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.
Boris Johnson is ‘absolutely increasingly confident’ that David Cameron will win in 2015. This was the Mayor’s attempt at responding to Andy Coulson’s suggestion that he’s desperate for the PM to fail so he can cycle in and save the party, a blond messiah. Attempt is perhaps the wrong word, as it suggests Boris made
Optimists might think that a wariness on the part of senior Tory ministers to push through the Communications Data Bill without the Lib Dems’ consent is at least a sign the parties are starting to appreciate the practical limits of Coalition. They clearly listened to the party when the row about an EU referendum bill
Should the UK arm the Syrian rebels? William Hague thinks so, but it turns out neither his MPs nor the public are convinced. YouGov polling earlier this month found on 17 per cent of voters supported sending arms, and 56 per cent opposed the measure. Tory MPs such as John Redwood, John Baron and Julian Lewis
George Osborne’s broadcast tour this morning served two purposes. The first was to reward those ministers who aren’t playing hard to get in the spending review negotiations by praising their readiness to settle. The second was to prod Labour a bit. Osborne’s love of ‘weaponising’ policy can irritate his colleagues at times, but the spending
Anyone reading Sam Coates’ interview with Ed Balls in today’s Times might be forgiven for chucking their newspaper on the floor with a chuckle, muttering about the hypocrisy of a Labour shadow Chancellor lecturing George Osborne on borrowing. Balls warns that the government’s plans to offer Royal Bank of Scotland shares to the public will
David Cameron warned in his Downing Street statement on the Woolwich killing against forming ‘knee-jerk responses’ to the atrocity. But it was inevitable that there would be many knees flying in the air over a piece of legislation that some say could either have prevented the killing, or made it easier to piece together the
That Universal Credit is one of the government projects at risk of failing is not a surprise, especially not if you’re a Spectator reader. We warned back in September 2012 that the Whitehall machine was already trying to put the brakes on the project. Officials did try their very best yesterday to avoid a big
Is there anyone left who thinks the Government’s Help to Buy scheme is a good idea? This week’s Spectator splashes on the risks of this property bubble wheeze. Merryn Somerset Webb warns that the scheme, which underwrites mortgages, will lead to rising house prices. She argues that ‘if anyone other than the government manipulated a
It goes without saying that when it comes to serious national tragedies, David Cameron is the right man to give a statement from Downing Street. His response today to the Woolwich killing underlined how good he is at producing sensitive and thoughtful speeches which, though written swiftly, avoid any knee-jerk reaction. He should be commended
It’s fashionable to say Downing Street isn’t very good at strategy. So fashionable, in fact, that sometimes journalists worry they’re being unfair to the Tory leadership. But today we saw yet another example of the Prime Minister leaving an open goal for not just the opposition party but also his own Coalition partners to score.
The International Monetary Fund published its long-awaited Ofsted report on the UK economy this afternoon. As usual, the written assessment contains enough to keep everyone on all sides of the debate happy, but while avoiding telling the government to abandon Plan A, it does instruct George Osborne to invest in supply-side measures to boost growth,
Ever the helpful friend in times of strife, Nick Clegg is giving a speech today in which he will soar above the troubles the Tories currently find themselves in to tell everyone that the two parties will remain manacled together until the 2015 general election. There has been plenty of speculation that this won’t be
Some might say it was rather audacious of Yvette Cooper to send an email to Labour activists this evening urging them to tweet something along these lines: I’m proud to be part of @uklabour today and proud that we’re one step closer to #equalmarriage in Britain. — Sheila Gilmore (@SheilaGilmoreMP) May 21, 2013 I feel
Health Service Journal has a great scoop this afternoon that NHS boss Sir David Nicholson will retire in March 2014. The man who was in charge of the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust when the serious failings in care took place had long been considered a busted flush, but his departure seems to be set for a
Whether or not Lord Feldman made his ‘mad, swivel-eyed loons’ comments, the story has given the Conservative grassroots the perfect opportunity to tell David Cameron, via the media, how unhappy they are with the way they’re treated. On the World at One, Conservative Grassroots chair Robert Woollard complained about ‘some very derogatory comments from some
Andy Burnham summoned Jeremy Hunt to the Commons this afternoon for a shouty hour about who loves the NHS more. The Health Secretary’s answer to Labour’s urgent question on the government’s plans for changes to the GP contract and the crisis in Accident and Emergency departments was largely a direct attack on decisions the opposition
Today’s drop in inflation is good news for the government. The Consumer Prices Index grew by 2.4 per cent in the year to April 2013, down from March’s 2.8 per cent, with the biggest falls in transport costs, particularly petrol and air fares. Prices for food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco saw the biggest rises, with
David Cameron didn’t spend yesterday wringing his hands in Downing Street about the progress of his gay marriage bill: he was meeting his business advisory group. He allowed Google CEO Eric Schmidt to sneak out via the No 10 back door, a rather awkward metaphor for the company’s tax arrangements. The Prime Minister is well
MPs have just defeated Tim Loughton’s ‘wrecking amendment’ to the Same Sex Marriage Bill by 375 votes to 70, after approving the Government and Labour amendment (more on how that works here) which will introduce a consultation on heterosexual civil partnerships. Those in favour of gay marriage will, if this Bill does make it out
William Hague set out the government’s latest thinking on the horror in Syria to MPs in the Commons today. He explained that if the UK were to consider arming the rebels, it would be under three conditions: A decision in co-ordination with other nations. Carefully controlled circumstances. In accordance with obligations under national and international