Cameron homes in on Labour U-turns
David Cameron today attacked the government’s “complete inability” to implement its legislative programme, following yesterday’s U-turn over home information packs (Hips).
The Conservative leader said the scrapping of the police merger plans, admissions that the ID cards scheme would be delayed and the decision not to introduce a key plank of the packs next summer showed Tony Blair had lost his way.
During a heated session of prime minister’s questions, Mr Cameron began by asking why the government had been extolling the benefits of the home condition reports as part of Hips, only to announce they would no longer be compulsory.
Housing minister Yvette Cooper said yesterday the reports would be rolled out on a “market-led basis” when the packs came into force next June, as introducing them wrongly “could have significant risk and disadvantages”.
“Why did ministers get it so wrong?” asked Mr Cameron – to which a slightly flustered Mr Blair replied that he still believed the reports would have “tremendous benefits”, but that stakeholders had expressed concern at making them mandatory.
Mr Cameron then asked why the planning gains supplement tax, where developers are charged on the profits they make from big projects, was also being ditched.
The prime minister insisted this was not true, saying it was “extremely important” to raise money in this way to reinvest in affordable housing – and noting that the most important thing for homeowners were low interest rates, which Labour had delivered.
But there was no stopping the Tory leader, who, accompanied by chanting Conservative MPs, declared: “Police mergers – dropped; ID cards – dropped; Hips dropped.
“Given this government’s complete inability to implement this programme how can he possibly believe it’s in the country’s interest to put the deputy prime minister in charge?”
The prime minister ignored the attack on John Prescott, and instead retaliated with an attack on Mr Cameron’s own policies, adding that he was “certainly not dropping” any of the previously mentioned plans.
“If we want to talk about policy making.his bill of rights was denounced by the chairman of his democracy taskforce as nonsense, and the English votes for English laws plans were described.as constitutional abortion,” he said.
“His policy on law and order means hug a hoodie, and as for his flagship EU policy of leaving the EPP – it was at first [meant to be] immediately, then within months, now in 2009. Before he criticises our policy-making skills he should have some of his own.”
Mr Cameron shot back: “I know he doesn’t like being interrogated but with the way things are going at Scotland Yard he’d better get used to it.”
And seizing on the row engulfing Mr Prescott, the Tory leader warned: “Doesn’t this complete lack of judgment in trusting the deputy prime minister show its time [Mr Blair] and his deputy saddle up and rode off into the sunset?”
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