All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
“Take a trip through the British countryside and note the number of war memorials and be struck by the number of names on each of them. Once, these hamlets and villages coughed up their sons and sent them off to France. And as the long lists of names attest, many of them never came back.
Nick Clegg’s giving a speech tonight in which he outlines the Lib Dem’s approach for dealing with the downturn. You can read the full thing here, but it’s centred around these passages on taxation and borrowing: “How should Britain deliver economic stimulus? We hear talk of tax cuts emerging from Downing Street, but they are
Ever wondered which of the world’s stock markets has fared the worst during the recent financial turmoil? Thanks to Stan Secrieru wonder no more. The winner is Russia (cue sounds of Russian national anthem). Helped by a brutal war, market-rattling commentary by Prime Minister Putin and a belligerent state-of-the-union address by President Medvedev, Russia’s RTS
Francis Maude – the Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, and MP for Horsham – has kindly agreed to a Q&A session with Coffee House. Just post your questions for him in the comments section below. And, on Friday, we’ll pick out the best ten and put them to him. He’ll get back to us with his answers
The most interesting line in the PM’s press conference was Brown’s argument that, precisely because it is “funded”, the Tories’ latest tax proposal does not represent a fiscal stimulus. Gordon is now positively flaunting his jilting of Prudence, scorning the Tories because they are trying to cling to the fiscal principles – “stability”, “responsibility” etc
Much as I applaud the sentiment behind David Cameron’s plan to help employment by cutting taxes, did he have to claim he’d “create 350,000 jobs” that way? He may answer: yes, the media want such a figure, and just you see they’ll put it high up the story tomorrow. Plus we’re not in power, so
Today marks the 90th anniversary of Armistice Day and the formal end of World War One. I quote from the climax of Norman Stone’s stunning work, WWI – A Short History: “Meanwhile, as German morale was collapsing, the final crisis was precipitated by another act of desperation. In a weird descant upon the navy-army rivalry
“I’m always honest with the British public” said Gordon Brown at his monthly press conference. Then, this: “There can be no argument about where we’ve been over the last few years on debt. Debt was reduced from 44% of national income to 37% at the latest count. And that is a fact.” No, Prime Minister,
I haven’t seen all the numbers yet – or, indeed, many details at all – so consider the following as very loose, first impressions of the tax cut Cameron’s just announced (details here): What is it? Companies which employ workers who have been jobless for three months will get a cut in the amount of
Today’s Populus poll in the Times – the first to be conducted in the aftermath of the interest rate cut and the Glenrothes byelection – has the Tories on 41 percent (down 4 since early October); Labour on 35 percent (up 5); and the Lib Dems on 16 percent (up 1). That’s Labour’s highest level
All Home Secretaries are ghastly, of course. But Jacqui Smith may be an even greater nuisance than previous holders of the office. That’s tough competition when you recall that the field also includes Michael Howard, David Blunkett and Jack Straw. The latter, of course, shopped his own son to the police. But here’s the lie
As Tory Diary notes over at ConservativeHome, Fraser is making the running on the tax cut issue. His Spectator columns and Coffee House posts have pointed UK political strategists in the direction of Obama’s tax-cutting proposals and their centrality to the President-elect’s campaign. The FT’s story on Saturday made it unambiguously clear that Brown was
“Never hate your enemies – it affects your judgement”. This advice from Michael Corleone is very relevant to Gordon Brown, who makes his worst mistakes when he thinks he’d destabilising Tories. He loved how scared they were about talk of an October election last year, but didn’t realise how stupid he’d look when he didn’t
The tax wars have entered a rather unedifying stage. Cameron was set to announce the Tory proposal in a press conference at 1000 tomorrow morning. But then Downing Street announced earlier that Brown’s monthly press conference would be at 0930 tomorrow, instead of the usual 1200. Surely that wouldn’t have anything to do with sucking
Just to recommend a great debate that’s fizzing away over at Comment Central. On one side there’s Daniel Finkelstein, who – I think it’s fair to say – is less-than-impressed with what he calls the Lib Dems’ “punk” tax cuts, and advocates a more cautious approach. On the other, there’s Nick Clegg, who says those
You have to give David Cameron marks for trying. He’s still trying to breathe life into the word “responsibility” in hope that it can become some kind of a political battle cry. Steve Hilton literally built a business making “corporate social responsibility” into something that companies buy into – but it’s harder to do the
Good timing from David Cameron. On the day the papers preempt the official notice that unemployment has risen above 1.8 million – its highest level since 1998 – the Tory leader gives a speech on the subject of mass joblessness. The main message is of how the Tories “will not stand aside” as people lose
Welcome to the latest CoffeeHousers’ Wall. For those who haven’t come across the Wall before, it’s a post we put up each Monday, on which – provided your writing isn’t libellous, crammed with swearing, or offensive to common decency – you’ll be able to say whatever you like in the comments section. There is no
Some of the posts made over the weekend on Spectator.co.uk: Matthew d’Ancona watches two films which deal with recent history. Fraser Nelson suggests that David Cameron shouldn’t repeat John McCain’s tax error. James Forsyth reports on the latest Tory poll lead, and claims we can have a British Obama. Peter Hoskin marks Remembrance Sunday, and
A mischievous video from the folk over at ConservativeHome: Do leave your feedback on the relevant ConservativeHome page.
