Danny Alexander
The inflation crisis deepens
How big does inflation have to get before our politicians admit that it’s a problem? Once again, it has “surprised” on the upside – the CPI index stood at 3.7… Continue reading
78 CommentsA tale of two quads
There could barely be a starker contrast between Danny Alexander’s interview with the FT today and the, ahem, Cableleaks. Unlike his fellow Lib Demmer, the Treasury Secretary knew that he… Continue reading
5 CommentsWriting the Laws
Even out of office, David Laws remains one of the most important figures in the coalition. He was one of only two Lib Dem MPs — the other being Danny… Continue reading
24 CommentsThe Passion of Nick Clegg
You almost feel sorry for Nick Clegg this week, with the tuition fees vote in prospect. Being hated is difficult for LibDems because they didn’t expect it. Not so with… Continue reading
43 CommentsParliamentarian of the Year award recipients 2010
The Spectator held its annual Parliamentarian of the Year Awards ceremony this evening. Here, for CoffeeHousers to deliberate over, is the full list of winners: Newcomer of the year: Caroline… Continue reading
40 CommentsPoppy season
Keen-eyed spectators might have noticed Danny Alexander and Michael Gove wearing a slightly different type of poppy over the last few days: the Scottish Poppy. At the beginning of the… Continue reading
25 CommentsEXCLUSIVE: What about those who aren’t pulling a housing benefit scam?
Most sensible taxpayers think Britain’s current housing benefit costs to be a terrific scam. In the last five years the bill has risen by 25 percent. We now pay £21billion… Continue reading
54 CommentsThe ginger rodent
I wonder what they’ll come up with for Uncle Vince? Nick Clegg is a closet Tory (nice homophobic overtone there), and Danny Alexander reminds anti-persecution supremo Harriet Harman of a… Continue reading
70 CommentsOsborne’s Paul Daniels strategy
Is George Osborne the first British Chancellor to hide good news in the small print? I ask this in my News of the World column (£) today, and ask what… Continue reading
37 CommentsMore to Osborne’s plan than gambling
Paul Mason’s review of the cuts for Newsnight last night (from 10:20 into the video here) was one of the most powerful critiques of Osborne from the left. His package… Continue reading
41 CommentsSpending review live blog
1350, PH: And that’s Johnson finished now. Osborne is responding, but we’ll leave the live blog there. Plenty more coverage on Coffee House soon. 1348, PH: Johnson claims that Osborne’s… Continue reading
16 CommentsExclusive: 1.5 million jobs to be created during the ‘cuts’
Almost every newspaper today leads on the chilling figure of 500,000 jobs to go. This was taken from a briefing paper held by Danny Alexander – a “gaffe” says The… Continue reading
21 CommentsThe unavoidable cruelty of necessary cuts
Even though the SDSR promises that it “will be used by units returning from Germany or retained for other purposes,” the loss of RAF Kinloss will still be a body… Continue reading
34 CommentsLib Dems to the right of their Tory colleagues?
I’ve re-read it several times now and I’m still not sure whether Francis Maude was joking or not when he told The Times that Danny Alexander ‘is obviously a bit… Continue reading
5 CommentsThe Lib Dems face the public
The most brutal session the Lib Dems will see is the studio audience currently assembled by Victoria Derbyshire for her Five Live phone-in. It’s a rare event in conference time,… Continue reading
15 CommentsAlexander’s arguments
Danny Alexander’s announcement of a £900 million clampdown on tax avoidance, evasion and fraud is designed to reassure Lib Dems that the coalition’s policies are fair, that it isn’t balancing… Continue reading
21 CommentsThe Lib Dems get their lines right
So far, so effective from Nick Clegg and his coalition colleagues. They seem to have three key messages for the party faithful in Liverpool – i) c’mon, let’s enjoy being… Continue reading
4 CommentsAlexander’s no apologist
Nick Clegg opened last year’s Lib Dem conference with the promise of ‘savage cuts’. The party shuddered at the idea and they’re unnerved by the reality. Those savage cuts lour… Continue reading
9 CommentsBenefit reform - one theatre in Cameron’s war
The Observer has received letters revealing that George Osborne plans to deliver net savings of ‘at least £2.5bn’ from the Employment Support Allowance by limiting the amount of time people can… Continue reading
11 CommentsBlair’s contempt for the left
In tomorrow’s papers the reviewers will compare ‘A Journey’ to those "real-life" misery memoirs that seem to be publishing catnip. It is not inaccurate to conclude that this is tale… Continue reading
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