Here are Francis Maude’s answers to the questions posed by CoffeeHousers: Sue Denim “The Tories are ignoring their base to chase the votes of the soft centre-left. Discuss.” I don’t really know what this means. We have to be a national party, generous in outlook and broad in appeal. I’ve always thought that most people’s
The BBC Trust releases the findings of an inquiry into the Andrew Sachs row today. Sky are already reporting, though, that there will be no ruling to sack Jonathan Ross. Expect more details later.
An engaging article by Simon Jenkins in today’s Guardian, on why the Tories shouldn’t worry about the vacillating opinion polls, and would be better served by lying low for the time being: “There is no electoral advantage ever to be gained by an opposition during a national crisis. The sane policy is to keep your
The latest official borrowing statistics were released earlier today, and – thanks to a few revisions, detailed by Paul Waugh here – they’re slightly lower than you might expect. Not that the numbers aren’t still massive. Public sector net borrowing between April and October stood at £37 billion – bringing the total over the economic
Paul Waugh spots this line in a speech given by Yvette Cooper an hour ago: “David Cameron has said we should not borrow to boost the economy now. But the truth is that if we don’t act, our economic problems will last longer and run deeper.” As Paul notes, this represents another hardening of the
Just following up my post of yesterday evening, it’s worth pointing out the story in today’s FT that Alistair Darling is going to throw small businesses a “credit lifeline” in next week’s PBR. This was actually one of the aims of the multi-£billion bank bailout. But – as that doesn’t seem to be having the desired
Looking back on PMQs – and reading Iain Martin’s deft analysis – it really was quite striking how both opposition leaders decided to major on the same issue: namely, that the banking bailout isn’t yet meeting one of Brown’s key aims for it and freeing up credit for small businesses. It’s a potentially fruitful line
Courtesy of the essential Politics Home, here’s footage of the leader exchanges from today’s PMQs:
Welcome to this week’s Coffee House PMQs live blog. As always, things will kick off at 1200. It’s expected that the party leader exchanges will centre on the economy – particularly in light of the CBI’s prediction that unemployment will hit 2.9 million, and the Tories’ announcement on public spending yesterday. Don’t bet against hearing
Weighing up the prospects of a snap election, Jonathan Freedland makes a pertinent point in today’s Guardian: “But what happens when the immediate mood of crisis passes, and voters ask whether Brown’s frenetic activity actually made any difference? If the answer is not much, he’ll be finished. Yet success might not help, either. Voters could
The Independent’s Hamish McRae – who’s been on the money more often than most commentators during this downturn – today outlines the reasons to be wary of a Government spending boom in the PBR. They’re worth quoting in full: “The first is international. Trust is vital and there is a danger of a systemic loss
Just to flag up a little task I’ve set myself over at the Spectator Book Club. The plan is for me to read a book each week, and review and discuss it on the site’s discussion board. The first book will be Tom Bower’s biography of Gordon Brown, and the thread for it – along with more
The Standard’s Paul Waugh blogs on how Labour might outflank the Tories on spending cuts, in rhetoric if not in deed: “Downing Street has just revealed that Yvette Cooper led a Cabinet discussion on the post-Gershon efficiency review – and made plain that the Chancellor will next week suggest that he wants to go beyond
Courtesy of Political Betting, the headline figures from the latest MORI poll: Conservatives — 40 percent (down 5) Labour — 37 percent (up 7) Lib Dems — 12 percent (down two) Opinion polls have been varying wildly over the past couple of weeks, so it will be interesting to see if – and how –
This from George Osborne, speaking on the Beeb just now: “Spending restraint under Conservatives, tax rises under Labour” This bluntly effective message – that Brown’s tax-cuts-now translate to tax-rises-in-future – is perhaps that best chance the Tories have to set the economic narrative. Hat-tip: Politics Home
I wrote earlier that David Cameron needed to do more to to outline how the Tories will respond to the fiscal and economic downturn. He just has. In a keynote speech, the Tory leader announced that his party will ditch their commitment to match Labour spending plans for 2010/11. The emphasis now, as he put
There’s a punchy op-ed from David Cameron in today’s Guardian, centred around this three-pronged attack on Brown’s borrowing binge: “But excessive borrowing, adding to permanent national debt, to cut taxes or boost spending is the wrong approach. There are three reasons for this. The first is that we simply cannot afford it. We’re already mired
Just to follow up Fraser’s and Daniel’s posts, Clive Crook’s column in the FT today contains a striking example of just how few waves this G20 summit created: “You might have thought that an emergency gathering of leaders from the world’s 20 main rich and emerging economies, with the global economy poised for its worst
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 CBI have come out with another set of gloomy forecasts this morning, by which the recession will be “deeper and longer lasting” than previously thought. They predict that the economy will contract by 1.7 percent in 2009 and that unemployment will hit just under 3 million in 2010. It’s still something that I