I was in Aberdeen this weekend, covering Scottish Lib Dem conference for work. It gave me a chance to get some insight into how people on the ground are feeling about the Independence debate and how the Better Together campaign is proceeding. The vibes were mostly negative. People who wish to see Scotland remain in […]
Archives for March 2014
NICK V NIGEL: THE LABOUR VOTE AS THE DECIDER
Not surprisingly, there was a divergence of opinion between the Westminster commentariat and the public at large as to who won the debate on Europe between Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage. The lobby thought, almost to a person, that Nick Clegg was the winner. Even amongst the right wing press, even amongst the Eurosceptics. Heck, […]
PMQS REVIEW – MARCH 26TH
Verdict: a game of two halves, resulting in a draw. Review: After several lame duck sessions, in which the Leader of the Opposition tamely let Cameron look like a world leader, Miliband came back fighting this time round. It was nice to see some spark in the House again after such an absence. Certainly the fact […]
SOL CAMPBELL AND THE ENGLAND CAPTAINCY: HE WAS TOO NICE A FELLA
As the entirety of the football following public knows already, earlier this month Sol Campbell brought out an autobiography in which he claimed that had he been white he would have captained England for ten years. This, as could have been foreseen, opened up a huge discussion on racism in English football and whether it […]
WE ARE UNCOMFORTABLY CLOSE TO A THIRD WORLD WAR
Over the weekend, Turkey shot down a Syrian government fighter jet that had apparently wandered into Turkish airspace. The vitriol from both sides was intense and showed the vast deterioration in the relationship between two countries that in the very recent past were warm with one another. In Eastern Europe meanwhile, Russia builds up its […]
AFGHANISTAN: WHAT HAVE WE REALLY ACHIEVED?
Dan Hodges wrote an article on his Daily Telegraph column earlier in the week about how he felt that the war in Afghanistan had been a worthwhile one, describing it as “mission accomplished”. I feel that his piece is a perfect annunciation of everything that is wrong about this particular train of thought. I have […]
BUDGET 2014: BEER AND BINGO AND THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY
Yesterday was budget day. It was dominated, rather strangely, by two things that had very little to do with the budget itself. One was how bad Miliband’s response on the floor to it was (and how you saw that depends greatly on your own partisan interests). The second was the now already infamous “Beer and […]
PMQS REVIEW – MARCH 19TH
Verdict: another one for Cameron, but like the last time they met, mostly given away by Miliband Review: This was a semi-repeat of the last proper PMQS (see March 5th), with one important wrinkle: Ed Miliband took my advice and decided not to use every single one of his six questions making David Cameron look […]
HOW THE LAWSON-LAMONT DOUBLE ACT THREATENS TORY NARRATIVE
Nick Clegg was on the radio today talking about how the tax cut for lower earners in no way hurt the “middle earners” who were paying into the 40p band. The fact that he was given this to talk about was a very good thing for Lib Dems, since this helps the party to reclaim […]
SCRAPPING POSTAL VOTING ON DEMAND IS A BAD IDEA
Conservative MP Andrew Stephenson has called for the termination of postal voting on demand and asked that only those who can demonstrate “genuine need” should be given the right to vote via the indirect method. The pressing need for this is based on fraud, apparently. Stephenson has even gone so far as to try and […]