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This Fox has been ripped to pieces, but his colleagues elude the hounds

21/10/2011, 02:47:55 PM

by Kevin Meagher

The blood lust of our “feral” media, combined with the unmistakeable whiff of a politician in distress, always ends the same way. But despite Liam Fox’s exit this remains quite simply, the luckiest government in living memory.

There have been no shortage of political scandals and pratfalls over the past 17 months that could have seen any number of Dr. Fox’s colleagues beat him to the ignominious honour of being the first cabinet minister kicked to Whitehall’s curb.

But Tory and Lib Dem ministers seem to be blessed with nine lives. Perhaps rabbits’ feet are handed out to ministers with their red boxes?

Take Andrew Lansley. Surely it is only a matter of time before a piano drops on his head? He has made a complete hash of the health bill, finding himself in the curious position of pleasing absolutely no-one with his proposals, yet he remains in situ.

And then there’s Michael Gove. Although he is a true Cameroon, of which great things were not unreasonably expected, his career has never quite been the same since he was pranged early on by Ed Balls, colliding into him over the scrapping of the building schools for the future programme. He wobbled, but has recovered, of sorts, only to now find himself caught up in revelations that he and his advisers operated a secretive email network, by-passing his department’s official channels. If compelled to publish the messages under freedom of information obligations, he may find he has strayed down a Fox-hole in terms of ministerial propriety.

Before Liam Fox, the previous holder of the dubious title “cabinet-minister-most-likely–to-resign” had long been held by energy secretary Chris Huhne. He has spent the past few months on the precipice of a resignation, as the excruciating half-life of his messy divorce sees both him and his ex-wife embroiled in an unseemly “he said, she said” squabble over one or the other’s penalty points for speeding. Although a fairly mediocre crime, in the grand scheme of things, it has acquired epic proportions given the energy secretary’s career is essentially being strafed by friendly fire.

Yet he clings on. Your average rhino resembles an Oil of Olay model in the skin suppleness stakes when measured alongside Huhne. His leader, however, is forced to develop a thick hide on the job. Nick Clegg has spent most of his 17 month tenure as deputy prime minister as a pariah. He is the unhappiest looking bloke in British politics, and with good reason; he is the most hated. He has scuppered the very essence of the Lib Dems’ brand by doing the coalition’s dirty work, and now his own constituency is set to be eviscerated in a pointless parliamentary boundary review he only signed up to in order the secure the doomed referendum on AV; yet he hangs on too.

But these are just the top-drawer near-death experiences of the coalition. There are another set of ministers who have had a close shave through good old-fashioned political bumbling. Take Ken Clarke’s howler of a radio interview about rape sentencing, coming on top of his faltering handling of his brief, which has seen Tory backbenchers turn puce at what they see is the forfeiting of their credibility on law and order due to Clarke’s leniency on sending criminals to jail.

Or Vince Cable’s silly self-aggrandising, bragging that he could bring down the government if he chose to by deploying his “nuclear option” as he sought to impress a couple of fetching young female undercover reporters from the Daily Telegraph. Dufferish, old bloke failings, but indicative of senior politicians who have difficulty keeping their political antennae erect.

The last category is the weird and wonderful. Think of William Hague’s hotel arrangements. Or Oliver Letwin’s curious al fresco filing system. Or Caroline Spelman not being able to see the wood for the trees in relation to the flogging-off of national forestry management.

Any one or all of these ministers could have plausibly walked the plank during the course of the last year for either political or personal difficulties. Paradoxically, Liam Fox looked likely to become a cabinet mainstay. Meanwhile, the scalp to end all scalps, remains tantalisingly out of reach. For now.

The jet-black pelt of the chancellor is worth a dozen Fox skins. Osborne’s eventual embrace of a plan B for the economy warrants his resignation. The change of direction that will eventually come – and which Osborne puts off for the narrowest political considerations – should make his position utterly untenable.

Liam Fox will doubtless feel rather lonely as the first occupier of the cabinet’s sin bin. But he should content himself. He won’t be the last.

Kevin Meagher is associate editor of Labour Uncut.

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The undead Nick Clegg starts to stir…

23/09/2011, 12:00:41 PM

by Dan Hodges

Ed Miliband has a nightmare. Forget the sleep apnoea; this is what really keeps him awake at night.

He is walking along the corridor of a dark, abandoned castle. He turns a corner into an imposing room. Like the rest of the castle, the room has been ransacked by angry villagers determined to wreak revenge for the evil that once dwelt amongst them. All that is left is a large black table. Upon the table sits a coffin, lid open.

Ed inches closer, torch flickering. He peers in. Inside there is a pale figure, eyes closed, dressed in a dark morning suit. It wears a gold tie.

Ed is initially gripped by fear. But as the moments pass the fear recedes; replaced by a strange feeling of empathy. Then sympathy.

Poor Nick Clegg. What he did was wrong. So very, very wrong. But he has paid the price. The price exacted from all politicians when their public turns upon them. Now, at last, he has found peace…

“Hello, Ed. I’ve been waiting for you”.

