Fraser Nelson is a Times columnist and a former editor of The Spectator.
From our UK edition
I am taken to task by CoffeeHousers for praising Brown’s new team– or, as CS rather wonderfully puts it, “making cow eyes at the latest set of rentaquote spivs”. Have I gone native in a Westminster village that confuses spinners with real people? John says I’m too close to the story: outsiders should not be
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When I was at The Scotsman we dreamed about getting the kind of scoop the newspaper has this morning – one that impacts the American presidential race and runs on Drudge all day. It’s by Gerri Peev, political correspondent, who has an eerie knack of drawing candour from people (just ask Tory MP James Gray).
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I had so much material left over from my political column this week – looking inside the doors of the revamped Team Brown and the needing-to-be-revamped Team Cameron – that I have posted a longer version online. The gist: Brown has had a Goldman Sachs-style restructuring of No10 and he has hired very good people.
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“Inflation is only 2.1%, or as he will now say, only 2.2%. That is not what my groceries, fuel, energy, rail travel, council tax, water charges, insurance etc. etc. tell me.” – m “I’ll go with inflation as well – surely there can’t be many people out there who find themselves buying household fuel, food
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Now the referendum vote is defeated, what for the Tories? First, hope it’s overturned in the Lords. Then? A ConservativeHome poll shows 76% of grassroot members want a retrospective referendum. I disagree. That would allow the party to be caricatured as harking back to the past. I suspect once Lisbon is ratified, the EU will
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Fabian Hamilton kicked off with today’s planted question. Poverty pay in this country has been abolished by the National Minimum Wage, he says, and will Brown increase it and retain his commitment to high employment? Poverty pay is, of course, alive and well – in those who operate in the booming black market. At least
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It is a story that could have been scripted to boost morale in Conservative headquarters. At five o’clock one morning, security guards at 10 Downing Street were called in to intercept an intruder only to find the Prime Minister trying to enter his own office. Apart from the delicious image this conjures of Gordon Brown
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I went along to the launch for Cameron’s Military Covenant Commission, aimed at renewing the obligations that are owed to the military. It’s a good idea and good box office – we had Falklands veteran Simon Weston and Frederick Forsyth (or “Freddie” as Cameron calls him) up in front of the cameras. Far better than
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A CoffeeHouser, William, asks how I can blame socialism for the Broken Society – a problem which he says is an “absence, not the promotion, of a collective responsibility”. This cuts straight to the heart of the problem. It is a play on words. “Collectivism” in the terms of state socialism (and the current welfare
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A powerful Panorama was shown tonight about the Broken Society (as the BBC didn’t call it). It was about how if communities get together they can reclaim control of the streets. What the documentary didn’t look at was the roots of these problems: why do kids wander around like this? What has caused communities to
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For a split second, I felt sorry for Nick Clegg. I mean, aren’t all political leaders entitled to a honeymoon? But no, he deserves this. Every bit. Each one of his 62 MPs was elected on a promise for a referendum, and in planning to abstain on this totemic question they betray all of the 5.99m
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If betting matters as a political indicator, Boris is neck-and-neck with the self-destructing Ken. Here are the latest odds from Ladbrokes: Ken Livingstone —- 5/6 Boris Johnson —- 5/6 Brian Paddick —- 16/1 John Bird —- 100/1 Sian Berry —- 100/1
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When Barack Obama first came on the scene, his supporters called him the “black Blair” (a phrase used to compliment him in America, and insult him in Britain). But is David Cameron becoming the white Obama? Look at his speech yesterday and it’s laden in similarities. It’s all about the mission. Obama is not
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The decision by Lloyds TSB to stop offering mortgages to anyone who has a deposit of less the 10% opens up what could be a striking divergence in fortunes. Those with enough equity will not really notice the impact of the credit crunch. First Direct, for example, was recently offering a 4.75% fix to those
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Was Fleet Street right to cover up the fact that Prince Harry is in Afghanistan? Many in cyberspace would see this as an Old Media cover up. Journalists have known about this for ages, some have great photographs ready for when the lid comes off the story. But now Matt Drudge has yanked the lid, with
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I would have missed this ONS study had it not been to the very last line in the Guardian’s story about the number of over-40s giving birth. “In other findings, conceptions outside marriage increased from 47% to 56%,” it said. Now, I’ve blogged before about most births (amongst non-immigrants) being outside marriage this year for
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Eight years ago, Tony Blair sat on Sir David Frost’s sofa and pledged that Labour would spend 8% of GDP on health. Brown called up afterwards in a fury, saying “you’ve spent my f**king budget”. One wonders what David Cameron said to Andrew Lansley after his Times interview where he says 11% of GDP should
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A rather downbeat PMQs session, where the following quote from Cameron is the highlight. “If he really thinks these exchanges once a week are a substitute for a proper television debate, then he’s even more out of touch than I thought. We have to be honest with ourselves – not many people watch these exchanges and
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Fraser Nelson reports on the radical Swedish system of independent state schools, financed by vouchers, that has transformed the country’s education performance and is now inspiring the Conservative party’s dramatic blueprint for British schools: to set them free This summer, at least 25,000 children will drop out of English schools without a single qualification to
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Michael Martin has for once proved his worth by throwing out Clegg’s amendment for an “in or out” referendum saying its not relevant to the Lisbon Treaty (which, of course, it isn’t). So is Davidson’s amendment their only hope? Or might his amendment get thrown out too? Stay tuned.
