The Daily Record - News from Westminster

The real cost of Britain and America's 'special relationship'

2009-09-24T12:01:14Z

A LOT of blather around today about Barack Obama's apparent snubbing of Gordon Brown in New York.
Downing Street confirmed this morning that there had been "numerous" calls between London and Washington in advance of this week's visit, trying to find time for the pair to have a sit-down.
The PM's pleas appear to have fallen on deaf ears though, with Brown having to make do with a quick chat with the President in the kitchens of the UN building. All very amusing and great copy for us hacks.

But there's a serious point here too. While Brown's obvious desperation to bask in some of Obama's reflected glory is a tad embarrassing, it's surely not unreasonable for the Prime Minister to expect some kind of special access to the President.
I'm not talking about the spurious 'special relationship' which supposedly exists between America and the UK.
Rather, I'm referring to the US's reliance on British troops putting their lives on the line every day in Afghanistan, and in Iraq before that.
Whatever your views on the war, there's no denying that UK forces are paying a blood price for our country's alliance with the US.
Anyone who is in any doubt about that should have watched 'Wounded' on BBC1 last night. It's still available on the iPlayer HERE
This excellent programme told the at-times heartbreaking story of young soldiers left horribly debilitated on the frontline in Afghanistan.
Probably the most touching was the story of Andrew, a young man from Belfast who lost both his legs and much of his sight in a roadside bomb blast.
Andrew's girlfriend back home in Northern Ireland was also heavily pregnant, and all he wanted was to be able to see his newborn son.
With that in mind, surely Obama could have cleared his schedule to make time for Brown?

Charles Clarke sets his stall out....again

2009-09-23T12:33:34Z

You can almost set your watch by Charles Clarke.
I'm not talking about sticking him in the middle of a field on a sunny day and seeing where he casts his enormous shadow.
No, you can always rely on him to come out just before Labour conference and declare to the world that Gordon Brown is rubbish and Labour should get rid of him. And once again, he has not disappointed.

In an interview in the London Evening Standard today, he once again unloads both barrels in the direction of Number 10.
The PM should quit for "his own dignity", says Clarke, who also warns that Labour will be consigned to the political wilderness for up to 15 years if Brown leads them into next year's election.
The former home secretary also says that the Downing Street operation under Brown is "the weakest I've seen ever". Yep, even worse than the hapless John Major. Cripes.
Now, it's easy - and quite good fun - to dismiss Clarke as a bitter backbencher with a long-held grievance against Brown. Which he undoubtedly is.
But his comments are too scathing to be ignored
And with voters making up their minds that they don't want Brown running the country any longer - Labour are a staggering 17 points behind the Tories according to the latest poll - what he says will surely resonate with those MPs staring imminent unemployment in the face.
As if Brown didn't have enough problems at the moment, a parliamentary aide to attorney general Baroness Scotland has just quit over the PM's decision not to sack her for employing an illegal immigrant.
The pressure on Brown to deliver the speech of his life at the Labour conference next week just got even greater.

Murphy throws down debate gauntlet at Salmond

2009-09-21T15:21:39Z

Jim Murphy has written to Alex Salmond challenging him to a debate on Scotland's future.
The pair are due to speak separately at an event in Edinburgh on Wednesday, but the Scottish Secretary has said the pair should go head-to-head instead.

He has written to the First Minister today throwing down the gauntlet.
It strikes me as a challenge Salmond will find impossible to resist.
It will be the first ever public debate between a Scots Secretary and a First Minister and I have to say I think it's a great idea.
Just makes you wonder why no one has ever thought of it before ..........

UPDATE: Alex Salmond has, remarkably, turned down Murphy's offer.
His spokesman says the FM debates every week with Iain Gray at Holyrood, so has no need to go toe-to-toe with Murphy on Wednesday.
I'm pretty sure that's the reason successive Prime Ministers have knocked back calls for TV debates with opposition leaders, and I must say I'm suprised Salmond has chosen this tack.
The First Minister can't possibly be running scared. Can he?

