Browned Off

While this article from Lloyd Evans on today's pmqs is certainly very entertaining and worth a close read, especially when he takes the mickey out of the Bercow's risible performance in the Speaker's chair, I must concur with Iain Dale, who, unlike Evans, thinks that Brown was "flailing all over the place" and that Cameron "had him on the ropes." Evans, for some reason, thought that Brown's performance was "steady" and "predictable" but that Cameron's was "pretty good", but "not quite excellent."

Well, I'm sorry Lloyd, old chap, but you must have been watching a different pmqs because Iain Dale is dead right: on this latest piece of Labourist nonsense over "free" - but uncosted - home care for the elderly (a typical, bungled piece of Labour hijacking - and mucking-up - of an excellent and costed Tory policy proposal, motivated by a cynical desire, as Cameron said, merely to help the Labour party rather than to help the elderly), Brown was absolutely terrible. He came across as either crowing or just bad-tempered, but never once did he answer the substantive question that Cameron had skewered him with: death tax or no death tax? (We all know the answer - death tax).

Cameron was excellent today. With that in mind I suppose it could be necessary to form the opinion that his performance is being measured against far higher standards than Brown's. It's just possible that the only reason for this is that even slightly right of centre professional journos like Evans (and Iain Martin) are so used to Brown being appalling, that they unconsciously let him off lightly. By the same token, because many people who write blogs are so desperate to see Cameron and his party take Labour and Brown to the cleaners for what they've done to this country, what would be regarded as a good day for Brown is condemned as a shocker for Cameron. That browns me off a wee bit.

Iain Dale, at least, has maintained his objectivity in suggesting that Brown was crap this week, just like he was last week. And Cameron was great.