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Listen to a recording of today's PMQs
David Cameron and Ed Miliband clashed over the results of the phone hacking trial before a packed chamber at PMQs today. Cameron scored a solid victory in the chamber—deflecting a total of eight questions on the topic, but it's clear that the world beyond Westminster doesn’t much care who gets the loudest cheers in the house.
Seven came from Labour MPs (four from Miliband, and one each from Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South-East), Chris Bryant (Rhondda) and Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley)). Miliband’s main strategy was to run through revelations which cast Coulson in a bad light in the order in which Cameron would have heard about them. It was a neat idea, and allowed the Labour benches to unleash a deafening cheer each time Ed needled Cameron:
[4:07 in our audio] “On the 8th of July, 2009, the Guardian published evidence of phone hacking on an industrial scale while Andy Coulson was editor of the News of the World… what action did he [the Prime Minister] take?”
[5:30 in our audio] “First warning ignored, let’s move on to May 2010. The Deputy Prime Minister warned him in person about his deep concerns about Andy Coulson… what action did he [the Prime Minister] take?”
[7:00 in our audio] “Then in September 2010, the New York Times published a front page investigation detailing Andy Coulson’s extensive knowledge of phone hacking… what action did he [the Prime Minister] take?”
Sadly, Miliband's ploy didn't pay off. On each point, an increasingly relieved looking Cameron held the line that the issue had been dealt with at the Leveson Inquiry, which, he didn’t hesitate to point out, Ed Miliband had called for, and which cleared him of any incompetence in hiring Coulson. He also had a nice slow ball from Conservative MP Philip Davies, who accused Labour of attempting to “rewrite history” to deflect attention from their own failures while in power. “I think my honourable friend put it rather better than I did,” said a smirking Cameron.
The PM wasn’t exactly relaxed, but his only immediately apparent slip came much later, when he referred to the Queen’s visit to the set of “Games [plural] of Thrones.” For the record, a Downing Street spokesman confirmed after that Cameron has indeed watched the show.
But away from the throaty roar of the chamber, reality intruded. The news broke during PMQs that the judge in the phone hacking trial, Mr Justice Saunders, had criticised the Prime Minister for speaking out about the trial while it was still in process. As a result of the timing, No.10 were unable to brief on Cameron’s response.
A wider question has now been raised about whether Gus O'Donnell, the former head of the civil service, warned Cameron about taking on the former tabloid editor. Cameron said at PMQs that O’Donnell had been asked about the issue at Leveson, but Labour officials said this was incorrect. O’Donnell did state in his written submission that he was not involved in the process of appointing Coulson, but, as Coffee House points out, that doesn’t rule out his having voiced private concerns.
Mr Justice Saunders said that politicians regarded the hacking trial as "open season." It looks like it could be open season on the PM in the days to come.
[As an aside, if you're a politics anorak it's worth listening to the start of our audio for a rare discussion of parliamentary sub-judice rules from speaker John Bercow]
