By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Newly-released papers from Lady Thatcher's personal archive have been widely reported today. One that caught my eye was Ken Clarke's opposition to the Falklands War. The man who was a regular thorn in Margaret Thatcher's side but was then a very small Tory beast is reported to have said […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. The Independent reported yesterday that George Osborne has taken it upon himself to intervene in today's same-sex marriage bill. The Chancellor, it said, "is understood to have been contacting MPs whose position is still uncertain" (on a measure, remember, which is officially a matter for a free vote). It […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. Earlier today, Sunder Katawala at British Future tweeted the full text of Sayeeda Warsi's speech yesterday evening to Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks). The Baroness broadened and deepened the argument she put in her controversial "dinner party speech" last year, but the most striking part of her speech is […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter © i-IMAGES We still don't quite know for sure what David Cameron will say in his Europe speech but I would now be flabergasted if he doesn't promise the biggest ever attempt to renegotiate Britain's relationship with Brussels and also an In/Out referendum at the end of that process […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter I like and respect both Michael Gove and Tim Loughton. So I can scarcely believe what's happened between them – whether before the last reshuffle or after it. Earlier this week, Loughton compared Gove, the Education Secretary, to "Young Mr Grace", the store owner in Are You Being Served? "Most […]
His resignation letter:
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Cover boy – Boris sporting a very nice silk and patriotic handkerchief in his suit pocket. It's that time of year again when GQ names the one hundred most influential men in Britain. I've read it so you don't have to. In no particular order of importance (or silliness) […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter For the second year the Education Secretary Michael Gove wins the highest honour in ConHome's end-of-year awards as voted for by Tory members; 36.1% voted for the Education Secretary – "for his continuing education reforms"; 29.1% voted for IDS – "for his continuing welfare reforms"; 8.9% for Theresa May […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter In the fourth set of results from our end-of-year readers' survey Owen Paterson has been voted as the One To Watch in 2013. The man who succeeded Caroline Spelman as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was an overwhelming winner – garnering 53.3% of the more […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. The media pendulum that swung all the way, one way, is now swinging all the way, the other – and knocking the police off their perch: Nick Herbert in the Observer: "Last week on Any Questions, broadcast from a Buckinghamshire village, Jonathan Dimbleby gasped as the majority of his […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. Yesterday evening's investigation by Michael Crick into the Andrew Mitchell affair revealed that an e-mail apparently corroborating the police logbook account of what took place didn't come from an ordinary eyewitness – as David Cameron believed when he read it. It appears to have been sent from the home […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. The essence of the case against Andrew Mitchell is that he called police officers "plebs", and told them to "know your place" – and, furthermore, swore at them rather than in passing. They say he did. He says he didn't. Voters showed more of an inclination to believe the […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter At the end of November ConservativeHome conducted the latest Cabinet rankings survey and I apologise for not publishing it before now. Anyhow, here it is (percentage satisfied minus those dissatisfied): Iain Duncan Smith: +86% Michael Gove: +77% William Hague: +73% Eric Pickles: +60% (back up the table again – […]