David cameron

Wednesday

Peter Hoskin

Not great, not a disaster

Last November, the OECD forecast — as it does — that the UK economy would grow by 1.7 per cent in 2011. Today, it has downgraded that figure to 1.5 per cent. I wonder, does this matter? Sure, it’s not an encouraging sign. And Ed Balls will be slathering at the thought of the OBR doing likewise next week. He has barely been able to contain his excitement already. Yet it’s worth pointing out two things. First, that the OECD is just one forecaster among many. The Treasury monitors no less than 39 independent organisations, and collects their forecasts on a monthly basis. Here’s what the picture looks like today:

Peter Hoskin

David Cameron's dreams and nightmares are written into today's employment figures

It is almost a cliche to describe jobs figures as a “mixed picture” — and yet that’s exactly what today’s are. Beneath the headline finding that the number of unemployed people has risen above 2.5 million, are numbers that will fuel not only David Cameron’s happiest dreams, but also his most paranoid nightmares. Let’s start with the nicer stuff first. The graph above shows the cumulative change in employment levels since the recession started to take hold in 2008. What it shows is something that often goes ignored: that is was the private sector, not the public sector, that took the greatest hit from the crunch. At the depth of

James Forsyth

Rattled Cameron battles through PMQs

A testy PMQs today with Miliband trying to pin Cameron down on the specific question of whether the NHS is now subject to EU competition law, and Cameron responding by dubbing Miliband ‘son of roadblock’. The exchange revealed that although Cameron is not a details man, something that will cause him problems in time, he still has enough presence in the chamber to withstand tricky moments. But I suspect that Labour will be happy if Miliband’s parting shot of ‘you can’t trust the Tories on the NHS’ makes it into the news bulletins this evening. There were, as there so often are these days, a couple of questions from Tories

Peter Hoskin

PMQs live blog | 16 March 2011

VERDICT: A more evenly-matched PMQs that we have been used to, with both leaders parrying and thrusting to some effect. Miliband’s chosen topic — the NHS — was a surprise, particularly given today’s unemployment figures and the persistent flurry of bad news from abroad. Yet it did open up a clear divide between him and Cameron. On one side, the Labour leader claiming that the the coalition is taking undue risks with a beloved health system. On the other, the PM painting Miliband as Brown Mark II, a roadblock to reform and change. Neither side really won, or lost, the argument today, but you can expect them to return to

Tuesday

James Forsyth

UN Security Council Resolution proposing a no fly zone over Libya is tabled

Britain, France and Lebanon’s decision to table a UN Security Council resolution proposing a no fly zone and a bar on flights in and out of Gaddafi’s Libya is an honourable effort to push the international community to move before the window for action closes entirely. Yet as the French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe acknowledged yesterday,  “If we had used military force last week to neutralize some airstrips and the several dozen planes that they have, perhaps the reversal taking place to the detriment of the opposition wouldn’t have happened,” Juppe told Europe-1 radio. “But that’s the past.” “What is happening today shows us that we may have let slip

David Blackburn

Cameron’s ill-advised spat with Sir Humphrey

David Cameron’s assertion in his spring conference speech that his officials are “enemies of enterprise” has aggravated the Sir Humphreys of this world. Paul Waugh, Ben Brogan and James Kirkup all have excellent spin-offs from Sue Cameron’s account of the smouldering atmosphere at a recent meeting of permanent secretaries. And Iain Martin puts it succinctly on Twitter: ‘Duff politics attacking civil service, down the ages a lazy excuse for ministers not mastering their depts.’ Beyond Iain’s point about inept ministers, this incident also seems typical of Number 10’s frequently faulty communications strategy, which so exasperates departmental special advisors. Attacking senior civil servants is ‘courageous’ to say the least, especially when

