Antifrank looks at what now for the House of Lords

Antifrank looks at what now for the House of Lords

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The possible courses of action So the House of Lords has opted for confrontation with the government by asserting its right to intervene on financial matters that are not covered by the letter of the Parliament Act 1949. In turn, the government, like King Lear, has threatened that “I will do such things — what they are yet I know not — but they shall be the terrors of the earth”. We’ll see. It has long been recognised by pretty much everyone at…

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The tax credits defeat happened because the Tories are still paying a price for not winning a majority in 2010

The tax credits defeat happened because the Tories are still paying a price for not winning a majority in 2010

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The UK politics version “A peerage is for life not just for a parliament” Whenever I see animal welfare posters like the one above I think of the Coalition agreement of May 11 2010 – the day that David Cameron became PM after reaching an agreement with Nick Clegg and his team. For in recent days there’s been some comment that the Liberal Democrats are in a very strong position with 100+ peers in the House of Lords – a…

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The Lords vote to delay, not kill, Osborne’s tax credits plan

The Lords vote to delay, not kill, Osborne’s tax credits plan

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The motion to delay the tax credits changes which has been agreed pic.twitter.com/fpOjbsHnxU — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) October 26, 2015 LAB peers don't back the Lib Dem motion which would have totally killed the tax credit plan pic.twitter.com/WXll9S7OMN — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) October 26, 2015 Methinks that LAB decision not to vote for the killing of the tax credits changes might be seen as a mistake — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) October 26, 2015 Reminder: PB gathering Shooting Star Pub, London…

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Farage and UKIP the big gainers in the October Ipsos phone poll

Farage and UKIP the big gainers in the October Ipsos phone poll

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Farage up from -5% to +8% in latest Ipsos satisfaction ratings. pic.twitter.com/ZngyB8DhRt — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) October 26, 2015 Chart with voting figures in latest Ipsos poll pic.twitter.com/MEqe2qbwTp — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) October 26, 2015 42% say Corbyn and 39% say Cameron should not lead their parties at the general election – Ipsos polling pic.twitter.com/OG9wF1UMQv — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) October 26, 2015

Flooding the Lords with 100s of new peers so several million people can be made poorer doesn’t sound like smart politics

Flooding the Lords with 100s of new peers so several million people can be made poorer doesn’t sound like smart politics

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The great Lords-Commons standoff Today, of course, the House of Lords gets to decide whether George Osborne’s controversial tax credits curtailment plan will go forward. Because of the way this is being pursued through Parliament, as a statutory instrument, this is a rare occasion when the Upper House can, if it wants to, block a major part of government policy. If this had been part of a finance bill then the House of Lords would have had no power to…

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The great grad-non grad voting divide in both the US and UK

The great grad-non grad voting divide in both the US and UK

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How US Republican voters who didn't go to college are driving the Trump surge. Table via @montie pic.twitter.com/E3gxnYaP4a — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) October 25, 2015 The above table highlights a big trend in the Republican primaries which has strong echoes in the UK. The quite different voting patterns of those who went to university and those who didn’t. In the US at the moment this is highlighted by the make up of those supporting Donald Trump for the GOP nomination….

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The Blue and the Purple – the threat of a Tory civil war over the EU

The Blue and the Purple – the threat of a Tory civil war over the EU

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Antifrank on the potential for a big divide David Cameron is a popular leader of the Conservative party.  He has consistently outpolled it, tugging it along in his wake.  His brisk, warm, unideological Conservativism (which is closer to the Christian Democracy found on the continent than to the Thatcherism that has prevailed in the Conservative party for the last 30 years in Britain) appeals to many. Many, but not all.  His leftwing opponents outside his party are predictable.  Less predictably,…

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Nick Palmer on why we shouldn’t pay too much attention to EU referendum polls

Nick Palmer on why we shouldn’t pay too much attention to EU referendum polls

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Voters aren’t pay much attention at the moment Membership of the EU is so central to many aspects of our political debate that almost everyone in politics has a strong view about it. We project that onto the electorate at large, and then puzzle over the small number of people who actually mention it as an issue that they worry about. Is it because the question is badly put, or because they’re concealing their strong feelings? No. Look at the…

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