PMQs Verdict: Miliband abandons the pretence of serious cross-examination

Another PMQs down. A handful to go. One of the best things about the election getting closer is that these interminable and unedifying Wednesday sessions will come to an end.

I might as well just paste the verdict I wrote last week. Or the week before. Or the week before that. They all conform to the basic “Cameron doesn’t answer questions and Miliband doesn’t make him even remotely pay for it” template. As is often the case, the general thrust of Miliband’s questioning was right – Cameron should let the public know if he’s ever discussed tax avoidance with Stephen Green. But as has been the case too often of late, the execution wasn’t up to the task.

As several commentators have noted, Miliband’s questions looked decent on paper, but they were distinctly underwhelming in the chamber. Far from looking like he had the PM on the back foot, Miliband merely looked like he was going through the Parliamentary motions. Cameron’s responses were similarly lacklustre – donors, unions, blah – nothing he hasn’t said a thousand times before. None of which will shift a single vote come May. Except that a tired and bored country may look at these two men shouting at each other on TV and think “Is this the choice that faces the country?”.

Yes Britain. This is your choice.

And it’s frustrating, because Miliband in capable of the sort of forensic questioning that these crucial issues deserve. He could have seriously tackled the issue of tax avoidance, HSBC and the government’s relationship with Stephen Green. He could have sought to pin down the Prime Minister on details and dates. Labour has the information at its fingertips. And yet instead, he went down the road all too often travelled on these occasions – outright attack, without the pretence of serious cross-examination. By the end of Miliband’s time at the dispatch box, calling this Prime Minister’s Questions was an outright lie. Because in addition to a lack of answers, there were no questions either.

The country deserves better than this kind of “debate”. So does the House of Commons. And so do those of us who have to sit through it each week. How many PMQs left? Too many.