Lively clashes at PMQs - Harman vs. Hague

Harriet Harman, Deputy Labour Leader, versus William Hague, Shadow Foreign Secretary, in the House of Commons on Wednesday April 2, 2008. Gordon Brown was in Russia somewhere for a meeting - I'm not sure where David Cameron was.
Harman is a well-known feminist and promoter of gender equality, so it's no wonder she countered Hague's comments about Margaret Thatcher so easily. More commentary about this at: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politic...
Also, here is the blog entry on Harriet Harman's website that Hague was referring to: blog.harrietharman.org/2008/02...

[@leedsbulldog]

William Hague - One of the best MPs on his feet in the House - in different times he would have been an excellent PM

[@fatbelly27]

Hague will be missed. He is a class act and naturally funny. Even if he is a Tory

[@Bootsystem66]

I love politics in those bygone era. Its just political correctness and sanitized zombies

[@mannixflinn6227]

Christopher Wilson begone idiot

[@6101garryb]

He would av been a better leader than Camron and definitely May .......

[@thatbaratheongirl7726]

Hague has a mystical power with his voice. It's impossible to judge what he says when the effect of his voice is equal to a squeaking door hinge, designed to make you feel off balance. No idea how a northerner picks ups that sort accent.

[@BossySwan]

Christopher Wilson Moron

[@okorojnr]

I like how they take a swipe at each other and smile afterwards. British parliament is the liveliest parliament in the world!

[@maddie_1122]

I'm from 8 years in the future. Holy fuck.

[@fryliver4953]

@@maddie_1122 Now PMQs is boring and shit

[@dbyers3897]

You must visit more parliaments before making that bold statement. These MPs are smiling as they troll & tickle.

[@SuperVostie]

Is the South African parliament a joke to you?

[@worfsonofmogh1154]

Doesn't Hague look like Pres. Eisenhower

[@jamiengo2343]

A J Hecha is that a good thing lol?

[@andypandy4607]

A J Hecha I like ike

[@LplusRatioplusNobodyCares]

Jamie Ngo well Eisenhower is a certified badass

[@andrewlace55]

Hague is awesome.

[@eddy4688]

Zero integrity though, like the vast majority of them.

[@turtlelife5444]

THe good old days where banter was friendly and fun !!

[@johanvanroekel8253]

4:10 So that's where Theresa May got her strong and stable line....

[@pmd1977]

"The shadow of the leader of the house, is sitting next to him". Best line EVER lol

[@andypandy4607]

Harriet Hartman was actually a good politician

[@dbyers3897]

@@andypandy4607 She ain't dead yet. Still an MP & apparently still a wild driver.

[@LplusRatioplusNobodyCares]

Is that Theresa May right behind Hague? She's lost alot of weight since then

[@anuka3321]

Donavan McMahon she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2012

[@BossySwan]

Stress of the top job

[@JoelJoel321]

The hell is Theresa May wearing lol. Massive brown leather jacket?

[@jaqqqqqqattack]

As an American Republican I wish my party was more like the Conservatives in the UK.

[@dbyers3897]

As an American Democrat, I agree. I wish the American GOP was a conservative party. Instead, it's reactionary & nationalistic. Pity.

[@jjhwangkorsin]

@@dbyers3897 Nationalistic sugarcoats the real thing too much. The current GOP is fascist, anti-democratic and racist!

[@MikeCruz]

Regardless of which party is in power, I love watching Question Time. Once, just once, I would like to see an American president answer questions about his, or possibly her, policies, decisions and future plans for the nation.

[@ianjrivers]

Fair enough, it was interesting debating this issue with you, thanks.

[@The-Elfin-Knight]

The reason why David Cameron wasn't asking the questions is due to convention. If the PM doesn't take part in PMQs for whatever reason, convention is that the Leader of the Opposition doesn't also and one of the front bench does instead. In this case the Shadow Foreign Secretary.

[@Baeloth]

hague is laughing the whole time I love that guy :P

[@irishman31994]

Hague completely annihilated her...

[@Richardtv1968]

You must have watched a different clip

[@elliotsodergren2270]

@@Richardtv1968 Nope Hague did destroy her. She attempted to destroy him but his comebacks were way better

[@GA-wq8xq]

@@Richardtv1968 she could t really answer why Labour were 30 years behind the Conservatives

[@martthesling]

As an American I am glad she is not a politician here.

[@santiagocalderon7537]

3:41 oh that baseball cap thingy never left on hague's memory 😂😂😂

[@pd440fx]

I'm an American. If I lived in England I would vote Labour. However, William Hague is just so damn transfixing. He's quite the orator.

