We Need to Be Bold - but …
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008It’s a common chant in the Party that we need to be bold, to rediscover our radical edge. Cruddas has an interesting party trick. He reels out a whole load of policies and ideas that seem very radical now. And then he twists the knife. These were all in the ‘97 manifesto. But it is [...]
Despatches from the Tory Front Line - Birmingham
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008The Tories are in town and they’re everywhere. It’s all very unsettling!
Last night I was in one of Birmingham’s posher restaurants. In they came in their droves. A private party was in the back of the restaurant and, near me, every party seemed to be taken up with male delegates from the conference. George Osborne [...]
The Brown Bounce: Reality Please !!!
Friday, September 26th, 2008I couldn’t bring myself to go to conference this year. My mates who did are not overjoyed about Brown’s bounce back in the opinion polls. And now, the bloggers are joining in too — see posts from Luke Akhurst and Peter Kenyon! People, have we not learnt from last year? This is too soon to [...]
Bob — He’s Still the Man!
Thursday, September 18th, 2008And still they come, downloading the Piper interview. This has got me thinking. Perhaps, if there is a vacancy at the top, we should consider Bob. He’s certainly more popular than anyone else on the net! Maybe, the popularity can transfer over?
The Compass is in Desperate Need of Re-calibration
Thursday, September 18th, 2008I’m always worried when politicians start going on about morality and ethics. Everything — and everything — branded in this way tends to end up in tears.
Realpolitik always raises its head sooner or later. Robin Cook’s ethical foreign policy was welcome in many ways but was oh so naive. Soon events, and reality, made the [...]
Clegg: The Man on the Road to Nowhere
Thursday, September 18th, 2008I suppose — in this conference season — we should spare some thought for the other parties.
I remain a little bemused by the Lib Dem change in tac. Today the press have been reasonably kind about Clegg’s speech, although they can hardly hide a real sense of amusement.
A couple for weeks ago I spent a [...]
New Sex Scandal About to Break?
Wednesday, September 17th, 2008One of the interesting thing about running a blog is that you can see the search phrases that people have put into search engines, and that have landed them on your site.
I notice this morning somebody has Googled the name of one of our cabinet ministers looking for XXXX’s women.
Of course this doesn’t mean that [...]
The Lib Dems — The New Right!
Wednesday, September 17th, 2008It must be horrible being a traditional Lib Dem this week, watching their party lurch to the right. Some of us know how this feels!
Why oh why do they have to be the only party embracing tax cuts? Positioning is the answer. Over the last five years there have been a number of Tory Lib [...]
Bin Collection and Composting
Wednesday, September 17th, 2008Nothing seems to annoy the public more than the notion that their rubbish is only going to be collected by their council, fortnightly. In many cases that anger is justified, but this is why this morning’s report from the Waste Resources Action Programme — highlighting the success of their food waste pilot — is such [...]
Treading Water
Tuesday, September 16th, 2008Forget leadership challenges and all of this Whitehall gossip. Government’s real challenge comes in dealing with day-to-day economics, such as the collapse of XL and the dramatically rising costs of fuel. Does this government really have its finger on the economic pulse of the country?
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