Cameron attacks Brown's 'humiliating' TA U-turn

By Ian Dunt Skip related content

Gordon Brown has been "humiliated" by his U-turn on Territorial Army (TA) funding, David Cameron argued today.

The Tory leader made the comments while the two men traded insults across the dispatch boxes during this week's prime minister's questions.

The Army's proposal to cut TA funding by £20 million would have seen recruitment and training frozen if it was implemented, but Mr Brown performed a swift U-turn on the issue this week.

The Tory leader clearly felt vindicated by the U-turn, after having focused on the issue during the last two PMQs.

"What on earth was he thinking?" Mr Cameron asked the prime minister today.

Mr Brown stressed the logistical complexities of cuts, and the need to ensure current levels of training were consolidated.

The prime minister "can't even be straight when he's performing a U-turn," Mr Cameron responded.

The two leaders then went on to clash on the economy, with Mr Cameron seizing on recent figures showing the UK is still in recession to argue that Labour had responded poorly to the downturn.

Mr Brown insisted the Treasury had only forecast recovery by the end of the year, but the Tory leader said "I'm not going to let him get away with that" before quoting statements in which the prime minister suggested improvements could come sooner.

Mr Brown insisted no one in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or Europe accepted Tory policies on the economy, and that Labour had taken the right action to minimise the effects of the recession.