Dacre has said that he “would die in a ditch defending it as a great civilising force”, and Moore grasps the Corporation’s original Reithian mission.
So like his other big financial statements to date, his one yesterday had a strikingly provisional air.
If we follow Spain and France, and test and trace doesn’t improve, the mood on the Tory backbenches is likely to shift towards a Sweden-style solution.
More tests, quick tracing, quarantine and mini-shutdowns if necessary (not the closure of whole cities and metropolitan areas) are the best-in-class solution.
Over a third of those who asked a question during a Hancock statement yesterday were to some degree resistant to such shutdowns.
During the last Parliament, the legislature tried to act as the executive. Now, there is a danger of the pendulum swinging too far the other way.
Despite the horrorshow commentary in the Tory press about the Government, the Conservatives cling to their poll lead – just.
It is easy to forget that until he left Downing Street he was the second most electorally successful post-war Tory leader.
Johnson needs a Simon Milton figure in government. The move would be controversial, to put it mildly. But who else is there?
It would require a guarantee of teaching, backed up by inspections, and computers for children whose parents can’t afford them.
It looks as though we are in the territory supported by this site on Monday – Government support for something not unlike the Neill amendment.
They confirm that the Government and its critics aren’t that far apart – and Ministers are now distancing themselves from claims of illegality.
The numbers can be interpreted to suggest that the Bill may not clear Third Reading. But in our view that would be a misreading.
What made the Government play into the hands of the EU by casting itself as a law-breaker when its own version of events suggests it isn’t?
Either an election would have taken place, with a less good result for the Conservatives. Or the Commons would have settled on a second referendum.