Key points
David Cameron opened with a warm tribute to Chris Martin, his private personal secretary (PPS), before being questioned on issues from whether Wednesday’s autumn statement would support families, to his government’s infrastructure plan, and action on Syria. On this last point the prime minister said in clear terms: “The question for the house: can we wait for the political settlement before we act? My answer to that is, no, we cannot wait.” He was also reminded of the legacy of intervening in Libya and pressed on how much thought had been given to the “reconstruction and rebuilding” of Syria.
Jeremy Corbyn went for the jugular, pressing Cameron on his weak points, particularly public services covering women’s safety. He told the prime minister that Wednesday was the International Day of Elimination of Violence Against Women. Corbyn asked Cameron why a third of women were turned away from refuges. Cameron replied unconvincingly that his government had done the most on this issue. He didn’t respond to the particular point but said his government was doing much to tackle forced marriages and stop female genital mutilation.
Snap verdict
A relatively low-key exchange, but Corbyn chose two subjects where Cameron was vulnerable and scored some modest hits (although he could probably have pushed Cameron harder about the Rudd leak). Cameron clearly felt a little frustrated about not being able to say more on the domestic violence announcement coming in the autumn statement, but he and Corbyn both knew that what they said would soon be forgotten in the light of the pending announcements.
Best lines
Cameron brought the house together when he paid tribute to Martin, calling him “my Bernard”:
Everyone in this house and perhaps people watching this at home know from Yes Prime Minister the central role that Bernard, the prime minister’s principle PPS, plays in the life of the prime minister of No 10 Downing Street. Well this morning, my Bernard, my principal private secretary died of cancer.
Chris Martin was only 42. He was one of the most loyal, hard-working, dedicated public servants that I have ever come across. I’ve no idea what his politics were but he would go to the ends of the earth and back again for his prime minister, for No 10 and for the team he worked for. Today we’re leaving the official’s seat in the box where he used to sit empty as a mark of respect to him.
Corbyn went for Cameron’s weakness, not only on women’s safety services, but his record on green issues:
The commitment of those Labour councils is a bit of a contrast to the prime minister’s performance because he used to tell us that this was the greenest government ever. Does he remember those days?
For more on PMQs read our politics live blog with Andrew Sparrow.
