PMQs

They are all full of shit and are briefed on what say and give answers to by their team of Special Advisors, Spin Doctors and Media Cronies.

The Blair Administration was shocking Remeber Alistair Campbell,

As Private Eye used to say
Pass the sick bag Alice.

DrWatson

For the OP, Ronib -- PMQs is just for show, almost nobody in the country gives a monkeys, no matter how many times they show politicians on the TV News shouting or getting shown up.

I say "almost nobody" -- but LemonJam seems to be their #1 fan, possibly on the planet. You can defend Starmer, and Labour, as much as you like, the reality is that we are 'blessed' with politicos of exceptional incompetence (in ALL parties), with occasional extra capacity for criminals and perverts.

And that's why a thin-skinned racist opportunist & hypocrite is doing well in the Polls, as he looks fresh & interesting compared to the exposed bozos that have been in the Commons a while.

😂

Would it have to be a Politician who has made numerous racist comments in his past? And who possibly currently proposes racist policies?
Who says 'How dare you' when asked about this?
Could be that person?

Dr Watson - who is the thin skinned racist?

Dr Watson- who or what do you think I a fan of?

No one cares about PMQ's?
Except for the GNs keeping this Thread afloat?

I agree with you Dr Watson - the bit I find difficult is that PMQs are so adrift from how normal people and businesses interact. We’re not the only country with PMQs but we seem very accepting of the poor way it’s presented here. Slapstick comes to mind.

For the OP, Ronib -- PMQs is just for show, almost nobody in the country gives a monkeys, no matter how many times they show politicians on the TV News shouting or getting shown up.

I say "almost nobody" -- but LemonJam seems to be their #1 fan, possibly on the planet. You can defend Starmer, and Labour, as much as you like, the reality is that we are 'blessed' with politicos of exceptional incompetence (in ALL parties), with occasional extra capacity for criminals and perverts.

And that's why a thin-skinned racist opportunist & hypocrite is doing well in the Polls, as he looks fresh & interesting compared to the exposed bozos that have been in the Commons a while.

They all do it! Never heard a politician give a direct answer to a question...EVER!

ronib

I object to the principle that says x will happen and then it doesn’t. Starmer is showing true form yet again. It’s not the best way to win confidence.

My feelings exactly. There's a lot of "I promise we will think about talking about doing something about it" then nothing concrete actually happens. Also, "spin" is back is as much as Labour is now claiming their anti illegal immigration policy is working because no small boats have crossed The Channel in the last 28 days - yeah, don't mention the weather has been far too bad for boat crossings. And "50,000 NEW hospital appointments". New? Not just reinstated because doctors got a massive pay rise to end the last set of strikes and went back to work prior to voting for more strikes next week. Labour isn't working!

KB's questions to KS in PMQ this week- she gets 6 questions:

Q-1) KB asked "Can the RHG tell the House why his own Cabinet Ministers are call him a Caretaker Prime Minister" (Not sure the question is factually correct- has any CM actually described KS as Caretaker PM?) Anyway KS gives his reply accordingly.

Q-2) KB asked "Can the PM tell the House how much energy bills have fallen since the election?" KS answers "£150 a year on top of £150 a year last year".

Q3) KB asked "Labour pledged to recruit 6,500 extra teachers, how many more are there?" KS answers "More than when Conservatives left office I'm proud to say and on an upward trajectory" KB says he's wrong and issues an invitation to check the figures on the DFE website....

Q4) KB asked- "The PM promised to recruit 13,000 extra police officers- how's that going?" KS answers "3,000 more by March 2025 and rising..."

Q5) "He said (the Health Secretary) he'd end the doctors strike so how many appointments were lost to strike action since last July?' KS answers ...."we've invested in 5 million extra appointments.."

Q6) KB asked "Isn't it time that Labour admits its isn't working"? KS of course did not admit that Labour isn't working (no PM would surely- (did anyone expect him to?) and instead gave his reasons why he thinks Conservative isn't working. (I would suggest most PMs would answer in a similar way).

