Fraser Nelson is a Times columnist and a former editor of The Spectator.
“Cameron anger at Baby P” read the Evening Standard billboards in Westminster, setting the tone of the news coverage until about now. Now, all of a sudden, a full independent review has been announced by Ed Balls – rather rapid response, seeing as Mr Brown wasn’t able to announce or even hint at this at
Anyone who thinks the House of Commons behaves badly at the best of times would have been sickened today. David Cameron went on the appalling case of Baby P, and twice the Speaker had to remind baying MPs that they are discussing the gruesome death of a 17-month-old toddler. His first intervention should have been enough
There is something plainly suspect about Gordon Brown challenging David Cameron to a duel over tax cuts. The Prime Minister has never believed in the inherent worth of tax cuts, and has spent much of the last decade gradually persuading the Conservatives not to believe in them either: it has been an article of Cameroon
Much as I applaud the sentiment behind David Cameron’s plan to help employment by cutting taxes, did he have to claim he’d “create 350,000 jobs” that way? He may answer: yes, the media want such a figure, and just you see they’ll put it high up the story tomorrow. Plus we’re not in power, so
“I’m always honest with the British public” said Gordon Brown at his monthly press conference. Then, this: “There can be no argument about where we’ve been over the last few years on debt. Debt was reduced from 44% of national income to 37% at the latest count. And that is a fact.” No, Prime Minister,
“Never hate your enemies – it affects your judgement”. This advice from Michael Corleone is very relevant to Gordon Brown, who makes his worst mistakes when he thinks he’d destabilising Tories. He loved how scared they were about talk of an October election last year, but didn’t realise how stupid he’d look when he didn’t
You have to give David Cameron marks for trying. He’s still trying to breathe life into the word “responsibility” in hope that it can become some kind of a political battle cry. Steve Hilton literally built a business making “corporate social responsibility” into something that companies buy into – but it’s harder to do the
I say in my political column this week that Cameron must “offer tax cuts before Brown does” – and seems I may not have to wait long before David Cameron repays my faith in him. Patrick Hennessy says in the Sunday Telegraph today that the Tories are planning an employment-orientated tax cut financed by spending
There was something almost comic about Gordon Brown and David Cameron’s rush to associate themselves with Barack Obama’s victory, each offering their own quite different interpretation. The Prime Minister declared that people are looking to government to help them during the economic downturn. The Conservative leader, with no less confidence, asserted that people are obviously
Jim Murphy deserves some credit for last night’s win. The new Scotland Secretary has become Labour’s patron saint of lost causes, tasked with selling the EU Constitution to Britain, Blairism to Labour, and Labour to his formerly-Tory constituents. Now he’s selling Brown to Glenrothes, and yesterday they bit with an increased share of the vote
The SNP should have walked Glenrothes – yet Labour came out on top. Sure, the 6,737 majority is lower than the 10,644 with which they won it three years ago – but the SNP since took the Holyrood seat and the council. After Salmond’s win in Glasgow East, winning Glenrothes should have been a formality.
Is inflation really falling? I am understandably taken to task by some CoffeeHousers for claiming that it is. When Brown claimed it was in PMQs yesterday, it was submitted to me as a possible Brownie. But what he says is perfectly true, and it’s worth looking at in more detail – for this not only
The dramatic and urgently-needed cut in base rates – by 1.5 points to 3 percent – is a comment on the extent of the deep recession that Britain is sliding into. It has been made possible by the collapse in inflation expectations. Because fewer Brits will have salaries – and most of those who have are coping with
I have been pretty hard on Cameron and Osborne during the financial crisis for three reasons: their failure to shoot down Brown’s fake narrative, the sheer size of the open goal in front of them, but most of all because of their ability. Both can do far better than this, neither suffer from the politicians’
It’s strange hearing US pundits solemnly explain that the banking turmoil of the last month was always going to hurt the incumbent government, because it hasn’t hurt Brown. Yet the UK and the US both went through the same reign of error: profligate spending, huge deficits, a housing bubble created by underpriced debt. The Bush-Brown
Some early thoughts on the American election results: 1) What Bradley effect? Obama won white men 57-41– that’s five points higher than Bush managed in 04. So much for the idea that this election would expose America’s racist underbelly. I wonder if those who have been banging on about it for the last few weeks
Rather than stay up very late, I got up very early and have been watching the American networks. Any leftie tuning in to Fox looking for a dose of schadenfreude will be sorely disappointed. There is no sense of the anger that the left had when George W Bush won. Bill O’Reilly describes Obama as “brilliant and
The below is the memo sent to Barclays staff yesterday from John Varley, chief executive, explaining why he didn’t go for a taxpayer bailout. Remember, Barclays badly need British shareholders to approve this deal – so it will have been written with that in mind. This email is itself a comment on the times we
Only two days to go before we find out which candidate for the American presidential campaign will be suing the other for voter fraud. Or, more likely, Barack Obama will carried home by an historic turnout – and, I have to confess, I will be quite pleased by that result. Not because I’ve succumbed to his
The angry reaction to Barclays’ decision to recapitalise using Middle Eastern money rather than a taxpayer bailout mystifies me. In my News of the World column today, I argue that Barclays may well become 30% Arab but its 100% correct. It has no duty to accept a UK taxpayer bailout over more expensive Arab money,
