Steady as she goes This is an extremely tricky week for punting on the Index. It is the Parliamentary Easter recess, so there is little publicity for any but a few of the main players. Iran is dominating the news and it’s hard to see how that is going to play over the next seven days. Pensions are playing badly for Brown but a safe sell has been pre-empted by a sharp price adjustment by Anthony Wells, who stuck him…
The Times steps up the pressure on the pension row One of the aspects of media behaviour that is hurting Gordon this morning is that newspapers never like to under-exaggerate the impact of their own scoops. So the Times follows it revelations on Saturday about the Chancellor ignoring the advice of civil servants in 1997 about the so-called “£5bn pensions grab” with today’s front-page splash, reproduced here, on the possible impact of its actions on the Labour succession. And as…
Small changes, small losses On the whole, I would sooner be a backer than a layer in IG’s Politicians’ Popularity market. We can pick and choose our targets, time our buys and sells, or just keep our money in the pocket if we don’t fancy the odds. Our amiable adversary, Anthony Wells, has to put up prices whether he wants to or not. He can’t just shrug his shoulders and say, for example, ‘Gordon Brown? Dunno. Too difficult this week.’…
Would the ex-home secretary provide the “heavyweight challenge” Conscious that it is April 1st I have dismissed the Observer story “Blair: I’ll be treading the boards again” suggesting that the PM is scheduled to appear in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible at the Old Vic when he stands down. But what of the Sunday Times report that the former home secretary, Charles Clarke, is ready to stand against Brown in order to ensure that there is a proper contest? According to…