David Cameron told Angela Eagle: ‘Calm down dear’
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Labour is demanding an apology after David Cameron apparently told a female MP to “calm down dear” in the Commons.
The prime minister borrowed the catchphrase made famous by Michael Winner during a row about NHS reforms.
Labour say he aimed the remark at Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Angela Eagle, and accused him of being a sexist bully.
But a Downing Street aide said it was a popular advert and a humorous remark was being “over-analysed”.
The clash came as Mr Cameron used the words of former Labour MP – and GP – Howard Stoate to defend his plans to introduce GP commissioning in the NHS in England.
Mr Stoate, who stepped down at last year’s general election, wrote in the Guardian that discussions with his colleagues revealed “overwhelming enthusiasm for the chance to help shape services for the patients they see daily”.
But it was Mr Cameron’s suggestion that Mr Stoate had been beaten during the election that riled some on the Labour benches.
“I have to say it’s not the kind of language which sets a good example in the 21st Century”
Ed Balls Shadow Chancellor
Amid shouts of “he stood down”, Mr Cameron paraphrased the famous car insurance advert starring film director Michael Winner: “Calm down dear, calm down, calm down. Listen, listen to the doctor. Calm down and listen to the doctor.”
Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls could be seen challenging the remark and pointing to Ms Eagle in the Commons – Mr Cameron replied: “I’m not going to apologise, you do need to calm down.”
Speaker John Bercow had to step in to quieten the Labour benches, telling MPs: “There’s far too much noise in this chamber, which makes a very bad impression on the public as a whole.”
But Labour MP John Woodcock stoked up the row later, telling MPs the prime minister was “losing his rag because he is losing the argument”.
BBC News Channel chief political correspondent Laura Kuenssberg said Labour MPs reacted angrily to the remarks, with one saying: “It’s pure Bullingdon Club” – a reference to the exclusive Oxford University society of which Mr Cameron was a member.
Mr Balls told BBC Radio 4’s World at One the remark had been a joke but it was “pretty silly” of Mr Cameron, adding if he had said it to his wife, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, she would have “clocked me one”.
“I thought that David Cameron should have apologised to Angela Eagle,” he said. “I have to say it’s not the kind of language which sets a good example in the 21st Century.”
Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander defended his cabinet colleague Mr Cameron in an interview with the same programme.
He said: “If it has caused offence, obviously that was not right and I hope it hasn’t caused offence… because it was a joke.”
Mr Alexander added that he had thought the remark was directed at Mr Balls, who liked to “chunter from the front bench”.
A Downing Street aide told reporters: “I think you will find it is a popular advert. I think you are maybe over-analysing a humorous remark.
“They [Labour] will do anything to avoid talking about the economy after the good growth figures.”
At the last prime minister’s questions before the Easter break, Mr Cameron sparked a row with Labour after calling Mr Balls “the most annoying person in modern politics” during noisy exchanges.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Flowers have been left at the station where the 16-year-old died after being struck by a train on Monday night
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Floral tributes have been left on the platform of a train station close to where a teenager died on Monday.
Gabby Joseph, 16, was struck by a train at Briton Ferry railway station in Neath Port Talbot.
A governor at Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera, where she was a former pupil, said she was talented and popular with many friends.
British Transport Police said the teenager’s death was not being treated as suspicious.
School governor Alun Llewelyn said: “Everyone associated with the school will be very very sad to hear the news.
“She was a very talented young lady and had a lot of friends.
“She had completed her GCSEs. We are thinking about her family and friends.”
Transport Police said they were called to the station along with South Wales Police and paramedics at 2129 BST on Monday.
The force said in a statement: “A female was pronounced dead at the scene and the incident is currently being treated as non-suspicious.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Entries for the London 2012 Olympics lottery have closed, and it’s clear some people have gone for many events to avoid drawing a blank. But if they get everything could they be left with a bill of thousands?
Right. The 100m with Usain Bolt. Click. And the opening ceremony. Click. Tom Daley diving and Victoria Pendleton cycling. Click click.
Lots of people will also be applying for these events, so how about adding, um, the canoe slalom preliminary rounds? Click. The men’s shot put – at least I’ll be in the stadium. Click. Click click. Click.
With the final bill only defined by the outcome of next month’s lottery for oversubscribed events, it’s all too easy to get carried away.
And when payment is taken next month, some will be in for a nasty surprise if they’ve won more than expected. Nor will they know for which events until 24 June, and they won’t be able to offload unwanted tickets until the official resale portal opens in early 2012.