Monday

James Forsyth

Cameron's call to the White House

David Cameron’s statement on Libya today reflected his growing frustration at the pace at which the wheels of diplomacy are moving on this issue. In his statement, Cameron warned that ‘time is of essence’ and that Gaddafi staying in power, something Cameron had previously called ‘unthinkable’, would send a ‘dreadful signal’. Time, really, is of the essence. If we don’t see movement in the next few days, it seems almost inevitable that Gaddafi will crush the revolt. One of the things that Cameron stressed is that Gaddafi continuing in power would be more than a moral and humanitarian disaster. As he warned, ‘a pariah state on Europe’s southern border’ would

Sunday

Daniel Korski

The coming war with Libya

If the West is not ready to intervene decisively against Colonel Ghadaffi, it needs to get ready for a post-revolutionary Libya, where the dictator and his bloodthirsty family seek revenge on pro-democracy activists and countries like Britain. Think of Ghadaffi’s previous record: the Lockerbie bombing, targeted assassinations like in the 1970s, and attacks on US soldiers in Germany. Libya could in future represent a threat to Britain akin to al Qaeda. So, the British government needs to think how it will deal with Ghadaffi MK II. Its policy should draw on past examples of containment and isolation. Libya’s neighbours will have to be incentivised to bolster European – and especially Italian

Fraser Nelson

Cameron's principled stand over Libya

Slowly, David Cameron seems to be mutating into a hawk over Libya. I’ve been increasingly impressed with the way he has made the case for a no-fly zone – knowing that it is an unpopular cause outside of the Arab world. Since the evacuation chaos, which he apologised for, he has pretty much led calls for some form of military intervention to stop Gaddafi bombing his own people back into submission. He was laughed at to start with; accused of making it up on the hoof. But now the 22-nation Arab League backs this position, as does Sarko. It may have been messy at first – but that’s how these

Saturday

James Forsyth

Clegg urges his party to face reality

The cultural change Nick Clegg is trying to bring to the Liberal Democrats was summed up by one exchange during his Q&A with party delegates. One delegate, a member of the Federal Policy Committee, got up and said how conference had “sent the government a message” with its decision to amend the coalition’s health reform plans. To which a visibly exasperated Clegg replied, “you’re part of the government.”   Clegg was uncompromising in his message that the party has to accept the realities of coalition government. After he had dismissed a series of questions about whether he was too close to Cameron, Clegg said — only half-jokingly — to the

Friday

David Blackburn

The growing clamour for intervention

In the last two days, Nato and European leaders have declared that Gaddafi must go, but both have baulked at taking unilateral action. Their reticence has sparked a response from those in favour of intervention. Speaking in Brussels today, David Cameron said that situation on the ground may be getting worse and that Europe and the West in general “must be ready to act if the situation requires it”. Liberal interventionist Bill Clinton went further. Speaking at the Women in the World summit, he said: “I wouldn’t do it if they [the rebels] hadn’t asked… [But] it’s not a fair fight. They’re being killed by mercenaries. I think we should

Daniel Korski

What the Libya crisis means long-term

The multiple crises in North Africa, from the revolution in Tunisia, through the protests in Egypt and to the conflict in Libya, has reinvigorated British foreign policy. In the last couple of years classic international issues have been pushed to the side by a need to focus on economic statecraft. Foreign ministers became less important as finance ministers gained prominence. This will now change, as leaders shift their focus onto the Libya crisis. The UN is again in focus, not the G20. The second change may be on East/West dynamics. Before the crisis, the air was thick with talk of a multipolar world and how power was flowing roughly from

Peter Hoskin

A disaster film

And, meanwhile, William Hague and David Cameron have issued statements on the disaster. Here’s Hague: “My thoughts are with the people of Japan at this time. We are in contact with the Japanese government and I have asked our Ambassador in Tokyo to offer all assistance we can as Japan responds to this terrible disaster. We are also working urgently to provide consular assistance to British Nationals. Our Embassy and Consulates-General across Japan are in touch with local authorities and making contact with British Nationals to provide consular assistance. We have set up a crisis centre in the Foreign Office to co-ordinate our response and offer advice to anyone concerned

