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| Version 7 | Version 8 |
|---|---|
| Brown and Cameron clash over ID | Brown and Cameron clash over ID |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Gordon Brown and David Cameron have clashed over plans to introduce identity cards in their first prime minister's questions encounter. | Gordon Brown and David Cameron have clashed over plans to introduce identity cards in their first prime minister's questions encounter. |
| Mr Cameron, whose Conservatives oppose the cards, said they would "cause more problems than they solve" and had not stopped terror attacks abroad. | Mr Cameron, whose Conservatives oppose the cards, said they would "cause more problems than they solve" and had not stopped terror attacks abroad. |
| But Mr Brown, who raised the issue, said they were needed as they were "complementary" to other policies. | |
| He called on all political parties to show "unity in the face of terror". | He called on all political parties to show "unity in the face of terror". |
| 'Very real threat' | 'Very real threat' |
| Mr Cameron urged the prime minister to introduce a border police force, which would "make a real difference", instead of ID cards. | |
| He said the diea of a border police force was backed by the Commons home affairs committee, by new government adviser Lord Stevens and by the current Met police chief. | |
| More and more people have come to the view that is taken by your security expert, that we need identity cards Gordon BrownPrime minister class="" href="/1/hi/uk_politics/6268466.stm">Verdict: Who won, who lost class="" href="/1/hi/uk_politics/6268760.stm">PMQs: Point-by-point | |
| He quoted Mr Brown's new chancellor, Alistair Darling, as having said in the past: "Identity cards are unnecessary and will create more difficulties than they will solve. I don't want my whole life to be reduced to a magnetic strip on a plastic card." | |
| Mr Cameron added: "ID cards did not stop the Madrid bombings. After the 7 July bombings the then home secretary said they wouldn't have helped in the UK, they wouldn't come in for years and they'd cost billions of pounds - money that should be spent on things like a border police." | |
| But Mr Brown said the Tories' new security spokeswoman, Dame Pauline Neville Jones, Lord Stevens and "many on the Conservative backbenches" believed that identity cards were needed now. | |
| In job for five days | |
| He said times had moved on since the quoted comments from Mr Darling, saying: "It is because the situation has changed that more and more people have come to the view that is taken by your security expert, that we need identity cards." | |
| Pressed by Mr Cameron on whether he would ban extremist group Hizb ut Tahrir, Mr Brown said more "evidence" was needed before doing so. | Pressed by Mr Cameron on whether he would ban extremist group Hizb ut Tahrir, Mr Brown said more "evidence" was needed before doing so. |
| The cool and steadfast way in which Mr Brown and the new home secretary have handled these difficult circumstances John ReidEx-home secretary praises reaction to attempted car bombs href="/1/hi/uk_politics/6268446.stm">Do PMQs matter? | |
| A review on using phone-tap evidence in court would also go ahead, he added. | |
| Mr Brown revealed that Security Minister Lord West is to carry out a review of the National Health Service in the wake of the attempted bomb attacks in London and Glasgow. | |
| But the prime minister caused howls of derision from the opposition benches when he reminded Mr Cameron he had "only been in the job five days". | But the prime minister caused howls of derision from the opposition benches when he reminded Mr Cameron he had "only been in the job five days". |
| Former home secretary John Reid praised the "cool and steadfast way in which he [Mr Brown] and the new home secretary have handled these difficult circumstances". | Former home secretary John Reid praised the "cool and steadfast way in which he [Mr Brown] and the new home secretary have handled these difficult circumstances". |
| Iraq | Iraq |
| Questioned by Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell, Mr Brown refused to give a date for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq. | Questioned by Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell, Mr Brown refused to give a date for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq. |
| He said: ''It would be wrong to set a timetable at this stage. What we have done is reduce the number of troops from 44,000 to 5,500. | He said: ''It would be wrong to set a timetable at this stage. What we have done is reduce the number of troops from 44,000 to 5,500. |
| "What we have also done is move from combat to over watch in three provinces of Iraq." | "What we have also done is move from combat to over watch in three provinces of Iraq." |
| The government was "not going to break [its] obligations" to the Iraqi government and the United Nations, Mr Brown said. | The government was "not going to break [its] obligations" to the Iraqi government and the United Nations, Mr Brown said. |
| Last week's PMQs saw outgoing Prime Minister Tony Blair receive a standing ovation from Labour and opposition MPs. | Last week's PMQs saw outgoing Prime Minister Tony Blair receive a standing ovation from Labour and opposition MPs. |