Doctor, doctor
As Daniel Finkelstein points out, Robert Shrimsley’s satire of Dr Darling and Dr Osborne is super stuff. Read it over at the FT website, here.
Peter Hoskin
Thursday
Is Cameron going to crack down on public sector pensions?
Is David Cameron getting bolder and bolder with the public spending savings he’s willing to identify? Over at his blog, Ben Brogan highlights the Tory leader’s admission that he may move public sector workers away from potentially-lucrative final salary pension schemes and towards the defined contribution schemes that are prevalent in the private sector. Here’s the
Darling's survived a lot, but could he survive another 10p tax rebellion?
The New Statesman’s Martin Bright writes a more positive account of the Pre-Budget Report than you’ll find in most other places. But he does highlight one potential problem with the package: “There is at least one area where Darling remains vulnerable, however, and that is over the policy to abolish the 10p tax rate, which he inherited
Mumbai crisis: hostage update
The BBC are reporting that the hostages in Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Palace hotel have now been rescued. There are still thought to be hostages in the Oberoi Trident hotel. We can only hope that this situation resolves itself without further loss of innocent life. UPDATE: The BBC are now reporting the situation at the Taj
Wednesday
Do Labour MPs have faith in Brown's response to the crisis?
The Standard’s keen-eyed Paul Waugh has already flagged it up, but it’s still worth highlighting Frank Field’s assessment of the PBR in his latest blog post. Even coming from Labour’s insurrectionist-in-chief, some of the remarks are surprisingly cutting. Take this passage, for instance: “Will the package work? I dearly hope so, but I doubt it.
PMQs footage | 26 November 2008
Courtesy of Politics Home, here’s footage of the party leader exchanges in today’s PMQs:
PMQs live blog | 26 November 2008
Welcome to Coffee House’s live blog of PMQs. After Monday’s PBR, you can expect the economy to be the main topic of debate – with Cameron and Clegg trying to highlight the weasels and tax bombshells that Brown has in store for us. Things will kick off at 1200, so join us then. 1203: Here we go. 1204: First
Will Labour's poll gains unravel with the PBR?
What to make of the YouGov poll in today’s Telegraph? It was conducted in the aftermath of Alistair Darling’s Pre-Budget Report statement – on Monday evening and throughout yesterday – and came out with the following headline figures: Conservatives — 40 percent (down 1) Labour — 36 percent (no change) Lib Dems — 14 percent
Tuesday
Put your questions to Grant Shapps
Grant Shapps – the Shadow Minister for Housing, and MP for Welwyn Hatfield – has kindly agreed to a Q&A session with Coffee House. Just post your questions for him in the comments section below. And, on Friday, we’ll pick out the best ten and put them to him. He’ll get back to us with
Is Darling backtracking already?
One of the most dangerous elements of yesterday’s Pre-Budget Report for the Government was Alistair Darling’s claim that the economy would start recovering by the third quarter of 2009. It’s an optimistic prognosis, and gives the Tories an open goal if things aren’t on the up by then. But has Darling already started backtracking on
Pre-Budget Report: the morning after
Flicking through this morning’s papers, it’s even clearer how much of a flop the Pre-Budget Report was. Sure, it has some cheerleaders (cf. Polly Toynbee, Will Hutton and Steve Richards). But the best thing that most of the papers can bring themselves to say about it is that it’s a “gamble” – whilst a few
Monday
This deserves a post of its own
Click here for footage of George Osborne’s reponse to the Pre-Budget Report. Will try to find YouTube footage later.
Will Darling's gamble pay off?
A good post by Nick Robinson, outlining the gambles that underpin Alistair Darling’s Pre-Budget Report: “What’s more the chancellor’s bet depends on other risky gambles. First, that the British economy will recover as early as the second half of next year. Second, that the government can deliver a major clampdown on spending and huge efficiency
Darling leaves a lot of room for the Tories
Now that’s what I call a damp squib. There was very little in today’s PBR that wasn’t trailed over the weekend, and most of the new things were – of course – tax rises that Number 10 was hardly ever going to trumpet. In fact, for all of the pre-report debate over unfunded tax cuts,
Pre-Budget Report live blog
Welcome to Coffee House’s live blog of Alistair Darling’s Pre-Budget Report speech. Things will kick off at 15:30 and end at around 16:30. We’ll be following it up with plenty of analysis. Stay tuned. 15: 35 Brown is grinning away as the Tories barrack Darling for saying that the Americans admit this all started in
CoffeeHousers' Wall, 24 November - 30 November
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
Playing politics
An effective article by Bruce Anderson in today’s Independent on how Brown’s playing politics with the public finances. Here’s a key passage: “[Brown] is happy to risk further damage to the economy as long as he can inflict damage on the Tories. The only recovery which interests him is the recovery in his poll ratings.
Sunday
A more encouraging poll result for the Tories
Opinion polls are varying so much at the moment that it’s probably futile to read too much into any one set of figures. After the MORI poll last week, though, today’s ICM poll for the Sunday Mirror will please quite a few Tories, and fits back into what UK Polling Report’s Anthony Wells calls the
How Brown might spin himself as our Value Added Saviour
As James indicated earlier, the problem for Brown is that his VAT cut just won’t get noticed (and that the eventual rise in VAT – to 22.5 percent? – will be). That’s why you can expect the rejuvenated Labour spin operation to work overtime trying to make it look like the measure’s curing all our
Saturday
What dangers lie in wait?
John Redwood writes a punchy blog post on Alistair Darling’s inconsistent message to the banks on lending. Well worth reading the whole thing, but here’s the key paragraph: “As someone who does want the banks to help small businesses as much as possible, I understand they can only do so on a big enough scale