[@elliotsodergren2270]

Unfortunately he isn't an MP anymore but he is a Lord now

[@mrinvincible2001]

i miss harman vs hague. it only happened a handful of times but they were brilliant! im a tory but harman did do rly well at this exchange and i dont think ANYONE was expecting it tbh

[@Maddy4Me]

Hague is fantastic, one of my favourite Tories. Harman is, always has been, and will continue to be very weak in The Commons.

[@VincentSmith-zs3ep]

Hague mentioned the death of a Lieutenant Colonel fighting for his country. Harman gets up, totally ignores this, and proceeds to drive home, and prioritise a feminist point of order. Despicable woman.

[@SRPC21]

Hauge's experience trumped Harman here

[@jaqqqqqqattack]

That comes from the media and the blogs. In addition, government here requires more compromise - there is no "Government" and it must be done via majority or supermajority votes in both Houses of Congress, which generally require bipartisanship. Trust me, there's a lot of probing done, even from inside Congress.

[@largesatsuma]

Hague 1 - Harman - 0

[@youknowituk]

WIN for Hague!

[@lowellriggsiam]

I'd like Harriet Harmon as a leader here.

[@StanleyDonwood]

@Noodlehorn Lol the tories did choose IDS a few years ago - and it was disastrous

[@geniegenie2453]

4:08 - I never realised Harman coined the term 'strong and stable'!

[@JoelJoel321]

May heard it as she was sitting next to Hague, is this the origin story?

[@pulrh]

Actuallt, Harman made a good point. Why was Hague, and not Teresa May, speaking for the opposition in Camerons absence?

[@elephantbarbiegirl]

@pimpUK1 By the way. Thanks for not becoming abusive. It's refreshing to be able to have a robust debate without it descending into personal insults

[@jlandles]

Question Time has been an integral part of the Westminster tradition, and the Westminster Parliamentary system in the U.K. and most Commonwealth countries long before the invention of television, or KZbin. This reflects the different philosophies of our respective parliaments. We in the Westminster tradition believe governments are best kept accountable with constant scrutiny, constant criticism, probing, and questioning. I don't know what the American philosophy of accountability is.

[@Kinlochbervie50]

when was william hague PM?

[@alonelychild]

@capstoner77 As a Brazilian, so do I. We are trying to lobby within the opposition coalition to get a sponsor for a public draft of bill to import that model. In the case, we wouldn´t have the chief-of-state sitting and answering questions, but his Civil House Minister, the equivalent of a deputy prime minister. Americans should do that too, it would be much funny

[@higfny]

Aren't you forgetting that Gordon Brown also is a MP? ;)

[@trifio5242]

u are very right sir! i am from ukraine - and I envy u like crazy that you have such great politicians, i would vote for ANY person in here - they are amazing. very smart, very witty, very huge balls! love them

[@JamesKell88]

@alonelychild I'm Australian and we have this Westminster style of government - I'm a fan of it. For maximum efficacy the head of state needs to be the one answering the questions, not his/her deputy or anyone else. And it ought to be televised. With power should come responsibility, and nothing compares to the grilling from a rabid opposition in this area. It is very healthy and helps to keep the corrupting influence of power in check.

[@WriterMattLA]

Indeed, and he has the PERFECT voice for political debate!

[@peetree2k6]

There's a huge amount of anger towards the government, as there always has been.

[@dbyers3897]

And you're writing from 1605?

[@waltclarke2618]

Ahh, back when labour had a front bench with a greater IQ than 60.

[@elih9700]

Gold, good times.

[@jonno2019]

As an american you should be very worried (and frankly ashamed), of politicians such as sarah palin, christine o' donnell and michelle bachmann.

[@callevahacm]

Ah, Hague is awesome! He really needs to be leader again! Cameron wasn't there because the PM only faces the Leader of the Opp, while the Deputy Leader faces the Deputy Leader of the Opp.

[@codekeeper5828]

I'm 12 years late....but actually Theresa may the then shadow LoH should have faced the LoH...as was mentioned by Harman in this debate.

[@darkphoenix229]

Harman started brightly, but lost her way completely....

[@trifio5242]

youtube bring more of this!!! this is fantastic! its much more funny than any jeremy clarkson and so on and so forth, because its real!!

[@GeeGee3374]

To answer the info point on David Cameron. If the Prime Minister isn't there then the Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Third party do not attend either and had over to their deputies. So it was Harriet Harman for the Government. William Hague for the Tories and Vincent Cable for the Liberal party.

[@legalmonkey]

Harriet-in-high-street-listening blog!! LOL!

[@LordJuzzie]

The thing that annoys me about Harman, is that she uses inaccurat info. In fact she had to be told off by one of the Statistics departments for using her distorting the figures she was given.

[@user-eu6wp6ws7c]

Inaccurat statement.

[@JahSpect]

@Xen1aserman Yes , they really are ! I just stumbled on this today - I had no idea they clowned around like this all the time, lol !

