They Blog For You

  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 [...]

    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 [...]

  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 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 [...]

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 [...]

Since the General Election the political debate has understandably focused on the economy. But on May 5th we will all be voting about whether to change the voting system to the Alternative Vote, a proposal that I believe would massively reduce the accountability of members of [...]

If you're in any doubt about the virtues of using open primaries to select Parliamentary candidates, read this brilliant piece by Sarah Wollaston - the first MP in Britain to be selected in such a way. Sarah Wollaston explains what is so wrong with a political system in which MPs are [...]

During the General Election I explained  that the government had been borrowing far too much. I was clear that we needed to curb the rate of increase in borrowing and public spending, and warned that would mean cuts in some areas, and a tight set of budgets. I promised to [...]

It appears than when it comes to privatisation and public opinion, the coalition government cannot see the forest for the trees. In a Tory-led bid to push through plans to privatise substantial amounts of English woodland the current government has managed to propose a plan as widely unpopular as the privatisation [...]

  It was like asking questions of history. A trinity of Cabinet Secretaries faced the Public Administration Committee this morning. I confess to being slightly awe-struck. Their very names are a thunderous roll-call of power, Lord Armstrong of Ilminster GCB, CVO, Lord Wilson of Dinton, GCB and Lord Turnbull of Enfield, KCB, [...]

David Lidington tell us that Conservatives should be "proud" of the EU Bill being debated in the Commons this week. It puts in place a "referendum lock", he writes.  The reality is that it gives us neither a referendum nor a lock. The Bill serves as a check against the further [...]

Vince Cable has apparently told the New Statesman that John Keynes would support Coalition policy if he was around today. Isn't that the problem? Racking up ever higher public spending and debt is not the way to sustainable economic growth. There may have been a change of ministers but since [...]

Like me, perhaps you were a little miffed to discover that non-Euro member Britain turns out to be liable for Euro zone debts.  Despite keeping out of the currency union, we’ve someone got ensnared in the Euro debt union.  How did this happen? The key deal, making the UK [...]

Today is the day that VAT rises to 20 per cent. More or less every time you buy something (with the exception of food and some other items), you’ll have to give the state a fifth of the value of the transaction.  Even with a new growth Tsar, I’m not sure [...]

                 Nick Clegg kindly sent me his New Year message. I think I get it, because I logged on to the Lib Dem site during the 2010 General Election to check their promises for that campaign. It is nice he stays in touch.                He told his troops that many Lib [...]

  Who are they kidding? Tough on crime Tories turn a blind eye to wide scale  'controlled' drug and alcohol use in all our prisons. Just testing I asked the Home Secretary last month to list all the prisons that are free of illegal drug use. She could not find one.  But [...]

              The government has said it will allow voters to petition the Cabinet Office website, and arrange for Parliamentary debate of the most popular petitions. Some of my correspondents seem to think this will allow a referendum on the EU, or permit the public to legislate for popular causes which Parliament [...]

              Backing down over a £13 million cut in a grant to a charity giving books to young children is not going to make much difference to our public spending position. The government plans to spend around £700 billilon this year.              The government’s friends will say it shows wisdom and flexibility. A [...]

  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 [...]

If the loss of over half our general election support in the opinion polls doesn’t register then letters from members in the national press calling for open rebellion against the leadership and Libera... [...]