Philip Hammond gave the first presentation at this Big Society event, and he admitted something that the Tories don’t admit too often. First, he attacked Gordon Brown for doubling the national debt. And then he added that, “unfortunately, we’re on a trajectory where the national debt will double again over the next few years.” Hammond’s
Michael Gove is always worth listening to when he speaks on schools reform – offering passionate rhetoric supported by detailed policy. But this morning he excelled himself. If you want a clear sense of what the Tories have in mind for making “opportunity more equal,” then I’d recommend you track down a copy of his
Yesterday, David Cameron offered a punchy response to Tony Blair’s return to the frontline of British politics, saying: “It’s nice to see him make a speech he’s not being paid for”. But I reckon the more stinging rebuke might come today. Nestled in the schedule at today’s Tory ‘Big Society’ event are two video messages
Tomorrow’s Word of the Day is ‘Big’. That is to say: the Tories are holding a Big Event, on the theme of the Big Society, and they’ve got all their Big Hitters out for the occasion. In all, there’ll be presentations from eleven shadow Cabinet members, followed by a speech from David Cameron. You don’t
Yep, you guessed right: Tony Blair was doing his bit for the Labour cause this morning, with a speech in his old constituency. In truth, there was little in it of any note – or that we haven’t heard countless times from his successor. Thus the Tories were derided as either the “old Tory party,”
Labour’s plans for a national care service aren’t looking too sharp this morning. Andy Burnham is expected to announce a cap on residential costs for the elderly later today – to be funded by freezing inheritance tax bands, raising the statutory retirement age, and (lo!) efficiency savings. But the full, free-for-everyone-at-the-point-of-use service will have to
I’ll spare you the nitty-gritty, but suffice to say that three separate polls tonight record growing leads for the Tories – of 7, 7 and 10 points, respectively. One of the 7-point leads is from the YouGov Daily Tracker, which has been hovering around the 4 point mark for the past few weeks. You could
So now we know what happens when you put three would-be finance ministers into a room, and start asking them questions. There’s plenty of esoteric language, a good dash of posturing – and next to no fireworks. Thinking about it, perhaps we shouldn’t have expected much else. Not that the pyrotechnics were completely absent, of
2057, PH: We’ll sign off for now. I’ll be back with a summary post shortly. 2057, JF: Osborne gets his closing statement just right, sounding humble and emphasising this is the voter’s choice. I expect Osborne will be very satsified with his night’s work. 2055, PH: And Osborne has the closing word. He’s not quite
There’s little doubting it: the Tory plan to (at least partially) reverse Labour’s national insurance hike has handed George Osborne a high-calibre weapon for tonight’s TV debate. It is, I suspect, an attractive and attention-grapping policy in itself. But it also helps the shadow Chancellor paint the Tories as the party of aspiration. Or, as
We’ll have more details tomorrow but, for now, Tim Montgomerie has the lowdown. As I said a few days ago, this is a smart move from the Tories, and gives them a good message to deploy on the doorsteps. Indeed, Tim has already drafted it for them: “Seven out of ten working people will be
Public sector net borrowing, public sector net debt, total managed expenditure, departmental expenditure limits … zzzzz. One of the main reasons why Labour has been able to fashion an economic narrative, against all odds, is because they can rely on some pretty esoteric language. Thus debt becomes interchangeable with deficit, and cuts can be hidden
We’re operating in or around the margin of error here, so we can’t be certain whether this is truly the result of the Budget – but it’s still striking that three polls in tomorrow’s papers have growing Tory leads. The ICM poll for the News of the World has the Tories up one to 39
After reading Brown’s claims in the Guardian today, this Kill A Minister mechanism in his speech today rather jumped out at me: “I will set out a clear and public annual contract for each new Cabinet Minister, detailing what I expect them and their department to deliver to the British people, and that their continued
So the Labour pledge card is back – and, this time, it’s a good deal more nebulous than in 1997 or 2001, but quite similar to 2005.* Here are the themes that Brown & Co. will be campaigning on: i) Secure our recovery ii) Raise family living standards iii) Build a high tech economy iv)
There’s been some hubbub on the good ol’ blogosphere about Darling’s claim that Labour spending cuts would be “deeper and tougher” than Thatcher’s. Did Thatcher actually cut spending? What would that indicatate about Labour’s plans? And so on. Part of the confusion is caused by the different metrics that are referred to as “spending”. So
After delivering an insipid, insufficient Budget yesterday, Alistair Darling has now smuggled a little bit of honesty into the fiscal debate. In interview with Nick Robinson, he has claimed that if Labour is re-elected its spending cuts “will be deeper and tougher” than Thatcher’s. Needless to say, that’s a message which will not sit well
The producer and director behind the Dispatches lobbying sting, Philip Clothier, has a snappy article over at Prospect, in which he basically asks the question: how could MPs have been so stupid? But it’s his suggestion that some former ministers may have got off lightly which really caught my eye: “Meanwhile, one former Labour cabinet
One of the most eye-catching stories this morning comes courtesy of ConservativeHome: “As part of the pre-election package, ConservativeHome expects Mr Osborne to announce that a Tory government will cancel Labour’s National Insurance tax rise. The Tories will announce an alternative way of plugging the hole. Earlier this week Policy Exchange argued that the NI
Strange days, indeed. While most of the frontpages today are unflattering for Labour – particularly, and unsurprisingly, those of the Telegraph and the Sun – I imagine that Brown & Co. will be quite pleased with the general tone of the Budget coverage. Much of it mirrors the Independent’s view that Darling “played a weak
