Labour have found two ways of circumventing Hunt’s spending trap: first, to ignore it, and, second, to reduce pressure on the public finances through optimistic promises of economic growth.
I really worry when so many in our party and in the media think that is all over for the centre-left.
This comedian who came out as a Conservative also explains why Labour, by espousing vengeful moral certainties, has lost the working class.
Imagine if the Thatcher Government had sought to run the City from Whitehall. The self-defeating militancy seems to have been discarded.
His columns from The Times are informed by his experience of what works, and more importantly, what doesn’t work.
If the Mayor is incapable of doing his job, the Government will have to call in the inspectors to take charge.
He will have to be more than a kind of North London John Smith if he wants to do more than just profit from the Government’s misfortunes.
The dismay the electorate showed for them last is being ignored. That makes it much harder for whoever becomes the Leader of the Opposition to establish any credibility.
After the 1983 defeat, Labour’s electoral progress was slow. This time around the Party will face further decline without a bold change in direction.
Plus: Groundhog Day for the NHS. Farage is the dog that hasn’t barked. I will miss Morgan. And: Off to Liverpool.
There are real problems with the Government’s general approach to international students. But morally and economically, this decision is the right one.
There has been a tendency to suppose that because Britain’s power has declined in relative terms they must have become totally useless.
It was May’s best conference speech as Conservative leader. But her One Nation pitch could be too late to save her.
With so many disillusioned with politicians of all parties the role of self-defeating expectations comes into play.