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.
Conservative backbenchers will be wondering this morning whether they should bother replying to any letters from their constituents about any unpopular government policy. Environment Secretary Owen Paterson is to announce today that the planned badger cull will be postponed following concerns about its mounting cost. Defra is insisting that the delay, until next year at
George Entwistle is appearing before a select committee for the first time this morning. It won’t be a gentle start for the new BBC Director General, though. He is giving evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport committee from 10.30 on the Jimmy Savile scandal, and will face a slew of awkward questions from MPs.
The government suffered an awkward defeat in the House of Lords this afternoon on its changes to council tax benefit. Rebels on an amendment to the Local Government Finance Bill calling for an independent review of the changes to be carried out within three years of their introduction included 16 Liberal Democrats. Labour has dubbed
In between confusing the Chamber just a little bit more on his European policy this afternoon, David Cameron appeared to be auditioning to work as his own press officer, reading out a list of the government’s achievements such as falling unemployment and lower inflation figures over the past week to MPs, just in case they’d
David Cameron appears to be looking for a suite of examples for his party that he’s still fighting their corner. He’s about to deliver his speech on offenders, and his spokesman has just suggested he’s up for a real scrap on the European Union budget, too. The FT’s splash this morning is that Angela Merkel
It’s clear the government has had a bad week when the Prime Minister pops up on a Monday with a crowd-pleasing policy announcement. Recent re-launches have been shared by senior Lib Dems and Tories following the collapse of Lords reform, for example, to demonstrate that the Coalition is still working well. But today, the Lib
Underlying this week’s media mess on the government’s energy policy was a good intentioned pitch by David Cameron to his ‘strivers’: hard-working people who struggle to make ends meet. His speech at last week’s party conference was the launchpad for this new mission, and included the Prime Minister telling members that ‘it’s not enough to
Andrew Mitchell has just announced his resignation as chief whip following the row about his altercation with a police officer at the Downing Street gates. His resignation letter, which you can read in full here says: ‘Over the last two days it has become clear to me that whatever the rights and wrongs of the
ITV’s Rachel Townsend had a more exciting train journey into Euston than she might have expected this afternoon. She discovered George Osborne sitting in first class with a standard ticket. CLASS. His aide tells ticket collector he cannot possibly move and sit with the likes of us in standard class and requests he is allowed
David Cameron was very grumpy with Labour’s Chris Bryant at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, sniping that as Bryant hadn’t apologised to him for speaking in the Commons about embargoed information, he wouldn’t answer his question. Bryant and his colleague Harriet Harman have made a bit of a stink about this, and today the Prime
Though the government’s planning reforms will make it easier for developments supported by local communities to gain planning permission, one of the big blockages in the system is made up of developers themselves. The government is becoming increasingly aware of this, and one ministerial aide close to housing policy has come up with a solution.
The Treasury Select Committee has published a stinging report this morning on the failings of the Financial Services Authority’s oversight of RBS. The MPs on the committee was unimpressed, concluding that the FSA could and should have intervened in the bank’s takeover of ABN Amro. Its members believe the regulator should have stopped the takeover,
David Cameron has arrived in Brussels for a meeting of the European Council, and has offered further helpful clarification of what exactly he means to do about energy bills. The Prime Minister said: ‘I want to be on the side of hard-pressed, hard-working families who often struggle to pay energy bills. That’s what I said
Determined to keep the Andrew Mitchell story alive for as long as possible, Labour confirmed this morning that next week’s Opposition Day debate will follow the party’s call for Andrew Mitchell to receive a £1,000 fine for his outburst by the gates of Downing Street and debate police cuts. The idea is to highlight the
The Conservatives are worried that voters are deserting them over the rising cost of living, yet their leader has managed to fluff an announcement designed to remedy that problem. Yesterday at Prime Minister’s Questions, David Cameron surprised the whole chamber and the department concerned by announcing a brand new energy policy. In response to a
Coffee House isn’t always the greatest friend of the trade unions, but one union made a striking announcement today which demonstrated the good that these bodies can do in society. Unite plans to set up a nationwide network of credit unions to try to divert struggling families away from legal loan sharks. Credit unions make
Andrew Mitchell isn’t going anywhere just yet, even if some of his ministerial colleagues are privately willing for him to face the high jump. But the story about him is still going somewhere because the chief whip apparently decided, quite unwisely, to intervene in the PMQs exchanges about him this lunchtime. But it’s not just
Good news from the City is something to cherish at the moment, and today RBS has confirmed that it will be withdrawing from the Asset Protection Scheme, through which the government gave the bank insurance cover against losses on its £282 billion toxic assets. Those assets have now fallen 63 per cent to £105 billion.
As well as announcing that Gary McKinnon will not be extradited to the US on charges of computer hacking, the Home Secretary today announced a number of changes to the way extradition is handled in this country. These changes will mean: 1. The Home Secretary is introducing a ‘forum bar’, which allows a British court
Deputy Prime Minister’s questions is quite often a slightly grumpy affair, with Nick Clegg huffing and puffing at irritating questions from Peter Bone about what position he would take in the government if David Cameron were run over by a bus. This morning’s session wasn’t much different: it was even more bad-tempered as backbenchers were