The saddest politician in England
12:26pm 
Nick Clegg's time as the country's darling was always likely to be fleeting. But poor Vince Cable was consistently feted as the man who got it right on the economy. But he has looked miserable from the moment he entered government. Why is this?
I can't be the only politico to have heard Vince say before 2010 that he would never enter government with the Tories. Oddly enough, he was far more polite about them than he has been on the radio this morning. The whole point about two-party politics...
David Cameron has been gracious in victory and Nick Clegg has been dignified in defeat, while Ed Miliband has felt like something of a bit-part player. The only real explanation of the drubbing of the Lib Dems is that their own voters have deserted them. The real story of election night is that the Tory vote held up so well. Conservative ministers will feel emboldened in their cuts-reform double whammy agenda. The fact that their Coalition partners no longer have a mandate should give them pause for thought. But it probably won’t. At this...
It couldn’t have been a more extraordinary bank holiday for news and spectacle. But now the fuss is beginning to die down it’s possible to compare and contrast the hysteria that greeted the Royal Wedding and the death of Osama bin Laden. There has been a certain amount of squeamishness about the “frat boy” reaction to the death of the al-Qaeda leader. But I have to say I find the celebrations at the death of the 21st century’s most notorious mass murderer far easier to comprehend than the astonishing outpouring of feudal deference for...
Easter/Pesach is always a good time to be at the Jewish Chronicle with all the combined holidays. This year it is all the more congenial now the Pope has been so kind as to absolve the Jews of blame for the death of Christ. A time for reflection, perhaps, and a reassessment of history. I am still mulling over the peace process simulation I took part in earlier this month, playing the role of Jibril Rajoub, the PLO enforcer. You can read my account the event 
Some political organisations chase the news agenda, others just plough their own furrow driven by the overriding morality of their cause. 
I have always thought “nudge” theory was an absurd excuse for a political ideology: just another way of arguing against state intervention. But Nick Clegg has almost forced me to eat my words with his comments about free internships. The Deputy Prime Minister has probably done more in one speech to improve the conditions of young, unpaid interns than any central government diktat. It is, after all, already illegal not to pay the minimum wage.
Previous
