Labour party

Sunday

Isabel Hardman

Ed Miliband turns garden designer with scary new sculpture for Downing Street garden

From our UK edition

One of Britain’s great traditions is the open garden afternoon: an opportunity for folk revelling in being both middle-aged and nosy (like me) to wander around other people’s plots and peer at what they’ve planted while scoffing large slices of cake. The National Gardens Scheme and Open Squares are two of the most popular, and while they do allow people to see the true beauty of someone else’s well-maintained dahlia bed or snowdrop collection, they also help us indulge in that also very British tradition of pointing at the strange things people put in their back yards.

James Forsyth

Will there be a late surge to the Tories?

From our UK edition

So, here we are. In 100 hours time, we’ll be half-way through election-day. But at the moment, the polls still remain deadlocked. Yet, there remains a sense that there’ll be some kind of late shift towards the Tories. Is there any grounds for this? Well, I argue in the Mail on Sunday that there are a few things that point towards this. David Cameron has finally hit his stride. His performances have improved markedly and the public appear to have concluded that he clearly won last Thursday’s Question Time, YouGov have the public giving it to him 42% to Miliband’s 26%. As Tim Shipman points out, Cameron’s lead as preferred Prime Minister has risen from 7% two weeks ago to 14% today. Ed Miliband had one on his weakest outings of the campaign on Thursday night.

Steerpike

Thick of It writer ridicules Ed Miliband’s 8ft ‘policy cenotaph’

From our UK edition

Ed Miliband has woken up to ridicule this morning after the Guardian unveiled his latest election accessory. No longer content with his trusty lectern, the Labour leader has bizarrely commissioned an 8ft 6in stone inscription which bears Labour's key election promises.   Miliband plans to install this in the Downing Street Rose Garden if he succeeds in getting in to Number 10. Given that the Tories' pledge to protect their tax cuts promise with a law was seen as a 'last minute gimmick', Labour have managed to take the phrase to new heights. In fact, Mr S thinks it all sounds a bit like a plot line from the BBC's The Thick of It. It turns out that the show's writer Simon Blackwell agrees:  Ed Miliband builds a policy cenotaph.

Friday

Steerpike

Noel Gallagher: Ed Miliband is a f–king communist

From our UK edition

Tony Blair once counted Noel Gallagher as one of New Labour's key celebrity backers. However, under Ed Miliband's leadership, Labour can rely on no such support from the musician. In an interview on Alan Carr's Chatty Man, which airs tonight, the former Oasis member said he was unable to endorse any politician out of the current line-up: 'I'm not sure I can get behind any of them at the minute. I dunno. The fact that Cameron didn't turn up for the debate is a disgrace. I think that Miliband, if he gets in, is just going to fail us.' And why would Miliband fail? 'Because he is a f**king communist.' Mr S suspects it's time for Blair to show off his highly prized diplomatic skills and have a word. That's if Labour can afford his services.

Steerpike

Who are the precocious producers of Milibae: The Movie?

From our UK edition

Oh dear. Ed Miliband did not have a good run on Question Time last night. After he was grilled by the audience over Labour's history with debt, even the most die-hard Milifan would have struggled to find any sex appeal in his trip as he hurried off the stage. However, Miliband fans are made of tough stuff and haven't yet abandoned their leader in his hour of need. Instead, they have made an entire movie about him, which brings together highlights from the Milifan movement. Warning: contains disturbing images It's unknown whether Milibae: The Movie will be rolled out for nationwide release. However, Mr S was most impressed by the video, which showed a rather precocious knowledge of politics.

Sebastian Payne

Campaign kick-off: six days to go

From our UK edition

By this time next week, the election will all be over and it will be a question of seats, leaderships and coalitions. With six days of campaigning left, today will be dominated by the fallout from last night’s Question Time special. David Cameron put in a good turn, Ed Miliband did not and Nick Clegg appeared to sail on through without much impact. To help guide you through the melée of stories and spin, here is a summary of today’s main election stories. 1. Miliband's not sorry The special edition of Question Time last night with the three main party leaders was the best television of the campaign. Cameron, Miliband and Clegg were hauled over the coals by an excellent audience in Leeds, who were impressively well informed and took no prisoners.

