Cameron’s first Lords grilling showed charm can only get you so far
David Cameron may have expected an easier ride when he was grilled by the House of Lords for the first time on Tuesday – but if so, he was disappointed.
True, the peers on the red benches do not heckle and barrack ministers in the same way as the Commons, where the new Foreign Secretary spent six years as top dog.
But they can be just as noisy: while the Commons Speaker picks which MP can talk at any given time, the Lords literally have to shout over each other for the right to be heard, leading to the unedifying spectacle of bishops, judges and diplomats screaming “My Lords! My Lords!” as persistently as possible until they have prevailed over their rivals.
And when it came to the actual questions, Lord Cameron faced a forensic skewering of the type too often absent from the House of Commons.
Among those picking holes in Government policy were the former Nato boss George Robertson and ex-Defence Secretary Des Browne; Peter Mandelson and Nicholas Soames looked on, as did the new minister’s erstwhile Cabinet colleagues such as Patrick McLoughlin and Sayeeda Warsi.
(Of course, not everyone in the Lords is quite so distinguished – failed London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey and Revolutionary Communist-turned-Brexit-Party MEP Claire Fox were also in the audience.)
Lord Cameron sought to win friends as a first step towards influencing people: recounting his first go as a parliamentary candidate, he joked that “I fought Stafford and Stafford fought back rather effectively” and when caught calling a baroness an “honourable” rather than “noble” lady – a huge faux pas in the Lords – he quipped: “I’ll get there eventually!”
He may not be ready for the Edinburgh Fringe but the ex-PM’s easy charm was a reminder of how he reached the top rung of the Tory Party in his 30s and won two general elections – not to mention becoming best chums with billionaire Lex Greensill, before that all went sour.
On the substance of the exchanges, the Foreign Secretary suggested he would seek to toughen up Britain’s policy on Ukraine.
Lord Cameron promised to push defence companies to boost their weapons production so that the West can supply Kyiv without running out of its own arms.
He said: “I think the one area where we can do more is in trying to mobilise the British defence industries to produce the stocks that are needed rather than simply running down stocks.”
Russian assets which are currently frozen could be used to provide “reparations” to Ukraine even before the conflict has ended and a final peace settlement has been agreed, he suggested.
The Foreign Secretary also sought to avoid a clash with Rishi Sunak on the contentious issues of the Elgin Marbles and the European Convention of Human Rights, saying that he backed the Government’s view on keeping the Greek sculptures in the UK and warning that Britain’s national interests must come first when considering its international obligations.
