It’s hardly surpiring when Frank Field writes damningly of Brown’s government – but his latest blog post still deserves mention. Even by Field’s standards, it’s particularly unequivocal and incisive. Here are some choice passages: “Harold Wilson asserted that the Labour party was a moral crusade or it was nothing. The McBride affair has left
And while we’re talking about letters, here’s the full text of the one Francis Maude sent to Sir Gus O’Donnell last night: “Dear Gus, The e-mails sent by Damian McBride raise serious concerns about the operation of 10 Downing Street, and the degree to which the rules about the role of Special Advisers are being
The letters that Gordon Brown sent to the victims of McBride’s smears sound as clumsy as you’d expect. Here’s the Standard’s report: “[Brown’s] handwritten letters expressing “great regret” to senior Tories smeared by aide Damian McBride were dismissed as insincere and inadequate — and unreadable. One recipient, Conservative MP Nadine Dorries, who was falsely accused
The tone of today’s analysis of the McBride scandal is encapsualted by two articles in the Independent. The first, by Michael Brown, suggests that “Any remaining chance of a Labour victory has been torpedoed by incompetence, sleaze and spin at the heart of Mr Brown’s operation in Downing Street”. While the second, by Steve Richards,
Over at Red Box, Sam Coates has published the open letter that Gordon Brown has sent Sir Gus O’Donnell about the McBride scandal. Here it is. Have a sickbag to hand before reading: Dear Gus I am writing about the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers, and the proposals I want to make to tighten
Guido’s keeping shtum about how he got his hands on the McBride emails, so it’s worth highlighting this passage in today’s Guardian: “Some Labour sources were pointing the finger at the Unite trade union which is riven by splits. Charlie Whelan, the union’s political director who is a former Brown aide, was copied into the
His post on the Damian McBride scandal appeared earlier, but it’s worth rounding off the afternoon with the words of Tom Harris, a Labour MP who has done himself credit today: “…this isn’t about positioning or spinning or misdirection or whatever. This is about standards of political activity, standards which have fallen far, far below
Just in case the continuing Damian McBride story isn’t raising your blood pressure high enough on this Easter Sunday, it’s worth mentioning the latest expenses row surrounding Michael Martin. Not only is the Speaker involved in one of those “three home” schemes – renting one, claiming for a second and living in a third –
So this is the way New Labour ends – in a shower of immorality. Sure, the expenses scandals were bad enough, but Brown could wriggle out of those; promise a review; and wait for the revelations to appear about Tory and Lib Dem MPs. But Damian McBride and “Smeargate” is something else; something altogether more
With McBride gone, it’s worth referring to a passage from Philip Collins’ article for the Times yesterday. Speaking about high profile resignations, he makes this point about those who leave government: “The incidents that fade from the memory quickest are the alleged scandals: David Blunkett (twice), Peter Mandelson (twice), Beverley Hughes, Peter Hain. To this
There’s a storm brewing over No.10’s, ahem, methods. One of Gordon Brown’s chief enforcers, Damian McBride, has been caught sending emails which make “lurid suggestions” about top Tories, and which sound awfully like a smear campaign. The story makes the cover of the Telegraph, although the man who prompted it – and who has the emails in
There’s an incredibly important comment piece by Dr Taj Hargey in today’s Times. Hargey is chair of the Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford and the Imam of the Summertown Islamic Congregration, and describes the “McCarthyite” campaign which the “Muslim heirarchy in Britain” have waged against him. In the face of fundamentalism and Wahhabism, he calls
Uh-oh. Are the Government about to make an official forecast they might regret? Speaking to the Standard, the Treasury minister Stephen Timms strongly hints that a 2009 recovery may be pencilled into the Budget. Here’s what he said: “I wouldn’t rule [growth this year] out. The question is when in the second half of the
Is Ed Balls in line for a kicking? Today’s papers report that the heads of school sixth forms and colleges are considering suing the government over the terrible blunder which led to their budgets being unexpectedly cut. Good on them. They have a right to know exactly what went wrong here, and to hold Balls
It’s just been confirmed that Bob Quick has resigned from his role as a Met assistant commissioner. He will be replaced by John Yates. You felt it was coming after Quick’s horrendous blunder outside No.10 yesterday, although he’s certainly courted controversy and embarrassment before then. With this happening in the wake of the Ian Tomlinson
Is Cameron overdoing it on the economy? A silly question, perhaps, given that we’re caught up in a recession. But it’s one prompted by an article in today’s FT, which notes that: “David Cameron has made only one speech dedicated to health and education in the past nine months, compared with 18 on the economy.”
Yesterday brought plenty of insights into Labour’s pre-election strategy – rumours of poster campaigns; a series of attacks on the Tories; and talk of how the Government would use the G20 to refine its domestic message. But perhaps the most striking aspect of it all was how, fundametally, the approach remains the same. The emphasis
We ran a Q&A with Eric Pickles back in August. But as he’s had an eventful few months since then – what with being made chairman of the Tory party, as well as his appearance on Question Time a couple of weeks ago – Eric has kindly agreed to another Q&A with CoffeeHousers now. Same
So here’s a new controversy for politicians to get mired in: select committee absenteeism. Today’s Times has a double-page spread naming and shaming some of those politicians who “routinely skip” the meetings of committees they belong to. Last year, for instance, Nadine Dorries went to just 2 percent of the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills
Give Brown’s government half a chance and they’ll bang on about “Tory cuts” and “Same old Tories” like it’s going out of fashion. So, predictably, Labour figures have been making merry over three stories from the past couple of days: George Osborne’s attack on “inflexible” public sector pay deals; Dan Hannan’s remarks about the NHS;
