Back in the chamber after 30 years

I’m in London today visiting the House of Commons to watch PMQs and the statement that follows. This means that my oversight of PB will be limited to what’s possible on my mobile phone and I won’t be able to produce any proper posts.

This will be my first time back watching PMQs live since 1978 when I was a journalist at Westminster with the BBC. In those days the TV cameras were still barred and the only live coverage was on the radio which had gained access on an experimental basis only three years earlier.

The prime minister at the time, James Callaghan, had not got too much time ahead of him and was defeated by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservatives in the 1979 general election.

Today looks as though it could be a cracker – given the the long break and the growing economic storm.

I’ll be back posting as normal by late afternoon.

Mike Smithson