The Whip column in today’s Sun suggests that Labour may reheat the “Tory toffs” attack come election time: “LABOUR’S ‘below-the-belt’ propaganda department is already planning its main attack for the General Election. They aim to paint Tory leader David Cameron and Shadow Chancellor George (formerly Gideon) Osborne as rich toffs who haven’t a clue how
Bruce Anderson has some straightforward, but crucial, advice for the Tories in his Indy column today: “Needless to say, [providing an analysis of the downturn] is not enough. It never is, in politics. The Tories must also come up with some catchy ‘phrases: their equivalent of “boom and bust”. William Hague has made a start.
Over at the Progress website, a bunch of Labour MPs – including Peter Hain – have set out their “visions” ahead of the Budget. Broadly speaking, they’re all more or less in favour of further “fiscal stimlus” for one sector of the economy or another, but there are some alternative viewpoints too. By far the
And so the Tories continue to ramp up their rhetoric on spending cuts. On the day that the Institute for Fiscal Studies again warns of the hole in our public finances, George Osborne has claimed that a Tory government would the look at the public sector’s “inflexible” three-year pay deals. Paul Waugh has all the
Is any MP, save those frugal few, immune from expenses controversy? After the revelations about Geoff Hoon’s housing arrangements yesterday, the latest name to emerge is that of the Chancellor. Sure, we at Coffee House have been quite warm towards Alistair Darling recently, for his struggle against Brown’s worst excesses. But this seems excessive in
Just in case you’ve completely lost the faith in our political class, it’s well worth reading the profile of Philip Hollobone in today’s Independent. Hollobone, remember, is the Tory MP who claims less than a third of the average annual expenses claim in the Commons. How does he manage it? Mainly by not hiring staff,
The footage the Guardian have of a girl being flogged by Taliban fighters in Swat valley, Pakistan, is a difficult watch. As one man hits her, she screams out and begs “Either kill me or stop it now”. Quite simply, it’s sickening, and utterly indicative of the barbarism of these Islamists. It’s indicative, too, of
In today’s New York Times, David Brooks sets out two “general narratives” on the cause of the financial crisis – the “greed” narrative and the “stupidity” narrative. According to the greed narrative, we’re in this mess because the financial sector swelled beyond control. While the stupidity narrative asserts that “overconfident” bankers just didn’t have clue
There’s an intriguing post by Allegra Stratton over at the Guardian’s politics blog. In it, she cites Fraser’s ten reasons for a Tory government to cut public spending, and suggests that there’s a “growing number” of Labour folk who are thinking similarly: “…this camp – I suppose you can call them “Blairites” – do not
Uh-oh. The grassroots have spoken, and it seems Eric Pickles has taken a hit for his recent car-crash performance on Question Time. ConservativeHome’s latest shadow cabinet ratings have the party chairman’s approval rating dropping a full 20 percentage points – from 70 percent in February to 50 percent in March. Of course, Eric Pickles’ TV nightmare pales in comparison to the
Let’s face it: Brown’s having his moment in the sun. The content of the G20 communique may have been awfully thin (see Fraser’s must-read analysis here), but it’s delivered backslaps from Obama; some big, headline-grabbing numbers; and an opportunity for our Dear Leader to play the statesman. And it seems to have worked. Despite a
Brown’s just delivered his statement to close the G20 summit, and it’s all about the big numbers. That $1 trillion injection into the global economy made an appearance, but it paled beside Brown’s claim that “we’re in the middle of a fiscal stimulus that is worth about $5 trillion by the end of next year”.
Word is that the G20 summit is closing in on $1 trillion package of measures for the global economy. Nick Robinson breaks it down thus: — Increased IMF funds: $500bn — Increased IMF Special Drawing Rights: $250bn — New Trade Finance package: $200bn No it’s not the same sort of “fiscal stimulus” that Brown and
Seems like the Tories are trying to kill of Gordon Brown’s “do nothing” charge once and for all. After David Cameron went out of his way, in PMQs yesterday, to point out that the attack has hardly helped Brown – and is only indicative of the PM’s love for dividing lines – it was telling
So here it is. The day that Brown has been banging on about for the past few months; the day of the London Summit. And how are things looking? Slightly uncertain, I’d say. Despite weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations, tensions remain, and there’s not enough of a consensus to suggest that all is done and dusted.
George Osborne got it right yesterday – Lord Myners needs to provide a convincing response to Sir Tom McKillop’s letter or resign. But, as of yet, we’ve had neither outcome. Indeed, all we’ve heard is a denial from Alistair Darling that the latest revelations make Myners’ position unsustainable, and some waffle from Gordon Brown about
Stay tuned for PMQs coverage from 1200. 1200: And here’s Brown, fresh from his meeting with Obama. He welcomes the US President on “behalf of the people of the UK”. And then: “I’m proud that we’re hosting the G20 meeting”. 1202: Brown bats off a question about Lord Myners by effectively saying that the matter of
Brown and Obama’s joint press conference sure was a slog. For all his polish when it comes to setpiece speeches, Obama waffles on when questioned – and Brown’s probably even worse. Downing Street will be pleased enough, though. The US President seemed to go out of his way to refer to his “personal friendship” with
Danny Finkelstein has the final word on the anti-consumerism and anti-capitalism protests going on today: “I think that [the anti-consumerists] have looked back at 5,000 years of human history – at pestilence and famine and disease and degradation, at genocide and civil war, at fear and loathing, at bigotry and ignorance, chauvinism and dictatorship – and
Make no mistake: Obama has landed. The US President’s arrival at Stansted yesterday makes almost all of the frontpages and is leading most news coverage. One of the many questions on the lips of Labour-minded people I speak to is whether all this is helping or harming Gordon Brown. With much of the other G20