Dear God, he’s alive! He’s sitting up! He’s…

“You’ll find it’s not so bad in there. You have time to stop and think. To come to understand where it all went wrong”.

Ed turns, tries to run. But his feet are like clay. Clegg is out of the coffin now advancing towards him, cape spread wide. He can see razor-sharp teeth glinting in the moonlight; a cold, piercing stare reaching out from dark, empty eyes.

And somewhere in the distance he hears a laugh. A cruel laugh. He knows that laugh. It is David Cameron’s. Then there is silence.

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Postmodernism is dead. But Nick Clegg isn’t quite

19/09/2011, 09:13:29 AM

by Jonathan Todd

Edward Docx declared postmodernism dead in Prospect during the summer. Many hierarchies were shattered by postmodernism’s insistence that no perspective is more legitimate than another. This revolutionary insight has wrought all kinds of change over the past 40 years or so, but also contains the seeds of its own exhaustion. If all perspectives are valid, do any of them mean anything?

Our contemporary longing for authenticity suggests that postmodernism has left us with a deficit of meaning that we are seeking to fill. Docx sees this all around us.

“We can see it in the specificity of the local food movement or the repeated use of the word “proper” on gastropub menus … We can recognise it in advertising campaigns such as for Jack Daniel’s, which ache to portray not rebellion but authenticity. We can identify it in the way brands are trying to hold on to, or take up, an interest in ethics, or in a particular ethos”.

There is more politics in this observation than there might seem. And the political insight has much commonality with that contained in this tweet from Chris Dillow: “Politicians obsess about public opinion and are despised. Steve Jobs doesn’t do market research and is admired. There’s a lesson here.”

Jobs is thought authentic and politicians are not. He seems propelled by mission and genius, while politicians appear calculating and superficial. As postmodernism has encouraged the decline of deference, the political class has been lampooned. Politicians seek redemption by desperately scrutinising opinion polls. But they are looking in the wrong direction.

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Monday News Review

05/09/2011, 06:03:57 AM

Ed to re-write clause I

Ed Miliband is to propose rewriting the Labour party’s 93-year-old founding principles, amending clause I of its constitution to explicitly put the principles of community organising at its heart. In the first redrafting of the party’s clauses in 17 years since Tony Blair famously scrapped clause IV, which until then had committed Labour to a programme of mass nationalisation, Miliband hopes to get party support for his wider ambitions for the party, which have so far been controversial with union leaders. The proposal, contained in the Refounding Labour document, which has been drawn up by Peter Hain, chair of the national policy forum, would also insert into the new clause I the statement that Labour is “a force for social justice”. The new clause would say the party exists to “bring together members and supporters who share its values to develop policies, make communities stronger through collective action and support, and promote the election of Labour representatives at all levels of the democratic process”. A leaked version of the speech David Miliband planned to make if he had become Labour leader shows the former foreign secretary would also have pushed for a new clause I. An attempt by Labour to try to make itself a movement with broader appeal is particularly acute as the parties all await a report into funding due to be published in October by the committee on standards in public life. – the Guardian

Clegg blocks profit making free schools

The Guardian today claims Tory education secretary Michael Gove had hoped to allow free schools to make profits in the government’s second term and quotes a supporter of Gove as saying “Gove has never had an ideological issue with profit in schools, whereas Clegg is ruling it out for ideological reasons.” Meanwhile, Fraser Nelson writes in the Spectator that some of David Cameron’s allies are “…keen to fit rocket boosters under the free schools programme – and that means including profit-seeking groups like Cognita and International Free Schools.” If Nick Clegg does indeed have a ‘victory’ in blocking the proposal it will be one of the deputy prime minister’s most significant achievement in office. More significantly, the cat is now out of the bag on free schools: the Tories do see free schools as a vehicle to turn schooling into business. What is surprising is that people ever doubted this. For free schools to be anything other than an expensive fad, with just a handful of schools run by charities, parents or as publicity seeking exercises for the likes of Toby Young, it is logical they would have to become profit-making. Michael Gove’s free schools policy was based on the free schools programme in Sweden, where the government’s initial plan was that free schools would either be set up by parents or charities. – Left Foot Forward

The deputy prime minister is to open up a new front in his disagreements with the education secretary, Michael Gove, criticising the recent decision by the Tories to heap responsibility for children’s development on to teachers. Nick Clegg‘s aides believe the Conservatives have placed too much emphasis on teachers as arbiters of authority over children in the wake of last month’s riots. In a speech to teachers and pupils, Clegg will say: “We already expect our teachers to be social workers, child psychologists, nutritionists, child protection officers. We expect them to police the classroom, take care of our children’s health, counsel our sons and daughters, guide them, worry about them – and on top of that, educate them too.” Clegg’s comments come as his party claimed to have reined in Gove’s desire to allow his free schools programme to become profit-making, and that any new wave of free schools had to be in deprived areas. In response to this Lib Dem assertion, Gove refused to rule out profit-making schools as a possibility in the future. – the Guardian

