Welcome to this week’s Coffee House PMQs live blog. What to expect? Well, as always, there’s plenty for the party leaders to say on the economy – particularly in light of Cameron’s speech yesterday, and the news today that the economy may have shrunk by 1 percent in the 3 months to November. I’d be fairly
Just to recommend David Freud’s comment piece in the Times today. You’ll read few clearer explications of the welfare dependency problem and of the reforms enshrined in today’s White Paper. In spite of Freud’s role as a government adviser, he even hints at one of the more malignant Brownies*: the willful shifting of claimants off
The Speaker’s set to make a Damian Green-related statement at 15:30 today. Tim Montgomerie highlights a post by Richard Benyon MP which suggests it may be to do with police access to the Commons server. Stay tuned. UPDATE, 1535: Not much to it. Martin says that “no access was given, and no access was taken”
There was much to be impressed about in David Cameron’s speech to the LSE earlier. It contained some fizzy soundbites; made effective attacks on Brown’s repsonse to the downturn; and clearly spelt out the dividing lines between the Tories and Labour. Most of all, though, it said: “We are not the do-nothing party”. Given that
This from the Standard’s Paul Waugh: “Premier Brian Cowen will tell the EU summit this week that he wants his country to ratify the treaty by this time next year. Although the words ‘second referendum’ may not pass his lips, his colleague Europe Minister Dick Roche has just made plain that that is what will
Another week, another essential column by Rachel Sylvester; this time on the successes and failures of the Sure Start programme. Here’s the key passage on how the programme could encourage social segregation: “In some cases parents are asked whether they have a garden for their children to play in. The objective is clear – to
There’s another post-PBR opinion poll for us to mull over tonight; this time courtesy of The Times / Populus. The headline figures put the Tories below the 40 percent mark, and have Labour once more closing the gap: Conservatives — 39 percent (down 2) Labour — 35 percent (no change) Lib Dems — 17 percent
The Commons have just voted down an attempt to change the remit of the committee being established by Michael Martin to look into the Damian Green affair – and by the slenderest of margins (285-281). Those four votes mean that the seven-person committee will most likely have a government majority on it; just as Brown
The debate over the raid on Damian Green’s office is trundling along in the Commons (you can watch it here). So far, the talking points have been a (failed) attempt to get the debate extended to six hours, as well as some Tory resistance to Michael Martin’s proposed committee on the matter. This should be
Welcome to the latest CoffeeHousers’ Wall. For those who haven’t come across the Wall before, it’s a post we put up each Monday, on which – provided your writing isn’t libellous, crammed with swearing, or offensive to common decency – you’ll be able to say whatever you like in the comments section. There is no
The dangers of mounting national debt are spelt out clearly and persuasively by Frank Field in an article for today’s Guardian. Well worth reading the whole thing, but the bottom line is that desperate times may call for desperate measures: “If the debt can’t be sold, it will be impossible for the government to continue.
Despite his cynical attempts at buck-passery, the heat’s still not off Michael Martin. Numerous MPs across the House are thought to be, at best, underwhelmed – and, at worst, disgusted – by his actions before, during and after the police raid on Damian Green’s parliamentary office. A survey of MPs by the Beeb puts some
This from Iain Martin over at Three Line Whip: “…the strong rumour is that one minister with good police contacts did know [about the Green arrest in advance] and has remained well under the radar since the row erupted last week, for understandable reasons. One thought: if that person was aware of what was going
No real bombshells in Jacqui Smith’s statement on the Damian Green affair earlier (video here). She pushed the same lines that we’ve heard from her throughout the past week: that it was right to involve the police; that she didn’t know anything about the arrest; that the leaks coming from the Home Office are a
Theresa May – the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, and MP for Maidenhead – has kindly agreed to a Q&A session with Coffee House. Just post your questions for her in the comments section below. And, next Monday, we’ll pick out the best ten and put them to her. She’ll get back to
Steve Richards puts it pithily in today’s Independent: “The Speaker ‘was told’ the night before about a possible arrest. Did he not consider cancelling his plans and asking a lot of questions? Did the Serjeant-at-Arms not consider asking questions as she ‘was told’ what was going to happen. This is a saga that exposes incompetence,
A quick, capsule review of the Queen’s Speech debate in the Commons: Cameron was at his rapier-like best, while Brown performed his typical dodge-the-question act. But the PM did have one trick up his sleeve, and quite a big trick it was too. He announced an agreement between the Government and the UK’s 8 largest
The Tories aren’t going to take Peter Mandelson’s claims lying down, if Dominic Grieve’s interview with Sky News is anything to go by. The shadow home secretary has just said he thinks Mandy is unfit for office: “This morning, Lord Mandelson has been banging on about national security. We don’t believe there is any national security angle
Nothing especially exciting to report on State Opening day yet. The Queen’s delivered her Speech, leading with the line that “My Government’s overriding priority is to ensure stability of the British economy during the global economic downturn” (see full text here). And Dennis Skinner’s delivered his traditional “joke”, asking whether there are “Any Tory moles in the
Peter Mandelson’s performance on Sky earlier was remarkably venomous. Here’s the main thrust of it: “I also have to say I think that for many Conservatives, it is a self-serving smokescreen, behind which to hide their own apparent collusion with a Home Office official who was allegedly systematically leaking Home Office papers to the Conservative
