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Month: May 2009

Could Martin wreak a terrbile revenge on Brown?

Could Martin wreak a terrbile revenge on Brown?

Mail Online Does he know too much about Brown’s role in expense-gate? There’s a must-read piece by Peter Oborne in the Mail this morning suggesting that if Gordon is complicit (sanctioning a confidence debate say) in Martin’s demise then the prime minister’s position could become even more precarious. Here’s a taster: “…..the Prime Minister’s supporters fear that if the Speaker believes Brown has betrayed him or been disloyal in any way, he is capable of wreaking a terrible revenge…Their greatest…

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So what’s the answer to the Mail’s question?

So what’s the answer to the Mail’s question?

Is Gord ready to “kill Martin off”? Of all the front pages this morning the one that gets to the heart of the matter is the Daily Mail – is the Prime Minister ready to make the parliamentary time available fot the confidence motion on his fellow Scot, Michael Martin to be debated? If he doesn’t Brown will face a mighty storm and possibly lasting and terminal damage to what remains of his political career. If he does then it…

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Labour move up to 23% in new YouGov poll

Labour move up to 23% in new YouGov poll

CON 39 (-2) LAB 23(+1) LD 19 (nc) But are the BNP gaining in the Euros? There’s a new YouGov poll in the printed edition Daily Telegraph this morning which is not yet on their online pages which is why I missed it overnight. The figures will provide a welcome relief for Labour and might cause a touch of concern for the Tories who are below 40% for the first time since 2007 in a survey from the pollster. The…

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Is the Speaker’s plan to soldier on regardless?

Is the Speaker’s plan to soldier on regardless?

Will Martin dare risk a confidence vote? These are indeed amazing days and we’ll know in a few hours how Michael Martin plans to deal with the increasing clamour for him to go following Nick Clegg’s unprecedented call by a party leader for him to step down. His choices are stark. Make an announcement today that he’s going or, as is being reported, try to buy time until the election by taking the initiative on the MP expenses issue. If…

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“Singh is King” as Congress posts best score since ’91

“Singh is King” as Congress posts best score since ’91

BBC BJP leader Advani resigns, Rahul Gandhi for Cabinet? India may have the world’s longest election in terms of the schedule of official voting days, but with the electronic voting machines the results are out fairly quickly – within a few hours of counting commencing at 8am local time, the trends had become clear and the UPA/Congress had posted a comfortable seat lead over NDA/BJP that kept on growing. The opinion polls that had the two big parties around 140…

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Is Martin’s position now untenable?

Is Martin’s position now untenable?

Click here to watch Clegg’s call Has Clegg’s call pushed this beyond the point of no return? On the face of it Michael Martin’s position is toast. A commons motion that’s been put down calling for him to go is attracting increasing all-party support and in a surprise intervention this morning Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg called for him to go. The Clegg call was the more remarkable because the convention is that party leaders simply don’t act like that….

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How low can the Big Three go?

How low can the Big Three go?

We had all sorts of problems uploading the chart so apologies that it’s not the easiest to read. The purple / pink lines are the shares at General Elections. The yellow / peach lines are the shares at European elections.The pink and yellow lines are the shares for all parties outside the Big Three (Con, Lab, LD) The purple and peach lines are the shares for all parties outside the Big Two (Con, Lab). Will the Expenses Scandal produce a…

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