Is this a Christmas present to Cameron? This is how the Mail Online is featuring the Bob Quick story and Benedict Brogan does not pull his punches. The question now is whether this will resurrect interest in the Damian Green case which had subsided following the commons debate a fortnight ago. And if that happens will there be a political impact? The real problem all along for both ministers and the police is that in the absence of any possible…
Karamanlis may well hold on, but is this the shape of things to come? The protests in Greece following the death of Alexandros Grigoropoulos have now been going on for a fortnight, with violence continuing last night and the total cost now hundreds of millions of euros. A general strike called in the first week of protests had a somewhat disappointing turnout in demonstrations from the unions’ viewpoint, and what might have been a tipping point for the survival of…
So is it going to be June? – Brown may rule out early 09 election The Sunday Times reports Charlie Whelan, formerly Brown’s press secretary and now political officer with Unite, as saying that June 2009 would be an “ideal opportunity” to hold an election. The paper says that his comments “echo what many of Brown’s advisers have been recently saying in private… while most senior Labour figures believe 2010 is still the most likely year for an election, they…
What name will the Prince of Wales choose? When Prince Charles ascends to the throne of the United Kingdom, he will choose the regnal name by which he will be known. This name will be announced immediately, but used officially for the first time at his coronation by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The regnal name chosen, including the numbering, is part of the Royal Prerogative, according to MacCormick v. Lord Advocate (1953 SC 396), where the rector of the University…
Will she stop at a Senate seat? After speculation that Caroline Kennedy would be rewarded for picking Joe Biden for VP by being made Ambassador to St. James, it now seems that Governor David Patterson of New York will instead appoint her to fill the vacancy left by Hillary Clinton if she is confirmed as Secretary of State. Instead of taking the job held by her grandfather in London in the 1930s, might this be just a first step towards…
CONSERVATIVES 42% (+1) LABOUR 35% (nc) LIB DEMS 14% (-1) Will this bring closure on the election speculation? The tip we had earlier was correct – the latest YouGov poll for the Daily Telegraph has the Tories up again to 42% with Labour unchanged on the weekend survey which had them at 35%. Although the changes are well within the margin of error the trend is there. At the end of November YouGov had the Tories on just 40% only…
Or will be look ridiculous in the middle of a crisis? While we wait for possible polls to come out tonight the previous thread has seen its course and I thought we ought to have something else up – and that is this piece from the Belfast Telegraph about Peter Mandelson, a former Northern Ireland secretary. It’s Christmas. People do silly thing but is James Forsyth of the Spectator CoffeHouse blog correct when he suggests that “..the risk is that…
Could bloggers be made more vulnerable to libel? I’ve just received some information that could have major consequences for bloggers. My understanding is that a green paper will be published in the New Year setting out plans to make it easier for people to sue for defamation. The idea is to cut down the disproportionate costs of bringing a libel action and there’s even a suggestion that there could be a small claims court for libel. The move is bound…