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Month: March 2011

Are the NHS reforms a bridge too far?

Are the NHS reforms a bridge too far?

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Jonathan’s Sunday Slot Is the Coalition doing too much to reform the NHS? Last May it embarked on reform at a frenetic pace. No area of government has been left untouched. Arguably its agenda is more ambitious than any government since 1945. But does trying to do everything at once incur serious risks? Cracks are already showing. Ministers look tired. Can Cameron hold things together and will his NHS reforms prove a bridge too far? The coalition programme is already…

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Will the Tories now have to pull back over the Lansley plan?

Will the Tories now have to pull back over the Lansley plan?

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Could the future of the coalition be on the line? My strong sense from all that has come out in the past 24 hours from the Lib Dem conference in Sheffield is that the partnership between the blues and the yellows is about to face its biggest test over the Andrew Lansley NHS changes. From the amendments that the Lib Dem leadership had to accept yesterday the party’s contingent of MPs is going to find it almost impossible to go…

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NO 4pc ahead with ComRes but 8pc behind with YouGov

NO 4pc ahead with ComRes but 8pc behind with YouGov

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Latest AV referendum polls using the question that’s on the ballot Date YES (FOR AV) % NO (FOR FPTP) % Methodology note YouGov/SkyNews 09/03/11 54 (+2) 46 (-2) Repercentaged by PB to show only decided voters. Comparisons are with last similar poll for NO2AV on March 2. No turnout weighting. Politically weighted via party ID and newspaper type. ComRes/Indy on Sunday 09/03/11 48 (-9) 52 (+9) Repercentaged by PB to show only decided voters. Online with Westminster turnout filter. No…

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Is Jim Murphy for leader worth a punt at 33-1?

Is Jim Murphy for leader worth a punt at 33-1?

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Could he be the safe pair of hands to replace EdM? After a winning bet at 33/1 that Ed Miliband would replace Gordon Brown I’ve placed a wager at the same same price this afternoon at Ladbrokes that Jim Murphy will be the next Labour leader. To me he is becoming the most impressive member of Labour’s front-bench team and his speech to Progress today is being well received on the LabourList website. His vision for the party combined with…

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How well has the government picked its key 2011 battle?

How well has the government picked its key 2011 battle?

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Are the Hutton pensions reforms the right place to fight? The reforms to the public-sector pensions that John Hutton, the former Labour Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, proposed in his report for the government earlier this week have understandably dropped out of the news. They will, however, be back. Even without the need to reduce the deficit, public-sector pensions were becoming more and more expensive, given rising life expectancy. Hutton has given the government all the political cover…

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What’ll Japan do to Britain’s nuclear power strategy?

What’ll Japan do to Britain’s nuclear power strategy?

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BBC news Could the leak slow down the planned expansion? Perhaps the biggest domestic victim of today’s appalling events in Japan could be the plan to expand nuclear power. In recent years there has been a shift in favour of nuclear again because of it being a source of power without the CO2 implications. The main argument against has always been safety – something that might be magnified following the radiation leak in Japan. The fact that this happened in…

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What’s this news going to do to Lib Dem conference coverage?

What’s this news going to do to Lib Dem conference coverage?

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Could some yellows be a bit relieved? There was a time when the Lib Dems looked to their spring conference as a platform that, hopefully would lead to some media coverage in the run-up to the May local elections. This year things look set to be different with the narrative framed by the challenges of being in coalition and their 6th place in the Barnsley by-election. But could all that be much reduced by this morning’s terrible news from Japan?…

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