Isabel Hardman is assistant editor of The Spectator and author of Why We Get the Wrong Politicians. She also presents Radio 4’s Week in Westminster.
There’s a lot of interest in Jeremy Browne’s revelation in the Times this morning that senior Tories have already been trying to persuade the sacked Lib Dem Home Office minister to defect. Browne bats this away by showing that he really is a true Lib Dem with the only evidence that his fellow yellows will
Today’s figures from the Trussell Trust on food bank use were good fodder for Labour at PMQs. But the message from the charity, which I profiled for the Spectator a few months ago, is that there needs to be a proper parliamentary inquiry into food poverty, which sounds eminently more sensible than people shouting at
David Cameron clearly didn’t think he’d had a good PMQs by the time he’d finished with Ed Miliband. There was something irritable and tired about the Prime Minister as he took questions from backbenchers, and that weariness was compounded by the sight of Dennis Skinner limbering to his feet to deliver a long, angry and
Presumably one of the motivations behind the decision of Police Federation members to try to discredit Andrew Mitchell was an attempt to discredit the government’s wider reforms of and cuts to the police service, which the union representing the force was at the time engaged in a bitter battle with ministers over. But oddly enough,
After last week’s reshuffle and the gap left by Jesse Norman’s departure from the policy board, Number 10 has announced a number of promotions which increase the board’s size – and its brainpower. Alun Cairns, Andrea Leadsom, Priti Patel, Chris Skidmore and Nadhim Zahawi have all been promoted, which is interesting as all of them
Giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee this afternoon, Theresa May said it would be ‘appropriate’ for the West Mercia chief constable to apologise to Andrew Mitchell over the way the ‘Plebgate’ allegations were handled. She was being questioned on the Independent Police Complaints Commission’s report, published this morning, which found that there was
Oh dear. Poor old Adam Afriyie. Just over a week ago he was boasting of a ‘cross party’ campaign behind his amendment to James Wharton’s EU referendum bill. Now the updated list of signatures has been supported, and there hasn’t exactly been a stampede of support. Last week, the amendments said this: Adam Afryie Keith
The government’s business taskforce will give a presentation today to Cabinet on its report on slashing EU regulation. David Cameron has already indicated that he will support the 30 recommendations in the report, compiled by M&S chief executive Marc Bolland, Kingfisher chief executive Ian Cheshire, ATG Access managing director Glenn Cooper, BTG chief executive Louise
After insisting that her appointment in no way represented a ‘lurch to the left’ at the weekend by repeating the policy pronouncements that her predecessor was allowed to come out with, Rachel Reeves pitched up at DWP questions today with the same strategy that Liam Byrne had employed when taking on the Tories on welfare.
It is just two weeks since Boris Johnson came over all loyal at the Conservative party conference. The Mayor, it was reported, was putting his weight behind David Cameron because of the presence of Lynton Crosby and the apparent private offer of a safe seat. But it looks like he’s back to being troublesome by
Number 10 didn’t make any effort to shoot the fox hunting story that’s doing the rounds at today’s lobby briefing. Responding to calls from a cross-party group of MPs for a partial lifting of the hunting ban to allow farmers to use a full pack of dogs to flush out foxes, the Prime Minister’s official
George Osborne is in Beijing at the moment, drumming up support for Britain in the global race. Although that doesn’t quite work because Britain is obviously racing China in this global race, but all the same, he wants China to run alongside Britain cheering it, rather than sledging as it steams ahead. And to be
Much rejoicing in the ranks of education reformers today as just one sinner repents. Tristram Hunt has toldthe Mail On Sunday that Labour doesn’t think free schools are just for ‘yummy mummies’ and that now his party does support free schools, but under the ‘parent-led academies’ banner. This is supposed to be a Damascene moment
The congratulations have been flowing in from across the Labour party for Tristram Hunt as the new Shadow Education Secretary. But there is no praise higher for the newly promoted MP than to get a detailed letter from Michael Gove testing his mettle just a few days into the job. Gove saw Stephen Twigg as
Labour has decided that David Cameron’s slip-up on marriage tax breaks at PMQs is worth digging into for a little longer. listen to ‘PMQs: Ed Balls’ point of order’ on Audioboo
Perhaps David Cameron got up super-early to open his birthday presents today, or perhaps he’s a bit tired after his fortnight of party conference and reshuffle mayhem, but the Prime Minister wasn’t on top form today at PMQs. Neither was Ed Miliband, for that matter. Both men bickered about who had the best energy policy,
At their autumn conference, the Tories managed to get the last word in on the cost of living debate by explaining that you can’t just talk about living standards while not having a proper plan for the economy. This was all very well and good and the party leadership was confident that this was an
It’s funny that the pizzas that ministers, advisers and lobbyists munched as they thrashed out a deal on press regulation in March have become a symbol of all that was wrong with those late-night negotiations. Today when Maria Miller decided to distance herself from the talks in Ed Miliband’s office, a source close to the
Poor old Ed Balls. He’s been making predictions of doom that now appear to have gone too far and too fast. The latest blow to the Shadow Chancellor is that the IMF, which he went through a period of definitely liking a lot when its lieutenants started suggesting that austerity was ‘playing with fire’, has upgraded its
Diane Abbott’s exit from the Labour frontbench has come later than the former Shadow Public Health Minister imagined. She had planned to resign over the Syria vote, only to find, rather to her dismay, that her party leadership had taken the position she supported in the end. Behind the scenes, the briefing is that she