After KS gives KB her answer, she then parries back and KS then parries back to her until she asks her next question. Many describe this traditional part of proceedings as a dance/ ballet/political fencing/a pantomime etc. Some like it some don't. Has been like this in PMQs between PMs and Opposition leaders for many, many years. It's supposed to be a demonstration of democracy.

It's for the electorate to decide whether a PM's answers to questions are valid or correct I would suggest. Thats is the function of democracy. There are media outlets who carry out post PMQ fact checks for anybody interested. The electorate is always able to check out facts, numbers etc also if they so choose. E.g. KB made reference to DFE website issuing an invitation to check the numbers of teacher recruitment- I did because I was interested. Not everyone will, I accept.

I would not expect Lindsey Hoyle to intervene after a PM has given their answer- he's meant to be impartial. He does intervene when the parrying/dancing/political pantomime display gets too heated- that's the crux of his role.

Agree with Arthur Askey

If Starmer says "just to be clear" once he says it a thousands times. And it's very clear what type of Prime Minister he is and no explanation needed

Expecting a straight answer from Starmer is a waste of time. The guy is a pathological liar.

The PM should be made to answer questions, giving a valid response, rather than give 'the speech', as he always does.

The Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, should ensure that he does.

Yes of course Eazybee.
Not forgetting that the point of PMQs is to ask questions of the current situation and government actions and inactions. Not a lesson in history? It’s an update in essence of government moving forward… or not?

Here we go.
Kemi Badenoch not very bright.
Ed Davey's questions are the most incisive.
A lengthy diatribe, (at least organised into paragraphs) direct from Party HQ attacking the Conservatives.
Actually, they are not in government and no-one is disputing their failings.
You need to examine the duplicitous Starmer's record, and his plans for the future as revealed by objectives not mentioned in the manifesto.

Every body is entitled to their opinion whether KB's performance at PMQs is bright or not. For me she doesn't do herself or her party many favours at PMQ because her facts are often not true and she draws attention to issues Labour is perfuming. better against in last 17 months than Conservatives did in their term. I find that not very bright others can differ. When so many of what's left of her own MPs are defecting to Reform, speaks much louder than my opinions.....

Saying that KB isn’t very bright is just silly, of course she is.She also manages to land several blows on KS at PMQ’s and he gets rattled easily and gabbles his answers.The more I see of him the more I worry about Labour and its ability to stay the course.

I object to the principle that says x will happen and then it doesn’t. Starmer is showing true form yet again. It’s not the best way to win confidence.

He said he was going to replace the Lords with an elected second chamber ronib. Do you object to that in principle? In the meantime, it doesn’t mean that whilst the Lords is still in existence it should be dominated by one party, which it is currently.

At least no Conservative pm was going to abolish the House of Lords.
3 years down the line and Starmer shows no signs of acting on his words.

Boris Johnson 87 new peers
Liz Truss 32 new peers(!)
Rishi Sunak 46 new peers.

Starmer has to redress the balance of the Lords, so this number seems exceptionally modest.

The House of Lords is being bloated as we speak. Keir Starmer has 25 Labour appointees going through. Now that does make a change from abolishing it! As he promised? Or something like?

Exactly- sadly KB is not fleet of foot and her knowledge of facts/data is often wrong. In that way she's a gift to Labour. Her party MPs know it too, that's her problem. She also talked yesterday about KS being a "Caretaker PM" She just highlighted that she herself is a "Caretaker C leader" with many of her own party MPs defecting and reducing her number. I suspect KB won't last much beyond next May local elections. KS has already lasted longer than Liz Truss and may yet last longer than some other recent Conservative leaders- again such an example of a daft thing to highlight by KB. Just reminded me how many leaders the Conservatives had in recent years.....and as a result each bloated the House of Lords- but that's a whole other issue!