tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739Sat, 28 Jan 2012 08:04:00 +0000Ed BallsHonoursFormer MPsHome OfficeDefenceResignationsAlex SalmondTerrorismDeath PenaltyTuition FeesAnimal welfareBeerAlan MilburnCoalitionsConferences 2011ID CardsLabour leadershipNuclear energyAnthem for EnglandLords ReformLib DemsJim CallaghanGlobal warmingBen BradshawPeter MandelsonDavid MiIibandSpinPoliceUnemploymentEric PicklesRugbyLiam FoxPhilip HammondPolitical Top 10sAir travelChristmasUS presidential election 2008Neil KinnockLabour conference 2006Public holidaysBudget 2011Lib Dem Conference 2006English QuestionNick CleggMing CampbellCity regionsCoalAndy BurnhamImmigrationTaxToriesConferences 2010Olympic GamesLiberal ConspiracyMPs expensesTop 10sLabourSnowAlastair DarlingHousingTellyManifestos 2010Labour conference 2007Tony BlairNHSBelperThe CoalitionBudget 2010InequalityGordon BrownSportJohn PrescottReferendaMichael GoveBudget 2008Nuclear weaponsLib Dem leadership contestLondonHung ParliamentsMargaret ThatcherScotlandConstitutional reformDerbyshireLabour sleazeMonarchyInterviewsHarriet HarmanKen ClarkeLocal electionsPostal strikeBoris JohnsonSleazeLocal governnmentGeneral ElectionHappiness AgendaPodcastingLobbyStephen ByersTim FarronCartoonsLighter sideEconomyParliamentPolitical CorrectnessWelfare reformTreasuryChristianityBig 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 HuhneBy-electionsSummer RiotsQueen's SpeechesBarack ObamaBudget 2009MoviesEducationPollsNorth-South DivideIraqReshufflesTotal politicsNorth-EastFamilyConferences 2009CricketDavid DavisDavid Kelly AffairGeorge OsborneConferences 2008Tory Conference 2007WeatherSmokingAlcoholRacismYvette CooperPolitical GaffesPredictionsMusicEd MilibandLib Dem leadership contest 2007Rupert MurdochBNPInternational politicsVince CableDavid BlunkettTory Conference 2006BlogGemsTory leadershipTransportDeputy leadershipBooksPolitical Commentary and Other Stuffhttp://paullinford.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)Blogger1221125tag: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)0tag: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)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-3269506871643964048Sat, 05 Nov 2011 08:37:00 +00002011-11-05T08:37:00.539ZDavid CameronEuropeEd BallsThe week before last, 81 Conservative MPs ignored the blandishments of the party whips, and the pleas of Prime Minister David Cameron, to demand a referendum on EU membership. It was the biggest rebellion of Mr Cameron's six years as party leader, but with Labour also supporting the government, it was far from being the tightest parliamentary vote since the Coalition took power. For that, you http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2011/11/cameron-could-lose-big-as-balls-makes.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-592386385213430698Sat, 22 Oct 2011 07:16:00 +00002011-10-22T08:16:00.564+01:00David CameronLiam FoxOf all the many factors that determine political success and failure, there can be no doubt that luck features pretty high on the list. David Cameron has always been a lucky politician. He had the good luck to be elected to the Tory leadership at just the point when people were starting to tire of New Labour, and the good luck to be battling for power against Gordon Brown rather than Tony Blairhttp://paullinford.blogspot.com/2011/10/victory-strengthens-camerons-hand.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-4856444372268792171Sat, 15 Oct 2011 07:26:00 +00002011-10-15T08:26:00.359+01:00David CameronLiam FoxEd MilibandPhilip HammondA couple of months back, I wrote a column highlighting the absence this year of one of the hitherto regular features of the political scene – the summer Cabinet reshuffle. Partly this could be attributed to David Cameron’s hatred of them. He had made clear he saw no purpose in shifting ministers around every 12 months, and wanted his team to stay in place for the duration of the five-year http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2011/10/tale-of-two-reshuffles.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-8492618152798842438Sat, 08 Oct 2011 07:56:00 +00002011-10-08T08:56:00.130+01:00George OsborneDavid CameronHappiness AgendaConferences 2011Tory leadershipBoris JohnsonIt is generally true to say that in order to be successful in politics, you have to be capable of conveying a sense of optimism about your country and its future. One of Tony Blair's key strengths at the start of his leadership was his ability to communicate a vision of a bright 'New Britain' in contrast to the greyness of the John Major years. Later, David Cameron donned the same mantle, http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2011/10/camerons-glass-may-be-half-full-but.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-8593017392524717218Sat, 01 Oct 2011 07:41:00 +00002011-10-01T08:41:00.380+01:00Ed MilibandLabourConferences 2011Tony BlairOf all the many soundbites devised by Tony Blair’s speechwriters for their leader’s party conference speeches, among the most irritating was the claim that New Labour was “at its best when at its boldest.” If New Labour had ever done anything remotely bold, it might have had more of a ring of truth about it, but all it ever really did was to maintain and entrench the political and economic http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2011/10/miliband-shows-extent-of-his-boldness.