All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
I’ve just had a novel and very disturbing experience: I agreed with Harriet Harman. This was no Pauline conversion, but the Leader of the House’s suggestion that it is the Commons, not party leaders, that must rescue parliament’s reputation and restore public trust is self-evident: only parliament can renew itself. Of course party leaders have an input and direct the
No matter what you think of global warming, I think this qualifies as chutzpah: Saudi Arabia is trying to enlist other oil-producing countries to support a provocative idea: if wealthy countries reduce their oil consumption to combat global warming, they should pay compensation to oil producers. Good luck with that.
Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images Until he gives a Shermanesque denial – and perhaps even that won’t be enough to silence the speculation – you can bet that there’ll be people writing about General David Petraeus’s political potential. Can’t be avoided. Too much time before the next election; too much space to fill. The most recent
I make no particular comment about this chatty stroll through the ways and means of getting an injunction, save to note that it was written by Nigel Tait, a partner at Carter-Ruck and appears on the firm’s website: In many cases it is clear to the lawyer, within minutes of taking instructions, whether or not
I am delighted to add my voice to those congratulating The Guardian’s David Leigh and parliament’s Paul Farrelly MP for fighting off lawyers Carter-Ruck over their absurd but spine-chilling injunction over the reporting of the activities of Trafigura in Ivory Coast. For once the over-used phrase “a great day for freedom of speech” actually means
In his recent interview with Fraser, David Cameron said that he’s keen on bringing in outside talent to the government – the so-called “Goat” strategy, which has been a feature of Brown’s premiership. In her ever-excellent column, Rachel Sylvester makes the point that this may be as much from necessity as by design: “According to
There’s little more to add to Alex’s take on the news that Geert Wilders has won his appeal against the Home Office decision to bar him from the UK. While there’s much about the Dutch MP which makes me feel uneasy, preventing him entry to this country always struck me as a needless and potentially
The damage to the Shadow Cabinet caused by Sir Thomas Legg has been published. All in all it’s not too bad for the Tories. Ken Clarke tops the list with £4,733 on gardening and cleaning expenses. In terms of comparing figures between the parties, an arresting and emotive issue to the public, the Tories are
Sir Thomas Legg’s statement is yet to be published, but I’ve trawled through the internet and made some calls to discover its contents. It is plain that Sir Thomas has imposed rules retrospectively. His remit was to enforce the ‘rules and standards in force at the time’. The Green Book, however badly written, should have
Against all the odds, this is turning into a rare fine day. First the Guardian wins the Battle of Trafigura; now the courts have over-turned the order prohibiting Geert Wilders from entering the United Kingdom. Another small, if doubtless temporary, victory for liberty. Long-time readers will know that I’m not one of Mr Wilders’ fans
I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating: the email exchanges between Danny Finkelstein and Philip Collins over at Comment Central are one of neatest features in the political blogosphere – always worth a read. They’ve got a new one up today, discussing how Brown should go about handling the Legg letters. Does he force
The Guardian is reporting that, “Within the last hour, Trafigura’s lawyers Carter-Ruck, abandoned an attempt to prevent the Guardian from reporting proceedings in parliament which revealed its existence.” This is welcome news. It is not hyperbole to say that the injunction threatened British democracy; the people must be able to know what their representatives are
What with his new column in the New Statesman and his articles for other outlets, David Blanchflower – a former member of the MPC – really does seem to enjoy laying into the Tories. Problem is, much of what he says fails to convince – so much so, in fact, that I thought I’d bash
I was at the Editorial Intelligence Comment awards this morning, where the Cultural Commentator of the Year, Johann Hari of The Independent, said that all commentators are only as good as their sources – the people who have the honesty and energy to bash you when you’re wrong, and give you tips so that you
This morning the inflation figures were released for September. They show that the economy is in ongoing deflation, as it has been since March 2009, with the annual change in the Retail Prices Index (RPI) standing at -1.4 percent. At the same time, the policy index used by the Bank of England to determine its
The Tory leadership’s line on Sir Thomas Legg’s expense repayment demands is clear. Mr Cameron told GMTV: “Repay or you cannot stand as Conservative MP”. The public’s justified outrage at expenses is such that party leaders must take a stand and discipline MPs, deemed to have transgressed rules or to have exploited the second
