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Category: Coalition

Will this be the week the government’s ratings go negative?

Will this be the week the government’s ratings go negative?

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Ipsos-MORI Will the cross-over happen by Day 100? This is a week that’s going to be full of symbolism for the coalition government. Firstly in midweek it will reach the 100 day mark which is always a point for reflection and assessment and already we have seen the media using the peg of this milestone to start looking back. Secondly David Cameron is on holiday in Cornwall leaving his deputy, the Lib Dem Nick Clegg, notionally “in charge” whatever that…

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Is Prezza right to call Milburn a “collaborator”?

Is Prezza right to call Milburn a “collaborator”?

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SkyNews Should Labour figures be working with the coalition? As expected there’s been a furious response from ex-Labour deputy, John Prescott to the overnight news that former arch-Blairite cabinet minister, Alan Milburn is possibly going to return to government to act as “Social Mobility Czar” – whatever that means. Prezza Twittered: “So after Field & Hutton, Milburn becomes the 3rd collaborator. They collaborated to get Brown OUT. Now collaborating to keep Cameron IN” For the three Labour figures named were…

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What’ll this do to Huhne’s re-election chances in Eastleigh?

What’ll this do to Huhne’s re-election chances in Eastleigh?

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Guardian How can there now be a full-blooded Tory campaign? A big political story in the papers this morning is the coverage of the joint political press conference by Tory chair, Baroness Warsi and the LD cabinet minister, Chris Huhne. This was a joint move to attack Labour to try put the blame on what the coalition is having to do on the former government. For me the greater significance of this is not what they said but what it…

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Is a decision on David Laws imminent?

Is a decision on David Laws imminent?

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Could he be back in his old job by the autumn? One betting market that could soon be coming to fruition is the one on whether ex-LD Treasury Secretary, David Laws, will return to the cabinet before the end of the year. He had to stand down, of course, following allegations about his expense claims for housing costs. This has been prompted by newspaper reports that he’s now part of a group of key Clegg advisers and efforts are being…

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What is the exact nature of the coalition?

What is the exact nature of the coalition?

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1) Lipstick on a pig: a hard-line Conservative government with some Lib Dem detox; 2) An exceptional response to exceptional times, where getting the economy back on track is the sole priority of two right-thinking parties; 3) A true fusion of Lib Dem and Conservative aims to produce something that is better than the sum of the parts; or 4) A left-wing Conservative conspiracy with the Lib Dems against the right wing of the Conservatives? Thanks to antifrank on the…

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Has Cable won the battle over the graduate tax?

Has Cable won the battle over the graduate tax?

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Will this reinforce yellow support for the coalition? Both the Times and the Telegraph this morning carry news on their front pages that the coalition is to back Vince Cable’s Lib Dem proposal that university tuition fees should be replaced by what will surely become known as the graduate tax. Both papers are following up on an interview in the Sunday Telegraph at the weekend in which he was quoted as saying that the PM was “100% behind the plan”…

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Will nursery milk be “saved” by the LDs at the last minute?

Will nursery milk be “saved” by the LDs at the last minute?

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Sky News Get ready for the politics of the spending review The main story on SkyNews this morning evokes memories of what became a defining measure by the then education secretary, Margaret Thatcher, in 1971 – a long time ago. Even those who are too young to have been about at the time must be aware of the chant from the period – “Thatcher Thatcher – Milk Snatcher” – something that came to symbolise the 70s and the 80s. Her…

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What sort of welcome would Hague get from the LDs?

What sort of welcome would Hague get from the LDs?

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Should he speak at the September conference? There was a suggestion six weeks ago that David Cameron and Nick Clegg should speak at each other’s autumn conferences, That seems to have been put to one side. Instead we have a report in the coalition – loving Daily Mail that the foreign secretary William Hague is being lined up to speak. The idea, apparently is that he should make a witty speech – A source is quoted as saying: ‘It is…

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