They Blog For You

               On Monday 11th April we will hear or read the preliminary conclusions of the Vickers Report into banking. A lot is riding on a successful outcome to this important Inquiry.               Politically John Vickers has to say enough to persuade people he understands the anger many feel about the conduct [...]

I set off last Sunday afternoon for a three day visit to Washington and New York. My main purpose in going to Washington was to talk to people in the Obama administration and in Congress about the Balkans (the USA maintains a strong interest in countries like Bosnia & Herzegovina, [...]

                 First we are told that providing a new loan to Greece, or Ireland, or Portugal, creates a line in the sand, prevents the contagion spreading. As each sucessive loan demand showed, that did not work. The incoming tide of debt erased the lines. The contagion spread. The mixed metaphors [...]

  My pre-election expectations range from realism to pessimism. I anticipated the results of all my six General Election results except the last one in 2011 and the first one in 1987.  I could have lost both. Today's poll on the Assembly Election is an extraordinary one.  The only worthwhile analysis was [...]

                    I visited a public library recently. It was not in my constituency. It was housed in a great new building, in a large and well appointed room. I was told it was not about to close. It was run by friendly Council staff. Money had been found to set [...]

                    This week-end has seen numerous briefings against the Health Secretary. I have found him to be one of  the best informed, and  most accessible of Cabinet Ministers. He knows his brief well, is aware of the problems of piloting through change to the NHS, and has already secured the [...]

    O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us!"    The 'giftie' gave Lembit many gifts but denied him self-awareness. Today I watch the playback of Tuesday TV programme on two cases of unfair treatment by newspapers. Paul Gasgoine's ex-wife had been grossly libelled and she engaged [...]

The Times Editorial, behind the paywall, has come out against hyperinjunctions. The editorial is a good general one, but I quote from the last paragraph."When recently giving the annual lecture to the Judicial Studies Board, Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, the Master of the Rolls, acknowledged concerns about how superinjunctions [...]

I've written before about my efforts to ensure that public arrest warrants can be issued as smoothly as possible in universal jurisdiction cases. Yesterday I spoke in a debate in the House of Commons, with a subsequent vote, that attempted to make an amendment to the Government's proposals that would [...]

  How much can the Lib-Dems take? Can the anti-nuclear Lib-Dem MPs continue to back a doomed policy? They were clear in their denunciations before the General Election. Simon Hughes never changed his mind. Now Nick Clegg appears to have cracked. The Deputy Prime Minister cast doubt on the future for nuclear [...]

Why didn't I think of that? It was such a strange question that I had never given it a thought. Aled ap Dafydd asked me on the Welsh Politics Show today, 'Why did AV in Australia double the number of voters who spoil their ballot papers?.' I do not believe they [...]

Why is non-Euro Britain liable for £3 Billion to bail out Portugal? Downing Street is keen to suggest we’re part of the bailout Mechanism thanks entirely to ex-Chancellor, Alistair Darling.  Indeed, when I asked the current Chancellor about it, I was told “my predecessor as Chancellor ... agreed to the creation of the [...]

Delyn MP David Hanson is backing a campaign launched by the shopworkers union Usdaw to shine a...

Delyn MP David Hanson is backing a campaign launched by the shopworkers union Usdaw to shine a light on the Tory-led Coalition’s hidden cuts to family budgets.   With all eyes on this week’s Budget announcement, David joined Usdaw members and their families at an event in Parliament to highlight the tax [...]

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 [...]

Please click on this link to read Alan Johnson’s article published in the Yorkshire Post on Thursday 3 March 2011.  

Please click on this link to read Alan Johnson’s article published in the Yorkshire Post on Thursday 3 March 2011.   [...]

17 March 2011 Alan Johnson voted in favour of the below Opposition Motion tabled by the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury last night to reverse the Government’s VAT rise on petrol and diesel. The motion was defeated. “That this House recognises that rising world oil, food and commodity prices are increasing [...]

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 [...]

Please visit www.fco.gov.uk for updated information. 17 March 2011 ·       We advise against all non essential travel to Tokyo and north eastern Japan given the damage caused by the 11 March earthquake and resulting aftershocks and tsunami. Due to the evolving situation at the Fukushima nuclear facility and potential disruptions to [...]

                  Mr Huhne has brought out a publication entitled  “Carbon Plan”. In it he says: “Climate change is one of the greatest threats to both UK and global security and prosperity…..without action to curb emissions there is a very high risk of global warming well beyond 2 degress relative to pre-industrial [...]

Back in June 2007, I asked the Solicitor General if he'd ask the Serious Fraud Office to reopen the investigation "into the allegations of bribery in relation to the Al Yamamah contract". "No" was the then Labour minister's reply.  Alongside Vince Cable, I then asked for details of payments made under the [...]