Will Dave be going to Rebekah’s again this Christmas?

Will Dave be going to Rebekah’s again this Christmas?

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Guardian 20 Jan 2011 Have the politics of phone hacking changed? The Speccie’s James Forsyth has got a good take on the hacking affair on the Coffee House blog following the revelations about the Milly Dowler case. He writes:“The politics of the phone hacking saga have changed dramatically in the last 24 hours. Up to now, it has been a scandal that has been of huge interest in political and media circles but hasn’t cut through to the public. But…

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Is Ed Miliband being written off prematurely?

Is Ed Miliband being written off prematurely?

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Will he really be “sunk without trace”? The “Ed is crap” media narrative continues this morning with Professor John Curtice being quoted in the Indy as saying “Since 1979 all previous opposition leaders with unambiguously negative poll ratings at this stage in their leadership have eventually sunk without trace”. But Curtice’s 1979 date qualification excludes Margaret Thatcher. MORI wasn’t polling at this stage in her leadership but in March 1977 the firm had her at 36% satisfied to 51% dissatisfied…

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Bleak news for the Lib Dems from the South-West

Bleak news for the Lib Dems from the South-West

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But will incumbency keep the losses down? There’s a poll out today from Marketing Means which has appalling news for Nick Clegg’s party about the state of opinion in one of their strong-holds, the SW of England. According to the hybrid phone/online poll the Tories are down one to 42%, Labour up 13 to 28% with the Lib Dem down from 35% in the region at the general election to just 16% now. On the face of it this would…

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Who’ll be out first – Bercow or Cameron?

Who’ll be out first – Bercow or Cameron?

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How’s the Speaker/PM stand-off going to end? I’m just back from the longest break I’ve had from PB since it’s establishment in 2004 and am only now catching up on what’s happened in the past week and a half. The above encounter last Wednesday showing the readiness of the speaker to cut off the prime minister while in full flow in his final response to the opposition leader strikes me as being unprecedented which could have long lasting consequences. Certainly…

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It’s Grim Up North (especially for Lib Dems)

It’s Grim Up North (especially for Lib Dems)

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Click for video A guest piece from Harry Hayfield Back in the early 1990’s, a band calling themselves the KLF (or the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu or the JAMMS), launched a series of records that they hoped would define the 1990’s in terms of music – they had several number 1’s including a duet with Tammy Wynette and even a version of the Doctor Who theme. They then took a slight tangent and started producing works reflecting their political…

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How is your betting “P&L” six months in?

How is your betting “P&L” six months in?

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… and what the Sundays are saying We’re now halfway through the year, so this might be a good time to take stock of the betting “profit and loss” for the year. Are you up, down, or flat? And what has been your rate of return for 2011 to date, if you calculate it? I’m probably in the second tier of PB punters– it tends to be a few hundred here and there, rather than thousands. So, in terms of…

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Will the other Ed be leader within the year?

Will the other Ed be leader within the year?

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Is it worth the 14/1 on offer?   Ed Miliband’s decision to publicly criticise and oppose the striking public sector workers this week was a brave and for him, a potentially dangerous one. It didn’t help that Miliband’s own advocacy of the line was less than convincing, as HenryG pointed out in yesterday’s thread. It’s true that the unions involved aren’t affiliated to the Labour Party but they do contain many Labour supporters (all the more with the Lib Dems involved in…

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