An apology
As I’m sure many of you will have noticed, Coffee House has been inaccessible for much of the day. Apologies – we were having technical difficulties, which we’re assured have now been fixed. Let normal service resume…
Peter Hoskin
Wednesday
Whilst Miliband’s a-plotting…
…Ed Balls is a-skipping. Well, not quite – this footage is actually from an event back in May, and it hit YouTube in June. But it’s only just made it up onto the indispensable Play Political. I wonder if Team Miliband lies behind the discovery…
The Northern Rock redundancies
Of course, enforced job losses are never a pleasant thing. But at least Ron Sandler’s announcement that 1,300 Northern Rock employees will be made redundant falls short of the 2,000 redundancies that were originally envisaged. Regardless of the numbers, though, the redundancies represent the next stage of the Government’s “rescue package” for the bank – and it’s a stage they’ll want
Can Labour die?
An essential article by Iain Martin in today’s Telegraph, on a topic that Coffee House will devote more attention to shortly – are Labour on the path to annihilation? On Martin’s account, the picture certainly looks bleak: “Endangered in England’s largest cities, losers in London, out of power in Scotland and sharing it with the
Tuesday
Clegg’s pendulum politics
Nick Clegg’s declaration that the Lib Dems will now concentrate on snaring 50 paticularly vulnerable Labour seats at the next election (see video above) is a puzzling one. Ok, it might – as Guido points out – seal the near-total defeat of Labour, as the Tories and Lib Dems carve up Labour territory between themselves. But that’s assuming
A reminder
We’re running a Q&A with Chris Grayling, the shadow work and pensions secretary. You can submit you questions for him here. We’ll be picking out the best later this week.
The quitting game
A quick update to my earlier post: according to the Evening Standard, ten ministers are now prepared to quit in protest at Brown’s leadership. Of course, they may not go ahead with it. But the story still fuels the idea that dissatisfaction with Gordon Brown is hardening, rather than fizzling away over the summer as Downing Street would have
When politicians shut themselves away
What happens when politicians shut themselves away, and stare into an abyss both political and personal? After Bruce Anderson’s revelations about Gordon Brown yesterday, I think we need to know. So I re-watched Robert Altman’s 1984 film Secret Honor last night, looking for a bit of elucidation. Secret Honor gives us a fictionalised, post-Watergate Richard Nixon. He locks
An escalation
Rachel Sylvester’s article in today’s Times is a perfect summary of the plots threatening the Labour leadership. Two passages jumped out at me: “Civil servants – who can sink or save a politician – have not warmed to Mr Brown. ‘People say he’s charming in private but it’s completely untrue,’ an official who has worked closely
Monday
“Gloom and rage”
Bruce Anderson’s column in today’s Independent is causing quite a stir. Read Stephen’s take on it here.
The death of a pier
There’s something both sad and compelling about the images of Weston-Super-Mare’s Grand Pier in flames. Of course, we should be extremely thankful that no-one has been injured in the blaze. But it’s hard not to romanticise these quirky and defiant structures, and thereby see other casualties among the ruins. Nostalgia, innocence, sea air, kiss-me-quick hats and saucy
CoffeeHousers’ Wall, 28 July – 3 August
Welcome to this week’s Wall. As always, this is your space to write and chat about any topics you want. Do let us know if there are things you’d like to see us cover on Coffee House. Or if you’d like to post any photos or videos to the Wall, please e-mail them to me on phoskin
A Coffee House challenge: how can Cameron improve?
Despite the CCHQ euphoria about Brown’s predicament, there’s still the occasional bit of news which should give the Tories pause for thought. The latest is a YouGov poll in today’s Telegraph; the “first detailed analysis of the public’s perception of the Tory leader”. It’s a mixed bag for Cameron. The good news is that respondents generally consider
Friday
Put your questions to Chris Grayling
Chris Grayling has kindly agreed to a Q&A session with Coffee House. So, post your questions for him in the comments sections below. And, in a week-or-so’s time, we’ll pick out the best ten and put them to the shadow work and pensions secretary. He’ll get back to us all a few days later. And the commenters
Osborne responds – Part II
Here are George Osborne’s answers to the last five questions put forward by CoffeeHousers. For Part I click here GS London “What are the realistic possibilities of a flat-rate taxation system? If not, please explain why not, and, failing that, would a conservative government make effort to drastically reduce the complexity in current taxation?” There
Cameron throws down the gauntlet
David Cameron on Sky News this morning: “I think the PM should have his holiday but then I think we need an election. We need change in this country and that’s how change should come about.” Hat-tip: Politics Home
Are the numbers against the would-be leaders?
In his victory speech a few hours ago, John Mason exclaimed that “this SNP victory is not just a political earthquake, it is off the Richter scale”. It’s hard to disagree. After all, overturning a 13,507 majority is impressive stuff, whichever way you slice it. So impressive, in fact, that it can only reinforce the
The SNP have won in Glasgow East
Here are the final standings (top four only): 1. John Mason, SNP: 11,277 2. Margaret Curran, Labour: 10,912 3. Davena Rankin, Conservative: 1,639 4. Ian Robertson, Lib Dems: 915
A recount in Glasgow East?
The Beeb are reporting that there may be a recount in Glasgow East – perhaps a sign that this vote really is extremely close. It could well be a very long night. Stay tuned. P.S. How close? Jon Sopel’s said that the SNP majority may currently stand at around 354. P.P.S. The word is that certain parties are worried – rightly
Thursday
Osborne responds – Part I
Here are George Osborne’s answers to the first five questions put forward by CoffeeHousers: Tiberius “I understand the reasons for not committing to upfront tax cuts, but there are bound to be some savings available from reform. Do you have any idea at this stage how much could be available, and where would you seek
