They Blog For You

Who said this: “If governments don’t tackle deficits, the bill is footed by taxpayers, who fear big deficits now mean big taxes in the future, the prospect of which reduces confidence, investment and purchasing power.   This then increases the risk of a prolonged slump”?   No, it wasn’t Cameron or Osborne.   [...]

The link is to the BBC story which includes the text:The UK should have addressed its public deficit back in 2005, former Prime Minister Tony Blair has told the BBC.Speaking to Andrew Marr, Mr Blair said: "We should probably have taken a tougher fiscal position than we did."He said that [...]

Aylesbury MP David Lidington is urging the local community to get involved in the sixth annual Countryside Alliance Awards, which are now open to public nomination.  Everyone who supports rural businesses, produce, and communities is strongly encouraged to nominate their favourites, and to help the South of England claim another [...]

THE FRONT page splash in today’s Times is a truly bewildering choice when there’s so much actual, proper news going on elsewhere. “Hawking: God did not create Universe” it reports (£). So what? Admittedly, Hawking is dead brainy and everything, but why on earth are his opinions on religious matters so [...]

Mark Thompson, head honcho at the BBC, has admitted that the BBC has had a left wing bias.  Progress. While refreshing to hear Mr T say what the rest of us have known for years, to fix the problem, it is important to grasp the nature of the BBC’s [...]

It’s not a topic I wanted to write about. I have studiously ignored the rumours and stories circulating on other websites and at a fairly empty Westminster. Today I cannot ignore it, as Mr Hague himself has issued an unusual statement and has invited [...]

I have refrained from commenting much on the Labour leadership. I have always thought it a two person race between the brothers. David is clearly the front runner, but I just feel Ed might steal it, given his sharper movement to the [...]

Let us suppose Mr Hawking does now have a full explanation from the laws of physics of how the Big Bang created the planets and stars as we now see them. Some scientists will assert that the job is done, and they now [...]

A former Director General has stated that the BBC did have a “massive bias to the left”, He admits that many BBC journalists struggled to understand Margaret Thatcher’s popularity with many voters, refused to see Euroscepticism as a serious political position and [...]

SIX months after launching this blog in March 2008, I was chuffed beyond reason to be voted top Scottish blog in the Total Politics Blog Awards that year. Now I’ve scooped the top spot for the third year running. Although I try to be blasé about this sort of thing, there’s [...]

  'Why are you laughing?'  Two reporters asked me. One last Saturday another today. It's the story of a Russian Spy plot that is so amusing and incredible. It's tale that suggests the Russians had great foresight in seeking to recruit a spy in the LibDem Party about three years ago. Why?  [...]

The link is to an English Translation in the german newspaper Der Spiegel. They are talking about Peak Oil being around nowish. (Although on a geological scale even a thousand years from now would be around nowish). [...]

Dear Colleague, I expect that you will have read or seen the media coverage over the Bank holiday weekend about NHS Direct. I wanted to write promptly to you to correct any misleading impression that this may have created that NHS Direct as an organisation is being closed down. This [...]

As you may have already heard, the Secretary of State for Transport has now announced that an Exceptional Hardship Scheme for people whose properties have been blighted by the High Speed 2 announcement will go ahead. Applications to the scheme can be made from 20th August, please see attachments for [...]

ON 15 June I sent the following letter to Alan Lockwood, “Independent” Compliance Officer (£78,000 pa) of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa): Dear Mr Lockwood I was interested in comments attributed to you in yesterday’s Guardian Online, under the headline, “MPs’ expenses: older generation ‘resisting’ new system”. You are quoted in the [...]

It is true of politicians (as of others too) that their enemies never do as much damage to them as they do to themselves.   Blair is a living proof of this observation.   His diaries abound with his self-righteousness, his constant spin to gloss over his real motives, his inability (or [...]

So. Three great election wins. More than a decade holding the levers of power. Now the memoirs published.And what was it Tony Blair was all about? New Labour seems to me shorthand for governing without principle. A feather for each wind that blows ....Tilt this [...]

POLLY Toynbee isn’t a very happy bunny these days, is she? She expressed disappointment in Tony Blair about 20 minutes after he arrived in Downing Street, then carped on about how wonderful things would be if only Gordon Brown took over. Then, four and a half seconds after Gordon declared he [...]

Tony Blair was right about Gordon Brown. Today we have confirmation of the bitterness and disagreements at the top of the Blair government. All that spinning and all those stories turn out to have been well founded. [...]

Asset: Saddam Hussein has gone Debits: 100,000 Iraqis killed, 4500 US soldiers dead, $750 billion spent; 3 million Iraqis in local or foreign exile: US and GB world reputations as peace makers damaged.   Heads win Although the heart pulls a different way, the head rules. My vote is for David Miliband’s mental dexterity, gravitas and intellect. He will be [...]