UPDATE: Glen Oglaza at Sky - which is trying to set up its own leaders' debate in the run-up to the general election has his own take on Salmond's response HERE

Miliband Ed and shoulders ahead of Brown

2009-09-16T11:34:20Z

Impressive stuff this morning from Ed Miliband.

The climate change secretary looked for all the world like the coming man as he delivered an impassioned speech to the TUC conference.

Speaking without either notes or a jacket, his relaxed style of delivery was in stark contrast to his boss yesterday.

While Gordon Brown plodded through his address to activists, often tripping over his words and messing up punchlines, Miliband was smooth without being smarmy and impassioned without being shouty.

His jokes were funny and there was enough Tory-bashing to keep the comrades happy.

He even managed to shrug off some heckles from sacked wind turbine workers campaigning to get their jobs back.

Many in the Labour Party are already resigned to defeat at next year's election, and are readying themselves for life after Gordon.

David Miliband's chances of becoming leader went south at last year's party conference, where his speech bombed and he had an unfortunate altercation with a banana.

His younger brother did his chances of being the chosen one no harm at all today.

Brown in a hole

2009-09-15T10:39:43Z

So does the great Brown fightback start here?

I'm in Liverpool for the annual TUC conference, where the PM will address delegates this afternoon.

As ever, leadership speculation abounds - with Harriet Harman being accused this morning of maneouvering behind the scenes.

Things really couldn't be more miserable for Brown. The Tories - and north of the border the SNP - are streaking away in the polls, the Government coffers contain 10 pesetas, a couple of buttons and an empty Milky Way wrapper, and like it or not, he's got to call an election by next June.

Speaking of which, the talk in the conference bars has been that he could go to the polls in March.

The thinking is that with the economy expected to be growing again by then, Labour may be able to cash in on the tentative feel good factor.

Going to the polls in March would also preclude the need for a Budget (due in April) which is sure to be filled with distinctly voter-unfriendly stuff like tax rises and spending cuts.

Brown would be as well just handing David Cameron the keys to Number 10 rather than go to the country on the back of that, the argument goes.

Adding to the PM's woes is the rather chilly reception he faces from his union 'comrades' here in Liverpool.

They've not exactly been tripping over themselves to pledge their allegiance to the dear leader so far this week, with most offering their grudging support at best.

The reception he gets in the conference hall later could well be very chilly.

We're told he's going to mention the dreaded C-word (that's cuts, by the way) for the first time. But that could just be to say he's going to get his hair done next week.

Once he gets that out of the way, there's the small matter of the Labour conference in a couple of weeks - when talk of coups and plots will never be far away and the pressure will once again be on Brown to make the latest speech of his life.

So to answer the question I asked at the top of this blog - can the fightback start today?
Well if it's going to happen, it has to start somewhere, so why not here?

But it's a long way up from the bottom of the hole Brown is in, and I doubt whether he's going to be out of it any time soon.

Thank you!

2009-08-21T08:09:26Z

My flabber was well and truly gasted last night when I found out the blog has been voted one of the top 50 political blogs in Scotland.

I've never been so pleased to come 37th in my life.

So thanks to those who voted for me and, more importantly, for reading this thing in the first place.

And hearty congratulations to Tom Harris MP, who topped the poll for the second year running.

Right, now for that holiday ......

Lockerbie bomber's political legacy

2009-08-20T14:51:13Z

Just watching the live coverage of the A300 jet carrying Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi entering the skies above Glasgow en route to Libya.
We are told by Kenny MacAskill - the man who gave the go-ahead for Megrahi's release on compassionate grounds - that the convicted mass murderer will most likely be dead in three months' time.

