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So says Benedict Brogan, who rightly describes this as a “smart appointment”: “Mr Fallon is being brought in to CCHQ to help Lady Warsi, who has not so far succeeded in establishing herself as a media voice for the Coalition. Mr Fallon is an adept media performer (and a regular and fluent commentator in the
There was one notable bit of kite flying in Vince Cable’s speech earlier, an indication that he wants the next Liberal Democrat manifesto to contain a commitment to a land tax. This would give the party a distinctive policy going into the next election. With the proceeds of a land tax, they could abolish stamp
There is a reason why the coalition has used the Lib Dem conference to step up its rhetoric about the bankers and their bonuses. The coalition believes, rightly, that balancing the budget is a matter of political economy. It is acutely aware, and has been for some time, that the sight of banks paying out
If Vince Cable has achieved anything, it’s to enliven a Lib Dem conference that had settled into cosy anonymity after Clegg’s speech on Monday. He has now delivered the address that David blogged about earlier – and all of the firebrand passages trailed in this morning’s papers were present and correct. “Capitalism,” Cable warned, “kills competition
Last night, Liberal Democrats gathered for their traditional conference glee club. It is a light-hearted occasion with lots of communal singing and jokes. But some of the gags did seem to vocalise a certain unease about the coalition. There was a very lusty rendition of a song that went like this, to the tune
‘[Capitalism] takes no prisoners and it kills competition where it can’. ‘Markets are often irrational or rigged.’ A snob would describe those as the ravings of a chippy provincial university lecturer. In fact, they are the considered thoughts of Vince Cable, the business secretary, the very man tasked with selling Britain to international markets. Cable will address
Is Trident’s renewal (either a like-for-like replacement or an alternative) within the scope of the Strategic Defence Review or not? The Lib Dem conference voted to include an alternative in the SDR. But, apparently, the cash-strapped coalition seeks to defer any decision (which will take renewal out of the review entirely). Earlier today, Lib Dem
What exactly was wrong with the Vince Cable’s address to the Lib Dem party conference? It seemed to me measured and enlightened. He suggested that the supposedly free market was often “irrational or rigged”, which is surely uncontentious. And that capitalism militated in favour of monopolies, abhorring free competition. Perfectly reasonable judgment again. And then
There’s no way round this: housing in this country is in a pretty awful state. Waiting lists for the shrinking number of “affordable” or social homes are rising, while fewer people can afford to buy their own home. That would be the case even if the banks were able to lend – which they can’t
The trouble with the Old Vic’s revival of Noel Coward’s play about Bright Young Things is that while the three principals are certainly Young, and may be rather ambiguous Things, there is very little that’s Bright about them whatsoever. Gilda, a wealthy but bohemian interior decorator, cannot decide whether she is more in love
Emotional involvement is a grand thing. Except when it clouds the mind. Such, anyway, would seem to be the case with Tim Montgomerie’s call for government intervention in the vexed [sic] issue of who owns football clubs. Now, like Tim (who, unlike me, is a Manchester United fan) I’ve little against supporters-groups owning football clubs.
Perhaps Donald Rumsfeld was right: the Coalition should not have gone for the ‘hard slog’ in Afghanistan (or Iraq). Hindsight suggests that Rumsfeld had foresight in his desire that a shock and awe campaign be followed by a light presence and eventual withdrawal – the blood baths that have ensued from intense deployment might have
The only readable part of Tony Blair’s Lawrentian romp of a memoir, is the epilogue. He explains why the state must be trimmed in the future and how globalisation is affecting global polities, and all expressed with languid charm and an air of self-deprecation which he has acquired on the road to riches. No wonder
Bagehot had the misfortune to attend a Liberal Democrat fringe meeting on education reform. But I’m glad he did because he’s produced a righteous post that demands to be read in full. Here’s a taste of it: The title of the meeting was blunt: “Will Schools Have Too Much Freedom in a Big Society?” Mr
A striking aspect of the Liberal Democrat conference is how discussion of cooperation with Labour takes place in public while talk of any future work with their current coalition partner happens in private. Tonight, Paddy Ashdown told an Observer fringe meeting that the Liberal Democrats’ long-term goal should still be to become the dominant party
In the early hours of this morning, Lib Dem conference looked like any other party conference. A throng of people—mostly men in suits—standing around outside the conference hotel having come from the various media parties. Indeed, it is surprisingly hard to tell the difference between Lib Dem conference and the others now. There are a
I wasn’t able to get to the Liberal Democrat party conference this year, which is a shame as it is probably the first time it’s been interesting since Jeremy Thorpe’s mate shot that dog. There is an irony in the fact that the least compelling Liberal leader of the last fifty years, and the one