“People bet big and hope to win small”
Matt Bath, of Which?
The organisers insist that, throughout the process, they have urged the public to only bid what they can afford. But anecdotal accounts suggest many risk overstretching themselves.
One person worried about this is Ruth, who has applied for £22,000 worth of tickets.
“What my husband decided was the chances of getting tickets would be low, so we applied to get our 20 lots, and he got his sister to do it and his dad to do it. So we’ve applied for all these tickets using up three people’s quotas,” she told BBC Radio 5 live.
Carried away to the tune of £4,500
Athletics fan Cameron Duncan, who lives in London, is desperate to see the 100m but has also applied for tennis, gymnastics, diving and boxing, among others.
“I had a rough plan of what I wanted to buy, but I did get carried away. I bought back-ups for each event but they’re not really back-ups as you could get them all. I also went for a wider price range than I envisioned.
“I was a bit shocked at the end when I totted up what I’d put myself down for. It was an escalation though – as I went along I kept thinking ‘oh it doesn’t matter, just go for it’ and it built up along the way.”
Cameron plans to resell only duplicate tickets he gets, and thinks he will get family and friends to take any spares.
“We’re a family of four so we’ve applied for about 240 tickets. We’re just really hoping that we won’t get them all.”
The ticketing system is akin to reverse gambling, says Matt Bath, the technology editor at Which?
“People bet big and hope to win small.”
Paul Deighton, chief executive of the London Organising Committee, says most people have been “generally sensible” about their ticket buying. “We have made it clear from the beginning that you should only apply for and budget for the tickets you can afford, and I think that’s what people have generally done.”
But consumer organisations beg to differ.
“I would say that everyone I’ve spoken to, it’s been the morning after the night before. They’ve all got an Olympic tickets hangover,” says Bath. “That’s the thing with lotteries, people tend to bet more than they can afford. We’re hearing stories of people putting down £2,000, £3,000, even £5,000. If they win them all, I think they’re going to be in for a massive shock.”
Winning the ‘lottery’Fans find out what tickets they have by 24 JunePrices range from £20 to £2,012 per eventThe top fee is for the opening ceremony, with up to £725 for the 100m final and £50-£325 for track cycling finalsPeople have been limited to 20 events eachTicket sales could raise £400mThe resale portal opens at start of 2012Unsold tickets will have further ballotsSome high-profile events could have more tickets released as capacities are finalised
Gordon Farquhar on 2012 ticketsMany say they became caught up in the Olympic spirit. After applying for events they’d particularly like to attend, they worry that they might not get these tickets, and add less popular events.
“But these are less likely to be oversubscribed, and they are more likely to get tickets for those events,” says Bath. And it won’t be until 2012 that they can start getting rid of them.
It’s “mood” spending, says former bank manager Brian Capon, of the British Bankers’ Association. “The excitement, anticipation and desire to be part of one of the greatest international sporting events in the world focuses people’s mind on the goal rather than the consequences.”
Tickets were sold via a lottery system for the Games in Beijing and Athens too, but with one crucial difference. People were told which events they’d been allocated before having to pay for the tickets.
Organisers want to avoid scenes like this from Beijing
“That’s why some events were so poorly attended,” says Bath. “The 2012 system has been created to encourage people to opt for as many tickets as possible. By taking the money first – and making the tickets only resellable through the official portal – people are committing to attend. That’s good news for the organising committee.”
There has been plenty of advice about the ticket buying process, but there has also been a lot of confusion – not least because the payment-first system is unfamiliar.
“I’ve had people saying they had no idea they couldn’t sell their unwanted tickets,” says Bath. “It may be that the Olympic committee has not been as clear as they think they’ve been. And people get caught up in the enthusiasm.”
For those in line for a hefty credit card bill, is there any recourse?
“No. The terms and conditions are all there,” says Bath. “The only thing you can do is make sure you’ve got the overdraft limit or the cash in your account to cover it. That, and hold on to any unwanted tickets and really hope you can find a buyer for them once the resale portal reopens.”
In the meantime, he says, that money will apparently be gathering interest in the organisers’ account.
But the organisers insist that this is the right way to sell tickets. “We looked at all sorts of different ways to do this,” says Deighton. “This was the fairest possible way for giving people a chance to apply for all the tickets they might want to think about it in terms of their budgets and assess their own probabilities of getting them.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
