By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. David Cameron made a statement to the House of Commons today, following on from his successful opposition to the EU budget hike proposed by several other member states at a summit last week. The Prime Minister had three main messages. Firstly, the deal he had rejected: "Prior to the […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. The Sunday Telegraph reports this evening that the Government plans to introduce a Bill on prisoner voting this coming Thursday. The newspaper says that the Ministry of Justice's Bill will give Parliament the choice of three options: Votes for prisoners who've been imprisoned for four years or less Votes […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. I have compiled a full list of Cabinet members below, with new appointments listed in bold: Prime Minister – David Cameron Deputy Prime Minister – Nick Clegg Chairman of the Conservative Party – Grant Shapps Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills – Vince Cable Secretary of State […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Update 1.15pm Adding to the sense of Tory discontent with the Government's rail fare increases, Priti Patel MP said on Sky News today that she wants Ministers to "do more" to help the situation: "Our commuters are paying a lot of money to commute to work and they’re getting […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. The Parliamentary Under Secretary for Constitutional and Political Reform (ie Nick Clegg's Conservative deputy), Mark Harper, appeared on Sky News earlier to give the Government's side of the Lords reform argument. Mr Harper said: "It’s been Conservative policy to have a mainly elected House of Lords since 1999. I stood […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. The newspapers today are, of course, filled with plenty of Lords rebellion stories. The Observer has details of a letter written by 36 cross-party peers, including Norman Lamont and Geoffrey Howe, and… "…the former Northern Ireland secretary and party chairman Peter Brooke, the former Scottish secretary Michael Forsyth, the […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. At the end of David Cameron's European statement, the Prime Minister made a short statement on an inquiry into banking following the Barclays/Libor scandal: "We need to take action right across the board. Introducing the toughest and most transparent rules on pay and bonuses of any major financial centre […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter The Queen's Speech this morning meant there was no PMQs today, but, being a Wednesday, Members felt the need to turn the Loyal Address that follows the Speech into something resembling a slightly relaxed version of the usual weekly questioning session. The session started off with Nadhim Zahawi giving the […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter Given the glut of stories about tanker-driver-gate, I thought I'd focus on the Sunday Telegraph's important preview of a report to be issued by the Commons' European Scrutiny Committee. The key part of the report will condemn David Cameron for using his veto late last year for the wrong reasons, […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter This is what I write in tomorrow's Guardian: "After this evening Cameron needs to relaunch his whole style of governing. We are only 18 months into the parliament but problems that normally characterise senile governments are already evident. If he does not reconcile with the unhappy squad on his […]
One shadow cabinet minister told me earlier that it was "past time" for the Conservative Party to stop "fretting" about the Damian Green affair and focus on the economy – as David Cameron did this morning – but a blog from Richard Benyon MP suggests that the Green affair may be far from over: "My […]
Not verbatim: Despite the best efforts of the Government Damian Green MP is here in the Commons today. We have a right to know that the Home Office is riddled with illegal immigrants and that the Home Office – not the Government Whip’s Office – is studying the voting behaviour of Labour MPs. If the […]
Highlights, not verbatim: 2.30pm: I did not want to make comment about "grave" matters surrounding arrest of the Member for Ashford, Damian Green to anyone other than the House. Today I do not intend to comment on the allegations facing Mr Green. Parliamentary privilege has never prevented the operation of the criminal law. The precincts […]
So an "upbeat" David Cameron joked at a meeting of Tory MPs ahead of today’s debate on the Queen’s speech and, more newsworthily, the Speaker’s statement on the police raid on Damian Green’s Commons office. Dizzy may not be impressed; he’s already worried that last night’s Tory video is in danger of belittling the seriousness […]
Highlights are pasted below but George Osborne’s response to the boomerang budget was outstanding. He showed genuine anger at the failure of Brown to prepare us for these difficult times. He highlighted three key weaknesses in Labour’s record: A MASSIVE INCREASE IN THE PUBLIC DEBT. THE FACT THAT BRITAIN IS FACING THE MOST SEVERE RECESSION […]