Thursday

Lloyd Evans

State of play

From our UK edition

Writers and producers have shown little appetite for putting the coalition on stage. Several reasons suggest themselves. In 2010 wise pundits assured us all that the Rose Garden duo would squabble and part long before the five-year term expired, and theatre folk were persuaded not to gamble on a ship that might sail at any moment. And the conduct of parliamentarians has been pretty unhelpful to dramatists. Chastened by the expenses scandal, MPs have reinvented themselves as models of probity and self-restraint. The Commons has been all but free of sin. Eric Joyce cracked a few skulls. Nadine Dorries bunked off for a fortnight in the jungle. The occasional ex-minister has been caught hustling undercover hacks for a day or two’s work. Even the cabinet have behaved like nuns.

The Spectator

Portrait of the week | 30 April 2015

From our UK edition

Home The British economy grew by 0.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2015, the slowest quarterly growth for two years. The Institute for Fiscal Studies pointed out many absurdities in party election promises, noting that most people would see tax and benefit changes that reduced their income; it said that the Conservative and Liberal Democrat plan to increase the personal allowance to £12,500 would not help the 44 per cent of people who now pay no tax, that Labour’s promised 10p tax band would be ‘worth a princely 50 pence a week to most income-tax payers’ and that it could not be sure whether the reintroduction of a 50p rate for high earners would raise any extra money for the Treasury.

The Spectator

The right choice

From our UK edition

When election day dawns, it’s worth bearing in mind that two million more people will be going to work than when David Cameron came to power. On an average day in Britain, there are 1,500 fewer reported crimes than there were before Theresa May was made Home Secretary. Some 2.2 million pupils now attend independent schools within the state system — schools given freedom through Michael Gove’s reforms. There is nothing theoretical about the advantages of Conservatism: they can be seen in classrooms, workplaces and streets all over Britain. But all this progress could be brought to a halt within the next week. If Ed Miliband is elected, it will not be the richest who suffer most. They may pay more in tax — but, on the whole, they can afford to.

Sebastian Payne

Listen: The Spectator’s verdict on the Question Time leaders special

From our UK edition

According to the snap poll, David Cameron has won the final TV 'debate' of the short campaign. In this View from 22 podcast special, Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth and I discussed the Question Time special this evening and how each of the party leaders performed. Was the audience more receptive to Ed Miliband or Cameron? Were there any major gaffs? Did Nick Clegg make much of an impact? And will it make any difference to the campaign?

James Forsyth

Ed Miliband’s refusal to admit that Labour overspent could cost him dear

From our UK edition

Tonight’s Question Time special with Cameron, Miliband and Clegg provided the best television of this campaign so far. A well-informed audience relentlessly pressed the three leaders on their weakest points. At the end of the evening, an ICM poll for the Guardian gave the evening to Cameron by 44 per cent to Miliband’s 38 per cent with Clegg garnering 19 per cent support. Miliband’s didn’t have a great night and his most awkward moment came on the record of the last Labour government. The audience were audibly irritated by his repeated refusal to concede that the last Labour government had spent too much money. Under questioning from the audience, Miliband also went further than he previously has in ruling out a deal with the SNP.

Isabel Hardman

A (partial) defence of the spin room

From our UK edition

Tonight’s ‘Question Time’-style TV debates will be followed by what has become probably the most hated aspect of this rather uninspiring general election campaign: the spin room. This spectacle of journalists interviewing journalists as they listen to frontbenchers from all the parties parroting lines about how their leader was the best (or, in the Tory case, how well Nicola Sturgeon has been doing) is odd enough inside the room, let alone for those watching at home. The way the politicians spinning talk is even less natural than usual: it’s like a Westminster version of Made In Chelsea, stuffed with people acting at being actors.

Steerpike

Question Time: Will Ed Miliband take his lectern with him?

From our UK edition

With Ed Miliband's expensive election guru David Axelrod rarely spied at the Labour leader's side, Miliband has found a new pillar of strength to get him through the campaign. Rarely a day goes by without Miliband being pictured next to a lectern: Apparently his party believes that the lectern helps voters imagine him as Prime Minister. So you can imagine Steerpike's concern upon seeing a photo of the set for tonight's Question Time Election Leaders special.

