Which should we fear most: the riots or the financial crisis?

Which should we fear most: the riots or the financial crisis?

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What’ll this do the Met’s battered leadership? What a Monday morning. The riots in north London spreading with suggestions about the veracity of the original reports of the incident on Thursday that sparked off Saturday’s riots – and of course the financial turmoil across Europe. The papers have no doubts about the main story – riots in North London which moved to Enfield last night. If the latest reports about the shooting of Mark Duggan are correct then that is…

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Can Rick Perry win by invoking the Almighty?

Can Rick Perry win by invoking the Almighty?

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Is mixing church and state going too far? The big event this weekend the 2012 White House race has been a massive prayer event at a stadium in Houston attended by thousands of people. A key participant was the Texas governor and the man said to be just about to declare his candidature, Rick Perry. It seems that the whole event was devised as part of the build-up before his announcement. His detractors say that he’s going too far in…

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How dangerous for Boris is his 50 pence tax stance?

How dangerous for Boris is his 50 pence tax stance?

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Henry G Manson says it could provide an opening for Ken With 9 months to go to London mayoral election we’re now in the territory where campaign themes are developed and firmed up. Even though it is not within mayoral powers, the 50p tax is one issue could certainly come into the mix. Boris Johnson has been the most strident Conservative politician in calling to abolish the last government’s 50p tax rate on those earning over £150,000 per year. This…

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Why are Tories at their best in the morning?

Why are Tories at their best in the morning?

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What’s Labour’s secret in the afternoons? Here’s a bit of fun polling from YouGov which shows the responses to the question “Would you say you are at your best in…” broken down by party party allegiance. As can be seen Tories are disproportionately “at their best” in the mornings while Labour voters do disproportionately better in the afternoon. In the evening the LDs are at the bottom although they get the top rating for at night. Who knows what this…

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Could democracy itself be a casualty of the economic crisis?

Could democracy itself be a casualty of the economic crisis?

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How much will electorates take from their representatives? It’s easy to think of democracy as the natural political system for the majority of the world. It’s widely aspired to in those countries that don’t have it and even dictatorships usually feel the need to legitimise their rule through some form of elections, no matter how fraudulent they may be in reality. History tells us however that the route to democracy is not a one-way street. Of the 27 current members…

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Is it wise to bring Laws back so early?

Is it wise to bring Laws back so early?

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The Sun Surely they should have waited a year? There was a time when stories in the Sun like this one about David Laws were treated like official announcements. For long periods, particularly during the Blair years, the paper got scoop after scoop about the government’s intentions which turned out to be on the money. So what are we to make of today’s story that David Laws is about to make a return? Is it just standard Westminster village speculation…

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Has the Mirror got a point?

Has the Mirror got a point?

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Should all three be on hols at the same time? It’s almost an August banker – at some stage during the month every year there’ll be a front page like today’s Mirror about leading political figures being on their holidays while a crisis beckons. But with scare headlines running across almost all today’s papers shouldn’t at least one of the top team always be on hand? Surely they could have planned it that way? Share collapses like we’ve seen can…

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Will Michelle Bachmann top the Ames Straw Poll?

Will Michelle Bachmann top the Ames Straw Poll?

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Is this a “Must Win” for the GOP’s third favourite? A week on Saturday at a university campus at Ames in Iowa what’s generally regarded as the first serious test of opinion about who should be the Republican party nominee takes place. The Ames Straw poll can be a hugely influential and in 1999 attracted more that 23,000 participants. There’s a whole series of things from barbecues to concerts going on during day finishing off with a vote amongst participants…

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