UKIP’s leader defends his reputation on Marr and Ridge.
While on the Labour front bench, Watson smiles the smile of a man who knows he will one day have to get rid of Corbyn.
In the aftermath of the election, we revisit our regional profiles to see how the parties fared compared to expectations.
The MP for Clacton has switched parties and voluntarily submitted to a by-election to judge his decision.
By challenging the German system of consensus politics, Cameron made himself a hero for a day.
Readers of a certain age will remember the scheme at the heart of the plot of Mel Brooks's The Producers – namely, to make a fortune by finding the worst play in the world and taking it to Broadway. The two men at the heart of this criminal venture are Max Bialystock, a seedy producer, […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter My series profiling the groups of Tory MPs continues with a look at a pioneering Eurosceptic group which helped backbenchers cause significant headaches for Prime Minister John Major during the early 1990s. The Bruges Group is a well-established forum for advocating looser ties with Brussels, and it has gone from a […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. The Daily Mail this morning reports on the 118 Conservative MPs who have written to constituents indicating their opposition to gay marriage proposals. The Mail says "Their opposition has been expressed in letters and emails sent to constituents who have contacted them with their own concerns", and points out that […]
David Nuttall is Member of Parliament for Bury North. Follow David on Twitter. Even despite the valiant efforts of Great Britain’s Olympians, good news is in short supply these days, so when it does come along we should do everything in our power to nurture it and help it grow. This is particularly true when […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Since the interview with a recently-departed senior Nick Clegg aide, Richard Reeves, in this morning's newspapers, which intimated there would be consequences for the Government's boundary review if backbench Tories vote against stopping debate on Lords reform, a number of Tory MPs have appeared in the media to express their […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. On Friday, 50 MPs, including 34 Conservatives, wrote a letter to the Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, expressing their "serious concerns" with the Department of Health’s proposal to introduce plain packaging for tobacco products. The letter stated that: "There is no reliable evidence that plain packaging will have any public health […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. In March, I reported on the Coalition's attempt to emasculate the Backbench Business Committee (BBBC) by allowing minor parties – like the Greens – to attend its meetings. That attempt to change the BBBC's workings was especially insensitive, because a report by a different Committee into how well the […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Earlier this week, I reported on the 13 groups of constituencies in the running to be the next location for the People's Pledge European referendum campaign. The first referendum was held in the marginally Conservative Thurrock constituency (89.9% agreed with a referendum). Yesterday, the People's Pledge announced that the […]
The current procedures are unsustainable, unbalanced and undemocratic.