Now this is engrossing in a grim kind of way. It’s the Economist’s brand new Global Debt Comparison feature, and charts public debt for the entire world ($39.1 trillion dollars, at the moment), while also providing details for individual countries. If you want a sense of the debt crisis facing this country, then just click
Over at his essential blog, Benedict Brogan says that Dave ‘n’ George deserve some praise for Moody’s decision to retain the UK’s AAA credit-rating. His thinking: that because Messrs Cameron and Osborne have been going on about debt and the need to cut spending, investors – anticipating a Tory government – are more confident about
Kevin Maguire, who is keyed into Team Brown more than most journalists, writes that it’s looking more and more likely the PM will participate in a televised party leader debate: “Talking to people in and around Downing Street I reckon the odds are shortening (if you can get odds) on Brown agreeing to a TV
So what has David Cameron achieved with his speech on “cutting the cost of politics” yesterday? Quite a lot, judging by this morning’s papers. The coverage it receives ranges from wholehearted scepticism in the Guardian to front-page celebration in the Daily Mail, but – more importantly, from a Tory perspective – it steals the thunder
It’s a busy day here at Spectator Towers, so we’ll have more on Cameron’s speech on “cutting the cost of politics” later. For now, here’s Sky’s edited footage, and you can find a great summary over at ConservativeHome.
In today’s Guardian, Polly Toynbee sets out a shopping list of policies by which Labour could “set national politics alight”; everything from personal carbon trading to bringing back media ownership rules. But she adds that she’ll “happily eat a rack of hats if any of this happens”. In which case, part of me thinks that
After Alan Duncan’s demotion, it’s emerged that Sir George Young is to fill the position of shadow leader of the Commons. It’s a canny move by David Cameron: Young is the chairman of the Commons’ Standards and Privileges Committee, and was a popular choice among Tories to replace Michael Martin as Speaker. As Paul Waugh
Yesterday, the Guardian told us that the health and overseas aid budgets wouldn’t be spared from Labour cuts. But, today, Steve Richards suggests that may not be the case: “The preliminary manoeuvring begins today when the Chancellor delivers a lecture on the principles that will guide the Government’s approach, in effect arguing that while the
So was the “rations” video a gaffe too far? The news has just come in that Alan Duncan has been demoted from the shadow cabinet, going from shadow leader of the Commons to shadow prisons minister. Having spoken to various Tory sources, I understand that the decision was made in an “amicable” meeting between Duncan
Over at the indispensable UK Polling Report, Anthony Wells runs the rule over the latest Telegraph/YouGov poll: “The Telegraph today has looked at their Yougov poll and decided it shows the Conservatives doing badly in the North. For what it’s worth, it doesn’t even do that – it shows the Conservatives 2 points behind in
You wait days to see the word “meekly” in print, and then it crops up twice at once. Today’s Sun reports on a Jon Cruddas speech tomorrow, in which he claims that: “[Labour] seem to be meekly accepting defeat, unable to show what we believe in… …We have only months to get this right, otherwise
If you want some insights into where Labour are going next, then do read this story in today’s Guardian. The main points are that Brown and Darling have agreed not to spare the health and international development budgets from cuts; that Labour’s public spending cuts will be set out over the next couple of months,
After the abortive plot to smear Richard Dannatt, you’d have thought Labour would have learnt their lesson: that it’s often politically foolish, not to mention indecent, to pick petty fights with the military top brass. But – what’s this? – today’s Mail on Sunday reports that certain Labour figures may have been priming another smear
The Beeb’s admission that they have invited Nick Griffin onto a future episode of Question Time is causing quite a stir. Two main questions are emerging from it all. First, should the BBC give a platform to the BNP? And, second, should other politicians appear on a show with BNP figures? The Tories have already
Well done, Alistair. After taking on Brown over the crude “Labour investment vs Tory cuts” dividing line – and winning – it sounds as though the Chancellor is challenging another of the PM’s lies: that the government’s “stimulus” measures have “saved 500,000 jobs” during the recession. According to the Mail on Sunday, Darling has told
So here it is. After rumblings that Brown is prepared to set out spending cuts – rather than hiding them away in he small print of the Budget – Alastair Darling confirms the new strategy in an interview with the Times. He doesn’t actually use the word “cuts”, but it amounts to that: “‘As there
Remember that New Statesman article about Obama calling Cameron a “lightweight”? Well, the Journalist Closest to Obama, Richard Wolffe, has a different take. Here’s what he told the Today programme this morning, courtesy of the ever-alert Andrew Sparrow: “He had a strong impression, a strong reaction, to both Cameron and Brown. It was right at
This morning’s political firecracker comes courtesy of Martin Kettle in the Guardian, who claims that a group of Labour figures are moving to oust Brown in October: “An active network of MPs and peers now exists, involving some names you might expect, but also others – including big ones – whose participation would surprise you.
This news in today’s FT makes you wonder whether we might see some kind of spending review in the next few months, after all: “A massive data collection exercise across many hundreds of public bodies has been ordered by the Treasury to determine expenditure on IT, human resources, finance and procurement, in a bid to
In his insightful article on Brown and the forthcoming G20 summit, Francis Elliot writes a sentence which should terrify Labour supporters: “[Gordon Brown] has already decided that his only hope of a comeback in the polls lies with the economy.” Sure, we all know that Team Brown has been putting a lot of hope in