tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916Thu, 19 Dec 2024 03:28:54 +0000Gordon BrownEconomyPMQsDavid CameronPollsGeorge OsborneReshuffleGovernment LeaksLabourPeter MandelsonKen ClarkeUS Presidential ElectionsConservativesMediaGeneral Election TimingIvan CameronLabour LeadershipNick RobinsonTax CutsDamian GreenHarriet HarmanHouse of CommonsJacqui SmithAlistair DarlingBankers BonusesBenedict BroganBipartisanshipBoris JohnsonBritish jobs for British workersBrown's Profligate SpendingElectoral StrategyExpensesFiscal ResponsibilityFiscal RulesGlenrothes By-electionGordon Brown's Conference SpeechGovernment SpinHouse of LordsInterest RatesLeft-wingMichael MartinNick CleggParty FundingPoliceSNPSir Ian BlairToffVince CableWorld Economic ForumYvette Cooper42 days detentionAdam BoultonAlex SalmondAnswering QuestionsBBC biasBanksBarnett FormulaBen BradshawCartoonDamian McBrideDavid Cameron's Conference SpeechDemocracyDepressionDispatchesDissentDonationsDoomsday bookEd BallsElectoral system biasEqual PayErotic AwardsEuroEuropean InterestExecutive PayFinancial RegulationFranceFraser NelsonFriday FunGovernment InitiativeGuardian JobsHamasHansardHappy ChristmasHatchet JobHazel BlearsIsraelJim PickardJohn MajorJohn Maynard KeynesJon CruddasKay BurleyLabour Conference 2008Leader PopularityLehman BrothersLib DemsMP IllnessMargaret ThatcherMcCavityMea CulpaMichael CrickMichael HeseltineNational DebtNational GovernmentNew StatesmanNorthern RockOutside jobsParisPeter HainPolitical CompassPolitical RecoveryPre-Budget ReportPresident ObamaPrivacy LawsProtectionismPublic spending; Road WorksResignationRobert Mugabe/Zanu PFRuth KellySavingsScottish IndependenceSex EducationSir Gus O'DonnellSky NewsSocial ServicesSpending cutsSuspension of bloggingTVTable TennisTelephone Recorded MessagesTennisTreasury QuestionsUK CompetitivenessVATWelcomeWelfare reformWilliam HagueRight-of-centre, conservative political bloghttp://inthebrown.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Unknown)Blogger174125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-1852682989694146195Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:52:00 +00002009-02-26T13:01:49.658+00:00Suspension of bloggingDear Readers,Unfortunately I am having to go away on business for the next few weeks and am unlikely to be able to get the chance to follow British politics much and blog.Therefore, I've taken the decision to temporarily halt blogging while I am away.But please check back and return towards the end of March.Lots of interesting events will be taking place such as the G20 economic summit, the http://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/blogging-suspended-until-late-march.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-7929575861452104335Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:10:00 +00002009-02-25T12:19:11.241+00:00Gordon BrownIvan CameronGordon Brown, William Hague and Vince Cable have just given moving tributes to Ivan Cameron. I have been very critical of the Prime Minister, and was so over his handling of the Baby P story during PMQs a month or so ago. However, the Prime Minister has given a very moving and sincere tribute to Ivan and extended his sympathies and condolences to David, Samantha and the rest of the Cameron familyhttp://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/moving-tributes-to-ivan.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-6272637490591228230Wed, 25 Feb 2009 11:24:00 +00002009-02-25T11:28:44.512+00:00David CameronIvan CameronDavid Cameron is quoted as saying about the diagnosis: "You are depressed for a while because you are grieving for the difference between your hopes and the reality". He has also said: "There was a moment driving home from hospital and just thinking 'We are going to get through this. If we can't do a good job and look after him, then we have failed'." On 22 May 2004, he wrote in the Daily http://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/david-on-ivan.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-1921687193595242915Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:49:00 +00002009-02-25T17:28:58.833+00:00Ivan CameronNick RobinsonI made a gross error of judgement and posted about comments i had read that Nick Robinson was alleged to have made regarding Cameron not being able to expect any electoral advantage from this tragic event "as Gordon Brown has already lost a child of his own." Nick Robinson made no such comment so a sincere apology to him. I will learn in the future to go on first hand information, rather than http://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-is-wrong-with-nick-robinson.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-8835082940921863599Wed, 25 Feb 2009 09:50:00 +00002009-02-25T10:52:44.529+00:00David CameronIvan CameronVery sad news.David Cameron’s severely disabled son, 6 year old Ivan, died earlier this morning after becoming ill last night at St Mary's Hospital. Ivan suffered from cerebral palsy and severe epilepsy. Ivan’s death was unexpected.My sympathies go out to David and Samantha Cameron.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mr Cameron willhttp://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/ivan-cameron-has-died.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-1102737732633980632Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:11:00 +00002009-02-24T13:11:00.569+00:00PollsOur newspapers really have to stop distorting the opinion polls they commission. Take today's Guardian and its new ICM poll for example. The basic voting intention figures were: Conservatives - 42 percent; Labour - 30 percent; and the Lib Dems on 18 percent. The Guardian reported that the Tories were down 2, as were Labour, and the Lib Dems were up 2. Given how several recent polls (3 out of 5) http://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/ive-said-it-before-and-ill-say-it-again.