Browsed by
Category: Cuts

Some of the headlines after the big statement are not quite what Osborne must have been hoping for

Some of the headlines after the big statement are not quite what Osborne must have been hoping for

Comments 0 Comment

The Sun’s treatment highlights the danger of Twitter When I first saw Osborne’s pre-sending review statement Tweet with a picture of himself at his desk eating a burger it looked like a mistake. It was just too contrived and in any case the Chancellor is always going to have a battle convincing us that he’s a man of the people. This is how the paper is reporting it:- “The Chancellor tweeted a snap of himself “finalising” work on his spending…

Read More Read More

A joyless recovery doesn’t necessarily mean a voteless recovery

A joyless recovery doesn’t necessarily mean a voteless recovery

Comments 0 Comment

Will 2015 be more like 1983 or 1997? Since speculation of a triple-dip recession was put onto the backburner with the modest growth recorded in the first quarter of the year, the preponderance of the economic stats have pointed to the embedding of a steady, if unspectacular, recovery.  The employment figures this last week were as good an example as any: jobs were up, unemployment was down and earnings are still failing to maintain pace with prices. To some extent,…

Read More Read More

Labour and the economy

Labour and the economy

Comments 0 Comment

Voters for the last few years have said the economy is the most important issue facing Britain. Last night we had a survation poll for Labourlist which shows That nearly half of all voters (46.8%) believe that Labour “cannot be trusted with the economy”. Less than one-third (30.1%) believe that Labour can be trusted with the nation’s finances. There is further evidence that Labour isn’t trusted with the economy, as there is polling that shows that a plurality blame Labour…

Read More Read More

Henry G Manson looks at the politics of food banks

Henry G Manson looks at the politics of food banks

Comments 0 Comment

Chart from Left Foot Forward What should be the best response? This week Ed Miliband was campaigning in Oxfordshire and visited a food bank in the Prime Minister’s constituency. I was surprised that the people of Witney needed a food bank, but perhaps it’s a sign of the times. It struck me how ‘food banks’ have become a live political issue now and are not just a response to real hardship. How MPs and political parties respond to their growth…

Read More Read More

Today’s Daily Mail front page is one of the most controversial in a long time

Today’s Daily Mail front page is one of the most controversial in a long time

Comments 0 Comment

Lots of controversy overnight over whether the Mail has gone too far with today’s front page twitter.com/MSmithsonPB/st… — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) April 3, 2013 To me this creates an excuse for the killer Almost all the tabloids are leading this morning with the conviction of Mick Philpott of killing six of his children. Where the Daily Mail is different is that it seeks to put at least part of the blame onto “Welfare UK” and in doing so, I’d suggest,…

Read More Read More

Henry G Manson on Friday

Henry G Manson on Friday

Comments 0 Comment

Theresa May in the Commons twitter.com/MSmithsonPB/st… — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) March 15, 2013 Hello all: I hate the new Disqus as much as you do. I will be actively looking for a new alternative. Please bear with us until we find one. Thanks, Robert Has Theresa May forgotten her pledges to the disabled? Theresa May has been burnishing her right wing credentials in recent weeks. Predictably the right wing press has lapped up promises to withdraw from the Human Rights…

Read More Read More

Ed Miliband shouldn’t have given the undertaking that Ed Balls will remain as shadow chancellor until the election

Ed Miliband shouldn’t have given the undertaking that Ed Balls will remain as shadow chancellor until the election

Comments 0 Comment

Ed Miliband’s biggest mistake today was saying that Ed Balls will stay until the election. This is latest ICM polling twitter.com/MSmithsonPB/st… — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) January 13, 2013 Poll after poll says it – Balls is a liability For me the big news from Ed Miliband’s Marr interview today was his commitment to keep Ed Balls as shadow chancellor until the general election. Yes it’s hard when an interviewer puts you on the spot like he did – but Ed…

Read More Read More