But the Westminster VIllage being what it is, thoughts here are already turning to how this will play electorally for the SNP.
Labour and the Tories have been quick to condemn the decision, the clear implication being that the Nats are soft on terrorism, and indeed crime in general.
MacAskill, for his part, used his speech to get as many digs as he could at the UK Government's decision to strike a prisoner transfer agreement with the Libyans
It was notable, though, that a crowd of people gathered outside Greenock Prison to shout abuse at the police van taking Megrahi to Glasgow Airport.
Since they won power two years ago, the SNP have rarely put a foot wrong and have the poll ratings to prove it.
But will this mark a turning point in how they are perceived in the country at large? It's difficult to tell.
While there will be many who will condemn MacAskill for freeing a convicted terrorist, there will be others who will hail his decision to show compassion to a dying man while withstanding immense pressure from the Americans in the process.
It does, however, remind me of a particularly apt exchange from Yes Minister.
Sir Humphrey is explaining to Bernard how to get a politician to drop a proposal.
"If you want to be really sure that the minister doesn't accept it, you must say the decision is courageous," says Sir Humphrey.
Bernard replies: "And that's worse than controversial?"
Smirking, Sir Humphrey adds: "Controversial only means that this will lose you votes courageous means this will lose you the election."

By the way, this will be may last blog for a few weeks as I'm off on a well-earned break.
See you when I get back.

How others see us

2009-08-19T17:11:08Z

Alistair Darling is this week's 'duty Prime Minister' while Gordon Brown is on his hols.
He happens to be holding a press conference in Edinburgh tomorrow.
So far, so uncontroversial, you might think.
But you'd be wrong.
A colleague of mine here at Westminster, a top bloke it must be said, reacted to the news of said press conference with incredulity.
How can Darling run Britain from anywhere but London, he argued.
I made it clear in the politest possible terms that I didn't agree with his assertion.
Maybe I shouldn't have been so shocked.
Darling kicked off his week in charge by visiting a tax office in Cumbernauld.
As far as the Daily Record was concerned, that was A Good Thing - a clear demonstration of Scotland's place at the heart of the Union.
But the Tories didn't agree, and seemed to argue nonsensically that Darling should have been chained to his desk in Number 11 while he was holding the reins of power.
The last time I checked, Scotland was still part of the United Kingdom.
And complaints about the country being run from north of the Border only serve to bolster the cause of those who wish to see Scotland cease to be part of Britain.

The true cost of conflict in Afghanistan

2009-08-17T12:12:06Z

And the news coming out of Afghanistan gets bleaker and bleaker.
After another bloody weekend which claimed the lives of five British soldiers - taking the total killed since the 2001 invasion to 204 - the MoD this morning published figures on how many UK troops were injured last month.
In all, 94 were wounded, more than double the figure for June.

The grim statistics came out as a new Army Recovery Centre was opened in Edinburgh.
The £8.6 million facility will provide expert care for injured soldiers who up until now have been sent home to convalesce after being discharged from hospital.
Sadly, the new centre can expect to be very busy in the months ahead.
Politically, the pressure is also growing on Gordon Brown.
The PM is in Fife enjoying his month away from Downing Street.
His critics want to know why, given he's just across the Firth of Forth, Brown did not attend the opening of the Edinburgh centre - the clear implication being that he is unwilling to meet those soldiers who have been injured after he sent them into battle.
Instead, the Government was represented by defence minister Kevan Jones. No, I hadn't heard of him either.
A poll published last night showed more than half of Britons believe we shouldn't be in Afghanistan, while three-quarters say the Government is not doing enough to support British troops.
Whether we are winning the war in Afghanistan is up for debate. But the war at home, it would appear, is definitely being lost.

Duncan and Dan give Cameron nightmares

2009-08-14T11:16:36Z

IT looks like the Tory mask is starting to slip.

If the polls are to be believed, David Cameron's attempts to position the Tories on the political centre ground have been hugely successful.

He has, to use the political jargon, "detoxified" the Tory brand. People are no longer embarrassed to say they vote Conservative.

By and large, the Tory leader has managed to keep a lid on the more extreme elements of his party - the anti-immigration, low-tax, small government, man-mind-thyself free marketeers who ran riot in the Thatcherite 1980s.

