With the government spin machine heating up lines about “difficult circumstances,” it’s worth heading over to Progress for a levelheaded Labour response to their defeat in Norwich North. The author is Paul Richards – Hazel Blears’ former SpAd – and he sets out five lessons for the party, starting with “Let’s stop shooting ourselves in
So the results are finally in from Norwich North. Here they are: 1st: Conservatives — 13,591 votes 2nd: Labour — 6,243 votes 3rd: Lib Dems — 4,809 votes 4th: UKIP — 4,068 votes 5th: Greens — 3,350 votes Majority: 7,348 Swing: 16.49 percent Labour are going to try and spin the sub-40 percent result as
Oh yes, there will be spending cuts, and they’ll have to be big. That’s something CoffeeHousers knew already, of course – but it’s a message which is worth repeating if our country’s going to have anything like a chance of overcoming Brown’s debt crisis. So bravo to this morning’s Guardian, which spells it out in
As a few CoffeeHousers’ have pointed out, Ben Brogan’s column today is useful not just for the single snippet which I mentioned earlier. Amid a sharp analysis of what the two party leaders are looking to achieve over the next few weeks, Brogan also notes that Team Cameron are reading through Margaret Thatcher’s speech to
So could more troops be sent to Afghanistan after all? In his press conference yesterday, Brown referred to boosted troop numbers for the Afghan elections in August, but neglected to point out that’s just a temporary increase. But now an article in the Independent says that may actually become permanent, and that the government may
This snippet from Ben Brogan’s column today is too good not to pull out: “[Brown’]s advisers have been known to protect their own holidays by surreptitiously deleting their numbers from his mobile.” Still, I suppose it won’t prevent our dear PM from getting on with the job.
Stay tuned for live coverage of Brown’s monthly presser from 1200. 1157: The Downing Street website tells us to expect an update on “the progress that has been made since the launch of the Building Britain’s Future programme” (groan), but expect Afghanistan to dominate the questioning. On that front, Brown’s life may have been made
Remember when Ken Clarke downgraded the Tory inheritance tax plans from a “commitment” to an “aspiration,” in view of the fiscal disaster they’re set to inherit? He was, of course, swiftly contradicted by the Tory leadership, which was fearful of being accused of U-turns on some of its most popular policy ideas. But why bring
Fact of the day comes courtesy of the Standard’s Paul Waugh, who reveals that Peter Mandelson sits on no fewer than 35 of the 43 Cabinet committees. Paul provides a full list over at his blog, but summarises it thus: “The Empire of Mandelsonia now includes health, domestic policy, public spending, immigration, climate change, trade,
So David Cameron offers a hand of friendship to aggrieved Tory backbenchers today, by admitting that his way of dealing with the expenses scandal may have involved some “unfairnesses,” and by stressing that he intends to involve a raft of Tory veterans – such as Peter Lilley, Stephen Dorrell and James Arbuthnot – in his
As it’s forty years since man first landed on the moon, I’ve trawled through the Speccie archives to see what we wrote about the event at the time. There’s one feature article in the issue dated 26 July, 1969, which I’ve reprinted below. Oddly, the landing isn’t mentioned on the magazine’s cover – and nor
Guess which disgraced former spin-chief is back? Yep. Damian McBride is interviewed in this morning’s Guardian and, conveniently enough, gives his take on the Andy Coulson situation. As you’d expect, his attempts to paint himself as an angel to Coulson’s devil are a hoot: “‘The reason that matters is that if you can’t tell the
I’ve just flicked through the Tories’ new White Paper on banking regulation, which Osborne & Co. are touting as their “plan for sound banking”. There’s much in there which has been trailed or suggested over the past few weeks, but a few new ideas as well. I’ll refrain from going too far into the nitty-gritty,
As the row over Afghanistan continues, the Observer has unearthed what could be one of the most damaging revelations for the Government so far: “Defence ministers spurned three separate deals to buy American Black Hawk helicopters which would have helped to plug the dangerous shortage facing British troops in Afghanistan. The most recent rejection came
There’s much to ponder in Lord Sainsbury’s interview with the Times today. Does the major Labour donor rate Gordon Brown, for instance? There’s enough ambiguity in some of his answers to suggest not. And will he continue to give money to Labour ahead of the next election? Again, there’s no definite answer – and that
So James Purnell has resurfaced after his resignation from the Cabinet last month, and he’s done so with some aplomb. He’s interviewed in tomorrow’s Guardian, but the paper are running a preview article on their website. Among other things, the former work and pensions secretary attacks Labour for being backwards-looking and announces the starts of
Today’s Telegraph has a dispiriting addendum to the spat between Labour figures and General Sir Richard Dannatt which surfaced fully last weekend, and which will intensify after Dannatt’s interview with the Beeb this morning. Here are the key passages: “Relations between the Chief of the General Staff and the Government hit a new low after
A great bit of quote-hunting from Paul Waugh, who’s tracked down a source to back up Sue Cameron’s Chancellor Balls story from yesterday. The testimony he’s got is a peach, with the best bit coming right at the end. Here it is in full: Apparently, Balls did indeed clear his diary in those fateful last couple of weeks
Oh no. It looks as though Gordon has been thinking about his legacy again, and four more sites have duly been selected to become eco-towns. Problem is, they’re all pretty much in the Middle of Nowhere, which – as I’ve blogged before – rather defeats their purpose as being either green or attractive for first-time
As Ben Brogan says in an excellent Telegraph article today, the next government will have to increase taxes. Although there’s plenty of waste in the system, spending cuts alone won’t be enough to deal Brown’s debt mountain Brown. So far, the party leaders have avoided saying this – although Ken Clarke’s speech yesterday set the