Sebastian Payne

Podcast: the election where everybody loses and Boris’s vision for conservatism

From our UK edition

With one week to go, are the Conservatives back on track to being the biggest party? In this week’s View from 22 podcast, Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth discuss the state of the election campaign with one week till polling day and which party has the momentum. Fraser and James have also interviewed Boris Johnson in the magazine this week, who reveals his concerns about inequality — is this the opening salvo for his leadership campaign? Based on Boris’s comments, Tim Montgomerie and Ryan Bourne also debate the future of conservatism and what ideas the next Tory leader might embrace in his or her manifesto. Is finding a different role for the state a core part of this?

Melissa Kite

Miliband country

From our UK edition

Imagine rural England five years into a Labour government led by Ed Miliband, and propped up by the SNP and perhaps also the Greens. If you can’t imagine, let me paint the picture for you using policies from their election manifestos and only a small amount of artistic licence. The biggest house-building programme in history is well under way, with a million new houses mainly being built in rural areas. Several ‘garden cities’ have sprung up in Surrey, Sussex and Kent, though in truth the gardens are the size of postage stamps. No matter, because having a big garden is a liability since right to roam was extended so that ramblers can walk across your lawn. Oh, and if you’re thinking of walking a dog, think again.

Rod Liddle

Warning: this column may soon be illegal

From our UK edition

[audioplayer src="http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/theelectionwhereeverybodyloses/media.mp3" title="Listen to Douglas Murray discuss Islamophobia" startat=1350] Listen [/audioplayer]A couple of weeks back I wrote an article headed: ‘Call me insane, but I’m voting Labour.’ Among the many hundreds of people who reacted with the rather predictable ‘Yes, you’re insane’ was my wife, Mrs Liddle. She pointed out that Ed Miliband had vowed that upon being elected, Labour would make Islamophobia a crime. ‘So,’ she concluded, with a certain acidity, ‘not only will we be substantially worse off under a Labour government, but at nine o’clock on the morning of 8 May the police will arrive to take you away.

Hugo Rifkind

Russell Brand is the future, like it or not

From our UK edition

I write at a difficult time. The balls are in the air, but we know not where they will land. Perhaps, by the time you get to read this, more will be clear. Right now, however, we know only that Ed Miliband has been interviewed by Russell Brand. We do not yet know what he said. Or what Brand said. Probably he said more. ‘That was interesting enough, but Russell Brand was a bit restrained’ is something that nobody has said, after any conversation, ever. Most likely he’ll have quite liked Ed Miliband. They’ll have friends in common. Probably even girlfriends, what with them both having such voracious sexual appetites.

Wednesday

Steerpike

Alastair Campbell finds old habits die hard

From our UK edition

Post Blair’s government, Alastair Campbell has billed himself as a pious, ethical commentator on the state of the media and politics. If there’s one thing he can’t stand, it’s the negative campaigning from the Tories, and especially from his old foe Lynton Crosby: ‘Meanwhile lest anyone dare to say the Tories are only fighting a negative campaign against Labour, perish the thought... I have seen some dire campaigns in my time. Crosby’s Michael Howard 2005 vintage springs to mind. But this one is taking all the awards for the direst. They are not so much making it up as they go along as going along not sure what they just made up. It is squalid and pathetic. It is not even worth calling it a campaign.

Sebastian Payne

The ‘Milibrand’ interview does nothing but trash Labour’s standing

From our UK edition

Ed Miliband’s interview with Russell Brand has been released and it’s rather depressing. Not that Miliband messed up — in fact, he is very on message and sticks to Labour's party lines. It’s simply not very enlightening. Brand comes across as the mad man cornering the boring person in a pub because he thinks he might agree with him. It’s business as usual from Brand, who ranted about the ‘unelected powerful elites that really control things behind the scenes’, the ‘geopolitical influences’ and ‘transnational corporations’.

Steerpike

Yvette Cooper: Ed Balls Day has become too commercial

From our UK edition

After Tristram Hunt subjected himself to an array of questions from Mumsnet users on Monday, today was Yvette Cooper's turn in the hot seat. Although the Labour MP had managed to organise the Q&A so as not to clash with her husband's Ed Balls Day, she could not escape the topic. One user - by the name of 'rubbishdeskhoover' - was unimpressed by yesterday's celebrations which saw the shadow chancellor tweet his name for the fourth year, while Pizza Hut even joined the fun by creating a special pizza to mark the occasion: Good morning, @EdBallsMP. Your pizza is ready. Many happy returns... #EdBallsDay pic.twitter.