By Harry PhibbsFollow Harry on Twitter The media were more interested in a later encounter today with David Cameron and Ed Miliband to see if agreement can be reached on press regulation. It would seem unlikely as Mr Miliband has been keen to trumpet his credentials of "taking on Murdoch" and "standing up to the press […]
It’s Wednesday again, and you know what that means: Prime Minister’s Questions at noon. Tweeters are readying their #pmqs hash-tags. Journalists are speculating as to what will be said. MPs are clearing their throats, better to cheer or jeer with. And, right about now, the PM himself will be preparing and preparing and preparing. It’s the sort of thing that political […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. Labour has been well ahead of the Conservatives in the polls since last year's budget. This year's approaches without renewed prosperity in sight, and with the deficit stubbornly high. It will be followed by one of the most fractious spending rounds in history, with the Coalition partners at odds […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter It was not Ed Miliband's best PMQs. On the face of it he had an open goal with the ratings downgrade but, as I suggested on Twitter, the increased resonance of the deficit issue may not be to Labour's strategic advantage. The Tories have a small lead on economic […]
Via Conservative Voice
By Peter HoskinFollow Peter on Twitter If you were hoping for something new from today’s PMQs exchange between David Cameron and Ed Miliband, then I’m afraid you’d have been left disappointed. The Labour leader used recent warnings from Mervyn King and from the Resolution Foundation to reheat one of his favourite themes: the cost of living. […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Not a memorable PMQs and it will be overshadowed by the PM's Statement on the Francis Report (of which more later). But a few points: Ed Miliband asked about the so-called bedroom tax and contrasted it with the Chancellor's decision to rule out a mansion-style tax. Labour MPs asked […]
By Peter HoskinFollow Peter on Twitter Watching the exchange between David Cameron and Ed Miliband in PMQs today, you’d be forgiven for thinking: haven’t we been here before? On one side, we had the Labour leader attacking the Coalition for its fiscal policy and the effect, he claims, it is having on growth. On the other, […]
If any line abides from today’s session of PMQs, it will be one said by Ed Miliband. “My position is no,” quivered the Labour leader, “we don’t want an in/out referendum.” And it’s a position that you can expect to see repeated not just on the news later, but on Tory campaign literature and posters. Labour, they will say, don’t […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. The British people are among the most Euro-sceptic in the EU. It follows that Labour's take on the EU project is less aligned to their view than the Conservative one. Ed Miliband is against attempts to repatriate powers. He is opposed to a referendum. He hasn't ruled out a […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. Ed Miliband could scarcely do otherwise than focus his questions on the bits of the Government's mid-term review that David Cameron didn't want to publish. And David Cameron could scarcely do other than answer that he had always intended to publish it anyway. This ensured that today's Prime Minister's […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Michael Howard wrote a good piece for yesterday's Times (£) in which he worried about the regulatory demands that the state is placing on the hospice movement. He was championing the same issue on this morning's Today programme. The ex-Tory leader was speaking as Chairman of Help the Hospices. […]