Marf’s Monday Morning view
More of Marf’s work can be found at LondonSketchbook.com.
Why the Lib Dems might veto the boundary changes?
Guardian Have they the power to stop the changes going through? There’s a story in today’s Guardian that adds to information I’ve been getting in the past few days – that the Lib Dems might veto the planned boundary changes when these come up for parliamentary approval some time before the 2015 general election. The Guardian report notes that under the plan to decrease the number of MPs from 650 to 600 it is projected that the Lib Dem could…
Is Inverclyde a certain Labour hold?
Or could the SNP produce some of their May 5th magic? The upcoming Inverclyde by-election will be the fifth since the general election but only the first to be called because of the death or illness of the incumbent MP. All the other contests have been either prompted by the courts in one way or another – Phill Woolas/Eric Illsley – or else because the May 5th winner wanted to fight an election for a position outside Westminster – Sir…
What’s happened to public sector union militancy?
Will the government have an easy ride? One statistic released this week that received a fair amount of coverage was the median rate of public sector pay settlements in the last quarter: for the first time since the figures were compiled, it had fallen to zero. What is notable is that this restraint hasn’t been accompanied by industrial action. Why not? One possibility is that the unions are biding their time for bigger battles to come, with pension reform being…
What are the chances of Lords’ reform?
Could something go through before 2015? I’m suggesting to Ladbrokes and other bookies that a market is set up on whether legislation will be passed before the next general election requiring at least part of the membership of the house of Lords to be elected. The detailed proposals for such a reform were published three weeks ago and include a 300-member hybrid house, of which 80% are elected. Under the plan members would also serve for single non-renewable terms of…
Should the Huhne survival winners have another bet?
Will he still be in the cabinet by the party conference? Those who bet that the resilient Lib Dem energy secretary would still be in the cabinet by the end of May have ended up as winners and Ladbrokes have been very prompt in paying out. The firm has now opened a follow-up market with the operative date being the start of the Lib Dem conference on September 17th. That’s quite a long way off and the whole business of…
With the death toll mounting in Spain’s e coli cucumber outbreak…
..a cartoon about FIFA from Marf
Could the coalition continue even if there’s a Tory majority?
Senior aides say this is what they want According to Tim Montgomerie at Con Home there’s a report by Rachel Sylvester in tomorrow’s Times that says that aides to Cameron and senior Tory ministers want the LDs to stay in government even if the Conservatives win a majority at the next election. Rachel Sylvester apparently says that there’s a view that Lib Dems are essential to ensure any Tory government isn’t held to ransom by “unreconstructed elements†amongst the blues….