This time, perhaps even the lawyers have gone too far. It’s hard to recall, even in the long history of appalling gagging orders, a more disgraceful injunction than this: The Guardian has been prevented from reporting parliamentary proceedings on legal grounds which appear to call into question privileges guaranteeing free speech established under the 1688
Here’s the statement from the office of the PM, courtesy of Sky’s Cheryl Smith: Mr Brown received a letter from Sir Thomas Legg this afternoon. Sir Thomas Legg has issued his provisional conclusions to MPs, asking for further information where necessary before concluding in December. Mr Brown has always supported this process and will cooperate
It’s a simple fact of politics that many measures which would save money in the medium-to-long term incur costs in the short term. Normally, this point is brought up in relation to public service reform – e.g. Gove’s Swedish Schools agenda. But today’s FT highlights a similar effect in relation to public sector redundancies. The
I’ve been so tied up with my financial advisers, getting my bid together for the Dartford river crossing (my plan is to prevent people from Essex visiting Kent, because I don’t like them), that I missed this letter from one of the country’s more thoughtful and free thinking Labour MPs, Denis MacShane. It’s been causing
One line from the Sunday papers is still haunting me today. In the Mail on Sunday, Phillip Blond wrote that, “one million children have alcohol-addicted parents”. Think about that for a minute. What hope can these children have growing up in these kind of households? How can we as a society ensure that these children
An eagle-eyed spot by Hopi Sen, who has posted on Barry Sheerman’s comments in the Huddersfield Examiner today. If you remember, Sheerman was mooted as a key component in an anti-Brown plot, whereby he’d stand as chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party on a Get Gordon Out platform. Votes for Sheerman, it was thought, would
So what to make of Gordon Brown’s plan to sell off an expected £16bn-worth of assets? Like Charlie Elphicke over at CentreRight, I have my qualms. As he puts it, Brown has form when it comes to selling national assets at rock-bottom prices. And, in the immediate aftermath of the credit crunch and a recession,
Welcome to the latest CoffeeHousers’ Wall. For those who haven’t come across the Wall before, it’s a post we put up each Monday, on which – providing your writing isn’t libellous, crammed with swearing, or offensive to common decency – you’ll be able to say whatever you like in the comments section. There is no
Sky report that the Commons Standards and Privileges Committee have judged that Jacqui Smith was “clearly” wrong to claim that her sister’s home was her main residence. Smith has been ordered to apologise to the Commons, which she’s expected to do later today. No further action will be taken. Throw in the news about Damian
One strange side-effect of the car crash that was the Liberal Democrat conference is that no one dares say the word “cuts” anymore. Since Nick Clegg promised “savage cuts” – alarming his base in the process – we’re back to the normal euphemism of “efficiencies”. This, like so much in life, will have Gordon Brown
…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. Fraser Nelson illuminates who is affected by Brown’s double hit. James Forsyth asks why the Pakistani Taliban are being given another opening and argues that Brown remains divorced from voters. Peter Hoskin thinks that No.10 will welcome Alan Johnson’s backing and says that
They are all in it together. This morning’s papers lead with the story that Members’ Estimate Committee will challenge Sir Thomas Legg’s demands that MPs repay excessive expense claims, on the grounds that Sir Thomas’ has applied retrospective rules on maintenance grants. Many MPs will take legal action to avoid repayment. The pro-transparency MP John
Could David Cameron be the last Prime Minister of the United Kingdom? Clearly we’re getting ahead of ourselves here, but… Some regular commenters will hope so since this would, depending upon your political preferences, either be the long-awaited national awakening or an opportunity to put the uppity Jocks in thier place and see how many
Members of the Bicester and Whaddon Chase Hunt. Photo: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images. And so it begins. As a traditionalist when it comes to these matters, I think it best that parties wait until they win an election before they water down or abandon their promises. Apparently, however, that’s an old-fashioned view these days. Despite repeated
The Express’ William Hickey column reports that David Davis, not Chris Grayling, will serve as Home Secretary should the Tories win the election. Here’s what Hickey heard: ‘I’m now told there have been mounting whispers among MPs that Grayling could lose out to David Davis for the Home Secretary’s job should the Tories win the
There is a depressingly predictable story in The New York Times today about reconstruction in the Swat Valley. Here’s the key section: “the real test of Pakistan’s fight against the Taliban in Swat will take place here, in the impoverished villages where the militant movement began. But more than two months after the end of
It is wonderful news that both golf and rugby sevens have been accepted as Olympic sports. It gives us the chance of winning many more medals than if the games were simply a test of brute strength, speed, agility or skill. Now the authorities have accepted that the games should also reward GDP, raw levels