Cameron and Brown lock horns after Queen's Speech
Gordon Brown and David Cameron lock horns over economic policies
Wednesday, 03, Dec 2008 06:25
The economy dominated clashes between David Cameron and Gordon Brown in this afternoon's debate on the Queen's Speech.
Conservative leader Mr Cameron accused the prime minister of concentrating on "short-term politics" rather than "long-term change".
Mr Brown responded by accusing the Tories of having "no policy for the downturn and no policy for the upturn either".
The prime minister announced repossessions will be deferred for mortgage payers who miss payments for six months.
He said legislation to abolish child poverty in Britain by 2020, give children the right to apprenticeships and create an NHS constitution were evidence of the government's forward-looking agenda.
Mr Cameron pointed to the proposals dropped from last year's Queen's Speech, including a statement of British values and a British Day encouraging patriotism.
He attacked the prime minister on the economy, describing Mr Brown's previous claim boom-and-bust had been abolished as "ridiculous", and said today's legislation would "simply replace one set of failing quangos with another set of failing quangos".
"He takes a set of beliefs that nobody holds, a set of propositions that no one agrees with, and then proceeds to attack it. It's a sign of weakness, not a sign of strength," Mr Cameron said.
"The real division is between the right action and the wrong action. Between our long-term action that will really make a difference and his short-term action that will just get through tomorrow's headlines."
Mr Brown continued his attempt to portray the Tories as the party committed to doing nothing in the face of recession.
"They've reverted to being what they always were - uncaring and unfair about the difficulties people face," he said, to roars of approval from the government backbenches.
"This is the era of 'yes we can' – all around the world people are saying yes we can. Only the opposition are saying no we won't.
"They are on the wrong side of the British people in taking action in this downturn. They're on the wrong side of history."