Jeremy Corbyns new approach to Prime Ministers Questions (PMQs) was put on hold when David Cameron attacked the left-winger over his partys economic credibility on 14 October. The Labour leader attempted to reinvent the weekly format by fielding questions from voters, with the prime minister and opposition MPs deciding not to heckle Corbyn.
The tactic worked during Corbyns first outing at the dispatch box on 16 September but with party conference season over and MPs back in parliament, the House of Commons reverted back to its combative and adversarial atmosphere.
The Labour leader first quizzed Cameron over his tax credits curb after claiming 2,000 people had emailed him about the issue. Corbyn highlighted the case of Kelly, a single mother of a disabled child, who is worried she will lose out because of the governments cuts.
The prime minister argued his administrations new National Living Wage of £9 ($14) per hour and extension of free childcare would benefit Kelly. But the prime minister halted his reply after Labour MPs heckled him over the reforms. Hold on... sorry, what happened to the new approach? Questions asked so they can be responded to.
Corbyn then followed up by claiming Kelly would be £1,800 a year worse off by April 2016. There another three million families in this country who will also be worse off by next April, he added. Isnt the truth of the matter that this government is taking away the opportunities and limiting the life chances of hundreds of thousands of children from poorer or middle income families in this society.
A fired up Cameron hit back and claimed there were two million more people in work and 480,000 fewer children in workless households under his premiership. He also attacked Corbyn for not welcoming the official job figures released on 14 October, which revealed the unemployment rate had fallen to pre-financial crisis levels, and mentioned Labours U-turn over George Osbornes fiscal charter.
All of these people benefit from a growing economy, where wages are rising, where inflation is falling and where we are getting rid of our deficit to create economic stability. And its that stability that we will be voting on in the lobbies tonight [14 October], Cameron added.
Corbyn, noting the change in tone from the Conservative leader since their last PMQs, quipped: The prime minister is doing his best and I admire that.