Only a week into his new job, and George Osborne has already had to exchange letters with Mervyn King about inflation. And here’s why: the CPI index hit 3.7 percent in April, up from 3.4 percent in March. Which is worrying enough when looked at in isolation – but when put alongside headline rates from
Via PoliticsHome. If anything sways hearts and minds, then I suspect it will be the name of Sir Menzies Campbell among the “able and willing” replacement candidates: Dear new Member, Many congratulations and welcome to the House. Please forgive me for this generic email being brief and to the point. The first job of the
Well, the news that Sir Menzies Campbell is lobbying to be made Speaker – as revealed by Iain Dale last night – certainly adds a dash of spice to proceedings. But I’d still expect John Bercow to comfortably survive any re-election vote today. On paper, all the arithmetic works in his favour. And there’s a
While we’re on the subject of the Labour leadership, it’s worth reading James Purnell’s article in the Times today. I know, I know – he’s left Parliament now. But Purnell is close to Team Miliband (the Elder), so I imagine some of his thinking might show up in the campaign. In which case… One thing
So now the coalition stretches as far as Labour, with the news that Frank Field is being lined up as an anti-poverty advisor for the government. In itself, this is an encouraging development: Field is one of decent men of Westminster – committed, informed and passionate. But when you look at it beside the Tories’
Just in case you didn’t see the front cover of the Guardian, let me tell you: it’s a big day for George Osborne. This, after all, is the day when he finally launches the Office for Budget Responsibility’s audit of the public finances – zero hour for the age of austerity. Accordingly, then, Osborne has
The cover of today’s Sunday Times spells out what we all suspected anyway: that the Labour government left behind acre upon acre of scorched earth for the Tories to contend with. There’s the £13 billion contract for tanker aircraft, the £1.2 billion “e-borders” IT project, a £420 million spend on schools, and so on –
So fraternal rivalry it is, then, as Ed Miliband prepares to announce his leadership bid at a Fabian Society conference today. And, reading his interview with the Guardian, it’s clear that Ed Balls is soon going to follow suit. Two Eds, two leadership bids, and much shared rhetoric about “listening” to voters. But the similarities
Plenty of eyes on the Tory grandees at the moment. I mean, the right of the party isn’t exactly delighted with the LibCon coalition – so the search is on for figureheads to lead the resistance. Which is why Andrew Neil’s interview with Douglas Hurd on Staight Talk this weekend is worth paying attention to.
As Guido and Jim Pickard have pointed out, Liam Byrne’s article in the Guardian today reads like the launch of a leadership bid. But if it is, then it’s not a well-judged one. Amid some sensible points about Labour’s demise, there’s too much “if we’d have done what I said” bravado which, I imagine, won’t
With the Sun reporting that Ed Miliband is going to stand for the Labour leadership, it’s probably a good time to dig out Anne McElvoy’s profile of the Miliband brothers for the Sunday Times last month. To my mind, its opening neatly encapsulates the choice between the wonkish one and the slighty-less-wonkish one that Labour
After the sunshine of the Downing St rose garden, the gloom of the public finances. This morning’s newspapers are full of stories about the tax hikes and spending cuts that our coalition government is looking to introduce. The Sun and the Times dwell on yesterday’s forecast for a rise in VAT. The Guardian outlines possible
Much ado about this 55 percent proposal – whereby that proportion of the House, rather than just over 50 percent, would be required to vote down a government – and rightly so. But, as so often, Iain Martin says all that needs to be said. Here’s a snippet from his must-read post: “It is rather
And they agreed to 5 percent pay cuts too.
So who agrees with the economists forecasting that VAT will rise – perhaps to 20 percent – this year? I’m not normally one for making predictions but, as far as I can tell, this one seems pretty likely. Various politicos have been leaning towards this measure over the past year. And the new government will
Surprise, surprise – David Miliband has just announced his candidacy for the Labour leadership, and there wasn’t a banana in sight. His address only lasted a few minutes, but it contained a number of hints about how, I suspect, he will look to run his campaign. The emphasis was on newness, natch – “a new
If you read only one thing today, then make a cup of tea, sit in a comfy armchair, and make sure it’s Tim Montgomerie’s 7,000-word review of the Conservative election campaign. Tim has opened up his address book and spoken with many of the main players in the Tory operation – and the result isn’t
Here’s another sensible development for the day: the Tories have diluted their pledge to keep on increasing health spending. As the FT’s Alex Barker reports, the Lib-Con political settlement is going to contain these words: ‘We will increase NHS spending in every year of the parliament.’ So what’s the difference? Well, the previous pledge was
Of all the Cabinet positions announced so far, one is more eyecatching, and holds more promise, than all the rest: Iain Duncan Smith has been appointed Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. Through his work with the Centre for Social Justice, IDS has shown that he not only knows his way intimately around the
Just as the midnight oil burns out, the Lib Dems have finally agreed to a coalition deal with the Tories. Speaking in Transport House, Nick Clegg confirmed that the parliamentary party and federal executive had “overwhelmingly accepted” the deal. And … well, that was it, really. There were few other specifics from the new Deputy