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-526653719295352166Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:29:00 +00002009-02-24T11:39:55.242+00:00Public spending; Road WorksWell you know it must be approaching the end of the financial year when councils start ripping up all our roads, causing huge disruption.Some no doubt will claim it is all part of helping to stimulating the economy.But of course that has nothing to do with it as they do the same thing every year, even during the 'boom' years.All that is happening is that councils are frantically trying to justifyhttp://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/anybody-else-noticed-all-roadworks.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-7841590469526460560Thu, 19 Feb 2009 11:12:00 +00002009-02-19T13:21:45.055+00:00Harriet HarmanLabour LeadershipYvette CooperThe Evening Standard has reported that a Cabinet minister is planning to approach Treasury Minister Yvette Cooper to persuade her to stand as a "Stop Harriet" candidate for the Labour leadership if Labour loses the next election. I really don't know who is worse - Feminist, politically correct Harriet Harperson or the charmless, Luke Skywalker-pixie Yvette Cooper. As a Tory, i'd be ecstatic if http://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/whos-worse-harman-or-cooper.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-1307201452721969726Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:33:00 +00002009-02-18T11:13:58.190+00:00Bankers BonusesNorthern RockOn the 13 February, the former shareholders in Northern Rock lost their High Court bid to overturn a Government compensation scheme which they argued was based on criteria, set out in statute, that will result in their shares being valued at nothing. The judges saw nothing unfair in the compensation scheme, requiring the Treasury to pay compensation on the same basis that it could fairly have http://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/bankers-bonuses-northern-rock-precedent.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-2119052010615183581Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:06:00 +00002009-02-17T15:26:53.990+00:00Labour LeadershipCranmer has blogged about what he believes would be an election winning team for Labour. I'm not as convinced as Cranmer is that it would secure Labour an "easy" fourth term win. I doubt very much whether it would even produce a hard-fought victory. But nonetheless, it is a hell of a lot better than Labour's current government line-up even though it still has many duds in the list (e.g. Byers, http://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/cranmers-labour-dream-team.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-4105494215847807435Tue, 17 Feb 2009 12:45:00 +00002009-02-17T13:29:29.356+00:00Bankers BonusesFinancial RegulationGordon BrownPollsThe Brown bounce is well and truly over. The voting intention figures from the latest Ipsos MORI poll have just been released and show the Conservatives on 48 percent (+4), Labour on 28 percent (-2), and the Lib Dems on 17 percent (no change). Since the turn of the year we have seen the polls shift back towards the Conservatives with their double digit leads being re-established. Recent polls http://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/brown-bounce-has-just-gone-splat.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-96397099676069446Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:29:00 +00002009-02-13T17:47:59.093+00:00Answering QuestionsGordon BrownThose who have seen our Dear Leader in action in PMQs or in television interviews will be well aware that he has a pathological inability to answer a single question put to him. However, it seems that this is not just confined to oral questions. ConservativeHome has flagged up Brown's wholly inadequate responses to Parliamentary Written Questions. His "grumpy" and "terse" responses to questions http://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/brown-fails-to-answer-oral-and-written.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-4258832498861593259Fri, 13 Feb 2009 11:42:00 +00002009-02-13T11:45:22.508+00:00Friday Funhttp://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/friday-fun-if-cadbury-merged-with.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-2379818926469502231Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:39:00 +00002009-02-11T16:25:54.013+00:00PMQsIn the last PMQs before the half term recess, the economy took centre stage, and David Cameron unsurprisingly chose to begin by bringing up Sir James Crosby.Sir James was formerly the Chief Executive of HBOS and then was appointed as Deputy Chairman of the FSA by the Prime Minister. He was also Knighted on Brown's recommendation in 2006 and has been an economic adviser to the Prime Minister, http://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/pmqs-brown-distances-himself-from-sir.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-8840994620526330610Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:59:00 +00002009-02-11T12:11:59.320+00:00EconomyGordon BrownMea CulpaMartin Bright has written on his new blog, The Bright Stuff, that "Whitehall officials have been ordered to make a compilation DVD of Obama's various apologies to the American TV networks to be studied by the Prime Minister."This follows Barack Obama's frank admission that he "screwed up" over his attempted appointment of Tom Daschle. Obama has won plaudits for the good grace of his confession ofhttp://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/will-brown-say-sorry_11.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-5214895503619235744Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:16:00 +00002009-02-10T12:43:09.956+00:00EconomyWhen will this failed government make up its mind on the economy? While Baroness Vadera sees "green shoots" of recovery and Tony McNulty sees 'light at the end of the tunnel', Ed Balls now says "this is the worst recession for over 100 years" and Alistair Darling has said we are "seeing the most difficult economic conditions for generations." How can these conflicting views be reconciled? And http://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/mixed-messages-government-all-at-sea-on.