A taxing question time

Prime minister's questions sketch
By Nick Assinder
Political correspondent, BBC News website

Tony Blair was doing fine until he got carried away with a joke about Tory policy.

Blair has a new weapon against Tories

The prime minister has been handed a thick document entitled "Tax Matters" with which to beat David Cameron about the head.

This is the programme of £21 billion of tax cut options put forward by the tax commission set up by shadow chancellor George Osborne.

It has been rejected as a complete package because Mr Osborne and his boss David Cameron know that, as far as the trading of propaganda between the two parties is concerned, £21bn Tory tax cuts becomes, in the lips of Labour, £21bn of cuts to health, education and security.

So Mr Cameron wasn't going to mention it. But thanks to one of the remaining, small band of tame and obedient Labour backbenchers, the prime minister was quickly asked a question which allowed him to open the assault on the "Tory cuts".

This is uncomfortable stuff for Mr Cameron - and, in reality, should not be allowed during a session which is meant to be about government policy, as Speaker Michael Martin has been forced to remind the PM before.

Not safe

The Tory leader preferred security - the allegedly crisis-hit youth justice system, overcrowded prisons and even the chancellor's promised action to freeze terrorists assets.

His sound bite was OK: "It does not matter who is in charge, Blair-Brown or Brown-Blair, this country is not safe under Labour."

Cameron ignored jibes over tax plans

Strangely, but not in the least surprisingly, every prime ministerial answer still managed to come back to the Tory cuts, with a little bit of the Tories talking tough but voting soft on crime and security mixed in.

And, as the Labour benches displayed with their cheers, he appeared to throw Mr Cameron onto the back foot. There was more of the old, confident Blair on show again.

But then he got perhaps just a little over-confident when pointing out differences in quotes from leader Mr Cameron and his shadow chancellor, George Osborne on green policy.

Evenly-matched

"I assume they are on the same side, roughly."

Oops - bearing in mind the relationship between Mr Blair and his chancellor, that was a bit of a gift to Tory benches who leapt on it like a croc seizing a gazelle.

But it was probably the only slip from the prime minister in a more evenly-matched contest than we have seen of late.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell once again proved he was also back to his old, sure-footed self with a well-aimed attack on the extradition deal between the UK and the US which, he claimed, was a one way street.

Sir Menzies demanded to know when moves would be taken to extradite American soldiers allegedly responsible for the death of ITN reporter Terry Lloyd in Iraq.

Mr Blair avoided an answer, allowing the Lib Dem leader a despairing "Not much comfort there".