Politics

The hallmark of this ridiculous government is the difficulty one always has on 1 April trying to discern which newspaper stories are April Fools. The Guardian tickles our ribs in suggesting that Carla Bruni is being recruited in Brown’s Government Of All the Talents as some kind of fashion tsar. Is that so much more incredible than the real-life attempt to recruit Fiona Phillips, the GMTV presenter, and offer her a peerage and place in the Department of Health? We had a story last week saying that only 34% people believe official statistics, according to official statistics. This is the only tool one has to spot the real stories. They

Will the gaffes ever stop coming?  Just a matter of weeks after Jacqui Smith admitted she has police protection when walking around London, the Daily Mail have caught out Harriet Harman for wearing a “stab-proof” vest whilst touring Peckham, in her own constituency.  The image is gold for Boris, particularly as he majored on violent crime at his campaign launch yesterday. Meanwhile, Harman did further damage with her agitated performance on Today this morning. 

A Lords’ committee today claims that record levels of immigration have had no economic benefit for the UK. But what about that £6 billion figure the Government likes to wheel out? According to the committee report (pdf. here), it’s misleading. What should really concern us is how immigration affects the living standards of the existing population. By that measure, there’s been hardly any improvement.  Things may even have got worse. In response, the report suggests a cap on immigrant numbers. Just like Tory policy. The Immigration Minister Liam Bryne swatted the accusations and proposals away on the Today programme this morning. But this report is the third in recent weeks to lambast

This post over at Three Line Whip makes a good point. That fun Mirror story about Cameron “flouting the laws” as he cycled to Parliament doesn’t seem to have done the Tory leader any harm. As far as I can tell, there’s been no widespread anger. No anti-“toff” sentiment. Nothing. Brownites must be terribly disappointed. The Mirror has – I’m sure unwittingly – played a part in the response. They’ve followed their scoop with stories which play-up the comic aspects of it all. But it’s no less encouraging for Team Cameron that the “he’s too posh for the rest of us” charge is failing to stick. P.S. If you’re stuck

Toby Helm’s piece in the Telegraph on the mood in Downing Street is this morning’s must read. Helm reports that it was the Brownite old guard who leaked Stephen Carter’s plan to bring back Tony Blair’s old speechwriter Phil Collins in an attempt to stop it from happening.  It also seems that Brown’s paranoia has returned, Helm recounts that: “The rustling of the Blairites has merely added to Mr Brown’s unease. During a visit to Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium this week with President Sarkozy, the Prime Minister was annoyed to see Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair’s former chief of staff, with whom he never got on, appear through the crowd. Mr Powell

The problem with speeches on matters fiscal is that they can often be quite dull – full of dreary statistics and technical lingo. The oratory efforts of Brown and Darling are full testament to that. But today – in his speech to business figures – David Cameron makes a good fist of it. It’s fairly engaging stuff.   It helps, of course, that he talks a lot of sense, even if it’s still in quite general terms. Here, for instance, is what he had to say on responding to the banking crisis:  “We need to avoid a rush to judgement and an instant rewriting of all the regulatory rules. Indeed, the worst response to

Sam Coates flags up an article in PR Week which says that Stephen Carter is looking for a new speechwriter for Gordon Brown and is considering the position of Deborah Mattinson, Brown’s pollster. It seems that the re-Blairisation of Downing Street has now reached such a point that Carter is approaching Blair’s old speechwriters to see if they can be tempted back into the fold which is quite ironic considering how some of those being invited back were hardly Gordon’s biggest fans.

There’s more poll cheer for the Tories this morning. The latest YouGov poll for the Telegraph puts them on 43 percent (up 3 from last month); Labour on 29 percent (down 4); and the Lib Dems on 17 percent (up 1). Another double-digit lead, then. What’s most encouraging for the Tories is how voters are turning away from the Government over the economy. The “feel-good factor” stands at minus 52 percent, its lowest-ever level. And only 27 percent of respondents think that Labour have the best economic policies, compared to 35 percent for the Tories. Gordon Brown has always boasted that he’s the best man to have at the helm