The Leader of the House, Harriet Harman, was more than usually confused at Business Questions today, losing her notes and appearing generally flustered.
She was pressed repeatedly by several Members, including the shadow Leader, Sir George Young, as to why the Government did not propose to make a statement on the local government settlement. Finally, she lost the plot altogether:
Mr. Andrew Mackay (Bracknell) (Con): In every single previous year, the appropriate Secretary of State has come to the Dispatch Box to give an oral statement on the local government settlement, and there has been, entirely separately, a pre-Budget report from the Chancellor. Why is that not happening this year, and what have the Government got to hide?
Ms Harman: I understand that there has been cross-party discussion on this, and there is an answer. [Interruption.] This is a serious point. This settlement is the final one of the first three-year settlements, and it is unchanged from January 2008. Therefore, following discussions with Opposition Front Benchers, the usual procedure was not seen as necessary. A letter was sent to Opposition spokespeople about this on 12 November, and there have been no objections from Front Benchers. [Interruption.] No, I see that that is not so. Ignore what I have just said—I will look into it.
I’m not entirely sure how far back Harriet wanted us to go in ignoring what she had to say. Erring on the side of prudence and caution, I intend to start somewhere around May, 2005.
