Uk politics

Thursday

Max Chambers

The bonfire of the quangos

Policy Exchange has been arguing for some time that the Youth Justice Board  should be abolished, with its functions shared between the Ministry of Justice and local councils. It has just been revealed that the body will indeed be scrapped, despite rumours that the Justice Secretary tried to buy more time before making a decision on its future,  before eventually losing out to the Cabinet Office.  There will inevitably be concern at the news from various children’s charities and penal reform organizations who will argue that young offenders need to be treated as a distinct group. So, why did we argue for the YJB to be scrapped and what will

David Blackburn

Dramatic cut in pension relief

The coalition is not afraid of the moneyed classes, or Peter Mandelson’s ‘filty rich’. Tax relief on pension contributions is to be dramatically cut.  The allowance will be decreased from £250,000 per annum to £50,000 and the pension cap will fall from £1.8m to £1.5m and retiring workers could be taxed at 55 percent on any sum above that sum. These changes will save the Treasury £4bn per annum, mainly by limiting how much of a bonus pot or a windfall can avoid income or capital gains tax. The Telegraph describes the move as a ‘raid’ on the ‘squuezed middle’, which is not strictly true. The previous governnment made similar

David Blackburn

Cameron’s government has been brave so far; it must not flinch at the finish

The spending review’s actors are jostling for position at the final curtain call. Bit-part players are stealing for the prominence of the centre, Whitehall’s bigger beasts fight to preserve their dwindling limelight and the leadership try to direct and subjugate the warring egos. Defence seems more or less settled, with the navy’s grandiose element apparently securing its two super-carriers. Doubts remain over the education budget’s final reckoning and welfare is unsettled as yet. Après child benefit, le deluge – so to speak. An attack on the principle of universal benefit would have predictable consequences. Questions have arisen about the government’s commitment to the winter fuel allowance and the cold weather

Wednesday

David Blackburn

Boles: the coalition is David Miliband’s natural home

Nick Boles is fast becoming ubiquitous. He wrote an article for this morning’s Guardian, urging Labour’s wounded Blairites to join the coalition, where ‘there is room for everyone inspired by the desire to transform the way that government works and give people more control over their lives.’ He writes: ‘If President Obama can keep Republican Robert Gates as secretary of state for defence, does Britain have to forfeit the remarkable talent of David Miliband? Can the coalition afford to do without the passionate expertise of Andrew Adonis as it completes his quest to connect Britain’s great cities with high-speed rail? Must we try to build the “big society” without the

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Tories defying the profligate European Union

Anyone who thought the new intake of Tory MPs were a bunch of automatons should take a look at the House of Commons order paper today. MPs have been asked to sign away 60 percent more of British taxpayers’ money to Brussels, in defiance of British public opinion. For years, they have done so without qualms. But the Conservatives, who were so rightly outraged at the way Labour whipped through the Lisbon Treaty, are challenging this. In an age of austerity, when we’re cutting child benefit and asking if Britain can afford to be a world-class military power, why should MPs sign off a 60 percent increase in the amount

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

Cameron’s cruise uninterrupted by Miliband’s confident start

You could write a book about that. The first ever Dave vs Ed Miliband fixture at PMQs was a fascinating joust between two smart, skilful and ruthlessly ambitious public men who have been groomed for power, in their different ways, from the cradle. Four decades of arduous preparation led to this tumultuous match. Ed Miliband opened in funereal tones and offered ritual homages to the dead of Afghanistan. Then in his modest bank-manager’s manner he pledged to support government reform to sickness benefits. But not, he added ominously, to child benefit cuts. How many families with one stay-home parent would suffer from the forthcoming cuts, he asked. Cameron couldn’t answer

