tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739Mon, 21 May 2012 09:03:32 +0000Ed BallsHonoursFormer MPsHome OfficeDefenceResignationsAlex SalmondTerrorismDeath PenaltyTuition FeesAnimal welfareBeerAlan MilburnCoalitionsConferences 2011OmnishamblesID CardsLabour leadershipNuclear energyAnthem for EnglandLords ReformLib DemsJim CallaghanGlobal warmingBen BradshawPeter MandelsonConferences 2012David MiIibandSpinPoliceUnemploymentEric PicklesRugbyLiam FoxPhilip HammondPolitical Top 10sAir travelChristmasUS presidential election 2008Neil KinnockLabour conference 2006Public holidaysBudget 2011Lib Dem Conference 2006English QuestionNick CleggMing CampbellIan MearnsCity regionsCoalAndy BurnhamImmigrationTaxToriesConferences 2010Olympic GamesLiberal ConspiracyMPs expensesTop 10sLabourSnowAlastair DarlingHousingTellyManifestos 2010Labour conference 2007Tony BlairNHSBelperThe CoalitionBudget 2010InequalityGordon BrownSportJohn PrescottReferendaMichael GoveBudget 2008Nuclear weaponsLib Dem leadership contestLondonScotlandHung ParliamentsMargaret ThatcherConstitutional reformDerbyshireLabour sleazeMonarchyInterviewsHarriet HarmanKen ClarkeLocal electionsBudget 2012Postal strikeBoris JohnsonSleazeLocal governnmentGeneral ElectionHappiness AgendaPodcastingLobbyStephen ByersTim FarronCartoonsLighter sideEconomyParliamentPolitical CorrectnessWelfare reformElected mayorsTreasuryChristianityBig SocietySir Menzies CampbellWar in AfghanistanPolitical cross-dressingEuropePB.com guest blogsFootballReview of the YearTheresa MayBBCPersonalLabour leadership election 2010Alan JohnsonJournalismCutsPre-Budget ReportCrimeFantasy CabinetsSpeakership election 2009GreensEdHilary ArmstrongFellwalkingAlastair CampbellJohn ReidBarnett FormulaPublic spendingHistoryIraq WarStop GordonBlogosphereGeneral Election 2010Iain Duncan SmithClassTop 10 CarolsDavid CameronTributesTV debatesWorld CupCharles KennedyQuestion Time ReviewPolitical counterfactualsRegional governmentDrugsFixed term ParliamentsElectoral reformWalesDisloyaltyChris HuhneSummer RiotsBy-electionsQueen's SpeechesBarack ObamaBudget 2009MoviesEducationPollsNorth-South DivideIraqReshufflesTotal politicsNorth-EastFamilyConferences 2009CricketDavid DavisDavid Kelly AffairGeorge OsborneConferences 2008Tory Conference 2007WeatherSmokingAlcoholRacismYvette CooperPolitical GaffesPredictionsMusicEd MilibandLib Dem leadership contest 2007Rupert MurdochAndrew LansleyBNPInternational politicsVince CableDavid BlunkettTory Conference 2006BlogGemsTory leadershipTransportDeputy leadershipBooksPolitical Commentary and Other Stuffhttp://paullinford.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)Blogger1235125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-6847318532149018496Sat, 19 May 2012 08:42:00 +00002012-05-19T09:44:53.913+01:00George OsborneDavid CameronAlastair CampbellThe CoalitionBudget 2012Nick CleggNorth-South DivideNorth-EastWhen the history of David Cameron’s government comes to be written, the Budget delivered by Chancellor George Osborne on 21 March may well be seen as a decisive turning point in its fortunes Whether it was the pasty tax, the granny tax, the tax on charitable giving or the abolition of the 50p rate, those looking for something to criticise in the Chancellor’s package found plenty of things to http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2012/05/clegg-fires-welcome-warning-shot-over.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-5967651841275821292Sat, 12 May 2012 06:55:00 +00002012-05-12T07:57:42.962+01:00David CameronEd MilibandThe CoalitionQueen's SpeechesNick CleggTony BlairLords Reform There is a school of thought that says that once a government gets itself into a position where it needs a relaunch, the brand is probably already so badly tarnished as to render the whole exercise pointless. To be fair, the Coalition is probably not at that point yet. It is only two years into its existence, and governments of a far older vintage have come back strongly from similar periods http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2012/05/renewal-of-vows-pull-other-one.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-6587061051054036878Sat, 05 May 2012 07:04:00 +00002012-05-05T08:53:38.285+01:00David CameronLocal electionsEd MilibandReshufflesElected mayorsCity regionsNorth-EastBoris Johnson You can look at yesterday's local election results purely in terms of the 400 or so council seats lost by the Conservatives and the 800-plus gained by Labour. You can look at them in terms of national share of the vote, with Labour opening up a seven-point lead over the Tories that if repeated in a general election would put Ed Miliband comfortably in Number 10. You can look at them in http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2012/05/johnson-real-winner-once-again.