Fraser Nelson is a Times columnist and a former editor of The Spectator.
PMQs opened with perhaps the most worst planted question I have ever heard in the Commons and it’s worth a blog on its own. Robert Flello claimed his constituents “concerned about how economic…” (stumbles, looks at sheet) “em, how global economic issues… affect them. How does my Rt Hon Friend feel these events compare with
Ed Balls was on the World at One, taking a bow for the teachers’ pay deal. He again referred to low inflation and falling interest rates – which will not sound at all right to those reading the Telegraph’s splash about food prices rising at the highest rates in history or the 1.6m poor souls
About the only thing we learned at his press conference today is that David Cameron has mastered the art of not answering awkward questions. He dodged several this morning, but in a way that sounded as if he had given answers. Nick Robinson asked it first. Why didn’t George Osborne personally declare to parliament the cash
Of all the reasons why Peter Hain should go, here’s my top one. Right now a quarter of British families are caught up in Labour’s hideously complicated means-tested benefits – tax credits, etc. If they “forget” to declare income, it’s called benefit fraud – an offence for which Hain’s department successfully prosecuted 28,800 people in
The price of gold broke $900 an ounce on Friday. So this gives us another chance to reflect on Brown’s calamitous decision to sell British gold reserves at $275 an ounce five years ago. By my calculations his disastrous foray into asset management has cost the British taxpayer £3.1bn so far. Tackled about this on
What do you give a Prime Minister who wants nothing? The Indian government has been asking itself this for some time, ahead of Gordon Brown’s official visit later this month. The famously frugal Prime Minister would have little interest in any trinket. Presenting him with some casual clothing could be misinterpreted as an impolite sartorial
A sound objection to David Cameron’s welfare reform policy is raised today by Richard Littlejohn. Norman Fowler took him out to Washington and Baltimore in the 1980s when he was a Labour Correspondent to show him workfare, and pledged to introduce workfare to Britain. Nothing happened. “If Thatch couldn’t force it through, it’s not going
Is Gordon Brown running for the world record on the number of times a story is announced? His “revelation” that Britain will continue with nuclear power is something this government announces almost on a quarterly basis, to show how it is taking tough decisions. No serious policy analyst ever thought Britain would go nuclear-free –
An angrier Brown was in front of us today, holding handwritten notes for his exchanges with Cameron rather than anything given to him by No10. He would scribble furiously, and went on the offensive – asking Cameron whether he supports ID cards for foreign nationals. It seemed a bit daft at PMQs to hear the
Ladbrokes is calling it “one of the largest shocks in political betting history” – along with journalists and pollsters the money had also predicted an Obama win. Yesterday, Ladbrokes had him even to be the next US president. Now he’s on 2/1 with Hillary again favourite at 5/4. The Republicans come some distance behind: McCain
I’ve just finished a 45-minute BBC Five Live phone-in with Richard Bacon about Cameron’s welfare reform – me in favour and Lisa Harker from the IPPR (ex DWP) against. I had expected it to be a flak-taking exercise, and perhaps it would have been had it been a Westminster discussion. But most of the callers
Is Brown right on inflation? TGF UKIP appeals for help: is it correct to say as he did in the Observer and on Marr that inflation is 4% in America, 3% in Eurozone and 2% in Britain? I was thinking of Fisking the interview – but soon worked out it would be longer than the
A well-connected CoffeeHouse reader kindly informs me that Brown is due in China next week, goes to India for two days and back in time for PMQs on the Wed. But here’s my favourite bit: the talks in India are not scheduled to include protests about plans to demand a cash bond for visitors as
Even on Saturday afternoon, I couldn’t find a bookmaker who made Barack Obama favourite to be the next us president. People’s money was still on Hillary, suggesting Iowa was a minor setback. But after the recent debates, it seems Obama will take new Hampshire tomorrow – and Ladbrokes has changed its odds. It now has
Don’t mention the relaunch! That will be the motto today as Gordon Brown embarks on his, ahem, new year initiative kicking off with a big speech on health . Cameron is ahead of him: he made his health speech last week. Also Brown is off to India and China later this month (or so they
Last month, I posted about the number of pensioners who die from the cold each winter (more than 20,000). Two events will make it even worse this winter: the decision by N-Power to raise their bills 13% and a cold snap with temperatures as low as -17 predicted. It is in precisely these conditions that
My favourite Ronald Reagan quote is how government is like a baby’s alimentary canal: endless appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other. I now have the chance to study the biological side of this analogy in the form of my (as-yet-unnamed) son, born this weekend. So I’ll be away from Coffee House
I was on BBC Radio Four’s Talking Politics today with Anne McElvoy of the Standard and Michael White of the Guardian – and Dennis Sewell in the chair. During it I made a point which I had thought uncontroversial: how close Cameron came to political destruction last autumn. My theory is that if Brown
The Bhutto murder lets the world see how politicians of all kinds react to such events. Mike Huckabee rather failed the test by offering “sincere concern and apologies for what has happened in Pakistan.” Apologies? He later explained he had misspoke and meant to say “sympathies” – but went on to make other blunders. Brown’s words
I don’t think Musharraf can now avoid be blamed for failing to provide Bhutto with the security she needed. Even worse for him that this should happen in Rawalpindi, the Army HQ and one of the most heavily-fortified cities in Pakistan. There may be a groundswell of anger to be marshalled – the question
