By Jonathan IsabyFollow Jonathan on Twitter Something which I failed to note during the week was a mini-reshuffle of the Labour front bench. Ochil and South Perthshire Labour MP, Gordon Banks, resigned as a shadow business minister to "concentrate on his constituency" (for which read "try and see off the SNP threat in his constituency"). […]
Arianna Capuani is responsible for foreign relations in the United Kingdom for the Italian localist think tank Fondazione per la Sussidiarietà. Monday 6pm update: After results from at 90% of polling stations, Giuliano Pisapia was the winner with 55.15% votes overall against Moratti's 44.85%. Pisapia's spokesman Maurizio Baruffi talked about a victory over lies and […]
5.15pm LeftWatch: Ed Miliband quietly dropped Chuka Umunna as his PPS this week for a more experienced fixer 1.30pm Arianna Capuani in International: Silvio Berlusconi's party faces losing control of Milan to the Left for the first time in nearly two decades Noon WATCH: Boris Johnson test drives the newly-designed Routemaster bus ToryDiary: £2.22 vaccinates […]
By Jonathan IsabyFollow Jonathan on Twitter The Daily Telegraph this morning runs a story about how councils have been spending money on taxpayer-funded credit cards, based on Freedom of Information requests answered by 186 authorities. It reports: Despite being ordered to cut spending by almost 30 per cent, town hall chiefs have continued to lavish […]
Andre Walker, a Local Government Advisor who has worked for five local authorities, has been on a tour of Mayor Making ceremonies Its Mayor-Making season and I have been invited to several very enjoyable events. So imagine my surprise when last night a Councillor friend of mine decided to boycott his borough's event. He said […]
As we learned from the video clip I posted earlier, Sharon Shoesmith, the former director of children's services at Haringey today saw the Court of Appeal rule that she was unlawfully sacked in 2008 over the Baby P tragedy, which occurred on her watch. Michael Gove, now Education Secretary, is set to appeal against the […]
Dominique Lazanski is Technology Policy Analyst at the TaxPayers' Alliance. Yesterday, amendments to the EU’s e-Privacy Directive came into force. The e-Privacy Directive was created in the early 2000s to address the issues of privacy and data protection. The amendments, made in 2009, reflect changes in technology. It is the change to the law around […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter Julia Manning, Chief Executive of 2020health, (and ConservativeHome contributor) is telling it as she sees it on the Government's health bill, in a submission published today. Its headline recommendations are as follows: Don’t hamper competition Admit choice has its limits Don’t undermine NICE Put safety ahead of sentimentality – […]
Sky News have launched a new blog called Waste Watch which was monitors how our money is spent. Their first post is on Council spending on "away days." I was pleased that as well as criiticising extravagance they also praised a couple of frugal examples. West Berkshire Council held a team development meeting at East […]
Cllr Philip Hickson is the new Conservative leader of Derby City Council. The Council will continue to be run as a Conservative/Lib Dem coalition although Labour gained five seats on May 5 and will be hoping to take control next year when another third of the seats are up for election. The new leader was […]
5.45pm WATCH: At the G8 summit in France, David Cameron says it's right to be ratcheting up the military, economic and political pressure against Colonel Gaddafi 4pm Jonathan Isaby on Comment: A day when most right-thinking people will find themselves in agreement with Ed Balls 2.30pm Dominique Lazanski on Comment: How the EU 'cookie' directive […]
The Local Government Chronicle and Local Government Information Unit have published a map of Britain coloured according to which Party is in control of each local council. Normally the importance of a council is measured by its population and budget rather than the space within its boundaries. Given that Conservatives are particularly strong in rural […]
Sam Chapman is a Lancashire County Councillor with twenty years experience in policing and crime reduction. As the dust around Ken Clarke begins to settle, it could be tempting to think that the criminal justice system now recognises the serious nature of all rapes. On a national level however, rapists and child sex offenders, as […]