The latest developments in Paris show how a British Labour government might react if it gets into serious trouble
The conventional wisdom is that UKIP’s new voters are disaffected Tories. Nigel Farage insists they come from all parties and none. Who is right?
“He just does not give an EDF.” “He will never be npower.” Amidst the inspired puns we are seeing a shift in the debate on energy bills.
By Mark WallaceFollow Mark on Twitter. Further evidence of Ed Balls' miserabilist tendencies in today's Mail on Sunday: Defence spokesman Jim Murphy threw down the gauntlet by insisting that the party had to revise its message now that the economy was clearly recovering. He clashed with Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls by insisting Labour could no longer argue […]
By Mark WallaceFollow Mark on Twitter. The other day I picked out an example of Labour's miserablism: "Ed Balls' apparent enthusiasm when the economic data is poor, and his deflation when the figures improve" It's a sad fact that Balls can barely contain his desire for things to go wrong in the economy so that he can […]
By Mark WallaceFollow Mark on Twitter. There's always been something of the religious mantra about the Left's refusal to believe that the British private sector was capable of picking up the slack by creating jobs to replace those lost in the public sector. Perhaps it's a lack of imagination which leaves them unable to conceive of jobs […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. Part of the horror of Opposition is that one is pronged by a Morton's Fork. Make no policy commitments, and you've nothing to say. But make policy commitments, and the Government will merrily tot them up and reach some terrifying total.
By Mark WallaceFollow Mark on Twitter. Back row: David Miliband, Ed Miliband, Ed Balls, Harriet Harman. Standing in middle: Hillary Benn, Chuka Umunna. Front row: Fiona McTaggart, Tristram Hunt, Tessa Jowell. It's become a regular refrain from Labour ranks that the Tories are posh. The infamous Bullingdon photo, which Carla Millar today mimics above, is used as […]
By Peter HoskinFollow Peter on Twitter Politicians may have decamped to their constituencies for the summer, but the routine business of Westminster continues. In particular, this week, we’ll have the usual political set-to over the latest growth figures. Most economic soothsayers expect them to be rather encouraging – twice as big as the rate achieved between […]
By Mark WallaceFollow Mark on Twitter. A few weeks ago, a feeling was developing that the Conservative leadership had a good thing going. Labour were in a mess over welfare, struggling to define a line at all, still less to push a popular message. Then Woolwich happened, the news agenda understandably shifted and the momentum was lost. […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. I've written before that the instinct of Ed Miliband and Ed Balls, as the next election approaches, will be to close down the gap between Labour and the Government on spending. If they do, they will be assailed by the unions and their left, and asked the question which […]
By Peter HoskinFollow Peter on Twitter Here at ConHome, we’ve tended to mention the areas of political overlap between Labour and the Lib Dems. Indeed, Paul Goodman highlighted two such areas – pensioner benefits and the mansion tax – only last week. But there are now so many examples, with new ones by the day, that […]
By Mark Wallace Follow Mark on Twitter. Ed Miliband's attempted about-turn on welfare spending is a sign of how politically effective the Conservatives' welfare policies have been. Battered by repeated polling which showed his opposition to welfare reform was harming Labour, he eventually decided to change sides. It's a remarkable shift – this is the man who has […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. Ed Balls was trained by Gordon Brown in the rhetoric of "investment versus cuts" – in other words, issuing spending pledges to be paid for by borrowed money, which the evil Tories would then be challenged to meet. David Cameron's election campaign outburst about "smears" and "lies" – in […]
By Peter HoskinFollow Peter on Twitter There is, as Harriet Baldwin suggests, an air of humour about Michael Gove’s article for the Telegraph this morning. Its headline, after all, reads “Ed Miliband is a blancmange in a hurricane”. But don’t miss the core of gelignite behind all the windswept gelatine: Mr Gove is launching a serious […]