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Author: David Herdson

Does a swing to the right help or hinder the Tories?

Does a swing to the right help or hinder the Tories?

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David Herdson wonders if the nature of the “floater” is changing Much comment has been made about the apparent shift to the right in the Conservative Party that the reshuffle represented. Before looking at that, it’s worth noting that this was David Cameron acting as Conservative leader rather than Prime Minister: the Lib Dems’ responsibilities at cabinet level remained utterly unchanged in portfolio and personnel. As the parliament wears on, the government resembles less and less a unified coalition and…

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Over to Rio and then where?

Over to Rio and then where?

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How’s the race for the 2020 Games looking? Jacques Rogge is not given to using his Closing Ceremony speech at each Olympic Games to declare them ‘the best ever’, as his predecessor, Juan Antonio Samaranch usually did. Maybe that’s because he feels it cheapens his office and demeans previous hosts; alternatively, perhaps it’s that Athens 2004 with its organisational problems, and the spectacular but expensive and sterile Beijing 2008 don’t deserve the accolade. London, on the other hand, maybe does….

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How will the Olympics affect the Independence debate?

How will the Olympics affect the Independence debate?

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Does a successful Team GB underline ‘we’re stronger together’? PB reported earlier this week on a Comres poll which reported an upsurge in support for the Olympics now they’re underway (and taken before Britain started winning golds). It also reported on a YouGov poll which recorded a slight firming-up north of the border of opposition to independence, where more than half support the maintenance of the union, against less than a third favouring independence – an increase in the gap…

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Will the games boost Cameron’s election chances?

Will the games boost Cameron’s election chances?

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Do governments of host countries get an Olympic boost? Since ancient times, rulers have used festivals and games as distractions for the masses; an entertained populace is likely to be a content one, or at least a more content one than it would otherwise have been. Does this feed through to a government’s re-election chances? Surprisingly, it seems it might do. In the 116-year history of the modern Olympic games, only three have been held in wholly non-democratic countries: Berlin…

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Lords Reform – an alternative

Lords Reform – an alternative

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Might a plan like this win more approval? Conspiracy theorists have ascribed the revolt by many Conservative backbenchers earlier this month in the vote on Lords reform to any number of factors. What it really boiled down to was that it was viewed as the wrong solution to an irrelevant problem. It’s seen as an irrelevant problem by many in the Commons on both sides of the chamber because whatever the theoretical deficiencies of the Lords, its unelectedness assures the…

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David Herdson asks: Recession – What recession?

David Herdson asks: Recession – What recession?

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Why is no-one talking about the double-dip? The revised growth figures released earlier this week showing the current recession to be deeper than previously thought passed with the sort of muted media comment that’s been was typical of the coverage of the current recession in general – you’d hardly know there is one. The media seems unable or unwilling to use it as a narrative within which to run other economic stories. Even Labour’s efforts to push the line are…

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What about a Leveson-style inquiry for the banks?

What about a Leveson-style inquiry for the banks?

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Surely there are vital lessons to be learned? When something goes wrong, people inevitably look for someone to blame and politicians are often keener than most to assign blame, not least because if they get in early enough, there’s a better chance that the blame won’t land on them. All of which makes it surprising that the government’s not commissioned any overarching inquiry into the causes of the financial crisis – plainly the biggest thing to go wrong for many…

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Will Cameron go the way of Heath?

Will Cameron go the way of Heath?

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Wikimeda Commons Is the country not yet ready for a 21st century Selsdon Man? The battering the government took in this week’s local elections shouldn’t have come as too much of a surprise. The line being defended – those seats last fought in 2008 – was set at the very depths of Labour’s unpopularity in office; the government is taking decisions which are making life harder for many across the country while failing to pin the ultimate blame for them…

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