All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
For the first forty-five minutes it was rather like the first debate. Brown attacked Cameron, Cameron hit back and all the while Clegg soared above it. But then immigration, Clegg’s Achilles heel, was thrown into the mix. Cameron went hard for Clegg over his amnesty policy, and Clegg had no clear answer—initially backing away from
I suspect that newspaper endorsements interest journalists and politicians a heck of a lot more than they do voters. But The Guardian backing the Lib Dems (albeit with a caveat about anti-Tory tactical voting in Labour-Tory marginals) does feel like a significant moment. In a way, the endorsement is not too surprising. Having called on
Compass, a pressure group on the left of the Labour party, has today endorsed tactical voting after its members backed it overwhelmingly in a poll. The Compass endorsement of tactical vote fits with a pattern where Labour supporters in Lib Dem Tory seats will vote for the Lib Dems to try and keep the Tories
International readers – and Britishers without televisions – can watch the third and final Prime Ministerial Debate here:
I have just visited the two countries that are making the headlines in the European newspapers – Germany and Greece. During my trip, I met officials, journalists, and key advisers to both Prime Minister Papandréou and Chancellor Merkel. Sitting on the flight back to London I have regrettably come to the conclusion that the Euro
Well, Cameron saved the best till last. His aides are even joking that they could do with a fourth debate because their man is really getting in the swing of it. He looked more confident, assured – and spoke convincingly about immigration at last, a subject he fluffed last time. I’d place Clegg second. Brown
So that’s the second time that immigration has had a major impact upon proceedings this week. Until we came to the question on that topic, I thought Clegg was bossing the TV debate. He was clear, personable and managed to hover elegantly above Brown and Cameron’s dusty brawl over spending cuts. But as soon as
This was hardly a vintage debate even if it is increasingly clear that these men have little regard for one another and that both Cameron and, especially, Brown are irritated by Nick Clegg’s stickability. This was actually Clegg’s weakest performance. After a good start and the best of the opening statements, Clegg’s performance was less
The letter in support of the Lib Dems in today’s Guardian was a brave intervention from Richard Reeves, John Kampfner and a group of prominent figures from left-liberal Britain. It is all too easy to dismiss such interventions as the actions of the usual suspects addicted to writing to the papers to remind themselves of
By rights, Gordon Brown should fear this debate on the economy more than any other. Here are ten questions I would like to hear him answer: 1. You told Gillian Duffy yesterday that you have a “deficit plan to cut the debt in half over four years.” This was a lie, wasn’t it? Our
What question should I ask David Miliband on tomorrow’s (Friday) edition of the Campaign Show on BBC News? All contributions gratefully received, even those which are not obscene or make references to the Liebore Party, etc etc. There may be another politician on the show who will keep you amused for a while. In the
One thing to watch tonight is David Cameron’s strategy for dealing with Nick Clegg’s plan to take peoples’ first ten thousand pounds of income out of tax. This policy is clear and appealing and one that many Conservatives like. Indeed, Cameron himself called it a ‘beautiful policy’ in the first debate. So it is imperative,
It can be a risky business, this game. There’s always the temptation to produce some counterintuitive theory that, generally speaking, is too bleedin’ clever by half. And the more everyone else says black is white so it’s tempting to write that, actually, it’s red. So, as we await the third and final leaders’ debate this
Ben Brogan accepts Labour’s challenge to judge Gordon on substance not style and, unsurprisingly, finds him wanting. But in his critique he also includes this: On the substance of the constitution, he gerrymandered new bodies that turned on Labour and undermined the union. What on earth is he talking about? What are these bodies, how
Obviously, yesterday’s disaster has written-off tonight’s debate for Brown. But ‘Bigot-gate’ is obscuring the European bailout crisis. Allister Heath and Iain Martin surmise that the euro crisis gives David Cameron a further advantage, if he can exploit it. Iain writes: ‘Mr. Cameron has just been dealt a potential ace by the markets. It will be
Last week, I reported on dubious expenses scheming by two Liberal Democrat MPs – Paul Rowen in Rochdale and John Leech in Manchester Withington – and subsequently wrote a blog fdetailing Paul Rowen’s method of funding his political campaigning at public expense. Inevitably, having failed to respond to my questions, Rowen stated that the pieces
Labour’s, erm, “poster” ahead of the TV debate tonight: And Coffee House’s take on what Number 10 might look like on May 7th (with thanks to the great Carla Millar for putting the photo-montage together):
Given the timing of Brown’s Mega Gaffe, you’ve got to wonder how it will play out in the TV debate tonight. Will it, for instance, mean that he gets a hostile reception? Will he try to defuse the situation by repeating his apologies, or perhaps by making some sort of light out of it (“Yesterday,
It will be hard to isolate the influence of ‘bigot-gate’ on the polls as any taken after today will also include the effect of the final debate. But a few things are worth noting. First, this will be a ‘slow-burn’: Brown’s dismissal of such a large section of the electorate will take a while to
Over at Spectator Live, our panellist Gaby Hinsliff asks who has the three qualities – momentum, hope and stamina – needed to close the deal in the last week of campaigning. After his exhausted blunder yesterday, Gordon Brown looks finished. Also at Spectator Live, you can read an exclusive interview with William Hague, written
2227, JGF: Rumour going around the press room that a certain A Campbell has been overheard saying ‘I think we’ve had it’ 2201, PH: And that’s it. I’ll be putting up my verdict in a separate post shortly. Thanks for tuning in. 2200, PH: Woah. Brown starts positive – thanking everyone involved in the debates.
