Blog
Where is Cameron's enthusiasm for Lords reform?
by Caroline Crampton / 23 Apr 2012 11:02
House of Lords reform is a bugbear for the coalition. The Lib Dems, and Nick Clegg in particular, have made much of the coalition agreement commitment to sort out the upper chamber once and for all.
Today, the Joint Committee on the Draft House of Lords Reform Bill has published its first report. It is broadly in agreement with the coalition’s draft bill, recommending an upper house of 450 members serving for
The agenda
23 Apr 2012 07:57
What's happening
Today The McKay Commission on the West Lothian Question holds its first formal evidence session
9.00 William Hague attends a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg. The lifting of sanctions against Burma is on the agenda.
9.00 Resolution talks continue between members of the Unite union and officials from petrol haulage firms at Acas
10.00 Danny Alexander speech to the Institute for Fiscal Studies on fiscal sustainability
Concern about unemployment – are we just getting warmed up?
by Jerry Latter / 20 Apr 2012 15:35
In PMQs this week, Ed Miliband argued that only the prime minister “could think it was a cause for celebration that over one million young people are still out of work in this country”, as David Cameron sought to see the positive in the first drop in unemployment since last spring.
And, though the figures show that unemployment fell by 35,000, public concern about it shows no sign of halting.
The
A UKIP 'surge' is no cause for Lib Dem concern
by Mark Pack / 20 Apr 2012 12:14
Liberal Democrats, and before them Social Democrats and Liberals too, are well used to a surge in poll figures seeing them overtake another party and so generate a flurry of excited predictions about the future of British politics.
Yet more often that they would wish, such surges have often subsequently largely or completely receded. So it is no surprise that Liberal Democrat insiders have been reacting with calm analysis to the smattering of
Northern Ireland's lack of donation transparency
by Anna Carragher / 20 Apr 2012 10:07
Party funding is once again in the spotlight. But during the ongoing debate about donations to political parties, one important area has received little attention in Great Britain – the lack of donation transparency in Northern Ireland.
The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, which established the Electoral Commission, put a legal duty on parties to ensure that any donations they accepted over more than a few hundred pounds come from a
The agenda
20 Apr 2012 08:19
What's happening
Today David Cameron makes a speech about apprenticeships on a local election campaign visit in the north-west
Today George Osborne attends a G20 finance ministers' meeting in Washington DC
Today Lords energy spokesperson Lord Marland attends a union-sponsored conference on nuclear energy
Today Eric Pickles is 60 today
10.10 Home secretary Theresa May gives the keynote speech at a Stonewall conference on lesbian, gay and bisexual workplace
Pasty tax is an unworkable mess
by Stephen Gilbert / 19 Apr 2012 16:19
It’s a funny sort of ‘simplification’ that puts VAT on hot pasties but not cold pasties and depends on the weather outside the shop that’s it bought in. It suggests we may see a new army of HMRC pasty police with government-issued thermometers standing over the customer’s shoulder and checking whether a pasty is above or at ‘ambient’ temperature? What is ambient temperature anyway? That will, literally, change with the weather. The same pasty could be
Lessons from the US campaign trail
by Max Burman / 19 Apr 2012 12:47
Latest polls show a significant convergence in public opinion between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, making the outcome of November’s US presidential election difficult to predict. The campaign is only in its infancy, yet already it has served up a few lessons for political types here in Britain.
Politicians’ taxes
What happened: Mitt Romney is a very rich man, and everyone in America knows it. However, the news that he
Abu Qatada: What a difference a day makes
by Caroline Crampton / 19 Apr 2012 12:09
‘What a difference a day makes/Twenty-four little hours…’
It’s hard not to remember the opening words to the famous song, popularised by Dinah Washington, when watching Theresa May and Yvette Cooper square up in the Commons once again over Abu Qatada’s deportation.
After years of appeals, proceedings and assurances, it now all seems to come down to two differing interpretations of how long a period of three months is – May
The agenda
19 Apr 2012 08:18
What's happening
Today Ken Clarke opens the first day of the Brighton conference on the future of the European Court of Human Rights
Today Housing minister Grant Shapps launches new online portal to provide independent information to prospective self builders at No 10 Downing Street
Today Acas hosts discussions between Tube Lines management and the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union in an attempt to avert a 72-hour strike planned by
PMQs: An extreme case of political déjà vu
by Caroline Crampton / 18 Apr 2012 13:00
You might have expected the unemployment figures released this morning to dominate prime minister’s questions – David Cameron certainly did, since when Ed Miliband failed to raise it in his first question he immediately asked why not. In some ways, the figures are good news for the government – unemployment is ever so slightly down – but there are some strong lines of attack for Labour too, with huge numbers of young people still
Clegg contradicts himself on coalition's big picture
by Max Burman / 18 Apr 2012 11:26
The latest unemployment figures were released this morning, and they reveal some timely good news for the government. The total out of work fell by 35,000, taking the percentage unemployed down from 8.4% to 8.3%.
With the first Prime Minister’s Questions since the Easter recess to come later, the news will no doubt allow David Cameron to draw some of the sting from Ed Miliband’s attacks. A strong showing at PMQs would
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Quote of the Day
What you call austerity is what I might call efficiency.
