By Jonathan Isaby Yesterday morning saw Caroline Spelman and her team of ministers getting their four-weekly hour-long questioning by MPs. Here's a small selection of the issues raised by Conservative MPs. Wellingborough MP Peter Bone suggested the abolition of Chris Huhne's Department of Energy and Climate Change to a somewhat unconvinced Secretary of State: Peter […]
By Jonathan Isaby Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary Caroline Spelman has just made a difficult statement to the Commons, making a full U-turn on the Government's proposals to sell off some state-owned forests. She announced The forestry clauses will be removed from the public bodies bill; The consultation on the forest sell-off – due […]
Caroline Spelman is Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. The phrase “burying bad news” is synonymous with Labour’s approach to news management and that was exemplified this morning by the decision of Labour Ministers to slip out the local government settlement in the form of a written statement rather than an oral […]
Caroline Spelman MP is Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Few could forget the images of the Green Goddesses rolling into service during the national fire strikes of 2002 and 2003, manned by the Armed Forces. This week the threat of fire strikes hang over us again as a result of local […]
Regular readers of this page know that I am forever publishing examples of the Government refusing to answer questions for no good reason. The Prime Minister recently insisted "I've been as open as I can, as transparent as I can" and that he has ended the culture of spin. This is of course satirical beyond description. […]
During the debate on MPs' expenses yesterday Derek Conway, MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup, made a noteworthy contribution. (He is listed as a Conservative in Hansard but is not on the Conservative Party website's list of MPs.) He compared his own experience after being found to have paid his son for work that was not undertaken […]
One for the localists amongst you: there were oral questions on communities and local government yesterday. Monmouth MP and pugilist David Davies asked about the Government's programme to tackle violent extremism, a topic which Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government Paul Goodman has also been pursuing. "David T.C. Davies: When I last raised this […]
The Conservatives’ new Communities and Local Government team debuted at oral questions yesterday. Returning to a role she has occupied before, Shadow Secretary Caroline Spelman asked a question about business rates: "I thank the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the hon. Member for Tooting (Mr. Khan), for his warm welcome, and may […]
Caroline Spelman MP is Chairman of the Conservative Party. In this article she responds to ConservativeHome’s concerns at CCHQ’s financial strategy. In the current economic climate, any responsible organisation, particularly one that asks the public for donations, has a duty to look at where it can tighten its spending belt. Undeniably that’s always going to […]
Party Chairman Caroline Spelman MP previews the Conservative Party’s Spring Forum beginning in Gateshead today. To my mind Party conferences are there to serve two purposes, on one hand to showcase the Party to a wider audience, and on the other hand to give Party members the opportunity to engage directly with MPs, Councillors and […]
Caroline Spelman is Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. Has anyone got a sense of déjà-vu about the current grit shortages and widespread disruption to the road network? The reason for that, is that this is exactly where we were in February last year. So how can we have got to this […]