Tonight is about the economy – the most important issue troubling voters. Amazing, though, your economic mesage has not been particularly clear. Incredible given what the Labour government has done, I know, but true. George Osborne cannot seem to win over the City; the Lords of Finance never miss an opportunity to tell the FT
Motherwell Rules. Obviously, like… He’s a nice chap really… Also from The Thick of It: Peter Mannion: This is the trouble with the public, they’re fucking horrible! Emma Messinger: Peter, you can’t say the public are fucking horrible. Peter Mannion: Yes I can, I’ve met them. All true, all too true.
Gordon Brown clearly didn’t read my blog post before last. There was something biblical about his humiliation in Rochdale. His loss of dignity was total. It wasn’t as if the status of Gillian Duffy as an archetypal Labour voter had not been telegraphed – father singing the red flag at Manchester Free Trade Hall, working
I suppose it is the perfect expression of how and why the Labour Party has lost the white working class vote in the last fifteen years; it has only contempt for them. Opposition to immigration – as we know from Neathergate, well before Bigotgate – is seen by Labour has being rooted in a stupid
This message has just been blasted out to Labour members: As you may know, I have apologised to Mrs Duffy for remarks I made in the back of the car after meeting her on the campaign trail in Rochdale today. I would also like to apologise to you. I know how hard you all work
Every politician will be thinking “there but for the grace of God…” today – but the Gillian Duffy incident is not just a gaffe. It is bad for Gordon Brown and Labour on very many levels. Here are ten of them. 1. The image of the Politburo pulling away in the Jag, slagging off
Gordon Brown badly needed Mrs Duffy to come out of her house after his 40 minute meeting with her and grant him public absolution and declare that she’s voting Labour after all. But she chose to stay firmly inside. There’s now no footage to replace that of the initial gaffe on the nightly news tonight.
So Brown has now visited Gillian Duffy’s home to apologise to her in person. Somehow, I think that’s not going to defuse this row. Labour have, in the lingo of the The Thick of It, a major omnishambles on their hands. And he’s called Gordon. The worst aspect of this for Labour, though, is the
Well the only good thing, from Labour’s perspective, is that this has happened the day before the final debate and not several days before it. So there’s just a chance it will be a 36 hour story, not a 72 hours one. Clearly it’s not a great idea for the Prime Minister to be heard
We have just witnessed the biggest moment of the 2010 election campaign. It wasn’t that Brown let off steam: it was that he instinctively described as “bigoted” a woman who represents what should be Labour’s core vote. Sure, she mentioned immigration – but just said “where are they coming from”? Her main concern was the
Brown calling Gillian Duffy that ‘bigoted woman’ from the safety of his car having ended his conversation with her cordially is, obviously, hugely damaging for Labour’s campaign. But I suspect Nick Clegg will also suffer some collateral damage as it will push immigration to the top of the political agenda, an area where the Lib
… Well that ain’t the half of it. Brown has just made the most garbled apology imaginable on the Jeremy Vine show: “I apologise if I said anything like that.” Well, unfortunately, Brown had, and Vine duly played the tape. Brown had to apologise again: “I apologise if I’ve said anything remotely hurtful…there were comments
Wow. Just when you thought Labour’s campaign couldn’t get any worse, they go and wheel out Brown in front of ordinary voters. And this is the result: he has been caught on mic describing a member of the public as a “bigoted woman”. Speaking to one of his advisers, he added “you shouldn’t have put