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Double Carpet’s round-up of the betting markets

23/8/2009 Editor Comments No Comments

A few bets for consideration at home and abroad Following up on the recent autumn preview, here are a few betting opportunities that you might like to consider before the political scene starts to hot up again – naturally the usual caveats apply. Feedback on individual selections welcomed. Norway Norway votes on 14th September and didn’t get covered in the autumn preview, but Labour’s Jens Stoltenberg to be re-elected Prime Minister is 2/5 (in from 1/2) with Ladbrokes and looks…

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Can Brown stand up to the emboldened Darling?

23/8/2009 Mike Smithson Comments No Comments

Mail Online We’re back to more Labour leadership speculation “Oh no” I can hear you groan – not more on Gordon Brown and the Labour leadership. Alas it’s been some time since we did a thread on the subject but with the holidays coming to an end that’s all changing. The Mail on Sunday is carrying the above story about the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, making a scathing attack in a private meeting on his boss over how to attack the…

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Is Cameron winning the war of words on the NHS?

22/8/2009 Mike Smithson Comments No Comments

Conservatives 41%(-1) Labour 24%(nc) Lib Dems 18% (nc) Labour’s still in the mid-20s as the months are tick by The first ComRes poll in nearly a month is just out for tomorrow’s Indy on Sunday and follows the pattern of the other surveys this month in showing very little change in headline voting intentions. Here the one point drop by the Tories is well within the margin of error and is hardly significant. What will make the headlines tomorrow morning…

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Is Mandy playing with words on his trade-deal denial?

22/8/2009 Mike Smithson Comments No Comments

What are we to make of his Megrahi response? One of the headlines on Radio 4’s 1300 news was a denial by trade secretary, Peter Mandelson, that there was any link between the release of the Lockerbie bomber and British trade deals with Libya. His actual words did not actually say that. For he said that any suggestions that the release had been in return for trade deals were “offensive“. Now that is is not a denial. It’s a smart…

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Can Cameron get away with keeping her on?

22/8/2009 Editor Comments No Comments

Is the climate after “expenses-gate” starting to change? Two separate developments over Julie Kirkbride – the Tory MP for Bromsgrove, and married to Andrew MacKay, MP for Bracknell who were featured in the expenses exposes. He, formerly a close advisor to David Cameron, has announced that he would be stepping down at the next election. But Julie did not go as quickly, or seemingly as willingly, but she did eventually announce her decision to join her husband in retirement, effective…

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So what’s the verdict on the SNP’s performance?

21/8/2009 Mike Smithson Comments No Comments

Was Kenny MacAskill the weakest link? The SNP could not be blamed for the celebrations in Tripoli last night when Megrahi arrived back in Libya but those TV pictures have certainly added to the challenge the party faces over its decision. The reaction of William Hills has been to lengthen the odds on the SNP winning the next Scottish Elections from 4/6 to 5/6 where they are now joint favourites with Labour. What the Tripoli TV pictures have underlined is…

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Is Cameron wrong to raise his family experiences of the NHS?

21/8/2009 Mike Smithson Comments No Comments

Mail online Or should Utley have left it well alone? There’s an interesting attack on David Cameron in the Mail which I’m surprised has not got more attention. For the paper’s sometimes controversial columnist, Tom Utley takes the Tory leader to task over the why he uses his family, including his late son, Ivan, in the NHS argument. Utley’s focus is on those who argue about the NHS by reducing everything to their personal experiences. “..I find it deeply depressing,…

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Has Brown’s response been like the Lisbon treaty signing?

21/8/2009 Mike Smithson Comments No Comments

Should he have been making TV condemnations as well? Just looking at what happened yesterday with the release by the Scottish authorities of the Lockerbie bomber I cannot help but be reminded of Gordon Brown’s actions over the signing of the Lisbon Treaty. Then, it will be recalled, Brown was “unavoidably detained” on urgent business in London and so was unable to be part of the big signing ceremony with other EU leaders. So he flew in later and signed…

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