Peter Hoskin

Sunday

Saturday

Peter Hoskin

Where it all went wrong for Brown – your verdict

From our UK edition

As of midnight, the voting on where it all went wrong for Brown stood as follows: The election that wasn't  ---  24.4% His addiction to Brownies  ---  17.1% The 10p tax debacle  ---  16.5% His uncontested rise to power  ---  16.5% His inability to say sorry  ---  13.4% Other  ---  12.2% Many thanks to all the CoffeeHousers who registered their votes.

Friday

Peter Hoskin

McDonnell: Brown’s leading Labour to extinction

From our UK edition

The Labour MP John McDonnell has written a piece for Comment is Free.  I'd recommend you read it - it's one of the most significant displays of Brown-bashing so far. Like Matt, McDonnell argues that Brown's uncontested ascension to the party leadership has harmed both his premiership and the Labour party as a whole.  But twelve words in the article will get - and deserve? - all of the attention.  Here they are: "Brown is relentlessly leading the Labour party to the edge of extinction..." Of course, Brown and McDonnell are hardly the strongest of allies.  And McDonnell isn't a front-bencher.  But this is still astonishing dissent, wherever it comes from in Labour.

Peter Hoskin

Blair at 33/1 to be next Labour leader

From our UK edition

After Labour's disastrous showing in Henley, William Hill have re-calibrated their odds for when Brown will leave office and for who will succeed him. Miliband's favourite to be the next party leader (at 3/1), but Tony Blair's odds have suddenly been cut from 100/1 to 33/1, after a flurry of punter interest.  Maybe it's just one for the silly season, but I'm sure quite a few Labour MPs would be more than happy to have Brown's predecessor back in No.10.

Peter Hoskin

Vote now: where did it all go wrong for Brown?

From our UK edition

Over the past week, we've been running a series of articles analysing where it all went wrong for Gordon Brown over the past year.  Here are the relevant links: Peter Hoskin on the 10p tax debacle; James Forsyth on Brown's inability to say sorry; Fraser Nelson on Brown's addiction to Brownies; And Matthew d'Ancona on Brown's uncontested rise to power. But now it's the anniversary day of his first year as Prime Minister, we'd like to hear CoffeeHousers' views on the matter.  So we're asking: what do you think most contributed to Brown's annus horribilis?  Register your vote in the box-out below (if you select 'Other', it would be great if you'd specify what in the comments section).

Peter Hoskin

Ashdown on Brown’s chances

From our UK edition

Lord Ashdown is interviewed by Andrew Neil on BBC News' Straight Talk this weekend.  And Coffee House has been forwarded a few advance quotes.  I think this, from Ashdown, is minor classic: "I have made some mistakes in my life but viewed out from a year ago, it does not seem to me that my decision to decline Mr Brown’s kind invitation to join his Government was one of them." And he continues:  "Can [Brown] survive?  Well, Margaret Thatcher was more unpopular than him but does he, you know - she had the personality, the opportunity and the luck.  He’s an unlucky Prime Minister, he hasn’t got a great personality and I can’t see what the opportunity is.

Peter Hoskin

Henley result adds to Brown’s woes

From our UK edition

After the drama of Crewe & Nantwich, yesterday's by-election in Henley looked as though it would be a forgettable affair. After all, Boris's old constituency is as safe a Tory seat as they come. It was absolutely no surprise when the Tory candidate, John Howell, this morning sailed home to a 10,116 majority over the Lib Dems, on a 50.5 percent turnout. But the Henley by-election will stick in the memory. Not for the vote's winner, but for its major loser. Languishing in fifth place – with 1,066 votes – were Labour. That put them behind both the Greens (1,321 votes) and the BNP (1,243 votes). Of course, no one expected Labour to perform particularly well.

Thursday

Peter Hoskin

Davis responds – Part II

From our UK edition

Here are David Davis's to the last six questions put forward by CoffeeHousers.  For Part I click here. 6) Harry: “How do you square your party's opposition to 42 days detention, and their support for the EU arrest warrant? Are the two not contradictory? Would a Conservative Government repeal/opt-out of the EU arrest warrant?” In fact, four years ago, I am quoted by the Sun as saying that the EU arrest warrant scheme creates: ‘a ludicrous concept’, whereby ‘people can be extradited without trial for an act that may not be an offence in this country.’ I have consistently resisted moves to weaken or remove British control over our criminal justice system.

