PM And Miliband Trade 'Dunce' And 'Muppet' Slurs

Ed Miliband labelled David Cameron the "dunce of Downing Street" over the Government's sell-off of the Royal Mail during Prime Minister's Questions.

In turn the Prime Minister responded by calling Mr Miliband and his shadow chancellor Ed Balls "muppets".

During a fierce exchange, the Labour leader accused Mr Cameron of selling off the Royal Mail at "mates rates" to his friends in the City.

It came after the National Audit Office found that the taxpayer was short-changed by over £1bn because the Government undervalued the Royal Mail when put shares on the market.

Mr Miliband said: "The taxpayer... got £1.4 billion less for this valuable asset than it is worth today.

"A third of the shares were sold to just 16 city investors. And get this - there was a gentleman's agreement those city investors wouldn't sell the shares.

“What happened? Within weeks half of those shares had been sold and they made a killing worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

"In other words mates rates to your friends in the city."

Mr Miliband added: "You sold at 330p and this morning the price was 563p. It is basic maths - not so much the wolf of Wall Street, more the dunce of Downing Street."

Within minutes the phrase "dunce of Downing Street" was trending fifth on Twitter worldwide, which is unusual because British politics tends only to trend well in the UK.

Mr Cameron responded by accusing Mr Miliband of asking questions because he was being "paid to by the trade unions".

He said: "I will take a lecture from almost anyone in the country about the sale of Royal Mail, but not from the two muppets who advised the last chancellor on selling the gold. There they sit, not a word of apology for £9bn wasted."

Mr Cameron told Mr Miliband: "You sat in a Cabinet that wanted to privatise the Royal Mail - that was the commitment.”

He claimed Labour had included a sell-off in the party’s 2010 manifesto, however, questions were raised over the accuracy of the suggestion.

The passage that deals with the Royal Mail in the Labour document says: “For the future, continuing modernisation and investment will be needed by the Royal Mail in the public sector."

Speaking about Mr Cameron's claims about the Labour manifesto, a Number 10 source said: "The year before, in 2009, Lord Mandelson unveiled plans to sell 30% of the Royal Mail."