Questions put PM on the spot

This was far more effective than PMQs, which has become increasingly irrelevant. This was a Premier answering a wide range of spontaneous questions when appearing before the powerful House of Commons Liaison Committee for the first time.

If Question Time degenerates any further, perhaps these six-monthly appearances will have to become more frequent, given the quality of scrutiny provided by various select committee chairmen, whose number includes several Yorkshire backbenchers.

Understandably, the Tory leader was coy on Ireland but he remained unrepentant on the scale of his own austerity measures. Yet, unlike PMQs where he exudes self-confidence, Mr Cameron's obfuscation will have been noted when asked, repeatedly, whether even more cuts will be required if Whitehall departments do not achieve ambitious efficiency savings. The Premier has no doubts – he says past attempts failed because the need to curtail waste was not urgent. But, given his ambiguous answers, it does not bode well when North Yorkshire County Council is looking to close half of its libraries, and when the Archbishop of York's wife is warning that the Government's cuts will exacerbate poverty. An individual who rarely speaks out, Margaret Sentamu's comments should be noted by a Prime Minister who has previously described himself as a compassionate Conservative.

Such critics have not been pacified by the better than expected growth figures during the coalition's first six months – they believe the worst is still to come. This view will be re-enforced by the Government's own tax and spending watchdog warning that the planned January increase in VAT will slow down the recovery.

Mr Cameron's task is to prove that the coalition's instincts are correct. A repeat of yesterday's tough questioning will only help to hold the PM to account – and remind him of his Government's obligations to every section of society, rich and poor alike.