Politics

Ed Miliband started off with a soft question to which he already knew the answer at PMQs: ‘Does the PM agree with me that given the crisis ordinary families are facing in their living standards, MPs should not be given a pay rise many times more than inflation in 2015?’ The PM did agree, and offered some further thoughts on the situation. Then Miliband pushed him a bit further. He asked whether the Prime Minister was keen ‘to work with me to find a way on a cross-party basis to make Ipsa think again?’ This whole exchange was carried out to an amusingly eerie silence from backbenchers listening to their

On the Today programme this morning Justin Webb covered the decision by Universities UK to allow fundamentalist speakers to segregate women from men at public meetings. With a characteristic disdain for accepted standards of behaviour, Universities UK refused to go on air and answer his questions. Webb had to ‘put the other side of the story’ himself. He told a Palestinian woman demonstrating outside Universities UK headquarters in central London, [1hr 36mins in] ‘What Universities UK say is, if non segregated seating is also provided, it could be all right.’ Put like that it can sound just about all right. Men and women who want to sit apart can do

Is the free schools project unnecessary and costly? If you take your news from the BBC, then you might be forgiven for answering ‘yes’: the Beeb’s reporting on the National Audit Office’s latest report on Michael Gove’s pet policy suggests that the whole thing has been an expensive vanity project. The report itself doesn’t seem to say quite the same thing, though: it argues that the Education department has ‘achieved clear progress on a policy priority’ and that ministers face a ‘rising capital cost trend’ in spite of much lower average construction costs than previous programmes (free schools often use existing buildings, while the department allows smaller space standards and

Where were you when the world remembered Nelson Mandela? David Cameron, Barack Obama and Helle Thorning Schmidt will always be able to answer that question with their memorial service selfie, snapped in the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg today. Michelle Obama seemed oddly reluctant to join in.

The Prime Minister is interviewed by Fraser Nelson in the Christmas treble issue of The Spectator, out on Thursday. After dutifully answering questions on tax, China and welfare he cut to the chase: at a time when the nation is divided between those backing Charles Saatchi and those backing his ex-wife, what’s David Cameron’s position? When asked “Are you on Team Nigella” he gave a straight answer: ‘I am. I’m a massive fan, I’ve had the great pleasure of meeting her a couple of times and she always strikes me as a very funny and warm person, but I’m also an amateur cook and I like like her recipes. Nancy

There were two key lessons from Treasury Questions today. The first is about Labour’s post-autumn statement line of attack. We already knew from Ed Balls’ briefing last Thursday that he feels cost of living is still a valid debate for the next year, while ministers want to talk about credibility and the need for a credible government to finish the job. But today he wove that together with the government’s claims about the cost of living, arguing that ministers had fudged their figures to claim that living standards are improving. He said: ‘Let me ask the Chief Secretary: on Thursday the Chancellor claimed in this House that living standards are