Peter Hoskin

Saturday

Peter Hoskin

A life of luxury

From our UK edition

£1.7 million of taxpayer's money. That's how much Michael Martin's spent on his home and garden since 2001. Of that, some £700,000 went on merely prettifying the Speaker's official residence. Well done, Mr. Speaker. You've now outdone Lord Irvine. The worst thing is that the system allows all this. But that doesn't excuse Martin. The point's been made countless times that the Speaker should set an example. And the above sums are just beyond the pale. Every fresh revelation only strengthens the calls for him to go.

Peter Hoskin

Cycling ahead

From our UK edition

This post over at Three Line Whip makes a good point. That fun Mirror story about Cameron “flouting the laws” as he cycled to Parliament doesn't seem to have done the Tory leader any harm. As far as I can tell, there's been no widespread anger. No anti-“toff” sentiment. Nothing. Brownites must be terribly disappointed. The Mirror has – I'm sure unwittingly – played a part in the response. They've followed their scoop with stories which play-up the comic aspects of it all. But it's no less encouraging for Team Cameron that the “he's too posh for the rest of us” charge is failing to stick. P.S. If you're stuck for anything to do this weekend, there's always Dangerous Dave's Run the Red Light Cycling Game.

Friday

Peter Hoskin

Is this a justice system?

From our UK edition

This story could run and run. It’s being reported that a Muslim cleric convicted of terrorist offences has been released early from prison thanks to a Government scheme to ease overcrowding. He was jailed for three-and-a-half years last July, but walked free last month. I’ll let CoffeeHousers do the maths.   Jack Straw’s been vocal about prisons this week, even suggesting that judges might be “too tough” in the sentences they dish out. Until more prisons are built, incidents like this will continue to shoot down all his arguments.

Peter Hoskin

Trading Post TV

From our UK edition

There's a new feature on the Spectator website - Trading Post TV.  It's a weekly video slot, packed with business news, analysis and interviews.  The first episode can be found here, although you can also watch it below.  Future episodes will be available on the soon-to-be-revamped Business part of the site.

Peter Hoskin

Getting down to business

From our UK edition

The problem with speeches on matters fiscal is that they can often be quite dull - full of dreary statistics and technical lingo. The oratory efforts of Brown and Darling are full testament to that. But today - in his speech to business figures – David Cameron makes a good fist of it. It's fairly engaging stuff.   It helps, of course, that he talks a lot of sense, even if it’s still in quite general terms. Here, for instance, is what he had to say on responding to the banking crisis:  “We need to avoid a rush to judgement and an instant rewriting of all the regulatory rules. Indeed, the worst response to the current crisis would be a knee-jerk response and proscriptive over-regulation.

Peter Hoskin

More good news for the Tories

From our UK edition

There's more poll cheer for the Tories this morning. The latest YouGov poll for the Telegraph puts them on 43 percent (up 3 from last month); Labour on 29 percent (down 4); and the Lib Dems on 17 percent (up 1). Another double-digit lead, then. What's most encouraging for the Tories is how voters are turning away from the Government over the economy. The “feel-good factor” stands at minus 52 percent, its lowest-ever level. And only 27 percent of respondents think that Labour have the best economic policies, compared to 35 percent for the Tories. Gordon Brown has always boasted that he's the best man to have at the helm of our economy. The credit crunch is finally putting that lie to bed.

Thursday

Peter Hoskin

An awareness test

From our UK edition

Daniel Finkelstein's already flagged it up, but I thought I'd share this Transport for London ad with CoffeeHousers.

Peter Hoskin

Prepare for 2010

From our UK edition

As Iain Dale reports, Wendy Alexander may have let slip with with the date of the next election.  Here's what she told the Glasgow Herald: "We're now in a continuous campaigning environment where we look forward to European elections next year, the General Election the year after that, the Scottish Parliament election the year after that and the council elections the year after, and really transforming our organisation for that environment." So that makes it 2010.  No huge surprise, but now we can mentally prepare for (at least) two more years of Brownies.

Peter Hoskin

One hundred days

From our UK edition

What’s the verdict, then, on Nick Clegg’s first 100 days as Lib Dem leader? Not good, I’d say. Sure, he got off to a solid start – making positive noises on public service reform and the economy. But things went rapidly awry with his appalling actions over the Lisbon Treaty. The bizarre way in which he forced his MPs to back down from a manifesto commitment has quite rightly attracted a lot of negative press. And there will be few more embarrassing incidents than that orchestrated walk-out in this – or in any other – Parliament.   What’s more, the subsequent recovery attempt hasn’t been all that impressive.

Peter Hoskin

Sarko in full flow

From our UK edition

Here's a short clip of Nicolas Sarkozy's address to Parliament yesterday.  For Matthew's account of it all, click here.

Peter Hoskin

Brown turns his back on Ken

From our UK edition

According to a Times report this morning, Gordon Brown is set to jump from the sinking ship that is HMS Livingstone.  Downing Street has "all but written off" Ken's chances, and the Prime Minister will be out-of-the-country when the Mayoral race comes to a climax.  Although - the way things have been going for the Government - it might be a blessing for Ken not to be shadowed by Brown and his pained grin.