Performance pay myth

The rise in remuneration came despite a 71pc decline in average year-end share prices, according to a report by the High Pay Commission (HPC). The findings claim to lay bare the “myth” of performance pay as salary growth “bears no relation” to market capitalisation, earnings per share or pre-tax profit growth, the HPC claimed. Performance pay scales have escalated dramatically in the past decade. Lead executives now collect a bonus worth 90pc of their salary if they hit performance targets, compared to 48pc in 2002. At the same time, the base salary from which performance pay is calculated has risen 64pc. Deborah Hargreaves, chair of the HPC, said: “The evidence exposes the myth that big bonuses and high salaries result in better company performances. There has been massive growth in what has been termed as performance related pay, yet no such corresponding leap forward in company performance.” The findings of the report have reopened the row over boardroom pay in Britain’s biggest companies. Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC union, said: “Runaway pay at the top is not just unfair but helped cause the crash.” – the Telegraph

Fatcat bosses have seen their bonuses shoot up by a whopping 187 per cent in the past 10 years while the rest of the country struggles with pay freezes, it was revealed yesterday. With flagrant disregard for Government warnings to cut such payments in the wake of the banking collapse, top earners are continuing to pay themselves bigger and bigger bonuses. The report, by the High Pay Commission, shows the average annual bonus for a FTSE 100 director has increased by 187 per cent in a decade, while the average year-end share prices declined by 71 per cent. This inconsistency exposes the myth of the usual claims that excessive high pay is a reward for companies performing strongly. Finance analysts say there can be only one reason: Greed. The report shows that executives’ greed is growing. In 2002 the median maximum grant of shares that a FTSE 100 lead executive could be awarded was 100 per cent of salary. By 2010, this had risen to 200 per cent. – the Express

Ex Iceland PM faces charges for banking collapse

The dust from Iceland’s spectacular financial disaster — the failure of its three biggest banks and then the collapse of its economy in the fall of 2008 — had barely begun to settle when the country set about finding someone to blame. The bankers, surely: a government-appointed special prosecutor has named more than 200 people as official suspects in a case that appears bound to result in criminal charges. The politicians, certainly: voters expressed their disgust with the long-governing Independence Party by ousting it in the 2009 elections. But the desire for justice and retribution is deep and complicated, and Iceland has taken an unusual step in the strange annals of the world financial crisis: it is pursuing criminal charges against a politician, former Prime Minister Geir Haarde, for his government’s failure to avert the catastrophe. – New York Times

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Monday News Review

29/08/2011, 06:59:45 AM

Ed’s new strategy

Labour is plotting a strategy to portray David Cameron as an old-style traditional Tory – despite warnings it will leave the party at odds with the public on crime, immigration and welfare. A leaked copy of a report ordered by Ed Miliband says Labour should launch a campaign to brand the Prime Minister as being ‘recognisably right-wing’. It accuses the Conservatives of taking ‘major strides back to their ideological roots’ since the election and points to the ‘increasingly shrill language the Tories are using as they vacate the centre ground’. In an analysis that will dismay senior Blairites in the party, the report suggests the Conservatives are too right-wing on crime, immigration and welfare – all areas where polling suggests the public would like to see even tougher policies. – Daily Mail

Labour is developing a new strategy to paint David Cameron as an old-style, traditional Tory, according to confidential documents obtained by the Observer, as the parties prepare to do battle during the coming conference season. The opposition believes the prime minister has abandoned the centre ground in recent months to adopt a more orthodox conservative stance on issues such as law and order, immigration and welfare. They are now set to launch a concerted campaign to brand Cameron as a “recognisably rightwing” leader in a move that will inevitably inflame political debate. The creation of the strategy follows reports last month that Cameron had polled negatively for the first time, with more people saying that the prime minister was doing a bad job than those backing him. The two-and-half-page paper written by the MP Shaun Woodward, a former Tory frontbencher and now head of Labour’s anti-Tory attack unit, and circulated among senior Labour officials, lays bare the areas where the opposition now believes Cameron is vulnerable. – the Guardian

David Cameron is to be depicted as an old-fashioned Tory in a new advertising campaign that is currently being developed by the Labour party, according to documents obtained by the Guardian. The campaign is being prepared into the crucial conference season, and the left are beginning to believe that Cameron has left the safe middle ground on issues such as law and order. Recent polls show that the approval rates of the incumbent Prime Minister in the Coalition government have plummeted. More people now disapprove of Cameron in the role than those who continue to support his leadership. There are also criticisms in a two-and-a-half-page document by anti-Tory campaigners that Cameron has abandoned the ‘compassionate conservatism’ stance that secured his party votes in May 2010. Leading policies, such as environmental affairs and preserving the National Health Service, have been ‘sidelined’ in favour of more traditional Conservative priorities. – Tucone.com

Free schools steam ahead

Twenty-four “free schools” are to open next month, the government has announced. The schools – state-funded and set up by teachers, charities, education experts and parents – are spread throughout the country but mainly concentrated in deprived areas with poor records of academic achievement. They have the same legal status as academies and do not have to follow the national curriculum, giving them more freedom than local authority schools. The Department for Education has confirmed that funding for all 24 schools has been signed and agreed. Under the coalition’s plans, the schools will also be able to prioritise the most disadvantaged children in their school admissions arrangements. – the Guardian

