They Blog For You

Mr John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con): Colleagues on this side of the House will know that the Secretary of State has a great passion for the health service, and great mastery of his brief. Will he confirm, for the sake of all hon. Members, that the object of getting rid of [...]

From today – 1 April – the NHS in Norfolk will enjoy an extra £54 million, to support key Government priorities such as the Cancer Drugs Fund, investment in talking therapies for those with mental health conditions, 4,200 extra health visitors, and support for carers' breaks. Spending on healthcare in our [...]

It’s difficult to get excited about the AV referendum.   It will probably be won not because of the merits of the AV system, not even because most people necessarily understand what it means, but because by 5 May the Tories, who are campaigning hard for a ‘no’ vote, will be very unpopular.   However, [...]

Today Danny Alexander, along with Christine Jardine the Liberal Democrat Candidate for Inverness & Nairn, met with Adrian Gray the Managing Director of AJG Parcels in Inverness to discuss the impact of the coalition government's action to cut fuel duty. The government announced in the budget its decision to cut fuel [...]

Not for the first time the Lockerbie narrative is being distorted out of all recognition for political ends, first by the US-UK governments in the 1990s, then by the UK Government and the Scottish Executive in 2009, and now by Cameron in his statement to the Commons yesterday.   Cameron’s line was that [...]

TIGA, the trade association for the video games industry has released an updated second edition to their previous publication in relation to proposals for tax relief on the industry following on from their original submission to the Labour government in 2009. I campaigned hard within the last government for the introduction [...]

Like many others, I warned last year about the danger of a 'double dip' recession. Today's figures suggest that, unfortunately, our fears were well-founded. Ed Balls, in his first major statement as Labour’s shadow chancellor, as highlighted the dangers:“It is clearly a matter of great concern that Britain’s economic recovery [...]

   What a surprise. I have been hard on Chris Huhne* (see below)  because of his apparent about-turn on nuclear power. His actions have surpassed his words. The Labour government which agreed to provide insurance to the nuclear power industry at the tax payers' expense. I had an adjournment debate to drag Labour [...]

CARDIFF West MP, Kevin Brennan, has criticised the UK Government for not listening to health experts and implementing the winter flu prevention campaign sooner.In 2009 the then Labour Government started their flu campaign in November where as this time the Con-Lib Dem Government only started their campaign after Christmas.Speaking in [...]

"The disillusionment of British voters with politicians has many causes; expenses scandals, economic pressures and the failures of the last Labour government" writes William Hague in today's Telegraph. "But high on the list of such causes" he continues "is the sheer undemocratic arrogance with which a European treaty of [...]

  All hail PASC! The splendidly independent Public Administration Committee that frequently challenged the Labour Government is now taking on the Tories. Today's exposure of the futility of the promised savings from the Bonfire of the Quangos is splendid evidence of the value of independently minded select committees. We say  that the coalition [...]

 Total of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan = 348 There was tut-tutting from New Tory MPs at revelations about the Labour Government's use of spin. A senior civil servant told a select committee that they were told by Labour to produce 'good news' stories during a parliamentary recess. Nothing changes. On Monday [...]

  It's pure spin but the media fall for it. Yesterday it was fraud-abroad that was to be tackled. It was nothing more than dusted-down measures introduced by the Labour Government in 2008. This morning I was called at 7.00 am to talk about today's headline seeking gimmick of e-petitions. Tony Blair did [...]

Delyn MP David Hanson criticised the Coalition Government in Westminster’s decision to close Flint...

Delyn MP David Hanson criticised the Coalition Government in Westminster’s decision to close Flint Magistrates Court.   In a statement this afternoon to Parliament the Conservative Justice Minister, Jonathan Djanogly MP announced the Court’s fate as part of a wider programme which will see the closure of 142 courts in England and [...]

I WON’T make a habit of writing new blog posts in order to explain why I’ve given up blogging, but I really feel I need to assert a few truths here. I just did an interview for BBC World Service who, believe it or not, wanted to discuss why I’d given [...]

              I spent some of yesterday with a group of Conservative members and activists. Their views on the government’s progress to date were interesting.              They are all pleased to see the end of Gordon Brown’s regime. They wanted an end to reckless spending and borrowing, and to the rash of [...]

The US alliance served the UK well in the Cold War, and was at its best under Reagan and Thatcher when their combined pressure helped bring communism down in Eastern Europe. The relationship has not always been so strong. In 1939-41 the US was reluctant to come to the aid of [...]

  Pity the right wing columnists now they have no Labour Government to kick around.  What can they do? Get desperate, is the answer. A correspondent send is this drivel from last night’s Argus. Columnist Mike Buckingham writes   “Had I the temperament to be a civil servant working in the passport office – [...]

The government have just released a written ministerial statement on the cost of government cars for the last financial year of the Labour Government. It’s curious. This is what I think will happen: They will have teed up a symapthetic blogger/blogging journalist to get the ball moving on the story. They’ll express outrage [...]

John O Shea has now started a bidding war on gilt yield graphs. I think, however, that looking at 1900-2009 is sufficient.The figures here are annual averages, but they show clearly how it is possible to have problems with the interest rate on government debt.The peaks were indeed during [...]