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Articles tagged with Nick Clegg
Only socialists truly understand social mobility
by Graham Jones / 15 Apr 2011 15:31
Lately the deputy prime minister has been extolling the necessity to increase social mobility. Commendable for pinpointing not just a social injustice but an economic handicap.
Under Labour the rich got richer and the poor got richer. However the gap between the two widened.
Figures by Lancashire County Council show that this gap increased considerably during the banking crisis when household incomes in wealthy areas were growing by a staggering 5% plus,
In the cabinet, the phoney war is on
by Jerry Hayes / 15 Apr 2011 12:40
Is it my fevered imagination, fuelled by the excitement of the heady intellectual arguments of the AV and local government election debates, or do I hear an old engine trying to fire into action? Could it be that famous number eleven Bus that political commentators love to magic into existence to tease us with leadership bids that are not yet even a malevolent twinkle in a plotter’s eye?
The honest answer is I
Sorry Nick, nobody really wants to reform the Lords
by Caroline Crampton / 14 Apr 2011 16:59
The news is full of ‘tests’ for the Lib Dems at the moment – the local elections, the NHS reforms, the AV referendum. The one that has rather been pushed onto the back burner is the question of House of Lords reform.
Michael Crick reckons that Lords reform could be the consolation prize for the Lib Dems, should they lose out in the AV referendum. Crick describes it as “a fall back
Rosie Winterton is behind Lansley's RCN embarassment
by Jerry Hayes / 14 Apr 2011 12:22
Poor Andrew Lansley. Being sent to apologise to the Royal College of Nursing’s annual ministerial slaughterfest was a far worse fate than sending Boris off in sackcloth and ashes to Liverpool, because the outcome was far more predictable. If ever you want to orchestrate a stitch up of a Tory Health Minister by a bunch ruthless trade union old boilers, this Royal College will always provide. Particularly at the moment.
And I’ll tell
Nurses add to Lansley's misery
by Ben Duckworth / 13 Apr 2011 15:04
The 99% vote of no confidence in Andrew Lansley from the Royal College of Nursing was stark enough. No matter how persuasive the health secretary is in his Q&A his meeting with 50 nurses at the RCN conference in Liverpool, it's going to be another bad day for him. The Conservative and Labour parties have exchanged tit-for-tat dossiers this morning with Ed Miliband discussing five "hidden dangers" wit the NHS reforms and the Tories quickly responding.
The downfall of Mrs Duffy
by Harry Cole / 12 Apr 2011 15:34
When Rochdale pensioner Mrs Duffy went out to get a pint of milk on the 29 April last year, little did she know that her simple probing would encapsulate, in a word, what media commentaters and pundits had been trying to explain for all the years that Gordon Brown was at the forefront of British politics.
Brown’s spiteful dismissal of Duffy as a “bigot” confirmed what many had known for years, but had
When Clegg met Gillian Duffy
by Caroline Crampton / 12 Apr 2011 11:39
Nick Clegg is out and about today, announcing thousands of new jobs at a photo op with Lord Heseltine in Rochdale. But remember who also lives in Rochdale? Yes, it's Gillian Duffy. Watch her exchange with the deputy prime minister below.
She's already done both the Miliband (David here, Ed here) Is being 'Duffied' going to become a new rite of passage for politicians?
The BBC have helpfully excerpted the
Labour, don't strangle the Andrex puppy
by Jerry Hayes / 08 Apr 2011 16:03
Clearly someone at Lib Dem HQ thought it would be a great wheeze for poor old Cleggy to show that he was human after all and encouraged the New Statesman to despatch the fragrant Jemima Khan to do a breathless, damp-gusseted interview with him. This was not wise. It exposed a fundamental flaw that politicians are wise to keep quiet about. Cleggy likes to be liked.
The trouble with the Lib Dems is
There’s nothing wrong with unpaid internships
by Shane Greer / 08 Apr 2011 14:17
I grew up in a working class family in Northern Ireland. My father spent most of my life unemployed and my mother worked hard to provide for the family. And throughout my time at home I was constantly reminded (particularly when exams were looming!) that if you want to succeed you have to make it happen through hard work and commitment.
After university I decided to gain some workplace experience through an internship
The big NHS pause
by Ben Duckworth / 06 Apr 2011 13:52
On a sunny day, the prime minister, deputy prime minister and health secretary all headed down the M3 to Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey to launch the NHS listening exercise this morning. In front of an audience of hastily assembled NHS workers (see image above), the three politicians were bending over backwards to sound placatory towards those voicing concerns – Cameron said “We want to work with you, not against you” which is different to some of
Clegg hints at changes to health reforms
by Chris McCarthy / 05 Apr 2011 13:25
Combative and evasive in equal measure during a heated Deputy Prime Minister’s Questions it was the suggestion that GP commissioning might not be introduced in 2013 which brought the biggest surprise today.
The fact this central tenant of Andrew Lansley’s controversial reform plans for the NHS might be delayed hints at the possibility of a significant change in the passage of the Health and Social Care Bill, not merely a pause.
Politics has been Cleggerooned
by Jerry Hayes / 05 Apr 2011 11:12
Whatever you do, don’t pass too closely to the Leader of the Opposition’s suite in the next few days. There will be enough wailing, gnashing of teeth, smashing of plates and demented ravings to make Ed Balls nostalgically recall the good old days when he was in charge of the Brown torture and re-education cellars in Downing Street.
Balls, Healey and MiliEd must loathe and despise Clegg now more than ever
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