British Politics gets back to “normal”

The Tory leader and MP for Witney David Cameron, talked movingly today about the death of his son Ivan, while thanking well-wishers for the comfort they had provided him and his wife, Samantha.

Returning to the Commons chamber for the first time since the loss of his six-year-old son, Mr Cameron looked forward to the day when he could think "happy thoughts" about Ivan's life, rather than feel "sorrow" at his death.

The prime minister, who also suffered the loss of his first child, Jennifer, welcomed Cameron back at question time, saying he understood the grief he had been going through. Cameron first told the Speaker, Michael Martin: "Can I thank you for the kind words you said a fortnight ago about the loss of my son Ivan. I particularly want to thank the prime minister for what he said.

"It came straight from the heart and it meant a great deal to Samantha and to me. We've had letters from right across the House of Commons and from thousands of people in the country and it has been a great comfort to know that others are thinking of us.

"A lot of letters have come from families who themselves have lost children. If there's a common theme in them it is that, while the loss never goes away, there does come a day where you look back at your child's life and think happy thoughts at their life, rather than feel sorrow at their death. "I hope that day will come for us too."

His head bowed, Brown murmured softly: "Let me welcome you back and I understand the grief that you and your family have been going through." Two weeks ago prime minister's questions was abandoned and replaced by brief tributes after Ivan's sudden death.

The Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, told Cameron: "On behalf of all of us on these benches, we sincerely hope that you and your family have the time and the space to cope with the terrible loss you have suffered."

The question on everyone’s lips now of course is “when will Mr Brown call that Election?”

Labour's rating has slumped below 30 per cent for the first time since last September as the recession bites, according to one poll yesterday. Gordon Brown's personal ratings have also fallen back to where they were when he launched an unlikely fightback last autumn after the Government rescued the banks. 

In contrast, the second bailout last month did not halt Labour's slide; its ratings have fallen by three percentage points in the 11 polls taken since. The weighted average of all the surveys in February puts the Conservatives on 43 per cent (unchanged since January), Labour on 29 per cent (down two points), the Liberal Democrats 17 per cent (up one point) and other parties on 11 per cent (up one). The figures would give David Cameron an overall majority of 92 at a general election, with 371 seats. Labour would have 217, the Liberal Democrats 31 and other parties would hold the same number.

The Government will struggle to persuade people that it is taking effective action unless people see its actions beginning to have a beneficial effect, and frankly that seems unlikely!

Yesterday, Mr Brown took responsibility "for everything that's happened" while he was Chancellor and Prime Minister but again refused to apologise for the economic crisis. Answering BBC Radio 4 listeners, he was asked to say sorry but replied: "What nobody reckoned on was a banking crisis that reverberated right across the world. I have said that the regulatory system was not good enough. I have said it has got to change. It is a global freeze-up."

Outlining a new round of public service reforms yesterday, the Prime Minister promised "no cuts" in investment in services in the coming year. He said: "This moment of economic change is exactly the one when people want to know that the public services are there for them. Where there is insecurity, we will offer security.

He defended plans to cut the length of teacher training courses from 12 to six months for high-calibre recruits. He said it would make a "huge difference" and give teaching a higher status. But teaching unions attacked the proposal. Christine Blower, acting general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "Teaching is not a profession that can be picked up at the drop of a hat."

In the Independent this week we are told that Gordon Brown is considering a plan to hold a "double election" in June next year, with elections to Westminster and the European Parliament on the same day.

The idea was discussed in the margins of Labour's spring conference in Birmingham last weekend and has won the backing of some party officials. Although allies of Mr Brown said it was "very premature" to talk about the date, party sources said he did not want to delay polling until the last possible moment in the spring of 2010.

The Prime Minister is anxious to avoid another wave of speculation about when he might seek his own mandate after his political honeymoon came to a sudden halt as he scrapped plans for an election last autumn that had been talked up by key allies.

Let’s face it, Gordon Brown waited 10 years for the top job and he is not going to relinquish control until he really has to. Labour may suggest that a double election in June is a possibility; Tory sources tell me that November 2009 is more likely. I would be very surprised if this country finally gets the opportunity to elect a Prime Minister until March 2010.