Why were partisan lines drawn over Greengate?

Why were partisan lines drawn over Greengate?

Is the aim to muddy the pitch? For those who agreed with Mike’s initial assessment of Greengate, the Labour Party’s response must have seemed a little strange. The ‘points of order’ from the Labour benches following the Speaker’s statement on Wednesday seemed determined to draw partisan distinctions between those who supported the operational independence of the police and the neutrality of the civil service, and those who clearly (in their view)* cared only to assert the rights of Parliament and…

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Who’ll speak up for the lazy and the slothful?

Who’ll speak up for the lazy and the slothful?

The Friday night open thread I’ll kick off with this:- The thing that most p*sses me off about modern politics is that everything seems to be focussed on “Hard-working families” – which can be alienating to those who aren’t. I don’t think that Brown ever uses the word “family” without this prefix and Cameron has been known to do the same. This is formulaic political rhetoric at it worst. I want political leaders that will stand up for the slothful,…

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Is it worth 2/5 on a Manchester C-Charge NO?

Is it worth 2/5 on a Manchester C-Charge NO?

Who’ll win the UK’s second biggest election? The picture is of part of Manchester tramway system which is set to be expanded provided voters in the region back a controversial Congestion Charge scheme. Voting by post is taking place at the moment and closes in a week’s time. This is the UK’s second biggest election this year with 1.94m voters involved. The vote covers Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Manchester and Wigan – with most ballot papers…

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Are savers the first to feel the impact?

Are savers the first to feel the impact?

Will Gord get the blame as incomes are slashed? What a difference a day makes? Yesterday morning’s main article featured the front pages from mostly the right wing press which were full of plaudits for Brown’s mortgage rescue plan. Today there’s a new side of the economy featured that threatens to undermine the living standards of millions and millions of voters. For it has taken another drastic cut in interest rates for the media finally to pick up something that…

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Did a minister have advance knowledge?

Did a minister have advance knowledge?

But has the story any impact beyond the Westminster village? The Green arrest affair has taken on a new turn this evening with a report by Iain Martin on the Telegraph “Three Line Whip” blog that “the strong rumour is that one minister with good police contacts did know and has remained well under the radar since the row erupted last week, for understandable reasons.” This, clearly, could have big ramifications because the most damaging thing for the government, surely,…

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Can Martin survive without Harman’s support?

Can Martin survive without Harman’s support?

Could the Speaker’s job now be on the line? Harriet Harman is in a very different category from every other member of the cabinet. For she owes her position of Deputy Leader to her successful campaign in last year’s election. Brown could sack her from his cabinet but he can’t fire her as his deputy. This has given an independence of action which she seems ready, when necessary, to use. As leader of the house she is in a position…

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Why can’t Gordon do spontaneity?

Why can’t Gordon do spontaneity?

Is this how the Tories will always trap him? It has, as predicted, been a gripping afternoon and on balance I think that the government has lost some ground. I thought that the Speaker, Michael Martin, made the best of a very bad hand and his frank explanations of where things went wrong will have bought him some more time. But for me the really intriguing element was the way that senior Tory figures managed to trap Gordon using what…

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