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Category: Coalition

If you’ve got an hour then you must listen to this

If you’ve got an hour then you must listen to this

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Does this add to our understanding of today? I’ve just finished listening to Matthew Solon’s radio play which seeks to tell the story of the five days after the general election which led to the formation of the coalition. It’s based on interviews with those who were directly involved and on published material with actors playing the key characters. I think it works brilliantly and what we hear is a compelling account of what went on. It certainly added to…

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What if there was an unexpected vacancy…?

What if there was an unexpected vacancy…?

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What would happen in each of the parties? For the last hour or so I’ve been lying awake pondering what would happen if there was an unexpected vacancy in each of the three parties. Who would take over and what would be the consequences? The easiest, I think, would be with Labour. If Ed Miliband was suddenly unable to continue in the job then there would only be three realistic choices – Harriet Harman (20/1), David Miliband (5/1) or Yvette…

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The welfare cuts continue to get strong public backing

The welfare cuts continue to get strong public backing

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Making the long term unemployed spend 4 weeks doing unpaid work All voters CON voters LAB voters LD voters Support 73 92 58 83 Oppose 17 3 31 14 Don’t know 10 5 10 3 Withdrawing Jobseekers Allowance from those who turn down a job offer or interview All voters CON voters LAB voters LD voters Support 66 82 57 71 Oppose 21 8 33 22 Don’t know 12 9 10 6 More stringent testing for people receiving Disability Living…

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Is waterboarding justifiable if it saves London lives?

Is waterboarding justifiable if it saves London lives?

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What’ll George Bush do to the civil liberties debate? Ahead of its serialisation of the George Bush book the Times has an interview this morning which will surely spark off a big debate on civil liberties and the use of torture particularly if it can be shown to have saved people’s lives. The Times front page above sets out the dilemma. For Bush claims that information extracted from terrorist suspects by “waterboarding” saved British lives by preventing attacks on Heathrow…

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What does EdM do about the “jobless must work” plan?

What does EdM do about the “jobless must work” plan?

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Is the IDS programme the next “wedge issue”? The big political news this morning is the Observer’s front page splash saying that under plans to be announced in the next few days the jobless could risk losing their benefits if they don’t do unpaid manual work. This is based on the belief that jobseekers “would benefit from experiencing the habits and routines of working life”. According to the paper the unemployed will be told to take up “mandatory work activity”…

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Half of Labour voters support housing benefit cap

Half of Labour voters support housing benefit cap

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“Support or oppose cap on housing benefit” (YouGov) All sampled CON voters % LAB voters% LD voters % Support 72 94 52 78 Oppose 16 3 35 11 Don’t know 13 3 14 11 Should the red team and Boris re-think their strategies? After a week when domestic politics has been almost taken over by the row on housing benefit there is some polling on the issue – by YouGov for today’s Sunday Times. The findings with cross tabs on…

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Could terror test the coalition’s libertarian credentials?

Could terror test the coalition’s libertarian credentials?

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How will Cameron resolve the control orders row? The latest terror threats could not have come at a worse time for the coalition partners because, as Andrew Rawnsely reports in the Observer this morning, there’s a huge row going on about the future of control orders and extended detention without trial. There’s a report waiting to be published which says that these should continue in a slightly restricted form – something that would be totally opposed by Nick Clegg’s party….

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Is welfare the new political divide?

Is welfare the new political divide?

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What are the dangers in getting tough? Maybe I’m being unfair to suggest that there is perhaps nothing that pleases Daily Mail readers more than reading headlines like this morning’s about the efforts to tighten up on who should receive the £95-a-week Employment and Support Allowance – which is replacing incapacity benefit. Phrases like “weeding out the work-shy” are powerful and resonate, surely with the audience. The Mail highlights new statistics showing that 640,000 out of about 840,000 who applied…

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