It has been a very bad week for the Conservatives so far and the PM will be primed to defend his policy on tax credits – but Mr Corbyn may choose this moment to also throw the Tory leader a curveball and ask about something he is unlikely to have prepped for.
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Mr Corbyn told Mr Cameron he had failed to answer six times and said there should be a “cast iron guarantee” for families affected by the tax credit changes.
Both leaders, however, displayed glimpses of why we have come to loathe and love them in such equal measure.
Mr Cameron replied: “What I can guarantee is we remain committed to the vision of a high pay, low tax, lower welfare economy”.
Yet Corbyn stood defiant.
That is how Tony Blair describes the dread which hits him when he realises Prime Minister’s Questions is about to start. Despite the groans from the Government benches as Corbyn sprung his new tactic of presenting questions from the public, it nonetheless remains an effective tool in introducing a very personal element to PMQs which Cameron sometimes appears uneasy in addressing.
Labour MPs will hope that he is able to keep Cameron under pressure on all issues, and not just tax credits – which was viewed by a few as an open goal after the Tories’ week of hell. But Corbyn nonetheless performed well, rising above the customary partisan bickering which constantly interrupts the weekly exchange, with a tranquil, motionless, yet resolute stance.
“As for our changes, the Chancellor will set them out in the Autumn Statement”.
Mr Cameron said: “What we want is for people to be better off because we are cutting their taxes and increasing their pay”.
“This is not a constitutional crisis; this is a crisis for three million families in this country”, he said. But I have to say to him it has come to quite a unusual set of events when you have the Commons voting for something five times, when there is no rebellion among Conservative MPs and Conservative peers and the Labour party is left defending unelected peers in the House of Lords.
That compares to an approval rating of minus 8 soon after he was elected Labour leader last month.
But he told Mr Corbyn: “It is hard to have that debate with you because you have opposed every single welfare change we have made – you don’t support the welfare cap, you don’t support the cap on housing benefit”.
Corbyn said he was putting questions to the prime minister “on behalf of the people of this country”, adding that it was unacceptable that Cameron would not reassure those who are frightened about losing an average of £1,300 a year.
On Tuesday, the Chancellor announced he would “lessen the impact” of the cuts to “help families” and the details would be contained in the Autumn Statement.
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And returning to the question again, he said: “Can you now give us the answer we are trying to get today?”