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-5204266517910989497Sat, 28 Apr 2012 08:04:00 +00002012-05-05T08:05:34.432+01:00George OsborneDavid CameronBudget 2012OmnishamblesEd BallsHoneymoon period is doubtless an overworked term in politics – but all governments to some extent or other tend to enjoy a period of time in which the prevailing public attitude towards them is one of general goodwill. Tony Blair was lucky enough that his lasted nearly five years, though that was in part down to the general uselessness of the Tory opposition of the time and the benign economic http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2012/04/end-of-beginning.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-4868215301441986785Sat, 21 Apr 2012 07:04:00 +00002012-04-23T12:55:52.974+01:00George OsborneIan MearnsBudget 2012North-South DivideNorth-EastOver the past few weeks, the domestic political agenda has been dominated by the continuing fallout from what has by now surely become of the most controversial, even reviled Budgets of recent years. It started within a few minutes of the Chancellor sitting down on 21 March with the revelation that he had performed a stealth tax raid on pensioners' incomes by freezing their personal allowances -http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2012/04/labour-must-share-blame-for-regions.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-8315013416958447994Sat, 14 Apr 2012 07:39:00 +00002012-04-14T08:39:00.834+01:00David CameronElected mayorsRegional governmentCity regionsNorth-South DivideNorth-EastTony BlairBoris JohnsonWriting last Saturday, the Newcastle Journal's regional affairs correspondent Adrian Pearson opened his column with the words: "If an elected mayor is the answer, what could possibly have been the question in North Tyneside?" Well, allow me to have at least a stab at providing an answer. There are plenty of cynical explanations. Elected mayors were originally the brainchild of the Tory cabinet http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2012/04/its-regional-devolution-jim-but-not-as.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-5933853611916787579Sat, 31 Mar 2012 06:58:00 +00002012-03-31T07:58:00.356+01:00David CameronGordon BrownTony BlairShortly after becoming leader of his party in 2005, David Cameron caused consternation among Conservative supporters by claiming that he was the true ‘heir to Blair.’ In one sense, it was a strange move, since the former Prime Minister had by then already begun the long, slow descent from the public adulation that greeted his arrival in No 10 to the public disillusionment that hastened his http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2012/03/heir-to-blair-in-more-ways-than-one.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-4866397950312409121Sat, 24 Mar 2012 14:46:00 +00002012-03-27T14:52:27.042+01:00George OsborneDavid CameronEd MilibandBudget 2012Nick CleggThere is a hoary old adage in British politics that a Budget that looks good on the day invariably looks like a turkey a few weeks later. But there can be few Budgets in the recent past which have unravelled quite as quickly as George Osborne’s latest package unveiled to MPs on Wednesday. Within an hour of him sitting down, #grannytax was the top trending item on Twitter and the revolt against http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2012/03/bad-news-management-costs-osborne-dear.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-6782887192908011830Sat, 17 Mar 2012 14:42:00 +00002012-03-27T14:51:57.865+01:00Nick CleggNorth-EastParliamentLords ReformTHIS week, The Journal reported that there had been more than 900 objections lodged with the Boundary Commission over its plan to alter the face of the region’s one real rock solid Tory enclave – the parliamentary seat of Hexham. The plans, drawn up last September as part of the government’s proposal to reduce the size of the House of Commons by around 50 seats, would see historic country http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2012/03/nothing-gets-politicians-so-worked-up.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-8459985161792112160Sat, 10 Mar 2012 08:26:00 +00002012-03-10T08:26:00.188ZDavid CameronThe CoalitionNick CleggEuropeNHSHistoryConferences 2012Lords ReformIn last week's column, I suggested that the key strategic task facing the Liberal Democrats as they gather for their spring conference in Gateshead was to find a way of winning back the support that has deserted them since they joined the Coalition in 2010. And doubtless there will be plenty of ideas floating back and forth at The Sage this weekend as to exactly how they should go about it. http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2012/03/coalition-will-not-last-five-years.