As James said the other day, May 1st is becoming increasingly important for Gordon Brown. A better-than-expected set of Labour results, and he can start to reassert his dominance. A bad set of results, and the chatter about his political demise will only get louder. Unfortunately for our Prime Minister, the latter scenario looks more and more likely.
A brief addendum to today’s “Will Brown be deposed?” stories. Ninety percent of the respondents to this PoliticsHome poll think that Gordon Brown is an electoral liability for Labour. But the vast majority also believe he’ll still lead the party into the next election. Do Coffeehousers agree?
If you feel like smashing your computer monitor in frustration, then head over to this Sky News story. The headline: “Brown: we’re getting economy right”. Yes, that’s the outrageous claim our Prime Minister made in an interview earlier today, adding that: “I am making the right long term decisions for our country”. It’s almost getting dull
Yet more talk of Brown’s potential demise. This time in today’s Standard – a story (not online) about how backbenchers are giving the Prime Minster until May 2009 to “improve or stand down” (quite how they’d force this through is another question…). Here’s what a “former minister” had to tell the paper: “I do not believe
Can things get any worse for Gordon Brown? With the news this morning that a minister is threatening to quit, our Dear Leader needs something to change. And quick. On that front, he seems to be pinning his hopes on a cabinet reshuffle this summer. According to the Telegraph, those due a promotion include Jim
Still undecided on who you’d have as London mayor? If so, this nifty “Who should I vote for?” quiz that Sky have put together should help you decide. It asks questions on a policy-by-policy basis, and then picks your man for you. Simplicity itself. Any surprising results for CoffeeHousers? Do tell…
So – in an effort to save taxpayers’ money – David Miliband is to permanently vacate his lavish official residence. Over at Three Line Whip, Con Coughlin is disappointed by the move, thinking it will undermine the stature of the Foreign Secretary – “Foreign visitors expect to be received in some style when they come to London”. David Hughes counters by
As Centre Right reveal, today’s Evening Standard records a cut poll lead for Boris. Their latest YouGov poll has Our Man on 45 percent (down 4 on the last poll); Livingstone on 39 percent (up 3); and Paddick on 12 percent (up 2). Things look rosier when second preferences are allocated – Boris lands 54 percent of
George Osborne couldn’t have hoped for a better background to his speech at Policy Exchange today than this FT poll. It finds that some 68 percent of UK voters don’t have any confidence in the Government’s ability to deal with recent economic difficulties. The FT also polled voters from other leading economies – such as
The succession talk is chasing Gordon Brown into the weekend. Here’s Martin Kettle in today’s Guardian: “A spectre is haunting the Labour party – the spectre of Gordon Brown’s failure. Questions about Brown abound in Labour ranks. The concern is not, as far as I can tell from many conversations this week, primarily about Brown’s
I’ve always found it shocking that British troops are sent into combat with inadequate equipment – not least because it costs lives. That’s why today’s High Court ruling should be welcomed. Invoking the human rights of servicemen could – to some extent – safeguard against future tragedies. Even so, Des Browne’s fighting the decision tooth-and-nail. Here’s his response: “Our troops are
Frank Field’s piece for the latest issue of the magazine is well-worth reading, and fecund ground for a weekend debate. As he sees it, Brown and Cameron have to concentrate on the “post-Thatcher question” of “How can individual freedom be extended while at the same time protecting that degree of public provision which voters
Some computer-whizz at CCHQ has knocked up a Jack Straw vs Ed Balls online fighting game. It hardly spells the end to “punch and judy politics”, but it might help CoffeeHousers while away a Friday afternoon.
There’s a worrying story in the papers this morning – Poole borough council has used anti-terror powers to spy on a family who were wrongly accused of lying on a school application form. It crystallises the idea that cracking-down on terrorism could mean cracking-down on personal freedom. And with the debate over detention times still
How strange. Ken’s just released a video attacking Boris’s first election broadcast. For me, the main thrust of it seems to be: “black-and-white film = unattractive to foreign investors; colour film = attractive to foreign investors”. Here’s the clip, so CoffeeHousers can judge for themselves:
Recently, the Tories haven’t quite been giving us the full picture on Europe. Sure, they’ve opposed the Lisbon Treaty, and have been pushing for a referendum on it. But they’ve also been tight-lipped about what a Cameron Government would do should the Treaty be ratified. Would they pull out of it? Would they hold a retrospective referendum? etc. etc.
…when you read stories like this in the papers.
There’s a shocking finding in today’s Times, and one that could permanently undermine relations between Britain and Iraq. The reason British troops weren’t involved in the early stages of the recent Basra offensive? It wasn’t because Iraqi forces could “cope on their own”. Instead, it was down to a deliberate snub on the part of
Over the past few months, the Evening Standard has been a particularly sharp thorn in Ken’s side. And tonight they reveal that the current Mayor has mislead the public over donations. Here’s the Standard’s scoop: “The Mayor received … £30,000 knowing it was from multi-millionaire Sharad Patel who wants to build a £120 million theme park and
Which polling company’s getting it right in the run-up to the mayoral elections? YouGov reckons Boris is miles ahead. ICM have it as neck-and-neck. And today Ipsos-MORI records a slender lead for Ken. According to their poll, the incumbent snares 41 percent of first preference votes, compared to 40 percent for Boris. When second preferences are allocated, Ken