PMQs: Harman and Hague exchange after-dinner jibes
Wednesday, 2 April 2008 12:00 AM
With Gordon Brown away at a Nato summit in Bucharest, Harriet Harman was left to act as substitute teacher and the House of Commons responded with an especially boisterous reception.
The, predictably sexist, expectation ahead of Ms Harman's appearance at the dispatch box this week was that the deputy Labour leader and leader of the House would be eaten alive, with the Conservatives planning to field PMQs-heavyweight William Hague.
The Conservatives are still eager to stress their women-friendly credentials, however, and Mr Hague taunted Ms Harman, who also speaks passionately on women's issues, for making it to PMQs three decades after Margaret Thatcher, tacitly accusing Labour women of being slow to break through the glass ceiling.
In a nod to Mr Brown's attempts to co-opt Mrs Thatcher last year, much to the Tories chagrin, Mr Hague quipped that she was a figure much admired by the opposition benches and prime minister.
But Ms Harman seemed prepared to turn the tables, asking why the Conservatives had put forward dinner party stalwart and media-pleasing Mr Hague, rather than her shadow Theresa May.
Ms Harman's debut appearance at PMQs was always going to be rocky for the deputy leader, coming a day after she was pictured wearing a stab vest to touring her south London constituency.
Mr Hague mocked Ms Harman's defence that she tries to dress appropriately, asking whether the Peckham and Camberwell MP dresses as a clown when attending Cabinet meetings. Ms Harman seemed well prepared for the Conservatives' attack, responding that she would not take fashion advice from the man in the baseball cap, a reference to Mr Hague's much mocked attempt to show his "youthful side".
If PMQs had been an uncomfortable prospect for Ms Harman, the weekly Commons bear pit was surely not a happy prospect for Nick - "I've slept with a lot less than 30 women" - Clegg. Luckily for the Lib Dem leader, protocol allowed Vince Cable to lead the debate, but that did not stop MPs shouting out his "magic number" during the questions.
Mr Cable, who became infamous for his jokes while acting Lib Dem leader, attempted to outwit Ms Harman today, by asking her if the Queen had "overreacted" by deciding to scale down her diamond wedding anniversary celebrations in the light of economic downturn.
Luckily for Ms Harman, who faced choosing between acknowledging impending austerity or criticising the Queen, the Speaker disallowed the question.
Despite the overt Punch and Judy politics between Ms Harman and Mr Hague, the Conservatives once again used their allocated questions to press the government on the economy. Ms Harman admitted the country is feeling the effects of the wider economic instability but insisted the government was working to improve stability.
She also accused Mr Hague of showing "crocodile tears" in his concern for the low-income families affected by the abolition of the ten pence tax rate. She reminded the former Conservative leader he had opposed the national minimum wage and tax credits.
In a PMQs that at times veered towards after dinner entertainment, points were always going to be given for the best jokes. Ms Harman accused Mr Hague of losing his reputation as a comedian, but his quip that Mr Brown was in a palace in Bucharest and therefore was "probably lost by now" was appreciated by the opposition benches.
But for some reason the loudest guffaws were heard when the privately educated Ms Harman spoke of her blog "Harriet on the High Street".
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