Politics

Lord Ashcroft looks like a man not to cross and he will do anything to protect his privacy. He faces down criticism with complete silence, patient before turning on his detractors. According to the Sunday Times, Ashcroft has attacked Labour over its ‘smears’ about his tax status. His tone is derisive but his intention is clear: back off. He has obtained documents held by the Labour party, detailing its strategy to expose Ashcroft. One activist wrote: ‘Think the Guardian most likely to go for it.’ Smart chaps these Labour wonks. Sure enough, the front page of the Observer trails an interview with Eric Pickles, who is ‘frustrated’ by his deputy’s obfuscation.  Reading Pickles’ comments, the

If there was a story in the Sunday papers of a split between David Cameron and the two most senior figures in the shadow Cabinet over economic strategy it would be the talk of the town. But because it is about Brown and Balls versus Darling and Mandelson it is on the inside pages; it is as if the split over economic policy between these four men is priced into Labour’s standing. Patrick Hennessy reports that Brown and Balls would like to use the Budget as a pre-election springboard, announcing larger than scheduled increases in public spending and challenging the Tories to match them. Such a move would be economically

There’s something about a trip to Scotland that brings out the best in Tories giving speeches, and David Cameron lived up to the occasion the other evening. He reprised his social justice passage – easily the best part of his 2009 conference speech. Listing how Labour has made the rich richer and poor poorer, and how the Tories are the party of Wilberforce etc. Promising a “radical zeal” Conservative party – Amen to that. “Some people will say ‘you can’t do things like that.  You can’t afford to take those risks.’ I say with so little money and so much failure we can’t afford not to.” That’s the spirit.  “Those

The Times continues its attack on the Tory policy of trying to field candidates in Northern Ireland today. In its leader on the subject, it declares that the Tories should abandon their efforts and that this is relatively easily done as ‘there is no great ideological cause at issue.’ This is wrong. There is a massively important principle at stake here, a party that aspires to govern the United Kingdom should run candidates in all parts of it. To put it another way, the people of Northern Ireland deserve a chance to vote for the Tories. David raises some valid points about the problems the alliance between the Tories and

If it turns out that a transparently self-serving referendum on AV isn’t an instant fix to Britain’s political problems, what are politicians to do? As Pete noted, the stalk your MP i-Phone app is a step in the right direction. Another welcome measure is Winkball’s unique video hustings. Over 3,000 parliamentary candidates of all hues are given a few minutes to summarise their broad manifesto and detail which local issues are important to them. Viewers can leave comments and lodge questions so some sort of dialogue is maintained. Although this initiative possesses an air of the gimmick every little helps, and understanding what you’re voting for at a constituency level