Politics Archives

Tuesday

13 Apr 2010

A Big Election?

What a curious election this is. As Tim Montgomerie points out over at Spectator Live (visit!) the Conservative manifesto appears to have been written as though the great Fiscal Crash had never happened. This is either bold or brave or, worse, perhaps both. Then again it’s not as if Labour are offering anything more convincing. A chart will help explain this: So there you have it: squabbling over £12bn; total silence over the £155bn rest that might need to be cut. Marvel at how narrow our politics can be. Granted these numbers are taken from the Institute for Economic Affairs but even if you quibble with their calculations the broad

Peter Hoskin

Tory manifesto launch – live blog

Stay tuned for live coverage from 1100. 1238: And that’s it. Phew – quite a marathon. A strong central message, I think, but it could have been said in fewer words. Thanks for tuning in. 1235: The Guardian’s Nick Watt asks why the Tories aren’t talking more about the extent, and the consequences, of spending cuts. Cameron’s response is that he has “always been frank” with the public. 1233: Key question on whether withdrawing the state will mean worse public services for folk. Cameron says that he not looking to pull the rug from under people, but just to introduce choice and competition to counter the “dead, dull hand of

Daniel Korski

Don’t mention ze Europe

The Conservative Party’s departure from the European People’s Party came down to a choice of expediency over principle. If you are inclined to accept that Britain will stay in the EU and that membership helps this country – even if it requires some compromises – you will likely find the move unfortunate. If you are more concerned about the principles at stake – and feel that Britain’s loss of sovereignty has gone too far – and do not care about the loss of influence on the legislative process, you are likely to be in favor of the Tory move. David Cameron is keen to keep the issue of Europe

Peter Hoskin

Where’s the surprise?

Am I the only one who’d care for a bit more uncertainty and surprise when it comes to the election campaign? I mean, yesterday, Labour released a manifesto which had been heavily trailed for weeks, even months, in advance. And, today, it looks as though the Conservatives are going to do likewise – with the political barometer saying that their Invitation to Join the Government of Britain won’t contain anything substantially new. Its cover was even published last night. And, if you want an sense of what Cameron will say today, then just read his article in this morning’s Times. Of course, it’s the job of a well-oiled campaign machine

Monday

12 Apr 2010

Peter Hoskin

The Tories invite you to join government

Battersea Power Station was the site of one of the Tories’ most effective publicity stunts of recent months – and it will be the venue for their manifesto launch tomorrow. Details are already emerging about the document (ConHome has a good summary here), which sounds as though it won’t contain much, if anything, that we haven’t heard before. As with Labour earlier, this approach risks an indifferent response from the media and the public. But at least the Tories have clearer flagship policies to broadcast – the national insurance cut among them. While the manifesto may not contain any new policy, it sounds as though the Tories have gone to

Peter Hoskin

Unison enters the political poster fray

In which case, two questions for CoffeeHousers to mull over: i) To what extent will union attacks harm the Tories, with the threat of strikes rumbling on in the background? ii) Have Unison read the IFS’s research into Labour cuts? The comments section is yours.

Daniel Korski

Labour’s nuclear no-show

Today, President Barack Obama hosts leaders from 46 countries for a two-day nuclear security summit that will focus on how to better safeguard weapons materials, both old and new, and to keep them out of the hands of terrorists. Labour’s manifesto was also launched today. What do the two things have in common? Not a lot, really. But they could have had a lot in common – if the Labour government had been willing to be bold. Here’s how. As preparation for the summit, the US signed a new treaty with Russia last week to reduce the nuclear stockpiles of both nations, and the Obama administration issued a revised nuclear arms

Fraser Nelson

What Brown really offers Britain…

Labour’s manifesto cover has been the cause of much merriment online – creating what the Americans call “subvertisments”. ConservativeHome has already lined up some spoofs. We asked Carla Millar, who has done quite a bit of work for The Spectator, to do a version with a mushroom cloud of debt in the middle and the family shielding their eyes. This is the result. Carla is a studiously apolitical Canadian, but I’m sure CoffeeHousers will agree that she has captured the essence of it all:

Peter Hoskin

Adam Boulton’s damning verdict

We’ve already collected some of the general blogosphere response to Labour’s manifesto launch, but this addendum is worth making separately. In a post describing the hostility of the Labour crowd towards the gathered media, Adam Boulton writes (with my highlights): “The crowd, including some cabinet ministers, booed and shouted at questions they didn’t like. Nick Robinson, the BBC’s political editor, had his question interrupted by jeering and Graham Wilson of the Sun was booed just for identifying his newspaper. Labour did not behave like that in the last three elections when the Sun backed them. Gordon Brown was happy to join in this confrontational mood. It was the most substantive

The Spectator

Around the Web: Labour’s manifesto

We have some video footage of Brown’s speech at Spectator Live, and you can read Pete’s analysis here. Elsewhere on the Web: Hopi Sen likes the promise on early diagnosis on Cancer care, and the fact that no incredible spending pledges have been included. The Guardian’s Julian Glover attacks a ‘meaningless manifesto‘: ‘Ed Miliband, who we are told wrote Labour’s manifesto, is fond of saying that the Tories are on the wrong side of the battle of ideas. It’s a neat phrase, but an empty one unless you have ideas of your own. On the basis of today’s manifesto performance, Labour doesn’t.’ Con Home argues that ‘Gordon Brown’s new-found aversion

