A former SpAd to Michael Gove in the Department of Education gave some scathing remarks to the Sunday Times, later picked up by the Daily Telegraph, about Nick Clegg yesterday. “He won’t do the hard work to get policy right – all he cares about is his image. He is a revolting character. And I […]
The 2015 Problem
I wrote an article last week about the problems a Lib-Lab coalition might face were it to ever come into being. As I’d hoped, I got some interesting responses. Although I say this explicitly in the article itself, I will reiterate the fact that if such a coalition came into being I would wholeheartedly […]
Is UKIP a far right party?
I wrote an article yesterday about the Farage-Le Pen spat. I got some interesting comments back on the piece – one person pointed out, validly, that UKIP are in the EFD in the European Parliament and are not amongst the Non-Inscrits as I had said. All right, bad me, but can you blame me really? […]
The Real Problems a Lib-Lab Coalition Would Encounter
The next election, everyone who talks about these things often will concede, is a very, very tough one to call. The Conservatives seem to have going for them the fact that economic confidence is growing, and this is usually a decider for incumbent governments. But Labour have been ahead in the polls for more than […]
God Reappears
After a long absence, the Lord of all has suddenly re-entered the political stage in this country. Quite why I’m not really sure, but let’s start with the relevant examples. We start at the top, with the Prime Minister of the nation. At the Downing Street Easter reception last week, Cameron declared: “Jesus invented the […]
Mark Reckless and his Crimea-esque “referendum”
You might not have heard, but there’s been a vote and Britain has decided to leave the EU. All right, Kent has decided that Britain should leave the EU. Hold on, scratch that, three thousand people in Mark Reckless’ constituency have voted to leave the EU. In a quasi-referendum that Mark Reckless put on all […]
IMAGINE A REFERENDUM ON BANKER’S BONUSES
Many on the Right of this country are desperate to have an In/Out referendum on our continuing membership of the European Union. To be fair, there are also many on the semi-Stalinist, non-internationalist Left who would like the same thing. But mostly the pressure for such a referendum comes from those on the Right. Late […]
PMQS REVIEW – APRIL 2ND
Verdict: Miliband wins, but Cameron gets in some good punches at the end. Review: Miliband won because he had an open goal and for once decided to fire the ball into it. No matter how the government tries to spin the fact that Royal Mail share prices have gone up considerably since the sell off […]
BETTER TOGETHER ARE A LITTLE RATTLED AT PRESENT: THEY SHOULDN’T BE
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 […]
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, […]