Peter Hoskin

Welfare and education: the two initial priorities of a Cameron government

From our UK edition

We've just uploaded the latest magazine content, and I'd recommend you check out Fraser's article on the initial priorities of a Cameron government.  What will they be?  As Fraser puts it: "My conversations with the key players in the preparation strategy suggest unambiguously that schools reform and an overhaul of the welfare system will be the priorities — the hope being that both undertakings will have yielded palpable interim results which will help Mr Cameron secure a second term." In other words, the Tories will push what are currently their most promising - and fully fleshed-out - policy areas.  This is no bad thing.  The ideas of Chris Grayling and Michael Gove are promising for a reason - they should bring about drastic change for the better.

Peter Hoskin

Miliband presents his manifesto

From our UK edition

So Brown's decided not to mark his first anniversary as Prime Minister. But David Miliband is doing. He's interviewed by Steve Richards in today's Independent, under the headline 'Miliband's manifesto'. Cue much cursing and spluttering in No.10. To be fair, Miliband refuses to be drawn on questions of party leadership, as in this passage: “I put it to him that some of his admirers in the Labour party were disappointed he did not challenge Brown in last year's leadership contest. Some of them wonder whether he really wants to be a leader. Could he reassure them by making it clear that at some point he has the appetite to lead? There is a pause. 'I am not going there,' he replies knowing that any sign of public enthusiasm for leadership would be seen as a challenge to Brown.

Wednesday

Peter Hoskin

Mugabe stripped of his knighthood

From our UK edition

At last decency has prevailed, and the Queen has stripped Robert Mugabe of his honorary knighthood.  What's more, Andy Burnham has blocked the Zimbabwe cricket team's tour of England next year. As far as the plight of the Zimbabwean people is concerned, these are only the tiniest of gestures.  But sometimes small gestures can signal an immense tidal shift in attitude and action.  Hopefully, these will mark the start of a much less forgiving approach to the Mugabe regime by our government.

Peter Hoskin

Davis responds – Part I

From our UK edition

Here are David Davis' answers to the first 5 questions put forward by CoffeeHousers: 1) Simon Chapman: “The Conservative Party had won the argument and the moral victory. There are still battles to be fought in Parliament. As Shadow Home Secretary, in the current polls, you had the opportunity in two years time to reverse not only 42 days but the whole erosion of liberty that you have championed. Why, then, did you decide that your resignation was a more effective strategy for your cause and to achieve your objective of civil liberty reform, than the alternative option open to you: staying in your job, leading the parliamentary battle, and then rolling back the legislation as a great reforming Home Secretary?

Peter Hoskin

PMQs footage | 25 June 2008

From our UK edition

Courtesy of the essential Politics Home, here's footage of the Brown & Cameron exchanges in PMQs today.  Fraser's report will be up in a couple of minutes.

Peter Hoskin

Wendy Alexander found guilty of breaking donation rules

From our UK edition

Holyrood's standards committee has found Wendy Alexander guilty of breaking Scottish Parliamentary rules on donations.  We'll find out what sanctions are to be imposed against her on Thursday. P.S. And Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper are under investigation over their expenses.  Guido will make for great reading today.

Peter Hoskin

Apologies

From our UK edition

We've been having a few technical problems with the website.  Everything's been fixed now, so normal service can resume...  P.S. There's a backlog of comments churning through the system, so they may take a while to appear on the site.  Again, apologies.   P.P.S.  If you think any of your comments haven't got through, you can always e-mail to me on phoskin @ spectator.co.uk and I'll post them manually for you.

Peter Hoskin

One year on, Brown’s got the opinion poll blues

From our UK edition

James may have linked to it earlier, but this ICM poll in today's Guardian deserves its own post. It puts the Tories on 45 points (up 4 from last month); Labour on 25 points (down 2); and the Lib Dems on 20 points (down 2). That's another record lead for the Tories. Another record low for Labour. And, as the Guardian points out, that 5 point divide between Labour and the Lib Dems is “the narrowest gap on record”. The numbers also give Brown a personal battering. On average, his performance as Prime Minister received a mark of 3.94 out of 10. But some 23 percent of respondents gave him only 1 out of 10. What this and other recent polls are reinforcing is the idea that Brown can do absolutely no good in the eyes of voters.