Paul Waugh has the scoop that all eight Labour councils in London will freeze council tax from next April. The councils worked with Communities Secretary John Denham, who emphasised that 2010-2011’s increase in the central grant means that tax rises are unacceptable. As Waugh puts it, the “low-tax era seems finally to have begun”. This
All eminent barristers have their specialism, Lord Goldsmith’s is changing his mind. Scholarly integrity is to blame – he likes to give both sides of the argument. His two thrillingly different Iraq war advices are, of course, his crowning achievement; but he’s playing devil’s advocate again today. He writes in the Guardian: ‘I applaud Richard Alderman,
According to exhaustive polling data, the Irish will vote Yes to the Lisbon treaty. With Czech senators looking set to ratify the treaty also, the probable future Conservative government in this country faces a dilemma: what to do about Lisbon. Simple, says Bill Emmot in the Times. Cameron and Hague must hold their noses because
Well, that’s what he claims anyway. Brown’s extended interview on the Today programme was an exercise in deflecting blame (and the Sun coming out for Cameron) – ‘none of this would have happened if people had listened to me because, you see, I saw it all coming’ was his refrain. This exchange with Jim Naughtie
I empathise with the jurors who decided the Pilkington case: it is impossible to make sense of this senseless episode. Yet society must ensure that the tragedy is not repeated. The jury, the Home Secretary and even the Opposition, up to a point, all blamed the police. Simon Jenkins’ piece in the Guardian savages the
Comment Central’s Alice Fishburn has collated Brown’s buzzwords. It’s revealing that derivatives of ‘choice’ and ‘change’ were used 38 times, whereas the words ‘honest’ and ‘responsibility’ were uttered twice and four times respectively. Given that the public have turned against the government’s running of the economy, Brown was unwise to concentrate on Tory-bashing rather than
Gordon Brown delivers the most important speech of his life this afternoon. Whether that speech can even check the march of the seemingly inevitable is doubtful, but his best chance is to express an alternative strain of personality from the severe and serious man the electorate plainly dislike. Jim Naughtie and Neil Kinnock debated the
Tom Watson has told the Times that Tony Blair should hit the campaign trail “if he fancies it”. There have been rumours that both Blairs will campaign at the next election, but this is the first time, to my knowledge, that a Brownite has publicly implored the former PM to return to the fold, and
Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling will launch their umpteenth fight back today by talking tough on banks and bonuses. They hope to prove the Conservatives are interested solely in “helping their rich friends”. The Times has the details: ‘The Chancellor will tell the party conference in Brighton that legislation to be introduced in the next
The Conservative party’s seizure of the progressive agenda and the rhetoric of liberal democracy suggests that Cameron intends to build a broad coalition. But how large would the Tories’ tent be? Peter Mandelson reveals that he would have no trouble “serving his country” under a Conservative government. ‘In an interview with The Sunday Times magazine, the
Brown’s pursuit of Obama through the UN canteen has finally paid dividends: PoliticsHome is reporting that Barack Obama will hold bilateral talks with Gordon Brown later today. After yesterday’s negative headlines, Obama was always going to make a gesture that indicated how much he valued Brown; but from the Prime Minister’s point of view, the
The Ministry of Defence is the subject of two very damaging stories this morning. First, there are twice as many former service personnel in prison than there were six years ago. And second, Major General Andrew Mackay, a former commanding officer in Helmand, who masterminded the recapture of Musa Qala, has resigned his commission. Mackay
Speaker Bercow has suggested that prominent cabinet ministers who sit in the House of Lords should be brought before the backbenchers for scrutiny. The Telegraph’s James Kirkup has the details: ‘Mr Bercow said: “I find the fact that backbenchers have no means of directly questioning prominent Ministers of the Crown because they happen to sit
Over at his WSJ blog, Iain Martin reckons that Baroness Vadera’s resignation might be an indication that Gordon Brown is considering standing down. Martin writes: ‘Throughout his troubled premiership I have been of the view that Gordon Brown will fight the looming general election. If he ducks out then history will surely judge him
Yesterday was bad enough, but today’s turning into an utter catastrophe for Brown. First, it emerged that the Tories enjoy a 4 point lead in Labour’s traditional northern strongholds, then Baroness Vadera leaves the government to work for the G20, and now another former GOAT, Lord Malloch Brown, tells the World at One that Brown
Financial Times research has revealed that Labour has lost its traditional northern strongholds under Gordon Brown. Here are the details: ‘The Tories have built a narrow four-point lead in the north, eradicating the 19-point Labour lead in the region that underpinned Tony Blair’s last general election victory, the research shows. The 11.5 percentage point swing
The ‘Appeal to Conscience’ World Statesman of the Year ought to be treated with more respect, otherwise the award becomes a mockery. The news that President Obama rebuffed the PM’s requests for bilateral talks at the UN or G20 meetings capped a dreadful day for Gordon Brown. A White House spokesman told the BBC: “Any
Sky News reports that Stephen Hesford, who was PPS to the law officers, has resigned over the Baroness Scotland scandal. His resignation letter reads: ‘Whilst I have great personal regard for the Attorney General, I cannot support the decision which allows her to remain in office. In my view the facts of the case do
It turns out that the PM’s not in America to address the UN about nuclear proliferation and he’s not there to cosy up to the President, although naturally he won’t be able to resist a spot of “Obama Beach-ing”. No, he’s crossed the Pond to be acknowledged as the ‘Saviour of the World’. Iain Martin
Gordon Brown is expected to offer to decommission one of Britain’s four Trident submarines as part of nuclear non-proliferation discussions at the UN today. The Times has the details: ‘Mr Brown will signal tomorrow that he is ready to negotiate at a meeting of the UN Security Council on nuclear non-proliferation. It follows President Obama’s