Peter Hoskin

Brown’s thin air manifesto

“You got that, Britain? We. Are. The. Future. Future, future, future. The Tories are the past. We are the Future. The future that is fair for all. We are that future. For all.” And so, more or less, went Gordon Brown’s pitch to the nation at Labour’s manifesto launch. Except it lasted a good hour and a quarter. And it involved a eye-wateringly fuzzy screen behind Brown’s head. And a needless introduction from Harriet Harman. So if you managed to tune into it all, then well done: your enthusiasm for politics knows no bounds. But Labour’s problems today weren’t so much presentational as political. After thirteen years in power, Brown

Peter Hoskin

Labour manifesto launch: live blog

1240: And Brown rounds proceedings off by saying “future” a few times. Did you manage to stay awake? Never mind – I did, so that you wouldn’t have to. My immediate thoughts below, of course. But I’ve given the actual manifesto a quick read-through as I’ve been typing – and will report back shortly. That’s it for this live blog. Thanks for tuning in, and all that. 1237: Brown says that “we are the party of everyone on middle or modest incomes in this country”. Hm – try telling that to everyone who lost out from the 10p tax debacle. 1235: This is dragging on. The Tories should be taking

David Blackburn

Come out, come out wherever you are

Chris Grayling, the Shadow Home Secretary and former attack dog, seems to have been cast into outer darkness. As with Oliver Letwin’s disappearing act in the 2001, Labour is toasting this unofficial scalp. Denis MacShane has been adding poison to the potion this morning. The Tories are paying a heavy price for Grayling’s B&B gaffe, but it’s self-inflicted. Grayling’s comments were cackhanded and I think he is wrong, but they were nowhere near as controversial as was claimed – he was seeking a clarification of the law, not calling for Sandi Toksvig to be lynched. I doubt Grayling will be Home Secretary but such a senior Shadow minister can’t hide

Rod Liddle

Moral compass anyone?

Does anybody understand the Labour cancer leaflets story? I’ve listened to be about five BBC News reports and am no better off as a consequence. Labour apparently sent 250,000 cards out to women voters warning them that the Tories would renege upon Labour government promises for cancer tests. The question comes down to how those women were selected and why. If the Labour Party sent them out to women who its data insisted might be at risk from certain types of cancer, or were already sufferers, then it should not merely apologise, but the Prime Minister, if he knew about it, should resign. I hate to overstate the case, as

Peter Hoskin

Will Labour’s manifesto mean the end of VAT attacks on the Tories?

You know it’s the day you’ve all been waiting for, CoffeeHousers – the day of Labour’s manifesto launch. Last Thursday, Douglas Alexander described the document as a “progressive programme worthy of these testing times”. So, well, it must be good, mustn’t it? Problem is, this manifesto risks going the same way as the Budget. So much of it has been so heavily trailed, that there’s a danger we’ve already heard it all – and that it will be met with weary indifference by the media and the public alike. Votes for 16 year olds; jobs or training for unemployed under-25s; a referendum on an alternative vote system; a pledge

Sunday

11 Apr 2010

Fraser Nelson

What would you ask Cameron?

David Cameron takes a few journalists with him on each of his one-day tours, and it’s my turn tomorrow: 6am start. I should be able to get half an hour or so with him, to do an interview for The Spectator. As is customary, I’ll try and ask him some questions on behalf of CoffeeHousers – so please add any thoughts as a comment below.

Daniel Korski

Nick Clegg’s self-defeating Scargillian rhetoric

The transformation of Nick Clegg from moderate Europeanist to a populist continues apace. The Lib Dem leader is very serious about capturing the anti-politics mood among the electorate – no easy feat for some who looks as Establishment as the rest. Though he will likely be pleased with today’s Observer interview, I wonder whether he will, in retrospect, feel comfortable with his view that a small Tory majority would somehow make a Cameron government illegitimate and that Britain could be plunged into “Greek-style unrest” if cuts were introduced. Where to begin? The electoral system works the way it does. It has many inbuilt problems – particularly for the Tories –

Fraser Nelson

Even Cable can’t defend the Lib Dems’ misleading poster

This poster by the LibDems is perhaps the most dishonest one of the campaign so far – and Vince Cable has pretty well admitted it to Jon Sopel on the Politics Show. Here’s the exchange. Jon Sopel: I mean let’s leave aside whether or whether not there is a black hole in the Tory’s finances. Leave that to one side. You don’t know factually, that they are going to raise VAT. That is your conjecture. St Vince Cable: It is a conjecture and it’s a reasonable assumption and I wouldn’t claim anymore than that. JS: And that £389 is a rough figure plucked… VC: “It’s a ball park estimate of

Peter Hoskin

Spectator readers and professional pollsters predict a Tory majority

Underneath the IoS poll which David mentioned earlier there’s a set of election predictions from professional pollsters. Differing margins of victory aside, seven-out-of-eight of them foresee a Tory majority in a few weeks time. I mention this not just because it’s worth, erm, mentioning – but because a poll of readers over at our new Spectator Live election site produced a similar result. 85 percent of you predict that the election will produce a Tory majority. That’s very almost seven-out-of-eight. I promise I won’t ram Spectator Live down your collective throat every minute, but do check out the full results on this page here. Or vote in our latest poll

David Blackburn

Does it pay to be mendacious?

Lying is a politician’s occupational hazard. The Independent on Sunday has published a Com Res poll confirming that truism. The majority of voters do not believe that David Cameron and Gordon Brown are being honest about how they will tackle the deficit. We voters resent being taken for fools. If Brown and Cameron are being disingenuous about the economy, the honest Sage of Twickenham benefits – the Liberals are storming the marginals, a hung parliament is odds-on according to some pollsters. Is Vince Cable honest about reducing the deficit? Emphatically not. One minute he’s against a VAT rise, but refuses to rule it out the next. He’s in favour of unilateral charges