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-8442298965490179189Fri, 06 Feb 2009 09:58:00 +00002009-02-06T10:41:40.697+00:00BipartisanshipNational GovernmentA resounding NO! Why do i bring it up? Martin Kettle, in the Guardian, has written an article entitled: 'Darling, Clarke and Cable in the cabinet? Don't rule it out'. He writes that: "Another disaster for Labour in this European elections, and the drums will beat for a national emergency government." Kettle also highlighted the Tory MP, Patrick Cormack, who called on the PM during PMQs to invite http://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/would-national-government-be-good-thing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-6364341357414546968Thu, 05 Feb 2009 09:51:00 +00002009-02-05T10:14:33.987+00:00EconomyInterest RatesThe Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will announce its interest rate decision today at 12pm. My view is that it should NOT cut interest rates.Interest rates have already been slashed from 5 percent to a historic low of 1.5 percent and have had no real discernible effect other than helping those on tracker mortgages.It takes time for interest rates to feed through to the http://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/bank-should-not-cut-interest-rates.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-1332736167453777316Wed, 04 Feb 2009 12:30:00 +00002009-02-04T14:07:30.199+00:00British jobs for British workersDepressionPMQsProtectionismPMQs today had the themes of protectionism which Cameron then linked to Brown's notorious phrase "British Jobs for British Workers" (BJ4BWs) and tax avoidance from the Lib Dem's Nick Clegg, in what was a much better performance from him. In fact, the PM also had a much better outing than has been the case in recent weeks. He gave a feistier performance but was also helped by Cameron who, althoughhttp://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/pmqs-depression-protectionism-bj4bws.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-4714011818193546953Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:15:00 +00002009-02-03T14:47:00.436+00:00LabourRobert Mugabe/Zanu PFIs Gordon Brown basing his Premiership on Robert Mugabe and the Zanu PF 'governing' party in Zimbabwe?Let's take a tongue in cheek look at the evidence...1) PRINTING MONEY - On the 8 January the Times ran a story entitled 'Chancellor set to print more cash as interest rates hit record low'. Alistair Darling denied it as true but last Friday the Guardian said the Bank of England was preparing to http://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/zanulab-evidence.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-8861022186544389247Tue, 03 Feb 2009 10:51:00 +00002009-02-03T14:11:49.431+00:00Political CompassI've been reading Iain Dale's weekend post entitled 'Why the BNP is Left Wing (And Fascist)' which i entirely agree with. Iain has since followed up with a post today in which he uses the website Political Compass to back up his point that the BNP is indeed left-wing and fascist. He also uses the website to plot his own position. Political Compass takes the view, correctly in my opinion, that it http://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/mapping-my-political-compass.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-8261786699977648141Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:53:00 +00002009-02-02T18:09:01.768+00:00British jobs for British workersGordon Brown“British jobs for British workers” is a soundbite that has undoubtedly come back to haunt the Prime Minister given the wildcat strikes throughout the country. It sounded ill-judged when he used it in 2007 during his Labour Party Conference Speech and sounds even more so as it echos in the middle of a recession. Those feeling their jobs are under threat from foreign workers should not go on strikehttp://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/british-jobs-for-british-workers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-6689209247409051588Sun, 01 Feb 2009 13:25:00 +00002009-02-01T13:42:01.102+00:00Equal PayTennis... in tennis.It is an absolute outrage that men and women get paid the same for winning the grand slams.Yesterday, the excellent Serena Williams demolished her opponent Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-3 in just under an hour of tennis in a half packed Rod Laver Arena.Contrast that with today's men's final at the Australian Open where Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer in a five-set thriller 7-5, 3-6, 7-6,http://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/men-and-women-should-not-get-equal-pay.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-1538449262264161179Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:07:00 +00002009-01-30T17:18:13.566+00:00Hazel BlearsI'm a bit late to this, but still worth blogging about. The pint-sized uber-optimist, Hazel Blears, has offered Labour candidates this nugget of advice on sex and campaigning: "Campaigning is like sex – if you’re not enjoying it, you’re not doing it right. It should never be a drudge." Amusing. But how sad is Hazel for comparing political campaigning to sex? You need to get out more love! http://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/01/quote-of-day-sex-tips-from-blears.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8329139985755603916.post-2067720714030657357Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:45:00 +00002009-01-30T17:07:02.181+00:00ConservativesDoomsday bookConservativeHome reported earlier today that Tory strategists are considering producing a 21st Century Domesday Book compilation analysis of Labour's legacy if the Conservatives win power at the next general election. Tim Montgomerie wrote: "It would be one of the first acts of an incoming Conservative government. New Cabinet ministers would be ordered to prepare an audit of their portfolios. http://inthebrown.blogspot.com/2009/01/how-can-cameron-avoid-being-blamed-for.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0