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, [...]

  What’s the point?  One Millionaire David Cameron is married to a millionaire. He earns a good salary. What point is he making by ‘celebrating’ with a Ryanair no frills trip? The only things that make flying bearable are the frills. Why the self-flagellation? Who is he trying to impress? Most people would regard [...]

This interesting article appears on Conservative Home today and highlights the fact that David Cameron is to take responsibility for selling health reform. http://conservativehome.blogs.com/thetorydiary/2011/04/the-principles-of-the-governments-nh... [...]

The political elite in SW1 are out of touch with the public on law and order, according to the Sunday Telegraph.  In a poll commissioned by Lord Ashcroft, 47 percent of voters think that no party has the right approach. [...]

Sombre news from the forgotten war in Afghanistan. Ten years of vast sacrifices in blood and treasure have achieved nothing. A mob is so anti-Western that peacemakers have been lynched. The Afghan Police were impotent spectators. Perhaps this will expose the foolish optimism of Liam Fox. He still believes that an [...]

I've written before about the importance of keeping EMA. In simple terms, it's a small but vital weekly fund available to young people from low income families to enable them to afford the associated costs of staying on in education after 16. EMA was on that long list of things [...]

  No party ever prepares for opposition. Even predictable defeats are a shock and a trigger for prolonged misery. Nigel Fisher’s book ‘How to be in opposition’ is a tale of years of arid futility occasionally enlivened by minor triumphs. Heroes of past oppositions are described for our admiration and encouragement. Neil [...]

The £7 Billion Ireland bailout and (potential) £4.8 Billion bailout of Portugal, easily dwarf the £6.2 Billion of painful, deficit-reducing savings we've managed to make over the past year. Coalition ministers say that they were opposed to the last minute deal outgoing Chancellor, Alistair Darling, did to make Britain liable for the Euro 60 Billion [...]

  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 [...]

But no more. Today's budget was a drama-drained drone of yesterday's press releases. In his day Gordon Brown was apocalyptic with a Heathcliff booming voice and contrived surprises. Nothing of any significance can be delivered in Osborne's squeaking falsetto. Today I had a choice. Attend my 24th budget speech or chair the [...]

  Former pal and MP Gordon Prentice reports from Canada:  "Michael Thompson, an inventive councillor in Toronto, has claimed $300 expenses to cover the cost of a pastor  “blessing his workplace” at City Hall. His office is blessed at the start of every new Council term. Even Westminster’s most ingenious and resourceful [...]

Last week, on two separate occasions, I asked both the Prime Minister, David Cameron, and the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, questions about Libya and the Middle East.The situation in Libya has progressed a lot over the weekend so my question is somewhat redundant now, but I wanted reassurance from the [...]

Total of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan = 360 Wreckage, despair and tears today from the screaming nuclear nightmare of Fukushima. The bleak hopelessness of the courageous repair work is apparent. The hope today of a fresh electricity supply to power the cooling system appears to have come to nothing. Elevating the [...]

David Cameron has secured the necessary UN approval for a “No Fly Zone” and action against inhumane attacks on Libyan citizens by President Gadaffi. We must hope that the World has not left it too late to act and that the Libyans can be saved from vicious attacks and retaliation [...]

The United Nations has late in the day decided to stand up to the Libyan dictator. Their task would have been easier if they had acted when David Cameron first raised the issue. Under the remit the coalition of the willing that forms to carry out the task could keep Libya’s [...]

  Mayor Boris appears to be getting his way in wiping Brian Haw's peace protest from the face of Parliament Square. He has been there for ten years.  On many winter nights I have admired his fortitude as I went home to a warm bed while he continued his protest regardless [...]

Just a quick one to alert you to on online petition: http://www.frontlinenhs.co.uk/.Yes, I know there are lots of online petitions, but let's face it, it's a very easy way for you to register your support or opposition for something. I could be asking you to stand in the cold and [...]

14 March 2011   £2billion bank bonus tax to create 110,000 new jobs   Labour is today setting out the key tests for George Osborne’s Budget next week and calling for immediate action to boost jobs and growth in the economy and to help hard-pressed families with the rising cost of living.    In a joint [...]

Alan Johnson gave his second major speech on the economy on 11 November 2010 at the Royal Society of Arts. You can read the full speech below: “The American writer, Tom Woolfe, once said “a Liberal is a Conservative who’s been arrested.” I suppose a modern inversion would be that a Conservative [...]

On 18 October 2010 Alan Johnson gave his first major speech as Shadow Chacellor at KPMG in central London ahead of the Comprehensive Spending Review. The full text of the speech is below.    Check Against Delivery Alistair Darling took this country through the most devastating global economic crisis since the Great Depression. [...]