Are members of the coalition simply exhausted?

Are members of the coalition simply exhausted?

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Jonathan looks at the toll of being in government David Cameron looks tired.  At the last PMQs the Prime Minister was not on top form. Arguably he has started to show symptoms of exhaustion. Other ministers are faring little better. It is perhaps understandable. Even before Libya, the workload undertaken by this administration was daunting. After less than one year in office is this government already exhausted? At PMQs this week the Prime Minister was not at his best. He…

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Another poll boost for the SNP’s Alex Salmond

Another poll boost for the SNP’s Alex Salmond

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But how important is the recognition factor? There’s a new Scottish poll out in the Sunday Times by PanelBase – a pollster that I have not heard of before. The voting intention figures are in the revised Scottish voting table below and show an SNP lead of five points in the regional section while level-pegging with Labour in the constituency one. An interesting variant is that poll participants were shown pictures of the party leaders and were asked whether they…

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Will “Saving the NHS” help save the Lib Dems?

Will “Saving the NHS” help save the Lib Dems?

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Is Clegg about to jump onto the Lansley Lifeboat? The main story in the Indy on Sunday is a report, described as an exclusive, by Matt Chorley and Nina Lakhani that David Cameron will announce this week that the brakes are to be put on Andrew Lansley’s controversial NHS reforms. The report states: “… Mr Cameron will publicly admit to mistakes in the plan by the Secretary of State, Andrew Lansley, to hand £80bn of health spending to family doctors,…

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Was the total of marchers nearer to 100k than 500k?

Was the total of marchers nearer to 100k than 500k?

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Were 100 passing by every 3 seconds? Last Saturday’s TUC march was a major political event – but how many were actually on it? Over the past seven days we’ve seen the estimates grow and grow and a figure of half a million is gaining currency. But is that anywhere near to the actual total? For it to have been the claimed half million then more than a 100 marchers would have had to have passed by every three seconds…

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Is The Sport’s demise its most newsworthy event?

Is The Sport’s demise its most newsworthy event?

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Daily Telegraph What does it say about the future of the printed newspaper? To describe the Daily and Sunday Sport as newspapers would be stretching a point. By the editor’s own admission, they were about sport, women and humour, even if they did have Lembit Opik writing a weekly politics column. So news that the group has gone tits up will not reverberate through the media in the same way as the demise of a more serious title would. But…

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Take the 12-1 that Warsi will be next out

Take the 12-1 that Warsi will be next out

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Evening Standard And Spelman at 16/1 is worth a punt too Joe Murphy in tonight’s Standard is saying that Tory chairman, Baroness Warsi, is set to get the boot in a post-May 5th cabinet re-shuffle. He’s tipping Grant Shapps to replace her. Also on Murphy’s danger list is Caroline Spelman who came to the forefront a month or so ago with the forestry sell-off row. I don’t know how strong Murphy’s information is but it seems likely that Cameron will…

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Marf’s exhibition opens today

Marf’s exhibition opens today

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PB’s occasional cartoonist, Marf, has an exhibition opening at the Guildhall Gallery in the City of London today. Amongst the works included are many that first appeared on this site. As has already been announced there will be a special gathering on Monday April 18th from 4pm at the gallery. That’s the day of the next PB party at the Dirty Dicks public house opposite Liverpool Street station. I’m travelling today and am not following the news or the threads….

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Has opinion now calmed down?

Has opinion now calmed down?

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How PAPA has moved since the election Month Ends CON % LAB % LD % Election 37.0 29.7 23.6 June 2010 40.2 37.2 17.2 Jul 10 37.6 37.2 15.2 Aug 10 39.3 36.0 15.0 Sept 10 40.0 36.7 15.0 Oct 10 37.8 37.0 14.8 Nov 10 37.2 38.5 12.5 Dec 10 37.2 39.8 10.6 Jan 11 34.8 42.0 11.4 Feb 11 34.8 40.3 12.5 Mar 11 35.2 40.3 11.7 Ever since PAPA – the Politicalbetting All Pollsters’ Average – was…

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