Peter Hoskin

Clegg ushers in the next phase of the coalition

What have the Lib Dems ever done for us? That’s the question that Nick Clegg sets about answering in interview with the Independent today — and he does so with righteous vigour. “Brick by brick, policy by policy, decision by decision, sometimes almost invisibly,” he insists, “we are putting in place good policies that will make a long and lasting difference.” He dwells, and rightfully so, on the pupil premium and raised personal allowance. “All these things will outlive the immediate task of dealing with the deficit.” This salesmanship is only to be expected from Clegg, speaking on the eve of his party’s spring conference and in the aftermath of

Wednesday

Lloyd Evans

A tasty contest

Today’s PMQs was full of verve and bite. A welcome change after last week’s washout. It’s all getting a bit tasty between Ed and Dave. The Labour leader opened with Libya and after making ritual noises about wanting to support the government’s foreign policy he admitted he found it hard not to voice his ‘concern about incompetence’. Nice tactics there. Pose as a statesman and stick the blade in under the table. But Cameron wasn’t standing for it. ‘I don’t want to take a lecture from Labour about dealing with Libya and Gadaffi,’ he said furiously. And the cheers from the Tory benches redoubled when he called for Labour to

Peter Hoskin

PMQs live blog | 9 March 2011

VERDICT: A turgid sort of PMQs, where most of the quips were clumsy rather than cutting. Cameron probably won it by virtue of one of the few direct hits – his line about Ed Miliband knifing a foreign secretary, aka MiliD – and because Miliband failed, really, to prod and aggravate the coalition’s wounds over Libya. The Labour leader’s main attack – over the competence of the coalition – was clear enough, though, and could have some purchase depending on, erm, how competent the coalition is. As it is, Cameron’s hint that he still has the occasional cigarette will probably capture the spotlight. 1231: And that’s it. My quick verdict

David Blackburn

It's all in the language

Sue Cameron’s FT Notebook is always laced with delicious vignettes. This morning, she reveals that the new cabinet manual has been withdrawn temporarily because Sir Gus O’Donnell’s Latin grammar is like Pooh’s spelling: it wobbles. What are things coming to when even Sir Humphrey puts the definite article before a Latin phrase? Cameron also reviews yesterday’s shin-dig at the Institute for Government. She reports: ‘Tom Kelly (Tony Blair’s former official spokesman) noted that the coalition was “beginning to learn the hard way that you have to get a grip from the centre”.’ It’s well known that Number 10 is reorganising. The days of the soft-touch have gone. After 9 months

Peter Hoskin

UN or not UN?

The garbled horror stories just keep on rolling out of Libya. According to the latest reports, Gaddafi’s troops have attacked the rebels in Zawiyah with redoubled violence and force. Aircraft, tanks, bombs, mortars – all have been used against the city and its people, with what one assumes are bloody results. As one resident puts it to Reuters, “Zawiyah as you knew it no longer exists.” It is unclear whether the rebels have now lost control there, but that is a strong possibility. Unsurprising, then, that the West is positioning itself to act. David Cameron, we are told, has been speaking with Barack Obama about the full spread of options

Tuesday

James Forsyth

Cameron's threadbare praetorian guard

One of the worst kept secrets of David Cameron’s leadership is that some in the inner circle don’t think much of the members of the shadow Cabinet who are now in Cabinet. What is far more dangerous is when the leader himself lets slip his low opinion of some of his colleagues, as Ben Brogan reports he has been doing lately. This is the kind of behaviour that is bound to cause resentment as this criticism always get back to the objects of it.   At the moment, Cameron can get away with this. He is still seen as the Tories’ primary electoral asset and there is no obvious, or

Daniel Korski

Libya has not been Cameron's finest hour, but it's not been a disaster

The government has been damaged by its response to the Libyan crisis and the SAS incident in particular. William Hague has been branded a ‘serial bungler‘, and the FCO’s response was condemned as slow and ill-prepared. The consensus is that heads should roll at King Charles Street. Many commentators have also argued that the Prime Minister was too quick to call for a no-fly zone over Libya. Nobody, not even government loyalists, could argue that the last few weeks have been David Cameron’s finest.   However, one can be too critical. Let’s start with the SAS mission. Something obviously went wrong, but it is hard to believe that ministers could