But the facade, it would appear, is just starting to fall off Cameron's brand of so-called 'compassionate Conservatism'.

Millionaire shadow Commons leader Alan Duncan started to give the game away earlier in the week by claiming MPs are now being forced to "live on rations" in the wake of the expenses scandal.

Recorded by a hidden camera, the image of the arrogant MP complaining about how politicians are now treated like "s**t" sent shivers down the spine of the Tory high command.

Cameron was forced to interrupt his summer holiday to slap Duncan down.

In the last 24 hours, it's got even worse for the Tory leader.

Conservative MEP Dan Hannan - hailed as the future of the party just a few months ago for ambushing Gordon Brown in the European Parliament - has gone decidedly off-message with a vicious attack on the NHS.

The right-winger waded into the American debate on President Obama's plans to extend free healthcare to all US citizens.

He has implored America's politicians to reject the plan, sticking the knife into the NHS in the process.

Once again, Cameron has been forced to come out and distance himself from his Tory colleague's remarks.

Hannan is, he has said this morning "an eccentric" and insist the NHS will be his party's "number one priority" if they win the next election.

The Tory leader is not daft. He knows that despite its faults, the health service is a treasured national institution. Woe betide any political party who threatens to destroy it.

Not surprisingly, Labour are having a field day, branding the row Cameron's "worst nightmare".

It reminds me of a speech Bill Clinton gave to the Labour Party conference in 2002, when the Tories were first trying to brand themselves "compassionate".

He said: "All politics is a combination of rhetoric and reality.Here is what I want you to know. The rhetoric is compassionate, the Conservative is the reality."

Seven years on, the former US president is being proved right.

Boys on the Front Line deserve our support

2009-07-29T12:28:08Z

Apologies for the lack of blogging recently, but I've been in Afghanistan.

The Record was invited to join International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander for a two-day trip to the war-ravaged country.

They wanted to show us what is being done with the millions of pounds in Government cash that is being spent trying to repair the damage caused by eight years (and counting) of conflict.

But what struck me was the incredible stoicism of ordinary Afghans as well as the UK troops putting their lives on the line every day.

Not to put too fine a point in it, life is hard enough in the country for the locals without the constant threat of being caught in the crossfire between the Taliban and coalition forces.

They are dirt poor, and face a daily struggle to survive. But they just get on with it, because there is no alternative.

All they want is peace, security and a litle bit of prosperity. It's surely not too much to ask.

Within minutes of arriving at Kabul airport, we were made aware that we had arrived in a warzone.

Our security detail told us they were unable to drive us the short distance to the British Embassy because of intelligence that a suicide bomber on a motorbike was in the area.

As it turned out, we were on our way minutes later and encountered no difficulties en route, but it left us in no doubt that our personal safety could not be guaranteed.

Day two of the trip took us to Helmand Province, where so many British troops have lost their lives (another two while we were there, we would later discover).

After Alexander's visit to the area's governor, we got back to our heavily-armoured cars to be told that a roadside bomb had gone off nearby, so we had to keep our eyes peeled on our way back to the Army base at Lashkar Gah.

Moments later, our driver radioed in to report a white Toyota driving really slowly in front of us. He wanted to know whether we should take a different route.

I hadn't even noticed it, but for the next 10 seconds I couldn't take my eyes off this car, hoping to God it wasn't about to blow up.

Thankfully, it turned off into a side road moments later, and I was able to start breathing normally again.

Later in the day we joined the minister in a walk through the centre of Musa Qala, a former Taliban stronghold.

The fact that we were wearing body armour and helmets and surrounded by around 20 soldiers and bodyguards, showed it wasn't your normal afternoon stroll.

But bearing in mind the town used to be a no-go area for foreigners, it was a clear sign of progress, however limited.

It was in the Army base at Musa Qala that I met Scottish soldiers who have taken on the Taliban.

