By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. It is early in the morning, there's fierce daily competition for our Order of the O.T.T award, and I'm probably getting ahead of myself by pinning it on the noble breast of Russell T. Davis, Dr Who Screenwriter. None the less, I will take the risk. Davis, who according […]
By Matthew Barrett Follow Matthew on Twitter Dave Prentis is the General Secretary of UNISON, one of Britain's largest unions, and one with a huge grip on public services. He is also auditioning for the position of 2011's Arthur Scargill, if this speech is anything to go by. In the above video, Prentis starts off with some […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter Yesterday saw the Second Reading in the Commons of the Pensions Bill – the legislation currently in the news which accelerates the existing timetable for increasing the State Pension age to 66. This will mean the pension age will be increased from 60 to 65 for women by 2018, before being […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter. You thought Nick Clegg was unpopular? He is. According to a new ICM/Guardian 54% think the Lib Dem leader's doing a bad job. Only 34% think he's doing a good job. A net rating of -20%. But Clegg's doing better than Ed Miliband. Confirming the weekend's ComRes poll, the […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter As Jonathan Isaby reported last week, Friday saw the Second Reading of Christopher Chope's Private Member's Bill, the Employment Opportunities Bill, which would allow "freely consenting adults" to opt out of the minimum wage. Mr Chope takes an interest in employment legislation, and has sought to change the minimum wage […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter There are many forces inside and connected with the Labour Party that are discouraging modernisation. The unions. The lack of private sector voices in the parliamentary party. And, the subject of this post, the Left-wing pundits. There is a thoughtful centre left commentariat but there is a much bigger […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter One of the left's main objections to the Coalition's Free Schools policy since the election last year has been the possibility of religious groups setting up schools. This left-wing opposition has involved smearing people of faith and whipping up fears about the spread of religious schools (as if the […]
By Jonathan IsabyFollow Jonathan on Twitter Ed Miliband's aides may want to stop their boss from catching sight of the Sunday Mirror or Independent on Sunday tomorrow, for they contain depressing news for him. The latest ComRes opinion poll commissioned for the two papers shows that his ratings are sinking – primarily because those who […]
By Jonathan IsabyFollow Jonathan on Twitter The latest issue of Liberator, a journal written by, and aimed at, the Centre-Left wing of the Liberal Democrats (they generally despise the Orange Bookers), suggests that the recriminations are far from over inside sections of the party over the loss of the AV referendum last month. An editorial […]
By Jonathan IsabyFollow Jonathan on Twitter During Ed Miliband's Q&A on Twitter yesterday, one of my questions the Labour leader refused to answer was whether he was happy for Ken Livingstone's 2012 mayoral campaign "to be bankrolled by the militant, striking and disruptive RMT". As I say, I didn't get a response, but Tory pressure […]
By Jonathan IsabyFollow Jonathan on Twitter Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls is currently delivering his speech on the economy at the LSE, as trailed in this morning's media. The New Statesman has posted a full text of his speech, but here's the key passage in which Balls declared that the Government should now be cutting tax: […]
By Jonathan IsabyFollow Jonathan on Twitter This morning's Daily Telegraph features an extraordinary intervention from Alan Milburn, the Blairite former Health Secretary who stepped down from Parliament at last year's general election. The man who is currently the serving as the Coalition's social mobility tsar attacks the Government from the Right for diluting the reforms […]
By Jonathan IsabyFollow Jonathan on Twitter A public service announcement: Labour leader Ed Milband is doing a Q&A session on Twitter at 5pm. All enquiries to him should be tweeted using the hashtag #askEdM Below are my contributions. Am sure you have other suggestions… Question for @Ed_Miliband: Will you condemn Ken Livingstone for disgracefully comparing […]
By Paul Goodman The Sun has an interview with "The Master", as some Conservative Cabinet modernisers apparently refer to him. It notes that the paperback edition of his autobiography "The Journey" is out now with a new introduction, and this perhaps explains why Blair's out and about in the paper this morning. But at any […]