Am I the only one who’d care for a bit more uncertainty and surprise when it comes to the election campaign? I mean, yesterday, Labour released a manifesto which had been heavily trailed for weeks, even months, in advance. And, today, it looks as though the Conservatives are going to do likewise – with the
Battersea Power Station was the site of one of the Tories’ most effective publicity stunts of recent months – and it will be the venue for their manifesto launch tomorrow. Details are already emerging about the document (ConHome has a good summary here), which sounds as though it won’t contain much, if anything, that we
In which case, two questions for CoffeeHousers to mull over: i) To what extent will union attacks harm the Tories, with the threat of strikes rumbling on in the background? ii) Have Unison read the IFS’s research into Labour cuts? The comments section is yours.
We’ve already collected some of the general blogosphere response to Labour’s manifesto launch, but this addendum is worth making separately. In a post describing the hostility of the Labour crowd towards the gathered media, Adam Boulton writes (with my highlights): “The crowd, including some cabinet ministers, booed and shouted at questions they didn’t like. Nick
“You got that, Britain? We. Are. The. Future. Future, future, future. The Tories are the past. We are the Future. The future that is fair for all. We are that future. For all.” And so, more or less, went Gordon Brown’s pitch to the nation at Labour’s manifesto launch. Except it lasted a good hour
1240: And Brown rounds proceedings off by saying “future” a few times. Did you manage to stay awake? Never mind – I did, so that you wouldn’t have to. My immediate thoughts below, of course. But I’ve given the actual manifesto a quick read-through as I’ve been typing – and will report back shortly. That’s
You know it’s the day you’ve all been waiting for, CoffeeHousers – the day of Labour’s manifesto launch. Last Thursday, Douglas Alexander described the document as a “progressive programme worthy of these testing times”. So, well, it must be good, mustn’t it? Problem is, this manifesto risks going the same way as the Budget. So
Underneath the IoS poll which David mentioned earlier there’s a set of election predictions from professional pollsters. Differing margins of victory aside, seven-out-of-eight of them foresee a Tory majority in a few weeks time. I mention this not just because it’s worth, erm, mentioning – but because a poll of readers over at our new
I think we all expected this election campaign to be fought a few inches below the belt. But, as Iain Dale and Dizzy say, Labour’s tactic of mailing scaremongering leaflets to cancer sufferers is some new kind of low. I mean, just imagine how it would feel to receive, as a cancer patient or an
This morning, we’ve already seen the two primary attacks which will be used against the marriage tax break outlined by George Osborne in the Times today. The first came courtesy of Vince Cable, who said it represents a “derisory” sum of £3 a week for those who benefit from it. And the second was from
A copy of a letter that George Osborne sent to Alistair Darling today: Alistair Darling The Labour Party 39 Victoria Street London SW1H 0HA 9 April 2010 Dear Alistair, In the course of today, the Labour Party’s economic policy has collapsed in a heap of contradictions. In the morning, you attacked our efficiency plans on
Just to flag up to CoffeeHousers that we’ve launched a separate area to the website: Spectator Live. Going to new.spectator.co.uk/live will open up what we hope will be your bulletin board for Election 2010. It collects all election-related content from around the Spectator website – so posts from Coffee House, from our team of bloggers,
Another day, another party leader on the Today Programme. This time it was David Cameron, and his interrogator was Evan Davis. My quick capsule review would be that the Tory leader did quite well, sounding measured and reasonable for most of the twenty minutes – which is certainly better than Brown managed yesterday. But for
Is this a pledge we can count on? After the Lib Dems suggested they wouldn’t increase VAT earlier, the Labour Chief Whip has told ITV’s Lucy Manning that his party won’t either. If so, it’s quite a turnaround from when both Darling and Cable refused to rule out VAT hikes during last week’s Chancellor’s debate.
So much for the positive vision. Labour have spent most of the day attacking the Tories and their national insurance cut. You’d have heard Brown trying to wheel out statistics about it during his Today Programme interview. And then the PM’s press conference, alongside Peter Mandelson and Alistair Darling, reduced to a How The Tories’
Labour’s press conference this morning was a classic example of a party struggling to both have its cake and eat it. Not only did we get Gordon Brown, as expected – but he was introduced, and joined, by Alistair Darling and Peter Mandelson. Three heavy hitters to bash out one message: that the Tories’ national
In last week’s Chancellor’s debate, Vince Cable refused to rule out raising VAT to help fix the public finances. Now, only a few days later, the Lib Dems are pledging not to do that. What’s more, they’re saying that the Tories’ plans require a raise in VAT. And they’ve even got a ‘VAT bombshell‘ poster
Woah. I doubt Brown will endure many tougher twenty-minute spells during this election campaign than his interview with on the Today Programme this morning. You could practically hear the crunching of his teeth, as John Humphrys took him on over Labour’s economic record; practically smell the sweat and fear dripping down his brow. It was
Mark the date: the first major heckle of the election campaign happened today, and Gordon Brown was the victim. The perp was one Ben Butterworth, and he was angry at how his children can’t get into their choice of state school – a frustration which will be shared by thousands of parents across the country.
Well, the manifesto pledges sure are spilling out of Brown today. After his proposals for cleaning up politics earlier, he’s now told Channel 4’s Gary Gibbon that Labour will pledge to keep the main rate of income tax at 20 pence in the forthcoming Parliament. Whether that will satisfy those who would see their national