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Miliband starts with a bang

Score the first round to Ed Miliband. In his debut PMQs performance, Miliband comfortably got the better of David Cameron, forcing him onto the defensive for most of the session. Miliband’s first question was a long and worthy one about the death of Linda Norgrove, the UK aid worker, in Afghanistan last week. Then, he moved to the proposed child benefit changes, asking Cameron to justify the anomaly where a single earner family on £45,000 a year would lose it while a two earner household on £80,000 would keep it. Cameron’s problem was that nine days after the policy was announced, he still has no answer to his point. (Although,

Peter Hoskin

PMQs live blog | 13 October 2010

VERDICT: Well, who would have thought it? In his first PMQs performance, Ed Miliband not only put in a solid showing – but he got the better of David Cameron. I certainly don’t agree with the Labour leader’s central argument: that it is unfair to restrict child benefit. But he put his point across in measured, reasonable tones – and Cameron seemed flustered by comparison, as he wagged on about the size of the deficit. Make no mistake, the argument and the public’s sympathies will unwind themselves over the course of the entire Parliament. They will not be resolved in one session of PMQs. But in presentational terms, MiliE will

Peter Hoskin

Counting down to the spending review

Only one week to go, folks, until the main event itself: the Comprehensive Spending Review. And judging by this morning’s papers, the Treasury have almost settled on their final acts. Only the welfare, eduction and defence budgets have any significant question marks hanging over them. Those question marks, though, are fading fast. A story in this morning’s Times (£) reports that David Cameron has endorsed the building of two aircraft carriers, but has decided to delay the Trident upgrade until after 2015. No, strictly speaking, he’s not going back on this. Rather, the idea is that the coalition will keep on working towards a replacement for Trident between now and

David Blackburn

Miliband versus Dave – round one

Well, here it is. Ed Miliband will meet David Cameron for the first time at PMQs today. For all his determination and tactical sense, Miliband has his work cut out. Neither gave vintage speeches at the recent party conferences, but, in terms of presentation, Cameron’s easy wit trumps Miliband’s adenoidal drone. This will be Westminster’s final act of posturing before next Wednesday’s spending review, a vanity soon to be forgotten. However, Labour has to fertilise its barren economic policy, and quickly. PMQs is the best opportunity to start.  Labour’s strategy is clear: the government has made no plans for growth; in fact, their cuts are inimical to growth and squeeze hard-pressed middle earners. This

Tuesday

Will Tanner

Norfolk prepares for the Spending Review

This is the latest in our series of posts on the Spending Review with Reform. A list of previous posts can be found here. On Friday, Norfolk’s public service leaders gathered at a summit organised by Norman Lamb, MP for North Norfolk and Parliamentary and Political Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister, to discuss the region’s preparation for the upcoming Spending Review. The meeting of MPs, council leaders, NHS and police representatives, as well as a number of external organisations such as Reform, was intended as a first step towards a regional solution to the expected 25 per cent cuts to Norfolk’s annual £7 billion total public spend.   The

David Blackburn

The Postie’s twinkle

The Postman’s eyes twinkled as he met George Osborne across the dispatch box for the first time this afternoon. With the air of an apologist who isn’t remotely contrite, Alan Johnson told the House of his ‘vast experience in this job’ and gave the impression he was having a blast. This jolly masque hid an insubstantial performance. Johnson latched on to Chris Huhne’s vow that he would not be ‘lashed to the mast‘ of needless spending cuts – Johnson wondered if the deficit might not be eradicated within one parliament. Osborne said that it would. Then Johnson repeated the substance of his attacks of the weekend. The government lacks a

David Blackburn

Cable backs the Browne report

The Lib Dem website still says that the party stands for the abolition of tuition fees, so Vince Cable had to draw on all his presentational skill this afternoon. The ‘current system of university funding is no longer feasible’ he said, before adding that Scotland’s free system is unsustainable. Second, he made clear that he and his party have always supported a ‘progressive graduate contribution’. The Browne report incorporates a progressive contribution into an alternative to the current system; Cable vowed to introduce a ‘specific proposal along the lines of the Browne report.’ Cable also dealt with the politically sensitive issue that these changes would not disadvantage middle income earners.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Winning over the squeezed middle