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-1085181527535447810Sun, 04 Mar 2012 05:56:00 +00002012-03-04T05:56:32.053ZCharles KennedyThe CoalitionNick CleggNorth-EastNHSConferences 2012Back in the bad old days of two-party politics, the Liberal Democrat spring conference was one of those recurring events in the political calendar which even political journalists struggled to get too worked up about. Sure, the BBC invariably ran a short item about it – but that was only because its rules on impartiality oblige it to give Lib Dem gatherings the same coverage as those of the http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2012/03/real-issue-which-lib-dem-spring.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-2299966057417430838Sat, 18 Feb 2012 07:51:00 +00002012-02-18T07:51:00.563ZEd MilibandGordon BrownDavid MiIibandLabour leadershipIt was Clement Attlee who famously told a Labour colleague that a period of silence from him would now be welcome, thereby inadvertently earning himself an entry in the Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations. And it is certainly true that there are times in politics when it is best to keep your head down and your mouth shut. By and large, the past 15 months have been such a period for David http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2012/02/what-next-for-david-miliband.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-2657911542416133421Sat, 11 Feb 2012 08:38:00 +00002012-02-11T08:38:00.553ZDavid CameronAndy BurnhamAlan MilburnNHSAndrew LansleyBack in 2003, I went along to a Downing Street press briefing along with the rest of the Westminster media corps expecting to be given details of Tony Blair's latest Cabinet reshuffle. We emerged 20 minutes later with the very surprising news that the health secretary, Alan Milburn, had resigned from the government, saying he wanted to spend more time up North with his young family. The sudden http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2012/02/milburn-machinations-show-governnments.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-2200247012977833528Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:04:00 +00002012-02-04T08:04:00.588ZDavid CameronEd MilibandThe CoalitionBy-electionsElectoral reformChris HuhneNick CleggLib Dem leadership contest 2007EuropeSo farewell then, Chris Huhne – well for the time being at any rate, as the erstwhile Energy Secretary quits in order to fight charges of perverting the course of justice in relation to a driving offence committed in 2003. The leading Liberal Democrat politician was left with no choice but to resign from the Cabinet yesterday after effectively being charged with lying to the police over whether http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2012/02/advantage-tory-right-as-huhne-exits.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-803541809004230229Sat, 28 Jan 2012 08:04:00 +00002012-01-28T08:04:00.695ZThe CoalitionIraq WarWelfare reformTony BlairChristianityReligion and politics have always been a potentially lethal combination. It is way too simplistic to say they don’t mix. Actually the problems usually arise from the fact that they tend to mix only too well. The question is not so much whether they do mix, but whether they should mix, such is the potential for rival politicians to extract wildly differing interpretations from the same http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2012/01/on-this-issue-its-bishops-who-are-out.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-8092732821338901173Sat, 21 Jan 2012 08:56:00 +00002012-01-21T08:56:00.048ZEd MilibandJim CallaghanTony BlairHistoryNeil KinnockSo was it a political masterstroke as some pundits argued, or was it the beginning of the end of his leadership of the Labour Party – as two of the union barons who originally backed him for the job have claimed? Opinions were certainly divided this week about Ed Miliband’s decision to come out in support of the coalition government’s pay freeze. For Len McCluskey of Unite and Paul Kenny of thehttp://paullinford.blogspot.com/2012/01/too-late-for-ed-to-change-publics-minds.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-2821464991162073509Sat, 14 Jan 2012 08:52:00 +00002012-01-14T08:52:00.533ZDavid CameronScotlandRegional governmentNorth-EastAlex SalmondBack in 1998, a now almost-forgotten former Labour cabinet minister coined the phrase: "Devolution is a process, not an event." They were in fact the words of Ron Davies, the architect of the Welsh Assembly who is now primarily remembered for his 'moment of madness' on Clapham Common and subsequent 'badger-watching' escapades near the M4. But as the repercussions of New Labour's devolution http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2012/01/scottish-independence-wont-be-end-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-995283253977649226Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:08:00 +00002012-01-07T09:08:00.563ZDavid CameronEd MilibandYvette CooperEd BallsAnd so the new political year begins moreorless exactly where the old one left off…with Labour leader Ed Miliband’s long-term survival prospects once more being called into question. The run-up to Christmas saw growing unease in Labour ranks over Mr Miliband’s failure to make more headway against David Cameron’s Coalition government, in what seemed like the beginnings of a whispering campaign. http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2012/01/time-for-labour-to-turn-to-its-own-iron.