Some of the ‘free schools’ are existing schools that are taking up ‘free’ status. These include the Maharishi School, in Lancashire, which stresses the importance of yoga. A particularly vocal enthusiast of the ‘free school’ system is the journalist, Toby Young, who will be setting up his own school in West London. Young’s will have an academically rigorous curriculum, with an emphasis on Latin. Five different faith groups will be getting the chance to run their own state-financed schools. These include the first state-financed Sikh school, two Jewish primary schools, a Hindu school, a Hare Krishna School, and a Church of England school. The capital cost of setting up the 24 schools will range from £110m to £130m. They are a flagship policy from Conservative education policy. However, so far, only 32 of the 323 applications have been approved. – Huffington Post

You didn’t need an enquiry to tell you that

He went from hero to villain as the “Cleggmania” which swept Britain before last year’s election gave way to protests against his role in the Coalition Government. And now the Liberal Democrats have owned up to an uncomfortable truth: that targeted attacks on their leader, Nick Clegg, by political opponents are damaging the party’s electoral fortunes. An official internal inquiry into why the Lib Dems did so badly in this year’s local elections has pointed the finger at advertising campaigns such as one which portrayed the politician as “Cleggzilla”, trampling over public services. The Cleggzilla posters were funded by trade unions opposed to the Coalition’s cuts. Whilst some might argue that it is the job of political campaigners to criticise their opponents, the Lib Dems have cried foul, branding the attacks as “personal and vicious”. The complaint, in a report which will be presented to delegates at the Lib Dem conference in Birmingham next month, risks reopening a public debate into Mr Clegg’s state of mind. Since he became Deputy Prime Minister last year he has brushed aside suggestions that he is “fragile” and suffering from stress. – the Telegraph

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Friday News Review

15/07/2011, 07:04:40 AM

Murdoch’s woes cross the pond

The investigation into criminal behaviour by journalists at Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp crossed the Atlantic yesterday as the FBI opened an inquiry into claims that the News of the World tried to hack the phones of victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. As News Corp’s shares slid in New York and legal problems threatened to engulf the rest of his media empire, Mr Murdoch launched a vigorous defence of his own handling of the scandal and of the conduct of his son, James. The FBI opened the inquiry after sustained pressure from both Republican and Democrat politicians, who expressed outrage at the claims that 9/11 victims could have been among the NOTW’s targets. The FBI is following claims first made in the Daily Mirror at the start of this week that NOTW journalists contacted a former New York police officer, now working as a private investigator, and offered to pay him to retrieve the phone records of those killed in the 2001 terrorist attacks. Police sources said the investigation is at a preliminary stage. – the Independent

Media baron Rupert Murdoch‘s troubles are spreading across the pond from Britain to the USA. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into allegations that Murdoch’s News Corp. tried to hack into the phone messages of U.S. 9/11 victims and families, a federal law enforcement official said Thursday. The official, who has been briefed on the matter but declined to be identified because he is not authorized to speak publicly, said the review was based on concerns raised by Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y., and Sens. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.; Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.; and Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., among others. King, who heads the Homeland Security Committee, is from a Long Island district that was home to many victims of the terrorist attacks in 2001. The lawmakers suggest that allegations against News Corp. in Great Britain— including paying off British law enforcement authorities for news tips — violated theForeign Corrupt Practices Act, which makes it a crime for companies with U.S. holdings to bribe foreign officials. They also want to know whether any U.S. citizens’ privacy was violated. – USA Today

Will they, won’t they?

Rupert and James Murdoch capitulated to Parliament last night and agreed to appear before MPs investigating phone hacking after facing the bizarre threat of imprisonment in a cell halfway up Big Ben. The media tycoon and his heir apparent had prompted fury at Westminster after declining an invitation to give evidence to a powerful Commons select committee next week. As a near-hysterical mood gripped the Commons, there were even suggestions that Parliament should somehow ‘impound’ Mr Murdoch’s private jet to prevent him leaving the country. With an unprecedented legal summons from Parliament’s most senior officials forcing them into a dramatic U-turn, Business Secretary Vince Cable said the humbling of the Murdoch empire was ‘a little bit like the end of a dictatorship’. The last time such as summons was issued was in 1992 when Kevin and Ian Maxwell were ordered to answer questions relating to their late father Robert’s plundering of the Mirror Group pension pot. A News Corporation spokesperson said: ‘We are in the process of writing to the select committee with the intention that Mr James Murdoch and Mr Rupert Murdoch will attend next Tuesday’s meeting.’ James, the chief of his father’s European and Asian operations, had said he was not available Tuesday but offered to appear on Aug 10 or 11, without explaining his inability to attend next week. While Rupert Murdoch had said he would not appear at all offering instead to speak before a separate inquiry initiated by the Prime Minister. That left former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks facing the prospect of being grilled on her own by MPs scenting blood. – Daily Mail

