Fraser Nelson is a Times columnist and a former editor of The Spectator.
From our UK edition
Every time I’ve stood in a queue waiting for these No10 press conferences, the chat is usually “he’s really screwed now.” We’re usually disappointed. Same this time. This was neither the triumph nor the crucifixion many had predicted. Here’s my summary. 1) No speech: Blair would always start his hour-long press conferences with a little
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It’s always a pleasure to hear Will Hutton on the radio, the perfect antidote to the idea that the battle in politics is over. He justified inheritance tax on the basis that “society” deserves a slice of other people’s savings: of course, he meant the government. To me, the dividing line is between society and
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Now the Brown fight back begins. I hear tomorrow he will announce plans to accept 500 Iraqis as asylum seekers, thus helping the translators. Generous? Not if you consider that 1,550 immigrants settle in Britain each day, and that 520 Iraqis work for the Ministry of Defence. And what about Bosnian and Afghan staff? We’ll
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The Marr-Brown interview made me realise Brown wasn’t ready for this election either. His claim that the Tory inheritance tax proposal would have “led to economic disarray” is laughable and would have perished on the doorsteps. Yet, he will–“of course”–look at inheritance tax again (expect him to raise the threshold, copying the Tory policy). He
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This is Brown’s Black Saturday. He could have won even on these polls, but it would have been a fight rather than a massacre. And this is what he balked at. He has shown himself to be a graduate of the Scooby Doo school of conflict: he saw danger, yelped “yikes” and skedaddled. Fleet Street
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Adam Boulton, political editor of Sky News, is famously fair minded. That makes his verdict on Brown simply devastating. He has just described this as “one of the worst blows to a serving prime minister that I can remember in quarter of a century of covering politics.” He blames the debacle on Brown’s advisers. “If
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Why did Gordon Brown call off the election? The News of the World, where I am a columnist, tells us tomorrow. It is the only newspaper to have polled in the marginal seats (a horribly expensive process) and the results exposes the type of information which Brown has been chewing over. The results are devastating.
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Gordon Brown has called off the election. He may appear on Andrew Marr tomorrow to tell us why. I am in a rather unusual position here – I can tell you why, but not until 4.45pm. Stay tuned.
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For a party still facing defeat at the next general election, the Conservatives left Blackpool feeling remarkably upbeat. ‘It’s the spirit of Gallipoli,’ said a veteran of William Hague’s election campaign. ‘They’re united against Brown,’ mused one shadow Cabinet member. Neither image is quite right. This was no deluded optimism, no awestruck reaction to David Cameron’s
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If there is a snap election, I suspect the resurgent Scottish National Party’s television campaign will look something like this…
From our UK edition
If there is a snap election, I suspect the resurgent Scottish National Party’s television campaign will look something like this…
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Ben Brogan’s blog makes available to the punter the kind of lobby corridor gossip which I’d have given my right arm to be privy to when I was a press gallery minnow. He’s one of the best informed in the place – so when he rules out an autumn election, it’s significant. His rationale makes
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It’s 7pm and the Channel 4/YouGov poll is out: Lab40, Tory36, LibDem13. Now, 40% isn’t bad for Labour – but a lead that’s shrunk from 11 points to 4 emphasises the volatility of polls in an era where party identification and tribal loyalties have never been weaker. We must factor in the post-conference bounce, so
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I’m hearing unconfirmed reports that the Channel Four/YouGov poll has Labour’s lead reduced to four points. The last YouGov poll (for the Telegraph) had a Labour lead of 11 points. Given the margin of error in these polls, that takes us into reduced majority territory for Brown. The phrase “come and have a go if
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The Tories have issued a document defending their plan to pay for the £3.5bn cost of their inheritance tax cut by taxing non dom. Still, the only source they can cite for their claim there will be 150,000 non doms to tax is Accountancy Age magazine. That’s because there is no reliable data: the Tories
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Hilariously, Labour is briefing that Gordon Brown did not watch Cameron’s speech. I suspect they wouldn’t be saying that if Dave had bombed. The more people I speak to, the greater the reception seems to be. George Osborne was joking that he should photograph and frame yesterday’s papers, the best he’d see in a while.
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Cameron has just given the speech of his life, and celebrated by wasting no time getting out of Blackpool. Like me, he took a cab out of the conference straight after the speech and headed for Preston. He’s standing on platform six, smiling broadly, with Sam beside him. His aides are huddled ten feet away,
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2:15pm Cameron comes out to a rapturous reception. He tells the audience this might be a messy as he’s got no autocue, Cameron unspun. Fraser emails in: I notice all the shadow cabinet on stage. This is part of their strategy to show the Tories are a team, where Labour is a one man Brown
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I’ve never felt an atmosphere quite like this in a party conference. The press pack is silent, waiting for Cameron to come on. Its like we’re waiting for a tightrope act with no safety net where the artist could triumph, or perish. Anyway, so much for the promised 2.00pm start. And in wallks Cameron, as
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Word is that Cameron will attempt the speech of his life without notes or autocue. Critics said his 2005 noteless speech was no better than many stage actors could do – but that was a short one. This will be an hour long. Dare he? We’ll see soon enough…. PS: His aides say he will