[@TamBellyDadMomom]

It's an embarrassing mismatch of intellects. Shame on Labour for having such a ineffectual lightweight on the front bench.

[@ohsocooll12342]

Agree. Brit politicians have a much higher IQ, understand science, and speak good English.

[@Rennikus]

Is this how politicians flirt?

[@MrGurlyboy]

Not really. OK he had a point about people becoming worse off after the removal of the 10p tax rate, but she was also right to imply his party are far worse to the poor and only cut tax for the rich.

[@fraser931]

I really do hate the Labour frontbench... they never answer the question, just avoid it and talk about the 90's...

[@The-Elfin-Knight]

Effectively the deputy leader but not a formal role unlike the Shadow FS portfolio.

[@jaqqqqqqattack]

On another note, I do find this sort of active, rollicking politics good in a way. Yes, it distracts from the issues at hand, but it keeps everyone paying attention (to what has become a gigantic mano-a-mano debate anyway) and engages the populace in watching. (Over 100,000 views.) This as opposed to my American politics, which consist of droll, dry speeches that people don't watch because they're boring and cannot interest anyone. People pay attention, at least to a small extent, this way.

[@richardneville9872]

Hague has always been quality at PMQs....Harmen just has no sense of humour whatsoever

[@Busher50]

Really, I thought she responded well to his jokes. Owned him on that front.

[@TootingKarmoon]

Classic bit of political banter

[@Ashleywise2008]

and.....she was not fulfilling her role as deputy leader of the labour party as this is not a governmental role. As the post of DPM is not used at the moment the PM picks a senior minister, and the opposition should put up the shadow of that ministerial role. :)

[@scottyk200]

“On a lighter note”…🤦🏼

[@maddie_1122]

I don't know where David Cameron was but whenever the Deputy Leader does PMQ's the Deputy Leader of the Opposition tends to deputise for the Leader of the Opposition.

[@acegarcia3719]

They're supposed but Keir Starmer broke that trend last year when Boris was out with COVID.

[@wasabimanic]

5:30 no answer to the question Harriet.

[@cmyanmar13]

Interesting. When I put this video up I didn't know anything much about Harriet Harman. But from reading the comments here there sure seems to be a lot of anger towards her. (Or is that only among the people who bothered to comment?)

[@ianjrivers]

I'd call that a draw between them, they both got their punches in! Usually Hague isn't caught so off guard, but the next time they clashed a few months later, Hague went for her jugular! Made her look a complete fool over her leadership ambitions!

[@elephantbarbiegirl]

@pimpUK1 In the pre history age, communities actually relied more for survival on the females' gathering and agricultural skills which were more reliable as a food source. Ar result of women's evolutionary role has been their greater capacity for communication and co-operation, key features of an effective management style. Gender in itself should not prevent anyone from being successful in large companies or in any other area of life.

[@jdhf983y4uhu]

@joe018687645 that's not his wife. they are all elected politicians, she is called Theresa May and is well known for her footwear. he is now the Foreign Secretary and she is the Home Secretary.

[@123HMatty]

I think they should make a double act, hague vs harman is the new hague vs prescott = a laugh a minute :D

[@AdamZUTube]

Honestly, your reply makes no sense at all. I have tried, but I simply can not elucidate any meaning from it at all. Could you maybe ask one of your friends to write it for you?

[@berlinmitte10117]

Harridan Harperson - what a complete joke

[@rufusandburne]

@MildredSnickwad lol...Classic!

[@martthesling]

@Gooseman2k2 Im happy she is not a a politician here because i dissagree with her. Not because they are better or worse in the u.k.

[@pimpUK1]

@DLPBurke +1 totally spot on there. Just the same as few will be high up in large companies. Men and women are different. Men have always been the hunter gatherers, whereas women have been the caring emotional type.

[@acescribe]

Haugue v Harman is simply no contest!

[@GA-wq8xq]

Agreed Hague wins everytime

[@rawdawg15]

Hague is awesome

[@chrisconnelly7411]

Jon B Hague was that awesome that when confronted by a real Leader in Tony Blair in 2001, he crawled away with not only his baseball cap between his legs but with most of his party with him!

[@ianjrivers]

Ashleywise, what you are not taking into account was that on PMQ's, she was fulfilling her role as Deputy leader, not leader of the house, which is a smaller government role. Theresa May, isn't the conservative deputy, william Hague is, so Harman's assertion that May should have represented the opposition was clearly wrong. There's no need to be personal Ashleywise, your implication that I may be the stupid one, seems you are wrong on both counts.

[@cmyanmar13]

@YorkshireDaz and ermineermine: Don't you have anything better to do than exchange insults on KZbin? The universe is such an amazing place.

