£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
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.
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
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.
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.
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
Daniel Finkelstein’s already flagged it up, but I thought I’d share this Transport for London ad with CoffeeHousers. It’s really quite good:
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
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
Here’s a short clip of Nicolas Sarkozy’s address to Parliament yesterday. For Matthew’s account of it all, click here.
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
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,
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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?
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