Rupert Murdoch and his son James last night caved into pressure from David Cameron, Nick Clegg and MPs and agreed to give evidence to a Commons select committee next week. They will be joined by Rebekah Brooks, the News International Chief Executive, in what will be the most eagerly anticipated hearing at Westminster for decades. Both Rupert Murdoch, News Corporation’s chairman and chief executive, and James had initially said they would not be attending next Tuesday’s meeting of the Culture Media and Sport Committee. James, who is News International’s European chairman, said he could only attend at a later date. But after a six-hour stand off, and with pressure from MPs, the Prime Minister and the deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, and faced with being sent a summons by the Serjeant at Arms, both men relented and agreed to attend. The three executives will face fierce questioning from MPs who have fought a tenacious campaign to expose the phone hacking scandal which has plunged Mr Murdoch’s media into crisis in the space of two weeks. Among them will be Tom Watson, the Labour MP, who has relentlessly pursued News International and has made clear his own disgust at the behaviour of Mrs Brooks in particular. – Daily Telegraph

Clegg and O’Donnell turn on Brown

Nick Clegg today accused Gordon Brown of “rewriting history” by claiming his desire for a hacking investigation was thwarted by MPs and civil servants. The former prime minister accused News International yesterday of forming a “criminal-media nexus” with members of Britain’s underworld. He told the Commons he had tried to hold a judicial inquiry into phone hacking shortly before the general election last year but was opposed by Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell, the Home Office and the police. Mr Brown said he was advised that media culture was permissive of unlawful activities and the Commons culture committee did not believe hacking was continuing. He claimed he was also told there was no evidence of systemic failure in the police and that targeting The News of the World could be deemed to be politically motivated. Deputy Prime Minister Mr Clegg said today: “I sensed a whiff of rewriting history, to be honest. If as prime minister he’d really be so determined to get to grips with this – and he was a powerful Chancellor – he was at the apex of British politics for 13 years … Are we now supposed to believe he was hamstrung by dastardly officials who stopped him doing that? There were many other things he wanted to do where he was happy to bulldoze the opposition but he didn’t seek to do so on this particular issue.” – Evening Standard

The cabinet secretary, Sir Gus O’Donnell, has denied claims he blocked an inquiry into phone hacking sought by former prime minister Gordon Brown just before the May 2010 general election. He also released his full advice to Brown setting out the options, which was sent to Brown’s principal private secretary, Jeremy Heywood, in March 2010. In his first major speech in the House of Commons since he resigned as prime minister last year, Brown said on Wednesday: “I deeply regret my inability to do then what I wanted to do and to overturn the advice of all the authorities and set up a judicial inquiry.” O’Donnell said: “I gave advice based on the evidence that was available at the time. It was for the prime minister to decide what to do. I set out options. My advice is clear and was based on the evidence available at the time, and I would have taken the same decision now if I had the same evidence as I had then.” O’Donnell also pointed out to Brown that if an investigation were called so close to a general election, there would be no possibility of a judicial inquiry producing a result in time. In his document marked “restricted” O’Donnell set out the necessary steps to be taken before an inquiry was launched and whether in this case such an inquiry would be merited. – the Guardian

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Friday News Review

17/06/2011, 06:55:05 AM

Pension decision due

Danny Alexander, the Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury, tells millions of trade union members that only by agreeing to the Coalition’s new terms will they be able to keep “the best pensions available”. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, he warns that opposition to the change – that will require many in the public sector to work longer and pay more into their retirement funds – will mean a worse deal in future. “The history of reform is littered with examples of people simply denying the facts,” he writes. “Eventually reality bites. And when it does, change is urgent and uncompromising.” The Government’s offer, he says, is “by far the best that is likely to be on the table for years to come”. It will still leave them with retirement deals that are more generous and more certain than most in the private sector, he says. – Daily Telegraph

The government is to spare the lowest paid public servants from the worst of the increases in their pension contributions in a rush to avoid a mass opt-out. But the decision to protect people earning up to £18,000 from the average increase of 3.2% of their salary, made after warnings that the pension reforms could price some people out of saving for their future altogether, will mean the higher paid will pay up to 5% more. Danny Alexander, the chief secretary to the Treasury, will set out details of the plans to increase 6 million public sector workers’ pension payments, and will attack union leaders who have announced a joint strike on 30 June. Alexander will announce that workers earning less than £15,000 will be spared any increase and those earning less than £18,000 will have their contributions capped at 1.5%. The increases will be phased in over three years from next April to lessen the blow. Teachers, medics and local government managers could face a doubling in their contributions from next April. – the Guardian

The Falklands is an issue again

The Argentinian president has criticised David Cameron for insisting the Falkland Islands should remain a British territory. Cristina Kirchner described the prime minister as “arrogant” and said his comments were an “expression of mediocrity and almost of stupidity”. Cameron had been prompted by Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell during prime minister’s questions to remind Barack Obama that the British government would not accept any kind of negotiations over the south Atlantic islands, which Argentina and Britain fought a 10-week war over in 1982. Cameron told the Commons: “I would say this: as long as the Falkland Islands want to be sovereign British territory, they should remain sovereign British territory – full stop, end of story.” In her criticism of his comments, Kirchner said that Britain “continues to be a crude colonial power in decline”. She has insisted that the two countries should negotiate over the islands, which have been a British territory since 1833. The 1982 conflict cost the lives of 649 Argentinian and 255 British troops. – the Guardian

