By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter Yesterday, Nick Clegg declared victory – he got the NHS reform bill concessions he pressed for. Whether he believed in the changes he got is another matter. Nick Clegg is very much an Orange Booker: the Lib Dems' Orange Book advocated public sector reform and privatisation. David Laws, Clegg's […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter The impression from the papers today and over the last few days is that Ed Miliband is under attack from the Blairite "right" of the Labour Party: David Miliband's leaked victory speech (what might have been, if he'd won), the Telegraph files showing Ed Miliband and Ed Balls plotted […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter Today in Strasbourg, the European Parliament adopted proposals to increase the EU budget, introduce a financial transaction tax, abolish national rebates, impose direct EU taxes and end the returning of unspent EU money to national governments. The European Parliament set out its priorities for the next seven-year budget plan, known as the […]
By Matthew Barrett Follow Matthew on Twitter. Yesterday in Parliament, during questions on the Prevent counter-terrorism strategy (which Paul Goodman covered on ToryDiary yesterday), former Shadow Home Secretary David Davis highlighted the case of a Muslim prisoner who had witnessed extremist preaching in a "high-security prison": "Mr David Davis (Haltemprice and Howden) (Con): I welcome […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter An extensive examination of Labour's strategy and leadership failure is conducted by Dan Hodges (one of the Left's thoughtful commentators) in the New Statesman this week. On the one hand, Labour's policy review is seemingly comprehensive: Labour is currently consulting on as many as 25 separate policy initiatives. Titles […]
Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter The merits of current French finance minister Christine Lagarde for the position of head of the International Monetary Fund have been discussed elsewhere by others more au fait with macroeconomic matters than I. But what is politically significant is Alistair Darling's support for Lagarde over a candidate from this country. […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Labour enjoy a lead in the polls at the moment. The latest poll, for example, gives them a 7 point lead, with the full percentages at: Labour: 42 / Conservatives: 35 / Lib Dems: 10. But as Scotland showed, poll leads can be overturned quickly during a campaign. One […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter Following last year's election defeat, there have been two sets of commentators on the left. On the one hand, the all-out, gung-ho "evil Tory cuts!" brigade, and on the other hand, the thoughtful contributors to the debate about Labour (and the left in general)'s future. I should apologise in […]