Speaker bans Cameron from questioning Blair on succession

I was listening to Prime Minister's Questions in the car today and this made me laugh out loud.

Cameron has been having a whale of a time at each and every Prime Minister's Questions by asking Blair the same question.

Blair once supported Brown as future PM, does he still want Brown to succeed him?

This is a question that Blair was loathe to answer, which was the very reason that Cameron kept asking it. Oh, the fun they were having on the Conservative front bench... until today.

The Speaker, Michael Martin, ruled that this question was inappropriate as Blair is there to answer questions of the business of government. Mr Martin said that the matter of who led the Labour party was a matter for the Labour party alone.

Cameron promptly took a hissy fit.

Mr Cameron - instead of acquiescing to the request from the Speaker, who is the ultimate arbiter of debates in the Commons - started querying the decision.

He turned to the Speaker, who is officially neutral (although elected as a Labour MP) and demanded: "Are you honestly saying we cannot ask the prime minister of the country who ..." before he was again cut off by the Speaker, and loud Labour jeers.

He (Martin) said: "You have no right to ask on the floor of the house at prime minister's question time who the prime minister is supporting for an office within the Labour party."

Mr Cameron refused to back down, but rephrased his question, demanding of Mr Blair: "Perhaps I could just ask who you'd like to see as the next prime minister of this country?"

Mr Martin then said: "I'll allow that. That's in order." Mr Blair stayed above the spat between the Tory leader and the Speaker, before praising Mr Brown's record as chancellor - and comparing it to Mr Cameron's early career as a special advisor to then Tory chancellor Norman Lamont, who sacked by John Major after "Black Wednesday" in 1992.

So today we had our first sight of Cameron being asked to improvise on his feet. Hissy fit ensued.

Marks: 2/10. Needs to work harder at spontaneity.

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tag: Cameron, Blair, House of Commons, succession, debate, Martin, Speaker of the House,