They Blog For You

                      I wish to examine the curious case of the possible resignation of Mr Norman  Lamb. Many people will not have known until the last couple of days the importance of Mr Lamb. He is a trusted adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister. He is a Lib Dem NHS expert, [...]

“Absolutely no bilateral bailout” was the Treasury spin 24 hours ago.  Now, it’s all about how we’re “not writing Portugal a cheque”. Choice words, and technically true.  Next perhaps we’ll be spun a line that this is all just “contingent liability”, as if the £2 – 4 Billion at stake [...]

  Once the darling of the middle-of-the-road voters Nick Clegg has had a hideous 48 hours. Anyone can forget a microphone in the pocket,but his comment will return to haunt him. If he is to recover a separate identity for the LibDems his confession  of no differences between the two parties will [...]

                The Euro crisis has not been resolved. It is a rolling crisis, a series of accidents and market falls, often made worse by rows around the Council of Ministers table or by unfortunate and diverse spin from member states governments.               This week Portugal and the markets have returned to [...]

  Only three MPs questioned the Prime Minister this afternoon on the developing nuclear crisis. David Cameron said he was not going to ‘rush to judgement’.  I asked him to avoid rushing to complacency on nuclear safety. ‘The pictures of the two explosions from Fukushima have already churned up deep-seated fears of [...]

Did they blow it up on purpose? The World Nuclear Freemasonry were in full spin today trying to minimise the powerful and very visible explosion at Fukushima. At one point Malcolm Grimson a creature of the nuclear establishment, came close to suggesting that the Japanese engineers had deliberately set off the [...]

                  It was strange timing for the Governor to give an interview attacking the attitude and approach of the commercial banks shortly after the government had declared an end to the war on banks. The Merlin deal was meant to mark an end to the era of hostility. It was [...]

                 There is a convenient assumption amongst the media and many contributors to political debate that Ministers are all powerful. If a problem needs fixing they can fix it. If they fail to, it is wanton neglect or pig headedness that has meant they have failed  complainants.                I am pleased [...]

  I claim a record . Tory policy enunciated at 10.00 o'clock this morning was reversed at 11.00 o'clock. It was a  select committee session of two halves.  The incomparably indiscreet  Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude gave an army of hostages to fortune. He said, believe it or not. that 'speed [...]

                    On Thursday I gave a lecture to a Cambridge University audience on the conduct of public policy. I chose to speak about UK economic policy over the last thirty years. Today I will share the summary of what I said about independence in Central banks, and tomorrow my conclusions [...]

                     It seems likely that the economic recovery will resume this quarter, after the poor figures for Quarter 4 2010. Manufacturing continues to advance. The latest service sector surveys show improvement in January.                    Growth is, however, likely to remain relatively slow overall, thanks to the impact of rapid inflation on [...]

No one concerned about the continued transfer of power to Brussels can take comfort from news that senior Treasury official, Jon Cunliffe, is to become our next ambassador to Brussels.   As head of UKREP, the team of British EU negotiators, Cunliffe will have enormous influence over the direction of our EU [...]

Fear rules. Enrolments for nurseries have dropped about publicity for a couple of instances of child abuse. All parents and grandparents of children under five felt a clutch of fear at the bereaved parent's grief at the death of her child from swine flu. It’s the heart not the head. The [...]

      Last n ight on Newsnight the French Finance Minister gave an accomplished interview. She understood poorly worded questions and spoke well in a foreign language. Her message was perfect spin. She told us all current members of the Euro would remain members. She said there will be no more [...]

 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 [...]

  Unlike other Boxing Days, tomorrow will be virtually free of the gratuitous 'cruelty for fun' games by sadists with more money than sensitivity. The snow will not be stained by the blood of animals torn to shreds in  boozy social events that use living sentient creatures as quarries for their [...]

               Today there will be plenty of spin around, following the E85 billion bail out agreement (Part 2) for Ireland. There is a sense of deja vu, as we had similar spin before  after the previous meeting which we were told had saved the Euro and stopped the contagion.              We need [...]

            When the European political classes put their expensive spin doctors behind the need for a bail out, there were two assumptions behind  what they said. Firstly, a bail out for Ireland would stop contagion to anywhere else. Secondly, a bail out for Ireland would help solve Ireland’s problems. It is [...]

Soldiers die. Politicians lie. At last a blast of cold truth on the deepening futility of the Afghanistan. The Pentagon has exposed the lie in the chronic optimism of Britain's politicians and general. The last hope for an honourable end was success for the 'surge'. It's failing. Almost all indicators revealed [...]