Will the “Labour to blame” rhetoric continue to resonate?

Will the “Labour to blame” rhetoric continue to resonate?

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Are the yellows the coalition’s “weakest link”? The fury that’s come from Labour against the Lib Dems today has been a sight to behold – and a reflection of why an LD-LAB deal after the election was never going to happen. First we had the massive barracking of Clegg at his first Deputy PMs questions only to be followed by Labour’s response to Osborne’s budget. The question now, though, is whether the high-tempo Labour budget attacks are going to resonate…

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What should Clegg do about his Kennedy problem?

What should Clegg do about his Kennedy problem?

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Evening Standard blogs Could the ex-leader vote oppose the coalition budget? Reproduced above is part of a piece that was posted last night by the Evening Standard political writer, Paul Waugh. Clearly Kennedy, who was leader of the party until being forced out in the first week of 2006, is not a happy bunny. He is certainly no fan of the coalition – a view he shares with another former leader and one of those who ousted him, Ming Campbell….

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Two new polls have the Tories on 39 percent

Two new polls have the Tories on 39 percent

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Fieldwork Pollster/publication CON LAB LD 18-20 June ICM / The Guardian 39 31 21 18-20 June Ipsos MORI/Reuter 39 31 19 17-18 June YouGov / Sunday Times 39 34 19 16-17 June ComRes / Indy on Sunday 36 30 23 10-11 June YouGov / Sunday Times 40 32 18 10-11 June BPIX (YouGov) / Mail on Sunday 39 32 19 1-9 June Harris/Metro 36 30 25 28-31 May ComRes / The Independent 37 33 21 21-23 May ICM / The…

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Will Labour really go for MiliD – the biggest vote loser?

Will Labour really go for MiliD – the biggest vote loser?

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Candidate Seat LAB ’05 LAB ’10 Diane Abbott Hackney N & Stoke Newington 49.0% 55.0% Ed Miliband Doncaster North 51.1% 47.3% Andy Burnham Leigh 57.8% 51.3% Ed Balls Morley & Outwood 46.0% 37.6% David Miliband South Shields 60.8% 52.0% Or will it go for the one big winner? Above are the differing performances in their own constituencies of the five Labour hopefuls are the general election on May 6th. This was a day, of course, when the overall GB share…

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Does the 2015 election campaign start tomorrow?

Does the 2015 election campaign start tomorrow?

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Will the budget be less painful than its advanced billing? Just a day to go before the first budget of the new government and many of the papers are speculating over some of the horrendous things that they think that George Osborne will be announcing. But is the awfulness of what the coalition’s planning being talked up so that the reaction tomorrow afternoon is that it’s not as bad as was feared? It wouldn’t be the first time that expectations…

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Is Prezza right to call Hutton a “collaborator”?

Is Prezza right to call Hutton a “collaborator”?

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BBC News Would the best approach been to have kept quiet? There’s been a furious reaction from the former Labour deputy PM, Lord Prescott, to this morning news that his former cabinet colleague, John Hutton, is to head up the government’s commission into public sector pensions. Linking the action to moves by Kate Hoey and Frank Field he writes: “Now we have the unedifying spectacle of John Hutton, Labour’s former Work and Pensions minister, chairing a new Independent Pensions Commission…

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Is the contest moving Labour to the left?

Is the contest moving Labour to the left?

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Could there be dangers in ceding the centre ground? The Evening Standard political writer, Paul Waugh, has made an astute observation about the Labour leadership race – it is taking the party leftwards. He noted: “…..David Miliband came up with a string of policies that will gladden the hearts of party activists and trade unions. Axeing £100million tax breaks for private schools was an easy hit and one that – surely completely unintentionally – drew attention to Diane Abbott’s praise…

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