I have to admit it was a pretty humbling experience as the troops, members of the Black Watch, told me of the conditions they have to endure at the patrol base where they are stationed a few miles away.

They wash using water from a well, sleep 10 to a tent, eat the same ration packs every day and have to work in 45-degree heat, all with the constant threat of coming under attack from the Taliban.

And there was me, a pampered journalist who was going home in a few hours (and was very pleased about that fact) voyeuristically asking them what it like.

To their enormous credit, they were patient with me and remarkably honest. Yes, they had it tough, but it's what they signed up for and they just had to get on with it.

No matter your views on the war - and I have to confess to having my own doubts about it - those guys deserve your full support.

Behind every great man...

2009-07-22T13:31:41Z

So who'd be a Prime Minister's wife?
We've just had the last of Gordon Brown's monthly press conferences before he takes "a few days" off.
And how will he be spending his well-earned break?

Well we already knew that the Brown clan would not be jetting off to sunnier climes. And now we know exactly how he'll spend it.
He said: "I want a chance to watch some of these great sporting occasions over the next few weeks. That I think is what I will be spending my time doing."
Now, that happens to be my idea of heaven, so you won't hear me criticising him for his choice of R&R.
But I can't help feeling a tad sorry for Sarah, who can presumably look forward to a summer of making the tea and helping Gordon find the remote when it falls down the back of the couch.

Update...

2009-07-21T15:44:46Z

As expected, the SNP were defeated by 238 votes to 127.
Commons deputy leader Harriet Harman argued that Labour didn't want to hold a by-election when the schools were still on holiday - an argument which I have to say carries very little weight.
For his part, SNP elections supremo Stewart Hosie accused Labour of "running scared".
On the basis of today's evidence, it would appear he has a point.

Breaking news...

2009-07-21T14:20:09Z

The SNP have just ambushed Labour in the chamber by moving a motion calling for a date to be set for the Glasgow North East by-election.
In doing so they've backed Labour - who most definitely do not want to set a date just now - into a corner.

By voting against the motion, they will be opening themselves up to accusations that they are denying the good people of GNE representation at Westminster for at least five months.
Labour are outwardly relaxed, accusing the SNP of a cheap, headline-grabbing stunt.
The Nats are odds-on to lose the vote, due to take place at about 4.30, but they will care not a jot.
They will be able to accuse Labour of being anti-democratic, and more importantly put themselves on the front foot after days of horrible headlines about their own election campaign.
This is very smart politics from the SNP.

A well-earned break for our MPs?

2009-07-21T12:19:52Z

In a bold attempt to rehabilitate their tarnished reputations in the wake of the expenses scandal by reconnecting with the ordinary man in the street, MPs today begin a three-month summer holiday.
Yep, that's THREE MONTHS. I didn't even get that much time off when I was at school.

Of course, the Honourable Members would quibble that it's a holiday, arguing that they will be spending time in their constituencies working hard for the voters. And doing their best to avoid the rotten fruit and veg said voters will probably be throwing at them, I suspect.
Gordon Brown's official spokesman confirmed this morning that the PM will not be going overseas for his hols, which is a relief for those of us who struggled to hold onto our lunch whenever we saw Mr and Mrs T Blair sunbathing on some sun-kissed yacht in the middle of the Mediterranean, or hob-nobbing with that delightful Silvio Berlusconi.
The word is that the Broons will split their time between the Lake District and Fife. Which is probably just as well - I'm not sure Gordon's navy blue suits are suitable beachwear.
Of course, politics won't stop just because the Commons is in recess. We have the Norwich North by-election on Thursday, with Labour expected to take a whupping.
This will inevitably re-ignite the 'Gordon Must Go' chatter from the usual suspects. Of course, he's going nowhere this side of the general election.
And still on elections, today is Labour's last chance to move the writ for the Glasgow North East poll before the summer.
It's now gone 1pm, so I think it's safe to say it's not going to happen.
Which means we can look forward to a four month election campaign. Oh joy.
All of a sudden, I feel in need of a really long holiday ........