would always take his full allocation of three questions per session, which his successors, margaret beckettand tony blair followed as have all the conservative leaders since then. by the early 1990s, it was important to note, it was universally recognised that pmqs was not what it should be. as a result, the procedure committee was invited to investigate the event and to recommend sweeping changes. it was widely assumed that substantial reform would be forthcoming. colin brown in the independent of june 15 1994, for example, wrote that: "prime minister's questions in the commons look likely to be reformed after both john major and tony blair gave their blessing to changing the procedure. the move to reform the twice- weekly 15 minute exchanges follows growing criticism that the common's clashes have become so stage-managed and rowdy that they are bringing the house into disrepute." the eventual procedure committee report of 1995 broadly echoed brown's sentiments. it argued that pmqs, i quote, "could no longer be held to pass the test that the purpose of a question is to obtain information o