Robert Halfon MP: New policies for Popular Conservatism 1) Fuel prices
Transparency in fuel pricing, cutting fuel duty and ensuring fair competition would do much to alleviate the cost of motoring.
The innocence of Andrew Mitchell
The Sunday Times reports that “a senior police officer has blown the whistle on what he claims was a conspiracy by Scotland Yard protection officers”.
Rory Stewart MP: An environment policy that is truly conservative will value small farmers
When the neo-liberal approach assesses landscape in terms of money, plants or animals, conservatism should emphasise the human.
Osborne answers one of our advance-questions about the Autumn Statement: it won’t be stuffed with tax sweeteners
This is largely unsurprising. The Chancellor won’t want voters to think that we’ve already reached the Land of Plenty.
Benedict Rogers: A Fox Trot around the globe – a review of Rising Tides
If you enjoy history, this is a book for you, for every chapter is laced with riveting historical facts and anecdotes.
Buckinghamshire County Council proposes Council Tax rise
Has the council really exhausted all potential for sharing services, for example – both with the districts and the neighbouring counties?
Heresy of the week: Everything you know is wrong – or soon will be
When change does come, we not only have to abandon our old assumptions we also have to junk our pet theories.
Four new findings from leaked Labour polling show why welfare is a Tory vote-winner
It’s the perfect political issue – morally right, financially practical and vote-winning.
In It Together: Andrew Gimson reviews Matthew d’Ancona’s penetrating account of a coalition that cannot explain itself
The book provides a feast of material – and is too canny to pretend to say the last word on its topic.
What the battle over living standards tells us about Osborne’s deficit reduction plan
British politics is increasingly a battle to put money in people’s pockets. The earlier fight over deficit reduction has lost its urgency.
Thanks to Michael Fallon’s steady hand on the tiller, the Royal Mail privatisation is going well
Huge demand for shares, a decent price and high uptake among staff – so far, the process is going even better than expected.
Stephan Shakespeare: To win, Conservatives must focus on improving government – not just downsizing it
Yes, younger voters are harder-edged, but they also believe that government has a big, positive role to play in their lives.
The Conservative Party needs a new economic theory
The British economy is a rich source of inconvenient truths for both sides in the economic debate
Nick Clegg’s EU speech featured a call for the police to break the law, and dodgy statistics galore
The Deputy Prime Minister evidently feels staying in the EU is more important than facts or, for that matter, the law.
Would-be Conservative Ministers cut off by F.O.G
The shuffle sends out a clear message to Conservative MPs: stay on the right side of the Chancellor. Theresa May and Boris Johnson should note it too