Thursday 2nd July 2009

Sorry about the lack of updates recently, I was working all last week and this week has been very chaotic with moving into the new house. We haven't yet got Internet sorted in the new house (I'm sitting here in the Solent uni computer room), so I'm afraid I might not be able to update for a while. In the mean time, here's a piece a wrote back in December on the subject of Prime Minister's Questions for a Reporting Government assignment. Enjoy!


Its 11:55am on a Wednesday and the majority of Westminster is getting ready for the biggest media event of the week; Prime Minister’s Questions. The news channels are preparing for half an hour of intense debate, millions of people tune into The Daily Politics just for this constitutional occasion and as soon as Andrew Neil says “and now over to The House of Commons” we can expect fireworks.
Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) has been used to hold the Government to account since being permanently introduced by Harold MacMillan in 1961 and after recent reforms by Tony Blair it still remains the most watched Parliamentary event in an average week. In its 47 year history we have seen some classic battles between the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition, from its early beginnings in the 1960s right through to today, when Gordon Brown steps up to the dispatch box to face questions from leader of the Conservatives David Cameron every Wednesday.
It is sometimes the only time we see the House of Commons full on both sides. MPs make a special effort to be present and viewers at home can watch proceedings on a number of different channels, including three different BBC channels (BBC News 24, BBC Parliament and on The Daily Politics on BBC Two).
So why does this routine event attract so much media attention? Shadow Chancellor George Osborne argues we should be proud of PMQs as no other leader in any other country in the world subjects themselves to a weekly inquisition, where any subject could be brought up by backbench MPs.
However, not everyone is a fan of it. Joe Ashton, MP for Bassetlaw claimed during the 1997 reform process that the “Chamber sounded like animals in a zoo” during PMQs and can it could be said this is true; we often tune into PMQs on a Wednesday afternoon not to see intelligent political debate before us, but elected members of Parliament shouting and jeering at each other across the house.
But perhaps this is what we have to expect from the House of Commons. It is, after all, Speaker John Bercow's job to keep the house in order and he faces his biggest challenge during PMQs.
Before 1997, PMQs took place during two 15 minute slots on Tuesday and Thursdays. Tony Blair changed this almost as soon as he became Prime Minister by allocating half an hour of his time to questions at 12pm on Wednesday. This was part of his grand plan to dominate the national news agenda. Blair was a natural performer and one of his greatest strengths was answering questions spontaneously and the new time slot meant he could release a sound bite which would be reported on the lunch time news.
In fact, the differences between Blair and his successor Gordon Brown become obvious when comparing their performances during PMQs. Whereas Blair excelled in this area and could give a satisfactory response to almost any question asked by an opposition MP, Brown has struggled to make an impact since becoming Prime Minister in June 2007. Perhaps the most cringe worthy moment for Brown during Prime Ministers Questions came recently when he accidentally claimed to have “saved the world”. Of course, he meant to say his Government had saved Britain’s banks from the credit crunch, but this simple slip of the tongue prompted much laughter from the other side of the house and it was replayed an hour later on the lunchtime news.
If Tony Blair had made a similar mistake during his premiership then it would be likely he would recover by making light of the situation, but Brown’s lack of performance skills only enhanced his reputation as a faltering leader. Some critics suggest this may be that defining moment that everyone remembers from Brown’s time as Prime Minister.
Presenter of Channel Four News Jon Snow believes Tony Blair has been the best performer in the history of PMQs. He says:
“Although Blair would have done better to abandon the charade altogether, he was a complete master of PMQs and performs brilliantly, wiping the floor with the opposition most times. But that was because Blair was an ‘actor barrister’, absorbing a brief easily and acting it out with a keen sense of timing.”
It is clear that Tony Blair had the right skills to succeed during Prime Minister’s Questions, but that doesn’t necessarily make him a better Prime Minister, as Snow points out:
“His performance during PMQs hasn’t prevented his reputation withering since his retirement. You never hear anyone calling for the return of Tony Blair.”
The question of whether PMQs is the most effective way of holding the Government to account has split the media, but Jon Snow is one of those who firmly feels there are better alternative methods. He says:
“Individual MPs only get one question each, meaning there is rarely any ‘follow up’, so the Prime Minister neatly avoids the awkward detail.
“PMQs is far more a matter of theatre than of genuine inquiry and suggests the PM is in some way more held to account than he really is.”
But what do the Members of Parliament themselves think about Prime Minister’s Questions? It is true that the House of Commons is more or less at full capacity for that particular half-hour on a Wednesday afternoon and according to one Conservative back bencher PMQs may not be the best way of holding our Government to account, but it still holds some importance.
Richard Benyon was elected as MP for Newbury in 2005 and has been involved in PMQs a number of times, most recently asking Gordon Brown a question about child welfare. He says:
“When I entered Parliament, I thought Prime Minister’s Questions would be the most pointless half-hour of the week. I still hold that opinion to a point, but have slightly tempered my view in light of experience.
“For the leader of a major, developed democracy to have to come to Parliament every week for half an hour to face pertinent questions and a confrontational atmosphere is a good way of reminding the most powerful in the land they are, after all, mortal.
“The problem is the Prime Minister rarely answers any question.”
Benyon has had personal experience of having his question not answered directly by the Prime Minister. On 26th November 2008 he asked Gordon Brown why a report into the death of Baby P wasn’t made available for the public to read. Brown quickly put an end to this matter by saying the report was confidential, but the Opposition Children’s spokesman was allowed to read it. This clearly supports Jon Snow’s view that back bench MPs contributions during PMQs are largely ineffective due to the lack of follow up questions.
So we’ve established that Prime Minister’s Questions doesn’t effectively hold the Government to account, but there is no doubt this Parliamentary event provides great entertainment. From the days of Macmillan right through to today with Brown, the performances of Prime Ministers are critically assessed by the media and there is no doubt that PMQs has provided us with many memorable moments over the years.