PMQs: David Cameron caught out

A brief departure from the almost cloying bipartisanship of recent days. David Cameron mounted a frankly cheeky attempt to present himself as the hammer of fat-cat bankers by insisting that the executives of banks that are recapitalised by the state should forego all bonuses. "There must be no rewards for failure," says DC.

Undoubtedly, the Tory leader is tapping into public opinion there – no one's feeling too charitable to our pinstriped chums in the City at the moment. 

But as Gordon Brown has just pointed out rather firmly, only ten days back, Mr Cameron was vowing not to seek "cheap headlines" by "bashing the financiers".

For the record, the full DC quote, on Andy Marr's show, was:  

"What you won't hear from me this week is sort of easy, cheap lines kind of just beating up on the market system, bashing the financiers. I mean it might get you some cheap headlines. It's not going to pay a single mortgage, it's not going to save a single job."

You could almost hear the quote smacking home as Mr Cameron's opportunism was exposed.   Mark up a hit for the PM.  

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