So is it going to be June? – Brown may rule out early 09 election The Sunday Times reports Charlie Whelan, formerly Brown’s press secretary and now political officer with Unite, as saying that June 2009 would be an “ideal opportunity” to hold an election. The paper says that his comments “echo what many of Brown’s advisers have been recently saying in private… while most senior Labour figures believe 2010 is still the most likely year for an election, they…
Is Portillo right about the Conservatives and Clarke? The Sunday Times reports that the Cabinet is split over the proposed third runway at Heathrow, with Hilary Benn warning that the expansion should be rejected unless noise and air pollution are dramatically cut. The Environment Secretary gives an interview to the paper who suggest that the “similarities between the father and his cabinet minister son are becoming increasingly apparent”. ST columnist Michael Portillo argues that “if the Tories lose the election…
Is Green-gate now just history For a demonstration of the power of the government to control the news agenda just look at today’s development with the planned ban on tobacco product displays in shops. This is a relatively minor move that won’t come in for corner shops until 2013 – yet look at how much coverage this has attracted. There’s a bit of controversy there and its something else to go on the bulletins. Meanwhile the Damian Green story will…
Could the Speaker have to face the music? If the News of the World report is right that the Crown Prosecution Service is concluding that the case against Green and Galley is “not prosecutable†then that puts a whole different complexion on the affair and today’s debate. For the possibility that there’s not a “crime” takes away one of the main props on which the two who are most exposed – the Speaker and the Home Secretary – had been…
The Speaker wants another term – but can he finish this one? The BBC is reporting that the Speaker has lost the confidence of 30 MPs, with 50 believing him to be culpable over the Green arrest, while the Observer editorial simply says “Stand down, Mr Speaker”, and the Mail reports on how the Serjeant at Arms was “knifed” by the Speaker. However, the Sunday Times reports a defiant Michael Martin as wanting to stand for a third term as…
Cameron – “this is a watershed moment”: Brown must speak out How will Clegg’s aeroplane comments play in the Lib Dems? Writing in the News of the World, David Cameron calls on the PM to “make his opinions clear” on the Green arrest. “…does he think it is right for an MP who has apparently done nothing to breach our national security to have his home and office searched by a dozen counter-terrorist police officers, his phone, BlackBerry and computers…
Why Linford’s right about bloggers in the lobby The former Westminster journalist and now leading blogger, Paul Linford, is stepping up his calls for members of the new media, bloggers, to be allowed into the lobby. He notes: “…what we must now call the Big Five political blogs are, by virtue of their size, influence, and networks, practically part of the mainstream media already. They are, in no particular order, Iain Dale’s Diary, Guido Fawkes, Political Betting, Conservative Home and…