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| Corbyn puts voters' questions to Cameron in first PMQs | Corbyn puts voters' questions to Cameron in first PMQs |
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| Jeremy Corbyn has moved to end the “theatrical” nature of prime minister’s questions by tabling a series of questions to David Cameron submitted by 40,000 people who responded to his call for ideas. | Jeremy Corbyn has moved to end the “theatrical” nature of prime minister’s questions by tabling a series of questions to David Cameron submitted by 40,000 people who responded to his call for ideas. |
| The new Labour leader calmly asked the prime minister in a non-confrontational way about the housing crisis in the rental sector, the government’s cuts to tax credits and mental health. | |
| Cameron, who has been thinking hard how to respond to his rival’s more consensual style, reportedly described the exchanges as “different.....more civilised than usual”. | |
| Karl Turner, the Labour MP for Hulll East, tweeted: “Just asked @David_Cameron what he thought of #PMQs he said ‘different.....more civilised than usual’.” | |
| The policy-heavy questioning by Corbyn is likely to stabilise his position after a difficult start to his leadership when he failed to appoint any women to shadow the great offices of state and declined to sing the national anthem at the Battle of Britain commemoration event at St Paul’s Cathedral on Tuesday. | |
| Corbyn opened by saying he had received 40,000 questions after sending out an email asking for ideas. He began by reading out questions from Marie on the lack of affordable housing; a housing association worker, Stephen, who warned about a reduction in staffing levels; and one from Paul on the cuts in tax credits. | |
| Corbyn opened by saying: “I want to thank all those that took part in an enormous democratic exercise in this country which concluded with me being elected leader of the Labour party and leader of the opposition. I think we can be very proud of the numbers of people who engaged and took part in all those debates. | Corbyn opened by saying: “I want to thank all those that took part in an enormous democratic exercise in this country which concluded with me being elected leader of the Labour party and leader of the opposition. I think we can be very proud of the numbers of people who engaged and took part in all those debates. |
| “I have taken part in many events around the country and had conversations with many people about what they thought about this place, our parliament, our democracy and our conduct within this place. Many told me they thought prime minister’s question time was too theatrical, that parliament was out of touch and too theatrical and they wanted things done differently but above all they wanted their voice heard in parliament. | |
| “So I thought my first prime minister’s question time I would do it in a slightly different way and I am sure the prime minister is going to absolutely welcome this as he welcomed this idea in 2005. But something seems to have happened to his memory during that period.” | “So I thought my first prime minister’s question time I would do it in a slightly different way and I am sure the prime minister is going to absolutely welcome this as he welcomed this idea in 2005. But something seems to have happened to his memory during that period.” |
| The prime minister said: “Can I congratulate the honourable gentleman on his resounding victory in the Labour leadership election? Can I welcome him to the frontbench and to these exchanges? I know we will have many strong disagreements between us at these exchanges. But where we can work together in the national interest we should do so and I wish him well in his job. | |
| “If we are able to change prime minister’s questions and to make it a more genuine exercise in asking questions and answering questions no one would be more delighted than me.” | |
| Corbyn replied: “I thank the prime minister for that answer and I thank him for his commitment that we are going to try and do PMQs in a more adult way than we have in the past.” | |
| The questions Corbyn asked were on: | |
| • Affordable housing, after 2,500 people asked him about housing. He chose a question from Marie, who asked: “What does the government intend to do about the chronic lack of affordable housing and the extortionate rents charged by some private sector landlords in this country?” | |
| The prime minister said Britain did need more affordable housing, before saying that the government delivered 260,000 affordable housing units in the last parliament and built more council houses than the last Labour government. He said more needed to be done but gently sought to draw a distinction with Corbyn by saying: “Above all, it means continuing to support the aspirations of people to be able to afford their home which is where Help to Buy and schemes like that come in. But I say to the honourable gentleman we won’t get Britain building unless we keep our economy going.” | |
| Later, Marie said on LBC radio that the new Labour leader needed to “change the way he does things, mix things up each week and really not let the Conservatives know which side it’s coming from – firing on all corners but doing it in a calm and collected way”. | |
| • Funding of housing associations after Stephen, who works for one, said that the cut in rents would lead to cuts in their funding. Corbyn paraphrased Stephen’s question as he asked: “The cut in rents will mean the company he works for will lose 150 jobs by next March because of the loss of funding of that housing association to carry on with repairs. Down the line it will mean worse conditions and worse maintenance and fewer people working in it and a greater problem for those living in those properties.” | |
| Corbyn asked the prime minister whether he agreed it was right to reconsider the funding of the administration of housing associations. Cameron said it was right in the budget to cut the rents that social tenants paid to end “the merry-go-round where rents went up, housing benefit went up and so taxes had to go up to pay for that”. | |
| • The government’s “shameful” cut in tax credits, after receiving more than 1,000 questions in this area including a “heartfelt question” from Paul. The question was: “Why is the government taking tax credits away from families? We need this money to survive so our children don’t suffer. Paying rent and council tax on a low income doesn’t leave you much. Tax credits play a vital role and more is needed to prevent us having to become reliant on food banks to survive.” | |
| Cameron defended the cuts by saying: “What we need is a country where work genuinely pays. That is why what our proposals do is reform welfare but at the same time bring in a national living wage, which will mean anyone on the lowest rate of pay will get a £20 pay rise next year.” | |
| • Mental health, after receiving 1,000 questions on the issue. Gale asked: “Do you think it is acceptable that the mental services in this country are on their knees at the present time?” Cameron said that mental health was one of the areas where he hoped to work with Corbyn. | |
| The atmosphere quickly changed when Cameron said that anyone who sought to justify IRA violence should be “ashamed of themselves” – a reference to the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell. | |
| He made the remarks after he was asked by Nigel Dodds, the leader of the DUP group at Westminster, about McDonnell’s claim in 2003 that “bombs and bullets and sacrifice made by the likes of Bobby Sands ... brought Britain to the negotiating table”. | He made the remarks after he was asked by Nigel Dodds, the leader of the DUP group at Westminster, about McDonnell’s claim in 2003 that “bombs and bullets and sacrifice made by the likes of Bobby Sands ... brought Britain to the negotiating table”. |
| Cameron said: “I have a simple view, which is the terrorism we faced was wrong, it was unjustifiable, the death and the killing was wrong. It was never justified and people who seek to justify it should be ashamed of themselves.” | Cameron said: “I have a simple view, which is the terrorism we faced was wrong, it was unjustifiable, the death and the killing was wrong. It was never justified and people who seek to justify it should be ashamed of themselves.” |