An effective article from George Osborne in today’s FT. Here’s the key paragraph on the public finances: “Today, we must let the automatic stabilisers function. But as Lord Burns, former permanent secretary at the Treasury, warned last week, borrowing beyond that without being clear how the bills would be paid would be ‘very dangerous at
Condensed Shakespeare: nation’s tabloids report modern repeat of story of Romeo & Juliet under headline: KNIFE CRIME TOFF IN PAEDO SUICIDE PACT
Can this really be true? Why yes my friends it can. A teenager from Ayrshire who was caught posing with a sword on the social networking site Bebo has been fined £200 at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court. Anthony Bowman, 19, pleaded guilty to displaying the image on Bebo between January 2006 and July 2008. His case
I say in my political column this week that Cameron must “offer tax cuts before Brown does” – and seems I may not have to wait long before David Cameron repays my faith in him. Patrick Hennessy says in the Sunday Telegraph today that the Tories are planning an employment-orientated tax cut financed by spending
Boston, Massachusetts Two of the Democrats’ biggest beasts take to the papers today to urge Obama to make their issue his top priority. In the New York Times Al Gore calls for immediate action on climate change while in the Washington Post Ted Kennedy declares that ‘Health Care Can’t Wait’. This is a taste of
It now seems that Labour and the Tories are willing to follow the Lib Dem lead on tax cuts for low- and middle-income earners. Yesterday’s papers had news that Brown & Darling are preparing a range of cuts for possible inclusion in the forthcoming pre-Budget report. And today’s Telegraph reveals that Cameron & Co. are
A poppy rests on a memorial for the fallen and missing of World War I, in Ypres, Belgium. Today, thousands of remembrance services will take place across Britain, ahead of the 90th Anniversary of the armistice on Tuesday.
The future? If only… [Thanks, Megan]
Glenrothes was undoubtedly a triumph for Gordon Brown. It has restored his authority in the Labour party and ensured that the media narrative of the Brown comeback will continue. But the new ICM poll for The Sunday Telegraph shows just how much of a climb Brown still has: the Tories are on 43, up one,
What should, perhaps, worry the Republicans most about this year’s election result is that they lost in the fastest growing states in the country and among the fastest growing demographics. Many of the states the Republicans lost this year—I’m thinking in particular of Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado and Nevada—are, on current trends, going to become
Unsurprisingly Barack Obama’s election has kicked off a debate about whether a non-white person could become Prime Minister in Britain. I’m an optimist on the question; I think we have come a long way from Cheltenham in 1992. One thing worth noting is that the non-white population in Britain is only around 10 percent compared
It’s all very well and good getting excited about the American elections. But let’s face it, they were but the appetiser before today’s Westminster by-election in Glenrothes. The Kingdom of Fife is a strange place indeed, a sentiment confirmed by the whispers we now hear that Labour have managed to hold the seat. On the
It’s time for a new occasional series! I’ve been reading a collection of parliamentary sketches written by the Irish nationalist MP T.P O’Connor that chronicle the course of the Second Irish Home Rule bill through the Houses of Parliament in 1893. Much of it is delightful and, I thought, worth sampling from time to time
Barack Obama’s first press conference as president-elect was, as with his victory speech, an exercise in expectations management. By laying out so starkly the bad economic news, he clearly hopes that he can avoid people thinking that he’ll be able to turn things round instantly. He did, though, stress that if no stimulus bill is