7.30pm WATCH: David Cameron: "We are on track to hand over the running of Afghanistan… from NATO forces to Afghan forces" 5.30pm WATCH: Alistair Darling: The G8 summit was another example of European leaders not acting until there is "an absolute crisis" 2.30pm ToryDiary: Ken Clarke says a Greek €uro exit is "quite likely", and brands a referendum […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter A new blow has been struck against the HS2 scheme. George Osborne's Treasury has been reluctant to approve new spending on the project, the Sunday Telegraph reports. The newspaper says that there is a “major risk” that the Bill to introduce the scheme will not come before Parliament by the […]
Cllr Andy Hodgson, who was the Deputy Leader of the Lib Dem group on Solihull Council has defected to join the Green Party – and has made various left wing pronouncements about fighting the cuts, fighting privatisation, and so on. On West Sussex County Council the Green Party have another recruit – Cllr James Doyle […]
Chris Skidmore is the Member of Parliament for Kingswood. Follow Chris on Twitter. This week saw the publication of the Government’s response to the consultation on its special educational needs and disability Green Paper. The headlines so far have focused on the rigorous screening methods that could potentially remove hundreds of thousands of children from […]
For many people (or most people in Scotland with its electoral system of Proportional Representation) it is necessary to wait days or weeks after the local elections to discover which party, or parties, is running their council. 51 councils, out of the 181 that had elections recently, are hung, or under "No Overall Control." The […]
Sayeeda Warsi doesn’t often catch a fair wind in the British media. That’s not really a surprise; very few female politicians do once they hold a position or take a view. I have always had a great deal of respect for Sayeeda. She will, if she gets the remotest chance, say it just as it […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter A poll for tomorrow's Sunday Mirror/Independent on Sunday, conducted by ComRes, reveals an important fact: Tory voters are not strongly united behind withdrawal from the European Union. The poll – which puts overall voting intentions at 32% Conservative and 41% Labour – shows that, despite 46% compared to 30% of […]
Andrew Smith is a Senior Policy Adviser at the public affairs agency Connect Communications and a Conservative Councillor on Westminster City Council. Follow Andrew on Twitter. Labour’s mini reshuffle is the first time that Ed Miliband has been able to appoint his choice of shadow team. His previous choices were restricted by the combination of […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Earlier this week, I reported on the 13 groups of constituencies in the running to be the next location for the People's Pledge European referendum campaign. The first referendum was held in the marginally Conservative Thurrock constituency (89.9% agreed with a referendum). Yesterday, the People's Pledge announced that the […]
7.30pm ToryDiary: Only 51% of Tories support withdrawal from the European Union – and 26% would consider voting UKIP 2.30pm Andrew Smith on Comment: Labour’s reshuffle is a swing to the left, but it will put more pressure on our areas of weakness 2pm LISTEN: Chuka Umunna: Apart from Italy, Britain is the only G8 member to have […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter It was as long ago as end-December that we last asked Tory members to say whether they were satisfied or dissatisfied with members of the Cabinet*. Since then there have been some big political developments. The three most notable changes are big drops in the approval ratings for the Prime […]
An interesting survey from the Times Educational Supplement shows that some councils are cutting back on their subsidies to the teaching unions for "facility time" by up to 50%. This is the arrangement where staff have their salary paid by the Council Taxpayer even when they are working as full time union officials. The academies […]
Lord Flight is a former Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury who is now chairman of Flight & Partners Recovery Fund. If I were of a conspiratorial nature I might think that the Government is wasting everybody’s time with pointless and unpopular House of Lords’ reform proposals and other minor issues as a smokescreen to support […]
John Glen is the Member of Parliament for Salisbury and a member of the Defence Select Committee. Follow John on Twitter. Davis Lewin is the Political Director of the Henry Jackson Society and a Special Adviser to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Transatlantic and International Security. Follow Davis on Twitter. The NATO summit set […]