>First PMQs back

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Prime Minister’s Questions wasn’t that inspiring today, so this won’t be a long post. The general feeling is that the new MPs, of which there are many, are far better behave than their predecessors.

Generally I thought the Prime Minister did well. He rightly trumped areas on which the Coalition agree and are making progress, and was honest about the areas on which the Liberal Democrats maintain their different opinion, for example the Human Rights Act and marriage tax allowance. It was also pleasing to see the Prime Minister and his deputy not hidden behind reams of notes and smug smiles. No sign of Ed Balls either, a marked improvement. I was delighted that proposals on an elected House of Lords and the Pupil Premium, key Liberal Democrat pledges, appeared so prominently. Let us hope that this is a sign that we are really getting our voice heard in Government.
Harriet Harman, now thankfully speaking from the opposition benches, put in a fairly weak performance after receiving praise for her contribution to the Queens speech debate. A very corney ‘on this, Nick agrees with me’ may have made the troops feel better, but didt little to boost her credibility. Her questions were not particularly probing either. It is obvious her only intention is to show perceived rifts within the Government. It will be interesting to see whether she remains Deputy Leader after the the Leadership election as I think Nick Clegg may have quite a good time against her during Deputy Prime Ministers Questions.

So a win for the Government today, and another test just about passed. Let us hope the end of ya-boo politics remains as well.