What’s the politics behind the 30 year rule change?

What’s the politics behind the 30 year rule change?

Does Labour want Maggie’s records out before the election? One little item that stood out for me in Brown’s constitutional statement is the plan to reduce the so-called “30 year rule” to twenty years. This is the arrangement by which highly sensitive cabinet and other papers are made available for researchers to look at – but only thirty years after the events. So until now the latest documentation that we’ve seen has been of the Callaghan’s government in the period…

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Could Gord announce the election date today?

Could Gord announce the election date today?

Would it be held at the same time as a referendum on PR? This is a completely wild guess but could the Prime Minister tell us the election date in his statement today on proposed voting reform? My thinking is that coming up with a date now would take away some of the pressure that he’s under within the party and also blunt the edge of all the Tory calls for an immediate general election. Brown will be only too…

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Has Janet Daly got PR all wrong?

Has Janet Daly got PR all wrong?

Would it really block the Tories out forever? I suppose that this has been a period for ranting and perhaps I’ve been as guilty as anyone but have the Tories got the voting reform debate all wrong? Just read this description from Janet Daly for tomorrow’s Telegraph: “.. it is the most shameless attempt to rig the electoral process in living memory. What the “alternative vote” would mean is that it would be virtually impossible for the Conservatives ever to…

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Will Gord’s voting reform plan look like an act of desperation?

Will Gord’s voting reform plan look like an act of desperation?

The overwhelming problem for Brown and his minsters in proposing electoral reform is that it looks like a reaction to Labour’s historic defeat at the polls in the Euro Parliament elections. It has the appearance of an act of desperation. For it was only two nights ago that the party was getting the terrible news about a total collapse of support in virtually every part of the country. So why start talking about the voting system now? If Labour had…

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Should the BBC tell Sugar “You’re fired from The Apprentice”?

Should the BBC tell Sugar “You’re fired from The Apprentice”?

Is it compatible with his peerage and new position? A nice little problem for BBC bosses over Gord’s biggest re-shuffle gimmick – making the former Amstrad boss turned TV star, Sir Alan Sugar the government “Enterprise Czar” and giving him a peerage. He’ll sit on the Labour benches. Does his new political position mean that he should give up the show – something that BBC bosses will desperately try to avoid because “The Apprentice” is a ratings winner? A BBC…

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Could Harriet be the next one out?

Could Harriet be the next one out?

What do we think of the new PaddyPower market? PaddyPower have got a new market up on which from a list of Cabinet minister will be the next to resign/get sacked. These are the options and opening prices:- David Miliband – 13/8 Gordon Brown – 7/4 Alistair Darling – 4/1 Alan Johnson – 6/1 Ed Balls – 8/1 Harriet Harman – 12/1 Jack Straw – 14/1 Lord Mandelson – 16/1 This is quite hard but I’ve put a little bet…

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Is Labour reconciled to possibly decades in opposition?

Is Labour reconciled to possibly decades in opposition?

Have they given up on having a leader who’s electable? It was perhaps too much to be hoped that Labour MPs would last night ditch the man they they gave the leadership to in June 2007 without him having to be bothered with all that stuff about facing an election. They failed to stand up to the Brown Gang’s strong arm tactics two years ago and they failed again last night. The result, let’s spell it out, is that they…

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Poll suggests Alan Johnson could stop a Tory majority

Poll suggests Alan Johnson could stop a Tory majority

Could this add to the pressure on Brown? A new ComRes tonight for tomorrow’s Independent seeks to test how Labour would do if other figures were in Number 10 rather than Gordon Brown. This is how they rated:- Alan Johnson CON 36 LAB 26 LD 19 Jack Straw CON 36 LAB 25 LD 19 David Miliband CON 37 LAB 25 LD 19 Ed Balls CON 37 LAB 23 LD 20 John Cruddas CON 36 LAB 22 LD 21 Gordon Brown…

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