Can Elwyn Watkins get his 104 Tory switchers? Ex-Tory front-bencher turned professional blogger, Paul Goodman, has been the first to raise what’s said to be a growing feeling amongst Tory MPs that David Cameron would rather like it if the man who brought the case against Phil Woolas, Lib Dem Elwyn Watkins, ends of as winner in Old & Sad. His reasoning is that such a victory would steady the nerves of his coalition partners in the face the poor…
What’ll George Bush do to the civil liberties debate? Ahead of its serialisation of the George Bush book the Times has an interview this morning which will surely spark off a big debate on civil liberties and the use of torture particularly if it can be shown to have saved people’s lives. The Times front page above sets out the dilemma. For Bush claims that information extracted from terrorist suspects by “waterboarding†saved British lives by preventing attacks on Heathrow…
A special piece by MORUS on this afternoon’s statement Firstly a Judicial Review cannot happen, because a Judicial Review is not permitted to review the workings of the High Court (inc the Election Court) or the Court of Appeal. If the High Court takes complete leave of its senses and awards a Judicial Review, it should be ignored as being an unconstitutional crackpot court. Secondly, any appeal to the Court of Appeal concerning the illegal offence is tangential to the…
Just one percent of all money gambled has been on Labour Shadsy at Ladbrokes has just sent me a breakdown of the betting on the Oldham East & Saddleworth by election. Oldham E & Saddleworth Proportion of money wagered Liberal Democrats 83% Conservatives 13% Labour 1% If it continues like this and the election goes with the national opinion polls then the bookies will do very well. The opening Ladbrokes price on Clegg’s party was 8/1. It quickly moved in…
Click on picture to watch Is the by election going to be deferred? The next big move in the Oldham East and Saddleworth saga is a statement this afternoon from the commons speaker, John Bercow, on what’s going to happen next, particularly the timing of the by election. The question is whether, as would be normal when a vacancy occurs, it is for the house to call for the by election. Or will Bercow rule that this should be deferred…
Welcome to Jonathan’s new Sunday Slot Sunday nights are Labour night! Over the next few weeks, I’ll be writing posts from a left wing perspective. Hopefully this will compliment our excellent right wing posters such as David Herdson. To start, we need to face facts. The left faces a significant challenge today. Since the late 1990s, we have suffered reversals. We hold power in just three out of the ten democracies below. Where the left are still in power, they…
Hope you can make the next PB gathering Thanks to Fat Steve for once again organising this. We are having an informal get-together at the historic Dirty Dicks pub opposite the main entrance to Liverpool Street station. The time and date: a week on Wednesdsay at 6.30pm There’s no need to book but it does help if those who are coming can email Steve at Londonevent@politicalbetting.com It was a great gathering in March before the election – see you there….
Is the IDS programme the next “wedge issue”? The big political news this morning is the Observer’s front page splash saying that under plans to be announced in the next few days the jobless could risk losing their benefits if they don’t do unpaid manual work. This is based on the belief that jobseekers “would benefit from experiencing the habits and routines of working life”. According to the paper the unemployed will be told to take up “mandatory work activity”…