Plenty of posturing from the Lib Dem corner today, as their Spring Conference continues in Harrogate. Both Nick Clegg and Vince Cable are laying into the Thatcher Years and, by extension, the Tories. Here, for instance, is how the Guardian quotes Cable: “[The Tories] have been completely caught flat-footed by this crisis … They
Peter Hoskin celebrates The Spectator’s rich literary tradition and welcomes bibliophiles across the world to a new online home The Spectator offices at 22 Old Queen Street are a bibliophile’s paradise. Books are, quite simply, everywhere: in bookcases; on top of filing cabinets; on the floor; and in the recesses where fireplaces should be. The
Just to flag-up the The Spectator’s revamped, online Book Club – which you can access here. Plenty of stuff there that bibliophilic CoffeeHousers may find interesting – including Book of the Month recommendations (this month: Jonathan Littell’s The Kindly Ones); a massive, well-sorted review archive; and a discussion board. Would be great to see some
I’ve just got round to watching, somewhat belatedly, this footage of William Hague reviewing his own PMQs performance. It’s a bit more detailed than the post-match analysis that Cameron gave at the end of this video last year, and a cracking example of a politician engaging purposefully with the internet to give the public a
With Brown in America, David Cameron on compassionate leave, and Nick Clegg looking after his newborn son, it’s a Harman-Hague-Cable match in PMQs today. Expect a subdued affair, although there could be some sparks over Harman’s comments about Fred Goodwin’s pension. Stay tuned for live Coffee House coverage from 1200. You can watch proceedings here.
…Cabinet ministers would rather be in opposition than in his government. This from Alice Miles in today’s Times: “Can the country really bear another 14 months of this? Not even ministers are sure they can endure it: one member of the Cabinet told me recently that, despite the hell of being in opposition, he could
So, it seems that Alistair Darling wasn’t speaking on message when he called for some “humility” from government yesterday. The Mail reports that Brown was left “fuming” by Darling’s intervention, and there’s much talk of a rift between the PM and his Chancellor. Brown’s since tried to paper over the cracks, telling Nick Robinson that
As ConservativeHome reports, the official investigation into ‘Nannygate’ has found Caroline Spelman guilty of “inadvertent breaches” of Commons rules. The “inadvertent” bit means she’ll keep her job in the shadow cabinet, but Paul Waugh writes that she’ll have to repay £9,600 of expenses that she used to pay her nanny. Much like the Brown decision
Now this casts the continuing row over Fred Goodwin and his pension in a fresh light. Turns out that Goodwin sat on a panel advising the Government about financial matters until five weeks ago, some months after his management of RBS has driven the bank to collapse and triggered its effective nationalisation. According to the
Over at The Bright Stuff, Martin flags up this passage in Rachel Sylvester’s excellent Times column today: During one recent conference call involving Ed Balls and Lord Mandelson (Mr Brown’s new core team who have regular strategy meetings) the Prime Minister was pressed repeatedly to deal with a list of specific issues but kept turning
Grim echoes of the Mumbai atrocities this morning, as the news came in that a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team had been attacked in Lahore. Once again, it seems that the perpertrators are a Pakistani terrorist organisation, perhaps even the same Lashkar-e-Taibar; once again, the attack is being described as “well organised”; and,
Hm. I was quite surprised by Alistair Darling’s interview with the Telegraph this morning. To my ear, Government rhetoric has been hardening over the past few weeks; the same old soundbites about “Tory cuts” and “Problems which started in America” used ever more defiantly. But here we have a softening of approach, and – although
Oh dear. You feel it had to happen sometime, and here it is: news that Labour MPs are calling on Gordon Brown to “rein in” Peter Mandelson. Predictably, it’s over the continuing Royal Mail row; something that, as it happens, Mandy’s on the right side of. So far as Brown’s concerned, increased hostility towards
Nestled among all the coverage of Brown’s meeting with Obama, and of Harman’s denunciation of Fred Goodwin, is this story in the FT: “The government’s flagship £10bn business lending guarantee scheme, due to come into force on Monday, is weeks behind schedule. The delay will fuel business and union concerns about the pace of government
Last we heard, Brown wasn’t convinced that Harriet Harman was positioning herself to succeed him as Labour leader. But this Mail on Sunday story paints a different picture, claiming that he’s actually threatened to sack her for her “disloyalty”. Here’s a key snippet: “The Mail on Sunday understands that the Prime Minister’s anger boiled over
I doubt even Rod Liddle was as precocious as this aged 13: [Footage of thirteen-year-old Jonathan Krohn addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington DC yesterday] Hat-tip: Paul Waugh
Just as an addendum to James’s post earlier, one thing that strikes me about the run-up to the Brown-Obama meeting is how counterproductive the message coming out of Downing street is. Today’s Times report contains another example of the kind of quote that’s been cropping up: a “seasoned Labour strategist” saying that this is the
Reading Bagehot a couple of weeks ago, on the prospects for a televisual clash between Ken Clarke and Peter Mandelson, it struck me how the dynamics of the situation have changed. Despite the drooling anticipation of numerous political observers, both Labour and the Tories have seemed reluctant to put their two business frontbenchers up against
Much ado round Westminster about Andrew Gilligan’s claim that Labour, through their London director, have approached business-supremo-cum-TV-personality Alan Sugar to run as their candidate for London Mayor in 2012. As Paul Waugh reveals, Labour are denying it all – but the story still makes a lot of sense. After all, Sugar is high-profile; popular with the
There’s an air of desperation about Peter Mandelson’s article in the Wall Street Journal today. The notion that the UK’s uniquely well-placed to deal with the downturn seems to have been jettisoned – Mandy gives the excuse that “the U.K. has taken an early hit from a credit crunch that began with a serious failure