Wednesday

Peter Hoskin

Time to quiz Clegg

From our UK edition

Thanks to all the CoffeeHousers who posted questions for Nick Clegg over the past two weeks. Phone lines have now closed, so to speak – and we've picked out the best ten to put to the Lib Dem leader. Here are the winning entries: “If the Lib Dems hold the balance of power in 2010, which Cabinet portfolios are you after, and who would fill them?” - Peter “You have made rather anti-government spending noises recently. Is there a figure for spending as a %age of GDP which you would regard as roughly about right – 35/40/45/50%?” - Tim Hedges “I am a small "l" liberal. Why should I vote for the Lib Dems rather than the Conservatives?

Peter Hoskin

Simple but effective politics

From our UK edition

Today Boris has pledged to scrap Ken Livingstone's “newspaper” The Londoner, and use the money to plant an extra 10,000 trees throughout the capital. It's a simple but effective proposal. For starters, I doubt anyone will miss the most disingenuous rag since Pravda stopped operating. And secondly, it's a plan which slices right through Livingstone's green rhetoric. The message from Boris is: “He talks green. I do green, and I'll plant the trees to prove it”. The more he gets this across, the more voters will follow CoffeeHouser J H Holloway's lead by questioning Ken's existing green agenda.

Peter Hoskin

Entente cordiale

From our UK edition

With Nicolas Sarkozy set to meet Gordon Brown later today, it's well-worth reading Simon Heffer's article in the Telegraph. He characterises the meeting as one between two beleaguered premiers who are desperate to prop each other up. But the major claim is that Brown's “woken up” to his “errors over the Lisbon Treaty”, and is trying to tweak the diplomatic landscape accordingly. Here's the relevant passage: “France in particular wants greater co-operation in defence and defence procurement. Britain is cautious, not because of any principled objections, but because Mr Brown has belatedly, and very privately, woken up enough to the extent of his errors over the Lisbon Treaty to realise the potency of Euro-scepticism in this country.

Tuesday

Peter Hoskin

Freedom for schools

From our UK edition

David Cameron and his front-benchers seem to be reeling off one impressive speech after another at the moment.  And today Michael Gove continued the run, with a key address on the inequalities which blight the British schools system.  It’s well-worth reading in full – for the revealing statistics and fizzy slogans – but Gove’s impassioned plea for school independence jumped out at me: “What allows [successsful] schools to operate in the way they do are structures which are truly liberal... ...academies, and the city technology colleges which came before them and on which they were modelled, were designed to be free. Free to choose and shape their own curriculum. Free to hire and reward their own staff in their own way.

Peter Hoskin

Back down Brown

From our UK edition

And so Gordon Brown has backed-down over the Embryology Bill.  Now he won't be forcing Labour MPs to vote in favour of the Bill outright - instead, they'll get a free vote on three of its particularly controversial parts. Andrew Porter gets it spot-on over at Three Line Whip - it's a great shame that Brown ignored the wishes of so many in his party for so long, only to buckle as soon as it looked like there'd be a wholesale rebellion.  In this light, I doubt too many Labour MPs will be that grateful to Brown, even if the outcome was the one they wanted.  Once again, our Prime Minister has been damaged by his own dithering.

Peter Hoskin

Get your questions in

From our UK edition

Today will be the last day for you to quiz Nick Clegg - so rush over to this post and register your questions in the comments section.  Tomorrow we'll pick out the best ones and pose them to the Lib Dem leader.

Peter Hoskin

A lenient system

From our UK edition

The Times features an important interview with Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Chief Constable of Merseyside Police. In it, he takes issue with the sentences meted out to those found guilty of gun possession. According to Home Office guidelines, there should be a mandatory five-year minimum sentence for those caught with a firearm. Yet the average sentence dished out by judges is 47 months, or just under 4 years. Of course, judges should share some of the blame for this situation, and they can play their part in remedying it. But I doubt they've been helped by the Government begging for lighter sentencing whenever our inadequate prisons get too full.

Saturday

Peter Hoskin

Merci beaucoup, Msr. Sarkozy

From our UK edition

Next week, Gordon Brown will meet with Nicolas Sarkozy at the home of French football. And, according to early reports, Sarkozy will come bearing a few petits cadeaux – among which will be an Anglo-French agreement to construct a new generation of nuclear power stations. Why should we regard a mutual agreement as a gift from the French? Because we have so much more to gain from it than they have. After all, whilst our Government has spent the past decade pumping money into ineffectual wind power, the French have steamed ahead with nuclear energy. Around 79% of France's electricity comes from nuclear power; and they have some of the most advanced technology and expert technicians in the world.

Thursday

Peter Hoskin

Poetry Corner

From our UK edition

For some reason, MPs have been struck by the poetry bug recently.  First there was the anonymously-penned verse attacking the Prime Minister.  And now Theresa May's got in on the act, reading out her poem on Brown's staffing problems in the Commons today.  Here it is: "At Downing Street the other day, I met a man sent on his way. Close to Gordon for many years, the PM's rants brought him to tears. But for all this he didn't care. He was pleased to see his minister there. He'd been important once, you know. Now Carter told him: 'You must go.'" I doubt she'll be winning the T.S. Eliot prize any time soon.  Can CoffeeHousers do better?