Peter Mandelson and Nat Rothschild are not the only people in search of revenge. After Gordon Brown gave David Cameron an unexpected duffing at the dispatch box the other day, the Conservative leader got his own back at noon.
Cameron had to deliver a strong performance that steered well clear of the luxury yacht market because his mate, George Osborne, was in trouble in Corfu. He did so by again mocking Brown about the recession, dubbing him "the master of dodgy accountancy" and asking him if he was yet willing to admit he hadn't abolished boom and bust - as he so often boasted as chancellor.
Yes or no? Naturally he didn't get a straight answer. The PM endorsed Mervyn King's overnight talk of coming recession - at last. But he preferred to dwell on the global context, the disastrous role of the private sector in "irresponsible lending" and, of course, his own sterling work in putting things to right.
In his five or six questions Cameron had not come up with a single constructive suggestion, he noted. At a time when judgment is needed the Tory leader had been wrong on major judgment calls such as the nationalisation of Northern Rock, recapitalising the banks and banning short selling for three months, Brown told MPs.
But by that stage it was too late. Tory MPs were as determined as Cameron to cheer their way out of trouble over yachtgate. Labour MPs seemed subdued. Cameron's best line was not that Brown had claimed credit for the boom, but ducked blame for the bust. It was that Brown, the man who had overborrowed and hidden his own liabilities off the Treasury books - PFI, Northern Rock, not to mention pension obligation to public sector workers - is in no position to lecture bankers. Hence the "master of dodgy accountancy" jibe.
Brown soldiered on well enough until Dennis Skinner threw him a lifeline - or rather hit him with a lifebelt. Whatever Brown had to do to save the economy, he must promise "never ever" to solicit money from Russian billionaires. It was the session's first mention of the Corfu controversy - extraordinary in itself. Labour MPs cheered and Brown solemnly replied that it was "a very serious matter indeed and I hope it is being investigated by the authorities".
What did he mean by that? And investigated by whom? No 10 officials were later unable to explain. Brown might have been better to have made a waspish joke as Tony YouKnowWho might have done and left the Tories to stew in their own juices.