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-7640500195248199524Sun, 01 Jan 2012 17:25:00 +00002012-01-01T17:25:59.513ZDavid CameronEd MilibandThe CoalitionEuropePredictionsFollowing on from last week's Review of 2011, here's my look ahead to the political year 2012. Predicting the future is always a risky business, but anyone looking for some pointers as to the direction which British politics might take over the next few years could do worse than listen to ‘God.’ Of course, by that I don’t mean him upstairs – though doubtless he might also have something to http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2012/01/if-you-want-to-see-future-of-politics.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-4352990364253231303Sat, 24 Dec 2011 07:30:00 +00002011-12-24T07:31:35.482ZGeorge OsborneDavid CameronEd MilibandThe CoalitionElectoral reformEconomyRupert MurdochNick CleggEver since the formation of the Coalition between David Cameron’s Conservatives and Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats in the aftermath of the May 2010 general election, British politics has by and large been dominated by two interrelated questions. The first was whether, in spite of the obvious chemistry between the two leaders, an alliance between two parties with such vastly differing worldviews http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2011/12/review-of-year-2011.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-3344685359295056223Sat, 17 Dec 2011 14:48:00 +00002011-12-19T14:50:34.919ZDavid CameronEuropeA few weeks ago, a backbench Conservative MP got himself into a spot of bother after being caught on tape using a four-letter word to describe his leader David Cameron. Given that the offending word used by backbencher Patrick Mercer began with an ‘a’ rather a ‘c’, the implication was not so much that he finds the Prime Minister personally unpleasant as that he regards him as a bit of a clown. http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2011/12/on-big-issues-is-cameron-actually-worse.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-534761481128568644Sat, 03 Dec 2011 08:35:00 +00002011-12-03T08:35:00.738ZGeorge OsborneEdEconomyEd BallsAn extra £111bn of borrowing over the next five years. A fresh squeeze on public spending. No prospect of any tax cuts before the next general election. It is easy to see why many commentators have described Tuesday’s Autumn Statement by Chancellor George Osborne as a ‘game changer’ in British politics. Here we have a government that was elected in order to sort out the nation’s finances and http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2011/12/large-slice-of-humble-pie-for-osborne.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-3218096978214423138Sat, 26 Nov 2011 08:30:00 +00002011-11-26T08:30:01.019ZGeorge OsborneDavid CameronEd MilibandThe CoalitionEconomyNick Clegg‘Make or break’ is doubtless an overused term in politics. Many are the times when it is said that a politician needs to make the “speech of his life” on such and such a day, only for the same old cliché to be trotted out again the next time he makes one. Yet for Chancellor George Osborne, this Tuesday’s autumn statement on the economy is genuinely shaping up to be one of those dates with http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2011/11/osbornes-date-with-political-destiny.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-4679405278790631206Sat, 19 Nov 2011 08:31:00 +00002011-11-19T08:31:00.456ZGeorge OsborneEd MilibandNorth-South DivideYouth unemployment topping 1m. An additional 129,000 people out of work in the past month. The overall number of jobless at its highest level since 1994. This week’s unemployment figures told their own story. If people were not already sufficiently well-appraised of the dire state of the British economy, Wednesday’s figures, coupled with more downbeat forecasts from the governor of the Bankhttp://paullinford.blogspot.com/2011/11/lost-north-jobs-still-seen-as-price.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-5726385896814746626Sat, 12 Nov 2011 08:51:00 +00002011-11-12T21:47:50.276ZTheresa MayHome OfficeHistoryAlan JohnsonTo kick off this week’s column, here are a couple of questions for political anoraks with long memories or people who were paying attention in school history lessons. Number One: Who was the last British politician to move directly from the office of Secretary of State for the Home Department to that of First Lord of Treasury and Prime Minister? Number Two: What do Reginald Maudling, http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2011/11/theresa-may-faces-long-drawn-out-demise.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)0