Politically, one of the key questions about Lord Browne’s suggestion that tuition fees should be raised is how the tribunes of the middle classes react. Will a rise in fees be seen as another burden on those who work hard, play by the rules and are already bearing more than their fair share of the costs of the state? If the argument is to be won, the coalition will have to show that students will now get more out of their university experience. There’ll have to be an emphasis on how these changes will make universities improve the quality of the teaching that they offer. It’ll be worth watching to

David Blackburn

Cable and Clegg scrambling to repel errant MPs

The Lib Dems have met the Browne report with a mixture of cordiality and outright antipathy. According to the Guardian, Greg Mulholland is the ring-leader of a band who will vote against a fee rise come what may. Lib Dem ministers are describing the Browne report as ‘unpalatable’ in its current form but recognise that fees must rise and are ‘keeping their powder dry’. The stumbling block is Browne’s recommendation that interest free loans be scrapped. This stark move was to be offset by raising the threshold and tapering interest rates to protect the disadvantaged. There are also concerns that the affluent will be able to pay off their debt

David Blackburn

An unlikely alliance against Murdoch

The Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail, the Daily Mirror, Channel Four, British Telecom and the BBC have united in common cause: stop Rupert Murdoch. This has to be The Digger’s greatest achievement: not since Waterloo has more motley a coalition been scrambled to resist a ravening tyrant. The signatories have written a letter to Vince Cable, who is to adjudge if Murdoch’s proposed full ownership of BSkyB will endanger media plurality. In reality, this hostile alliance is about more than plurality; it is a battle for the control of the news in a digital future. The distinct trinity of print, television and online is being subsumed into one

David Blackburn

The scale of IDS’ and Gove’s challenge

Yesterday was a day of weighty reports. At 700 pages, the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s ‘How Fair is Britain?’ won the thoroughness stakes. Aside from the usual findings that a disproportionate number of young black men are imprisoned and that the white working class is outperformed at school by Indian and Chinese migrants, it made some telling discoveries. The report found that a staggering 50 percent of Muslim men and nearly 75 percent of Muslim women are unemployed in certain regions. No clues as to where, though the reasons as to why should now be familiar: the figures correspond with the Centre for Policy Studies’ view that Britain has

David Blackburn

A sustainable and permanent solution

‘A sustainable and permanent solution’, that was Lord Browne’s refrain this morning. Browne has aimed to fill the £1bn university funding black hole with a system that doesn’t prejudice the disadvantaged or force universities to privatise. Browne recommends that the tuition fee cap goes, but insists the Treasury should collect a levy from universities that charge above £6,000: fees set at £9,000 will cede 50 percent of £1,000 above £6,000, which will rise to 75 percent for fees of £12,000. This tapered levy is designed to discourage institutions from charging US-style of £20,000. Browne says that no English or Welsh student should be confronted with upfront costs – at the moment,

Monday

James Forsyth

Green refuses to name names

In the government’s grid for the week, Sir Philip Green’s report into how to make the public sector more efficient was meant to be the top story today. For an obvious — and tragic — reason it is not. Politically, the report was meant to help the government make its case that the cuts can be done without throwing Britain back into some Hobbesian state of nature. Indeed, Sir Philip suggests to Robert Peston that a very large chunk of the £83 billion cuts that are needed can be made through savings on the government’s £191bn  property and procurement costs. But as Pete notes, identifying government waste is far easier

Peter Hoskin

Bringing Arcadia to Whitehall

Philip Green’s business background is writ plain across his review of government waste – right down to its PowerPoint style layout. Many of its recommendations reduce down to a claim made on p.20: “There is no reason why the thinking in the public sector needs to be different from the private sector.” And so we read a suggestion that departments halve the number of hotel visits by using video-conferencing. There are passages on how to get the best deals for mobile phone contracts and printer cartridges, too. This isn’t to trivialise the report. Far from it. Many of its findings are of the I-can’t-believe-government-operates-like-that variety – and Green extrapolates from