly challenged Cameron on in the house:

“David Cameron further raised the stakes and divided his coalition today by confirming his policy to punish those who can’t find work by cutting the cash they get to help with housing costs.”

“Although he is clearly not listening to the Lib Dems we are ready to work with all sides of the House to defeat these unfair plans.”

“Ed Miliband told David Cameron it was time to listen – now I’m telling Lib Dem MPs it’s time to talk and work together to force the government to think again.”

Speaking to BBC News early this evening, Alexander urged Vince Cable to convince the Prime Minister that he’s making a mistake:

“The first practical suggestion I would give to Vince Cable would be to convince the prime minister at the next meeting is that if you are looking for work, turning up for interviews and doing everything that is expected of you, you should not have your housing benefit reduced by 10%.”

Ed Balls pointed to the cuts in the police force, and expressed concern that the largest cuts will be seen during the Olympic year, 2012:

“The Spending Review was already bad news for the fight against crime with a massive 20% in police funding. But now more details are emerging it’s even more concerning than we’d first thought. The Home Secretary got a terrible deal. By frontloading the bulk of the cuts next year and the year after, it will be even more difficult to minimise the impact on frontline policing through efficiency savings. That’s why KPMG and the Police Federation are predicting around 20,000 fewer police officers over the coming years.”

“And cutting funding for policing twice as deeply in the year we are hosting the Olympics than the year after beggars belief. An 8% cut in 2012 will mean fewer police officers and more over-stretched resources at a time when we are hosting thousands of extravisitors and VIPs for the most high-profile event in the world.”

Speaking in the house during the debate on Royal Mail privatisation, shadow business secretary John Denham said:

“Today’s bill breaks the umbilical link between the Royal Mail and the network of Post Offices prized by residents up and down the country and threatens the future of thousands of local post offices.”

“The proposed mutuals may be seen as a cynical attempt to shift responsibility for future closures of Post Offices onto the shoulders of the future mutual owners of the Post Office network.”