[@jlandles]

The bipartisanship necessary to the working of the American system, is a political danger within the Westminster system since it compromises a party's electoral manifesto. Bipartisanship is usually greeted with great cynicism: the worst case scenario under Westminster is the collusion of both sides of Floor. It's comforting to hear wrangling. In the words of a recent Australia Labor leader, "I'm a hater; I hate the other side." Political hatred - that's far safer than bipartisanship.

[@martthesling]

@IAmHaloNoob degradeing someones intelligence that you disagree with is a sign lack of courage to fight them on their ideas.

[@elephantbarbiegirl]

@pimpUK1 "Men are better at management which is why more men are managers" "I'm very equal and fair" Two of your own quotes there. I hope I never meet you on an interview panel! I wouldn't fancy my chances

[@binstig]

I'm no Labour fan but without the likes of the minimum wage and EMA me and my friends would not be able to afford half the school related things. I know that 12 years ago at infant school the struggle was much worse. Half our lessons were in leaking mobiles (practically caravans) and we had little money to ensure I had the right school equipment. This is just me but I'm sure there are others with different stories.

[@elephantbarbiegirl]

@DLPBurke Interesting how you define success in terms of domination. This might be a bit too sophisticated for you but there are other ways of measuring success and impact. As for 100 years from now, given the progress that women have already made, I have no doubt that women will be making a full contribution in all areas of life.

[@gwcolonial2010]

I think women know fashion much better than men. I agree Harman is much better than Brown as well. I love these PMQs, it fosters a sense of unique executive-legislative branch politics that checks the balance of power and debates policies rather than the stonewalling that occurs in Washington. need i say, however, in America, with all due respect to Queen Elizabeth III, a monarch does not rule the country, the people do entirely. There are televised debates with the youth as invigorated as ever.

[@BossySwan]

Binch

[@boldertits]

I wonder is Cameron will get stabbed in the back like thatcher did by her own party.

[@SleepCove]

Twas a mistake type darling. I used to work for the government in communications, so yes I do know an awful lot about politics. So you think the 10 p tax band helps the poor? EMA is nice patter, but a government report last month stated that social mobility was higher under John Major's government than this one (that is a huge failure for a left-wing government). Brown RAIDED the pension purse for his spending binges, to say pensioners have net benefited is very ignorant.

[@EADGBE1997]

@marthesling Haha yeah I don't really like her but I reckon she's better than sarah palin

[@paddy6062]

Yes But if Labour did not Find so many new ways to tax and fine us..We would have more money to go around anyway

[@SleepCove]

Conservatives against the 10p tax band. The real party that cares about the poor. Tory win for 2012!

[@kkwillsaveus]

Harman has been attempting too many pathetic jokes of late, we need Hague back to put her in in her place, as a limited pathetic politician of a done for party.

[@SleepCove]

Harriet Harman's agenda has gone too far, it is unfortunately far worse for women.Try getting a job if you are of child-bearing age for an SME (you will find it hard!), its fine in gravy-train public sector but not in the real world.The Labour party took on the last 20 years of conservative policies and have RODE on them. If labour had been in power in the 80s this country would be dictated to by the unions,have the economic output of Hungary and everyone's standard of living would be decreased.

[@brett18uk]

Well, he never was PM, so that might have something to do with it, lol.

[@QPRTokyo]

She lost it at the end.

[@brokenbriton]

Harman is another MP who cannot answer a question..Hague is right people are being hammered by the tax regime..

[@mixmastermurf]

they spend more time with egotistcal quiffs then representing the people.

[@jonnybee48]

What really gets up my nose about Harperson is the way she sits there behind Brown or whoever, smug expression on her face, noddling sagely in agreement with whatever's being said.Talk about a 'nodding dog' - all she needs to complete the outfit is a couple of furry dice dangling from her earoles! JB.

[@peetree2k6]

Harriet Harman seems stronger at PMQs than Gordon Brown. She put up a surprisingly good fight. She was butchered, sure, but butchered gracefully.

[@craigspencer]

HH ' we have a strong, stable and growing economy' ' the tax burden in this country is lower than we he was in government' what a difference 9 months makes!!!

[@sumonZahmed]

go harriet harman you put them in their place

[@elephantbarbiegirl]

@pimpUK1 I said nothing about women being better managers than men. Both men and women have the potential to be good managers and leaders. For centuries, women played no part in the public arena so had no opportunity to lead. If you want to know why they are not more successful now, look at the last sentence of your posting as an example of the archaic attitudes we still face!

[@irishman31994]

@iSharpy310 Why should you be sorry? The Conservatives have a plan. Is that not what we want?

[@Kinlochbervie50]

alright? to defend my intelligence, i was making a sarcastic comment too someone who praised william hague but asked "why did he make such a lousy PM"!