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Brown suffers a power failure as Cameron mocks 'loss of authority'
Last updated at 23:22pm on 10.10.07Gordon Brown endured a bruising encounter yesterday as David Cameron claimed he had lost his 'political and moral authority'.
In the most acrimonious Commons clash between party leaders for more than a decade, the Tory leader branded the Prime Minister a 'phoney' who had 'bottled out' of a snap election.
He also accused him of then shamelessly stealing Tory tax policies for his Pre-Budget Report rather that setting out his own vision for Britain.
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Surrender?: Gordon Brown was branded a 'phoney' at Prime Minister's Questions yesterday
Last night, in a sign of the turmoil at the heart of Labour over the election that never was, one of Mr Brown's Cabinet colleagues said the crisis could have been avoided if the Prime Minister had 'thought it through'.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson, once tipped as a contender to succeed Tony Blair, said it had 'not been the best of weeks' for Mr Brown and caused astonishment by suggesting he should have ended speculation about a November poll sooner.
"If he had thought it through and decided a weekend earlier, we wouldn't be having all of this," Mr Johnson said.
Mr Brown's key lieutenant, Schools Secretary Ed Balls, also came under attack from both inside and outside his own party for his role in stoking election speculation.
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One minister said: "This is a complete f****** shambles. People like Ed Balls, who were parachuted into safe seats, have no experience of fighting an election. Those of us who have never wanted an election."
The Prime Minister had been under intense pressure to reassert his authority at Prime Minister's Questions - his first Commons encounter with Mr Cameron since July - after a dismal political week.
Instead he was left complaining that he thought Mr Cameron wanted to end 'Punch and Judy' politics and 'name-calling' as the Tory leader rained down blow after blow.
Labour MPs looked deeply uncomfortable as Mr Brown struggled to make himself heard above the jeers of Opposition MPs.
Tory MPs compared the clash to John Major's defining encounter with Tony Blair in April 1995, when the young Opposition leader crushed the Prime Minister by telling him: "I lead my party. You follow yours."
Mr Brown's supporters insisted the Prime Minister knew he would have to "take a hit" after deciding against an election, but insisted the political agenda would soon move on. They also claimed Mr Cameron would be made to regret his "over-confidence".
The Tory leader poured scorn on the Prime Minister for insisting "hand on heart" that he would not have called an election even if polls showed he would have secured a 100-seat majority.
"Do you expect anyone to believe that?" Mr Cameron demanded.
"He is the first Prime Minister in history to flunk an election because he thought he was going to win it," he added.
The Conservative leader also mocked Mr Brown for writing a book called Courage while ducking out of a test at the ballot box.
"Does he realise what a phoney he now looks?" Mr Cameron asked.
He told Mr Brown his failure to honour Labour's manifesto commitment to hold a referendum on the new EU treaty "damages your credibility".
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Animated: He defends himself against David Cameron
And he pressed the Prime Minister to explain whether the draft Pre-Budget Report, written before the Conservative conference, had included any plans to cut inheritance tax or tax foreigners living in Britain as 'non-domiciles'.
Mr Brown has been accused of drawing up a panic 'Magpie Budget', stealing vote-winning Conservative proposals that had turned the polls in their favour.
Mr Cameron dismissed the Prime Minister's counter attacks, saying if he wanted a debate he should 'find a bit of courage, get a bit of bottle, get into your car, go down to Buckingham Palace and call that election'.
In a final assault, he told the Prime Minister: "For ten years you have plotted and schemed to have this job, and for what?
"No conviction, just calculation. No vision, just a vacuum.
"Last week he lost his political authority, this week he is losing his moral authority. How long are we going to have to wait before the past makes way for the future?"
Mr Brown retorted: "This is the man who wanted an end to the Punch and Judy show. This is the man who wanted an end to name-calling.
"We are the Government that has created ten years of economic stability ... that adopted a minimum wage - against the Conservative advice, that made the Bank of England independent - against Conservative advice."
He added: "We will continue to govern in the interests of the whole country."
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Chancellor Alistair Darling speaks in the House of Commons yesterday
Business leaders last night claimed Labour's sweeping tax changes will 'hammer' small firms.
The Federation of Small Businesses said an 18 per cent flat rate of capital gains tax amounted to an 80 per cent tax rise for millions of companies.
The move, announced by Alistair Darling in the Pre-Budget report, is aimed at wealthy private equity chiefs. But experts have pointed out that large numbers of super-rich investors will escape because they are not based in Britain.
Instead, the vast majority of individuals who will be hit by the changes - due next April - will be entrepreneurs employing fewer than 20 staff.
The existing 'taper relief' on capital gains - the difference between what is paid for an asset and the price it is sold for - lets some firms pay as little as 10 per cent.
Mr Darling insists the 18 per cent rate will be more 'straightforward and sustainable'.
But a federation spokesman said: "It is in essence an 80 per cent increase in CGT. In his attempt to clampdown on private equity players, he has hauled in millions of small business owners who have worked their socks off for years."
Experts say the overhaul amounts to a tax rise because it is expected to swell Government coffers by £2billion between 2008 and 2011.
The real winners will be millions of second-home owners, who were previously paying a minimum tax rate of 24 per cent.
Someone buying a holiday home or buy-to-let property for £200,000, and making a gain of £100,000 on its resale, would previously have faced a bill ranging from £40,000 to £24,000. Under the new regime, they will only be liable for £18,000.
Reader views (46)
Here's a sample of the latest views published. You can click view all to read all views that readers have sent in.
Your chart shows £33bn for law and order - why bother! Save the money and let homeowners have guns as the criminals have.
- Dave, Cornwall
Well at least he does not have to make faces anymore just to smile, our Crash Gordon.
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London
This government says it themselves: "we will throw £ x billions at this good cause and £ x billions at this government contractor company for this good cause and £ x billions for this cause" . All noble Nu Labor causes I am sure, shame they have no clue to actually do anything with all that money?! No execution. We need Conservatives back!
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London
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