The papers report that Eric Pickles has beaten Caroline Spelman: bins will be collected on a weekly basis. Back in June, James reported how the DCLG and DEFRA were opposed to Pickles’ plan and that Spelman, who once advocated weekly collections in Opposition, had gone Whitehall native. It was a test, James said, of the
Westminster is preparing for the Tory conference and Ben Brogan reports that a confident mood pervades the blue camp. The positive briefings have begun. The Guardian reveals that the speed limit on motorways is to be raised from 70 MPH to 80 MPH. This is a victory for Transport Secretary Philip Hammond over recalcitrant forces
Ed Miliband can’t name the candidates for leader of the Scottish Labour Party. Miliband’s discomfort during his excruciating BBC interview is fairly amusing. But, as James Kirkup notes, the Scottish Labour Party is a serious issue. It is the only check on Alex Salmond, which makes it essential to the future of the union. And
All eyes are on Berlin, where Angela Merkel is trying to convince her supporters in the Bundestag to vote through the expansion of the EFSF. She is expected to succeed, thanks to the votes of the social democrat opposition, which may prove to be the final nail in her political coffin. Markets in Paris and
Here’s Peter Oborne in mid-season form on Newsnight last night, drawing on the book he previewed in his essential cover piece in last week’s issue of the Spectator, The Guilty Men. The spokesman from the European Commission makes a statement that exposes Brussels’ current helplessness, but his comment about the post-war era reveals what many pro-Europeans on
What a lot of unions there are. I walked around the exhibition stands at the Labour conference yesterday afternoon and counted 10 stalls devoted to trade unions: 10 displays out of the 72 that weren’t directly associated with the Labour Party in one of its guises. The unions’ stands were unlike the ramshackle boxes of
The Eurozone crisis leads today’s news agenda (read William Hague’s take), with evermore dire predictions being made about the future of the single currency and the European Union itself. Many readers may be left uncomprehending as billions turn into trillions, and apparently we can’t count on the BBC for impartiality, so here is your Eurozone crisis
Yvette Cooper says no to elected police commissioners. The Shadow Home Secretary gave her speech to the Labour conference this morning and, in addition to launching an independent review into policing (which has been welcomed by senior police officers), she defined her opposition to the government’s flagship police reform. Britain can ill afford the £100 million
Away from the Liverpool, the Eurozone crisis continues. Market confidence appeared to be growing after European leaders sketched a debt recapitalisation deal for Greece over the weekend. Shares in deeply exposed French banks rallied for 2 days when they were assured that their losses in Greece would be covered by the expanded EFSF. But, 48 hours of
Ed Miliband has been across the airwaves this morning, explaining that the values outlined in his speech yesterday will inform Labour’s policy direction over the next four years – a statement that calls to mind a crude saying regarding Sherlock Holmes. He is doing this because most commentators agree that his speech was incoherent. Here
The exodus from Liverpool has begun, following Ed Miliband’s speech. This means that there will be scant coverage of the events that occur hereafter. Shadow Health Secretary John Healey recognised this and gave an interview to this morning’s Guardian in order to highlight the speech he will make tomorrow. Healey is clear, as Ed Miliband
Miliband’s speech was meant to reach beyond the hall. “I aspire to be your Prime Minister,” he told country, “to fulfil the promise of Britain.” But, after an hour long speech, it is not wholly clear what the “promise of Britain” is. Miliband offered the hand of partnership to small businesses, the ordinary working family,
<a href=”http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=a6b8bca976″ >Miliband’s speech</a>
Andy Coulson was right to worry about the coalition’s law and order policies: Labour is trying to outflank the government from the right. Sadiq Khan and Yvette Cooper have cut assured figures at fringe events at this year’s conference, sensing that the government’s cuts to the law and order budget will imperil one of Labour’s
Fraser’s already commented on the welfare angle of Ed Miliband’s keynote speech to the Labour party; the welfare proposals are part of a broad analytical sweep that can be reduced to the catchphrase, ‘the something for something society’. Miliband’s vision of society will reward those who work and abide by the rules at the expense
Ed Balls’ choreographed apologies earlier today included the acknowledgment that “we should have adopted tougher controls on migration from Eastern Europe”. He first adopted this stance during last year’s leadership election, when he offered an undeliverable but popular objective to court the ‘Gillian Duffy tendency’, who had turned away from New Labour. What began as
Luciana Berger is a frequent speaker at this year’s conference and her creed is simple: tax energy use to tackle climate change. But, journey along the Mersey, from the glamorous fringe events held on Liverpool’s well rejuvenated quays to the post-industrial wasteland that lies beyond and you discover a different breed of Labour MP. ‘Is the green
The main event at the Labour conference this morning has been a long debate on Britain’s place in the world, featuring Douglas Alexander, Harriet Harman and Jim Murphy – shadow foreign secretary, shadow DfID secretary and shadow defence secretary respectively. The debate touched on liberal intervention, soft power and human rights; there was even a video message
Away from Liverpool, the big stories of the day are the markets’ reaction to the putative Eurozone deal, which has been mixed so far, and the Telegraph’s splash about the progress of the Universal Credit, the coalition’s flagship welfare reform. The scheme is designed to simplify the benefits system and save circa £5 billion a
Away from the resurrection of David Miliband, other Labour modernisers convened at the Progress rally earlier this evening. These weren’t just any old party hacks; they were grandees: Douglas Alexander, Tessa Jowell, Caroline Flint, Liam Byrne and Jacqui Smith to name a few: and the audience was reverential. They were discussing The Purple Book, the
