Alex Hern reports on Ed Balls’s active background role in today’s Prime Minister’s Questions, and his canny prepared graph.
David Cameron again refused to acknowledge any facts which make him look bad today at Prime Minister’s Questions, but this time it was harder than ever to accurately feign ignorance.
Ed Miliband claimed that the autumn statement will mean:
“The poorest third will lose three times as much as the richest third.”
Cameron’s normal attitude would be to claim that the facts were wrong, safe in the knowledge that the fact-checkers aren’t in the commons with him. This time, however, Ed Balls had clearly planned ahead, by printing off a very large copy of the following graph (slide 10, pdf) and waving it at him (2:30 in the vid below):
It appears, however, that the prime minister is incapable of accepting the evidence which is literally in front of his face.
You can watch a video of the exchange below:
Look at the graph deniers squirm, just look at them.
See also:
• “We’re all in this together” – when ‘we’ means the bottom 80% – Will Straw, November 29th 2011
• Kellner: The public don’t like the Tories, but they’ve signed up to their economic argument – Daniel Elton, November 28th 2011
• On the Financial Transaction Tax, why is Osborne on the side of the one per cent? – Shamik Das, November 2nd 2011
• There’s nothing exceptional about 50% tax rates – Declan Gaffney, September 9th 2011
• Cruddas: Big Society failing the “all in this together” test as safety nets go – Daisy Blacklock, April 26th 2011
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36 Responses to “Cameron ignores evidence literally in front of his face”
Sheik74Shereef
RT @leftfootfwd: The graph @EdBallsMP was waving at Cameron, revealed: http://t.co/xGxpVDsx by @AlexHern #PMQs
Brendan Miller
What explains why Miliband's chart http://t.co/VAbOQ4hO and Cameron's chart (pg 2 http://t.co/idgHgtw6 ) are so different? @wdjstraw @ippr
Newsbot9
Like Cameron, you support reducing the income of the poor.
Anonymous
Its inevitable. It’s a consequence of Labour’s debts.
Unless you have some magic beans, they are going to cut benefits, and increase the taxes on all.
At the same time they are going cut services.
However, I notice that the unemployed got an inflation level rise. Far bigger than any of the client state who have had their pay frozen. Is that’s what is rankling you?
Newsbot9
“Inevitable”.
Oh right. SO one of the richest countries in the world is going to murder, in your view, hundreds of thousands of it’s people over the next few years. And you’re cheering it on.
No, your avocation of MURDER is what “rankles” me. Plenty of cash for the Olympics, HS2 and NHS burocracy, but none to save lives.
“Labour’s” debt before the crisis was LOWER than the Tory debt. And blaming Labour, when your Tories called for LESS regulation is moronic. Moreover, austerity has CAUSED most of the problems we face today.