Clegg in electoral scrap

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg Thursday shrugged off the drubbing his party has received since joining the Conservatives in government, and said the British tradition of two-party politics was over. The Lib Dems have been battered by accusations they have compromised their principles to join the Conservatives in power after last year’s general election, and Clegg in particular has seen his star plummet in opinion polls. The deputy prime minister has been excoriated for going back on his election pledge to abolish university tuition fees, one of several compromises he says were necessary to achieve the coalition’s aim of eliminating Britain’s budget deficit. The coalition has made eliminating the deficit, which had topped 10 percent of national output, by the end of the current of the current parliament in 2015 a key pledge, and Clegg said his party would be rewarded in future. – Reuters

Many angry ex-Liberal Democrat voters in the North will not return to supporting the party, Mr Clegg admitted. The deputy prime minister acknowledged that some voters were so disillusioned – over the decision to enter coalition with the Conservatives – that his party had lost them for good. That collapse in support has been most severe in Northern areas such as Liverpool, where lingering anti-Tory sentiment is most common. But Mr Clegg insisted his party would still be a fighting force at the 2015 election, vowing: “I think we are going to have to get used to coalition.” He said: “Of course some people who used to vote for us absolutely hate the fact that we are in coalition with the Conservatives. As, by the way, if we had gone into coalition with Labour, a whole lot of people who had voted for us would absolutely hate that we had gone into coalition with Labour. “Of course. these people have peeled away – and many of them might not come back.” However, Mr Clegg said he was “relishing” the chance to present his party as one that had helped rescue Britain from economic disaster. – Liverpool Daily Post

Brothers partying together, whatever next…

The nation’s most visible sibling rivalry drifted into public view when Ed and David Miliband were seen together at a party. The brothers joined guests at a pub in Pimlico, central London, to celebrate a friend’s birthday. They have rarely been seen together since Ed unexpectedly pipped his older brother to the Labour party’s top job last year. Their joint appearance seemed designed to scotch rumours that David might try to oust his sibling, who has put in a poor political performance in recent weeks. A party source insisted the pair remained ‘brothers first and politicians second’. Speculation of a continuing rift between the brothers was fuelled at the weekend by claims in an unauthorised biography that the pair were barely on speaking terms. The rift allegations came amid reports of unrest among Labour MPs about Ed Miliband’s performance, which he has dismissed as ‘Westminster tittle tattle’. – Daily Mail

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Sunday News Review

12/06/2011, 05:51:37 AM

The real meaning of a U-turn

Education secretary Michael Gove has been accused of creating schoolsfor the middle classes after it was revealed that more than a third of his “free schools” will open in the most affluent areas. The government promised to provide all children with “access to the kind of education only the rich can afford” when it launched the policy of allowing parents to set up schools free from local authority control. However, an analysis of the 32 free schools set to open in the next academic year shows 13 are in the most affluent half of England with only two in the 10% most deprived areas and 10 in the 20% most deprived areas, as ranked by the government’s English Indices of Multiple Deprivation, 2010. Less than a fifth of them are opening in the north of England, while half are set to open in the south and southeast. – the Guardian

Michael Gove said they were “accelerating the pace of reform” and the review was needed because of the growth in academies. Councils provide support services such as special needs education for state schools, but not academy schools. Ministers had said the grant to provide such services would be cut by £148m this year and £265m next year. Mr Gove told the BBC some Labour local authorities were “a bit unhappy” about the pace of reform, but “the truth is at the moment we’re actually providing funding to local authorities and to schools for the same service”. The education secretary said they had to make sure the taxpayer “is not paying twice”. Labour says the decision shows changes are being pushed through too quickly. “This is the third time in a year that Michael Gove has had to U-turn under the threat of legal action,” shadow education secretary Andy Burnham said. “And the reason that it keeps happening is that he is railroading his policies through without proper consultation, without listening to parents, to teachers, to local councillors.” – This Day

Where do we go from here?

Before Ed Miliband appointed Ed Balls as Shadow Chancellor, he consulted Tony Blair. Miliband, who has grown close to Blair since becoming leader, wanted to know what the former Prime Minister thought about the move. Would it just lead to a rerun of the Blair-Brown years, with the Chancellor destabilising his boss? Straight after winning the leadership, Miliband made a deliberate choice not to make Balls Shadow Chancellor. He feared that if he did, it would make it harder for him to chart a new course on the economy. But with Alan Johnson, the man Miliband had appointed, resigning because of family matters, the Labour leader had to decide whether to risk open hostilities with Balls by snubbing him again. They have tried to copy the successful Cameron-Osborne relationship by merging their two offices, as the Tory pair did in opposition. But Balls has maintained a room of his own elsewhere in the Palace of Westminster and the two staffs remain far more distinct than those of Cameron and Osborne. – Daily Mail

