Politics

Tony Blair has chosen this summer to launch his re-entry mission into British politics. He hired a UK communications director in May, guest-edited the Evening Standard yesterday and agreed to a rather intriguing interview in same paper, stating he would like to return to office, while accepting it was not likely. So what is the aim of Mr Blair’s new campaign? Blair had little choice than to take a back seat during the Brown premiership. But the dismal failure of his successor, followed by Miliband’s growing authority and strong Labour polling, makes now the perfect time for the former prime minister to start rehabilitating his image. Until now, he has

The Union is safe — at least if last night’s Spectator debate was anything to go by. The motion ‘It’s time to let Scotland go’ was defeated by 254 votes to 43. The SNP weren’t present (they demanded two representatives on the panel, and we refused), but independent nationalist Margo MacDonald opened the debate. I thought CoffeeHousers may be interested in a summary of proceedings.   1) Margo MacDonald (for the motion) focused on foreign misadventures: Scottish soldiers should not fight American wars with British guns that were a greater threat to their own side than to the enemy. Money saved would go to essential social security. She explained that

The Libor scandal is yet another blow to the reputation of the City of London. Alistair Darling may have been right when he told George Osborne that we’re ‘kidding ourselves if we think this was the only country where this happened.’ But there’s no getting away from the fact that an uncomfortably large number of financial scandals start in London.     In the Commons, Osborne seemed keen to move towards a more American-style system of regulation with more prosecuting powers for the FSA and new criminal offences. But he was also keen to make a political point, this happened under the last government and a regulatory system set up

Ed Miliband had a bit of swagger about him at PMQs today. In a sign of how the two leaders fortunes have reversed, it is now Miliband who appears to be relishing their exchanges.  From the off, Cameron was in a peevish mood. Miliband secured a fairly comfortable points victory. His ‘Cabinet of comedians’ line was a definite hit and Nadine Dorries keeps presenting him with new material. But Cameron will be relieved that Miliband is landing any knock-out blow on him; there was nothing said today that will stick long in the memory. Interestingly, the Tory whips had planted a question which allowed Cameron to open the session by

The humiliation of Chloe Smith at the hands of Jeremy Paxman last night was likened by one twitterati to watching a cat playing with a mouse before devouring it.   Of course, Smith was hung out to dry by Osborne&Co. But I want to address another, as yet unremarked upon factor: the age gap between Paxman and Smith. Paxman is 62; Smith is 30. In the words of Robin Day, politicians are ‘here today, gone tomorrow’. The result is that as the years go by, politicians get younger and political interviewers get older. In the days when the political class was a generation or two older than the interviewing class,