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-6844889926779196117Sat, 24 Sep 2011 07:54:00 +00002011-09-24T08:54:00.047+01:00George OsborneNick CleggTim FarronConferences 2011If one sign of a good politician is the ability to learn from the greats that have gone before you, then Nick Clegg certainly hit the mark in at least one respect this week. “You don't play politics at a time of national crisis, you don't play politics with the economy, and you never, ever, play politics with people's jobs," the Liberal Democrat leader told his party conference in Birmingham on http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2011/09/at-some-point-clegg-will-have-to-start.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-1845015088549376292Sat, 17 Sep 2011 07:21:00 +00002011-09-17T08:21:00.782+01:00Regional governmentNorth-EastOver the course of the long debate about North-East regional governance, one of the most oft-heard arguments was that the region lacked the clout to make its voice heard at Westminster. Well, if that was true then, when the region sent 30 MPs to the Commons, it will be even more the case after the next election when its representation will fall to just 26. This week’s review of the http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2011/09/could-boundary-review-put-regional.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-4958209321940455304Sat, 10 Sep 2011 08:08:00 +00002011-09-11T08:10:09.194+01:00TerrorismTony BlairHistoryOver the course of the years in which I reported on political conferences for The Journal, I listened to a fair few party leader’s speeches, some of them good, some of them almost embarrassingly bad. Of the latter category, the one that most stands out is Iain Duncan Smith’s “The Quiet Man is turning up the volume” fiasco from 2003, closely followed by John Major’s solemn 1995 pledge to increasehttp://paullinford.blogspot.com/2011/09/glorious-failure-of-tony-blair.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-3842018139162629809Sat, 27 Aug 2011 07:55:00 +00002011-08-27T08:55:00.538+01:00Summer RiotsTony BlairDavid BlunkettIn my last Saturday column three weeks ago, I highlighted the absence this year of what has hitherto been an almost annual feature of the summer political scene – the July Cabinet Reshuffle. But as it turned out, that has not been the only thing missing from this strangest of summers. What on earth, I ask you, has happened to that other great British political tradition - the August Silly http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2011/08/whatever-became-of-august-silly-season.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-6775159144520210467Sat, 06 Aug 2011 07:57:00 +00002011-08-06T08:57:00.567+01:00David CameronReshufflesTony BlairAs anyone who has ever worked at Westminster for any length of time will know, there are certain fixed points in the parliamentary calendar which do much to shape the narrative of the political year. Some of these are pretty well immovable feasts: the Budget, for instance, is almost always in March, the local elections in May, the party conferences in the autumn and the Queen's Speech in http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2011/08/what-was-missing-about-political-summer.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-8403063286388086094Mon, 01 Aug 2011 13:19:00 +00002011-08-01T14:19:12.172+01:00George OsborneDavid CameronRupert MurdochPublic holidaysBoris JohnsonOnce again, the week concludes with phone-hacking back at the top of the political agenda, as MPs discuss a possible fresh grilling for News International's James Murdoch amid more conflicting tales about who knew what and when. Sure, it's all very entertaining, especially for those of us who have spent years longing to see the Murdoch Empire cut down to size, and in view of his long-standing http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2011/08/meanwhile-back-in-real-world.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-2550101172779507374Sat, 23 Jul 2011 07:34:00 +00002011-07-26T11:36:59.166+01:00David CameronEd MilibandNick CleggEver since the start of the crisis over phone hacking that has engulfed the worlds of politics, journalism and the police over the past three weeks, Prime Minister David Cameron had appeared to be stuck on the back foot. Much as he himself once managed to make Gordon Brown seem leaden-footed in his response to the MPs' expenses crisis two years ago, Labour leader Ed Miliband had seemed to be http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2011/07/why-cameron-is-not-out-of-woods-yet.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-8753247629287207922Sat, 16 Jul 2011 08:39:00 +00002011-07-16T09:39:21.773+01:00David CameronEd MilibandJournalismRupert MurdochNick CleggFor the past thirty years, the British political establishment has been in thrall to Rupert Murdoch - the 24th member of Tony Blair's Cabinet as he was once dubbed. In the course of that period, his media empire has variously decided the outcome of elections, dictated the membership of Cabinets, shaped policies on a wide range of issues and even influenced whether or not the country went to war.http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2011/07/murdochs-power-has-been-broken-could.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12845739.post-1170325703942916674Thu, 14 Jul 2011 12:57:00 +00002011-07-14T17:02:45.780+01:00Liberal ConspiracyPersonalBlogosphereI started this blog in 2005 with no great ambitions for it other than to provide an outlet for my political writing which, at that time, was not afforded to me by my 'day job.' I had left the parliamentary lobby the year before in order to pursue a different line of work and enjoy a better quality of life, and although I did not miss the lobby as such, I did miss being able to sound-off about http://paullinford.blogspot.com/2011/07/me-this-blog-and-dale-and-co.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul Linford)1