I am here to defend Ed Balls. The documents published last week are valuable primary sources for contemporary historians, but they do not prove that he was a plotter. There is no email there to Labour MPs frustrated by Blair’s failure to recognise their ability, such as Chris Bryant and Sion Simon, saying: “What about writing a letter to TB to tell him that the game is up?” We know that there was a plot, because Bryant, Simon and 13 others wrote that letter in September 2006, and one minister – Tom Watson – and seven parliamentary private secretaries resigned. We know, too, that Gordon Brown was responsible for it, (a) because he could have stopped it and (b) because it is completely obvious. I have always assumed that Balls knew all about it, and discussed it with Brown and other members of the Stable and Orderly Transition Task Force, but that he did not telephone, text or email possible resigners himself. – John Rentoul, the Independent

They still don’t get it

The row over David Cameron’s ditching of a high-profile female candidate flared up again last night amid claims that a senior Tory official described her pregnancy as a ‘disability’. A furious letter written by Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, complaining about his sister Annunziata’s exclusion from the Conservatives’ list of parliamentary candidates, condemns as ‘contemptible’ a remark allegedly made to Ms Rees-Mogg at a meeting last week. In the letter to 10 Downing Street, Mr Rees-Mogg says that the official, Giles Inglis-Jones, told Annunziata – who was eight months pregnant at the time of her crucial selection meeting in February – that ‘he knows all about pregnancy as he has five children’. Mr Rees-Mogg wrote: ‘From my own experience a man’s role and knowledge of pregnancy is somewhat different from a woman’s’, before adding lethally: ‘It was also suggested that Annunziata could have ticked the box for “disability”, but I feel most reasonable people would call that a contemptible suggestion. – Daily Mail

Clegg boasts as Tories grimace

Nick Clegg last night boasted that he had forced David Cameron to ditch plans to bring more private firms into the NHS. The Lib-Dem leader’s allies claimed victory saying the PM had performed a U-turn on key parts of his unpopular revamp of the health service after their protests. Mr Clegg’s supporters said Mr Cameron had agreed to rule out any competition in the NHS “based on price” after critics warned it would pave the way for the backdoor privatisation of the NHS. But the boast will infuriate Tory MPs and further humiliate Health Secretary Andrew Lansley. – Daily Mirror

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Don’t let contempt for Clegg blind you to the Lib Dem threat

31/05/2011, 01:00:54 PM

by John Woodcock

My twitter feed may not be quite as representative as an IPSOS-MORI poll, but it was still striking to witness the outpouring of abuse when Nick Clegg briefly honed into view at the champions league final on Saturday night.

The excellent John Park MSP summed it up: “Nick Clegg was on our telly and the whole pub burst into laughter: #nowayback”.

It is important to guard against seeing the world purely through the Labour rose-tinted spectacles of your friends and supporters, but John may well be right.

The X-Factor-style rise and fall of the Liberal Democrat leader has been much remarked already. But the hapless man has managed to intensify people’s annoyance at his broken promises still further by maintaining a peculiarly grating tone of injured sanctimony (hat tip, Adrian McMenamin’s twitter) through his transition from chief critic of the “broken politics of Westminster” to epitome of said broken politics.

It is possible that he will spring back again, but it seems increasingly unlikely.

(more…)

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Wednesday News Review

25/05/2011, 06:40:16 AM

The pomp and ceremony is over, now the politics begins

Barack Obama will today express hope that the Atlantic alliance may now be “turning a corner” towards a more peaceful existence after a decade of continuous warfare in Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond. At a speech this afternoon at the Palace of Westminster to address both houses of parliament, Obama will point to the withdrawal of US and Britain troops from Iraq, the expected drawdown from Afghanistan beginning this summer, the killing of Osama Bin Laden and the weakening of al-Qaida as signs that the worst might be over for the transatlantic alliance. According to the White House, the president will stress that the stabilisation of north Africa and the consolidation of the Arab spring will be critical. Although, the Americans have been adamant on this visit that they will not retake the lead in the Nato offensive against the Gaddafi regime, they argue they are already doing a lot behind the scenes and plan to do a lot more in the coming days to give greater legitimacy to the Benghazi-based rebels. – the Guardian

President Barack Obama and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron will discuss ways to sustain pressure on Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi when they meet tomorrow in London before Obama’s address to Parliament. The NATO campaign against Qaddafi and measures to support the opposition in Libya will be “one of the lead agenda items” for the meeting at 10 Downing Street, the prime minister’s office, Ben Rhodes, the U.S. deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, said today. “It’s essential that the U.S. and Europe continue to serve as that catalyst for global action” in Libya and countries in the Middle East and North Africa that are in a state of upheaval, Rhodes said. Today, in addition to meeting with Cameron, Obama also will address members of Parliament. He will be the first U.S. president to do so in Westminster Hall. – San Francisco Chronicle

The second day of the politician’s state visit to Britain will begin at Downing Street where he will hold talks with David Cameron on issues ranging from Libya and Afghanistan, to terrorism and the global economy. The highlight of today is likely to be the President’s keynote speech to both houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall. According to the White House, Mr Obama is expected to tell MPs and peers that even though the world has changed significantly since World War Two, the UK-US relationship and the broader transatlantic alliance is still the “cornerstone of global security”. The president will also strike an optimistic note by claiming that the world is “turning a corner” following a “difficult decade”. Mr Obama follows Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan to become the third US president to address Parliament. – Sky News