Few observers would have expected Simon Hughes to tear into the coalition with full force in his speech today. The mood in Liverpool is geared towards support, not destruction. But the deputy Lib Dem leader’s effusiveness was still fairly surprising. He reassured the audience that he is a “rock solid supporter of the coalition –
There’s always an after the Lord Mayor’s show feel at conference the today, after the leader’s speech. Adding to this feeling today is that the programme is relatively light; Simon Hughes and Chris Huhne are the star attractions. Last night at the various parties one sensed a certain satisfaction among those close to Clegg
Now how’s this for an opinion? Writing for Labour Uncut, Dan Hodges announces that David Miliband has won the Labour leadership contest. His piece starts: “This Saturday David Miliband will become leader of the Labour party. He will have won a majority of his Parliamentary colleagues and the wider membership, along with sufficient support from
A noteworthy snippet in Andrew Pierce’s column this morning: “[David Laws] is hard at work on a book. The title – 22 Days In May – is hardly likely to set pulses racing, but the book will be the first insider account of the negotiations which led to the coalition. Laws is also planning to
Who would have thought, even a year ago, that the future of the Liberal Democrats would arouse such interest? Perhaps I was too harsh on Nick Clegg’s speech to the party’s conference; certainly Fraser was more impressed by it and the gang at Liberal Vision also seem pleased. Perhaps I was wrong to hope that
I dare say it makes one a bad person to be amused by this: ONE gives only a pittance in direct charitable support to its causes — something Borochoff said the average donor might not realize. The Bono nonprofit took in $14,993,873 in public donations in 2008, the latest year for which tax records are
This is the latest in our series of posts on the Spending Review with Reform. A list of previous posts can be found here. The debate on the defence budget has become one of the most fiercely contested in recent days. Over the weekend, editorials in both The Times and The Daily Telegraph agreed that
Here is a selection of responses to Clegg’s from across the blogosphere. Fraser Nelson reflects on Clegg’s bout of political S&M. James Forsyth hears Clegg talk to party not country. Peter Hoskin watches Nick Clegg shade the coalition yellow. Alex Massie describes it as ‘lacklustre’, but reckons the audience may have seen it
Nick Clegg is making life horribly difficult for those of us on the right who spent the last few things portraying him as a figure of fun. He is now delivering the best speeches of anyone in the Cabinet, characterised by a quiet sense of urgency and direction. He’s in the business of making the
Nick Clegg chose to speak to his party not the country today. His address was a justification of his decision to go into government with the Tories and a plea for his party to stick together over the next five, difficult years. The crucial bit of the speech came when Clegg said of his
It’s hard to know quite what to make of Nick Clegg’s speech just now. It never really soared as a piece of oration, but he skipped quite expertly across all the issues that might concern, delight and enliven a Lib Dem audience. And so we heard about how much the Lib Dems are contributing towards government;
As rallying cries go, “Stick with us” lacks a certain something. But that’s how the Liberal Democrats roll and so it was that Nick Clegg was forced – or believed himself forced – to deliver a disappointingly defensive speech to the party’s annual conference this afternoon. Perhaps that’s what he needed to do. This was
1653, PH: And that, aside from Clegg’s stroll around the crowd, is that. There’ll be further analysis on Coffee House shortly. The applause continues… 1652, PH: Clegg ends with a flourish: “Stick with us, and we will change Britain for good.” The crowd is on its feet. 1651, PH: Is Clegg moulding his party as
Paul Krugman is back banging a familiar drum: austerity is not a good idea. Anywhere. As always, Ireland is one of his favourite examples: [V]irtuous Ireland never did better than malingering Spain. And now, Ireland’s risk premium has exploded, here; Spain’s not so much, here. Of course, it’s not at all a clean experiment; Ireland’s
The most brutal session the Lib Dems will see is the studio audience currently assembled by Victoria Derbyshire for her Five Live phone-in. It’s a rare event in conference time, where the general public are put into contact with the politicians. The result is normally a bit of a bear pit, and for that reason
Here’s one of the most striking leitmotifs of the Lib Dem conference: how party figures are rushing to slap down talk of an electoral pact between themselves and the Tories. Vince Cable was at it yesterday, writing in the Independent on Sunday that: “Our parties remain totally independent and will compete in future national and
…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. Fraser Nelson explains why he has stopped worrying and learned to love Nick Clegg, and live-blogs from the fringe. James Forsyth analyses Alexander’s arguments, and says that the coalition must make its case more forcefully. Peter Hoskin watches the Lib Dems deliver the