Huhne and ex-wife questioned by police

Energy Secretary Chris Huhne was quizzed by police yesterday over allegations he pressured his wife to take his speeding penalty points. The Cabinet minister spoke to officers after they launched an inquiry into the 2003 incident. Another person – thought to be his estranged wife Vicky Pryce – was also questioned yesterday. Essex police said: “We can confirm two individuals have been interviewed at stations in Essex and London over allegations regarding a speeding offence.” The force would not confirm if the interviews were carried out under caution but stressed no arrests were made. Mr Huhne is said to have asked Ms Pryce to take the three penalty points on her licence after allegedly being caught speeding on the M11 in Essex eight years ago. – Daily Mirror

The Energy Secretary Chris Huhne was interviewed by police yesterday over allegations he tried to evade punishment for speeding. Mr Huhne’s ex-wife, Vicky Pryce, was also questioned over claims he asked her to accept penalty points on his behalf in March 2003. Essex Police confirmed that two individuals had been interviewed in relation to allegations of a speeding offence. A spokeswoman for Mr Huhne said: “Chris Huhne helped the Essex Police with their inquiries today and looks forward to an early resolution of this issue.” Ms Pryce’s solicitor said in a statement: “Vicky Pryce met with Essex Police today as part of their inquiry. She continues to do what is necessary in respect of the inquiry but in view of the fact that it is on going it is not appropriate for her or anyone on her behalf to comment further.” – the Independent

Another blow to the big society

The Prime Minister’s cherished Big Society project suffered a severe blow last night after the man appointed to implement it dramatically resigned. Lord Nat Wei stepped down just months after saying he could not devote as much time to the project as he thought. The former management consultant was taken on last year as Big Society tsar, with a remit of enthusing the public into carrying out unpaid community work. But he was reportedly shocked to find that he himself would have to work for nothing. At the time he was reported as saying he wanted to cut back his Government work so he could earn money and have ‘more of a life’. The resignation is a blow to Mr Cameron, who has described the Big Society as his ‘mission in politics’. Labour accused the Premier of expecting the public to carry out voluntary work, when he could not even count on his own Big Society tsar to do it. – Daily Mail

The man in charge of the Big Society project quit yesterday – to take up a paid job. Lord Wei’s departure is a further blow to David Cameron’s pet scheme, which he tried to relaunch this week for the fourth time. The peer had already cut the hours given to the voluntary role, claiming he needed other work to pay the bills. Yesterday he said he was going to work for a charity. The PM said Lord Wei had worked “incredibly hard” to help develop policies that support the Big Society. But Shadow Cabinet Office minister Tessa Jowell said: “Yet again the Big Society is descending into farce. Only a day after Cameron told us all to take more responsibility, it appears there will be nobody responsible for bringing the Big Society into reality.” – Daily Mirror

Clegg sidelined over Ashcroft appointment

Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem Deputy Prime Minister, is understood to have urged David Cameron not to make the appointment, to head a review of British military bases in Cyprus, but was overruled. The move was described as “deeply offensive” by a Liberal Democrat peer who campaigned to force Lord Ashcroft to disclose his non-domicile status. Mr Cameron’s decision to defy his deputy is a clear signal that the multi-millionaire, who is one of the Conservatives’ biggest donors, is back in favour with senior Tories. However, on forming the Coalition, the Liberal Democrats, who had long detested Lord Ashcroft for targeting their candidates in marginal seats, vetoed any appointment. It is a sign of Mr Clegg’s waning power within the Coalition that his personal objection to the appointment fell on deaf years. – Daily Telegraph

With the help of his old friend, William Hague, Lord Ashcroft is to return to politics, acting as a lead adviser to the government on its review of the UK’s military bases in Cyprus. It’s nearly a year since Ashcroft gave up his non-dom tax status in order to keep his seat in the House of Lords but we can still expect this appointment to raise some eyebrows. How does Nick Clegg feel about the return of the man he once denounced as the “baron of Belize”? The BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg tweets that the Deputy PM made his objections to the appointment clear but that Cameron went ahead anyway. A Lib Dem source tells her that “you can’t go the wall on every issue”. Expect Labour to use this apparent division at the top of the government to its advantage. I’d be surprised if Ed Miliband doesn’t make at least one Ashcroft-related gag at PMQs tomorrow. – New Statesman

“A day to bury bad news,” where have I heard that before

Tory strategists were last night accused of using the visit of Barack Obama to bury “bad news”. The news in question is David Cameron having handed a Government post to controversial Tory donor Lord Ashcroft, provoking a bitter coalition row with the Liberal Democrats. Within hours, Lord Wei announced his resignation as Mr Cameron’s Big Society “czar”, just a day after the PM’s fourth try at relaunching his pet project. Liberal Democrat peer Lord Oakeshott said: “It’s silly to think you can bury really bad news just because Obama is visiting.” – the Independent

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