David Laws
Maria Miller survives £90,000 expenses claims, for now
Both the former Labour MP Tony McNulty and the present Culture Secretary Maria Miller claimed parliamentary second home expenses for houses in which their respective parents lived. This is in… Continue reading
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Two different Laws
Among the vast number of British people who are somewhat surprised to see the disgraced MP David Laws back in government is David’s own father, Tony Laws. Laws jnr was… Continue reading
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David Laws to announce increase in pupil premium
The first minister up on the stage at the Liberal Democrat conference this afternoon is new education minister David Laws. He has an announcement which will please those in the… Continue reading
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The pupil premium and profit-making schools could be a winning combination
Ask any Liberal Democrat what their party has achieved in government, and the answer will involve the words ‘pupil premium’. It was a key manifesto pledge in 2010, and is… Continue reading
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Michael Gove and the return to rigour
The news that the coalition will announce on Tuesday that it is scrapping GCSEs is welcome. GSCEs are a devalued qualification and replacing them with a far more rigorous exam… Continue reading
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Tories shouldn’t worry about David Laws going to Cabinet meetings
There is some understandable concern in Tory circles about David Laws becoming a minister for education. As Paul Goodman says today, there’s a worry that even this brightest orange Lib… Continue reading
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Promoting David Laws to the education department would be a waste
Appointing David Laws as deputy to Michael Gove seems like a sensible way of bringing the Liberal Democrat back into government at first glance. But this move, which is one… Continue reading
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Danny, David and tax
What are we to make the split between Danny Alexander and his predecessor as deputy Chancellor, David Laws, over the size of the state? Laws says today it should be… Continue reading
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Your guide to the Warsi allegations
What is Baroness Warsi accused of? The main allegation in yesterday’s Sunday Times is that, in early 2008, Warsi was ‘claiming parliamentary expenses for overnight accommodation when she was staying… Continue reading
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Bringing the squeeze into focus
The ‘word of the year’ for 2011 is already featuring prominently in 2012. Yep, the ‘squeezed middle’ is the focus of the Resolution Foundation’s latest report, which they launched in… Continue reading
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Will Huhne survive this?
What odds, this morning, on Chris Huhne retaining his ‘Survivor of the Year’ crown at this year’s Spectator Parliamentarian Awards? I only ask because The Sunday Times has dropped its… Continue reading
39 CommentsThe Lib Dem conference closes
As the Liberal Democrat leadership leaves Birmingham, it is a contented bunch. Their conference has gone as well as could be expected. There were no embarrassing defeats for the leadership… Continue reading
17 CommentsDon’t mention education reform
A new rule seems to have been adopted at Lib Dem conference: don’t mention Academies. The coalition’s greatest single success story – something David Laws and Michael Gove agreed on… Continue reading
16 CommentsAlexander distances himself from the Tory bashing
Lib Dem conference delegates have just provided the press with a nice easy story, they’ve voted to set up a panel to look at the legalisation of cannabis and the… Continue reading
7 CommentsTeather pledges to double the pupil premium
Assorted acolytes from the teaching unions are padding around the Lib Dem conference, fomenting discontent around activists who are opposed to the coalition’s adoption of academies and free schools. Officials… Continue reading
15 CommentsLaws and Hughes spar as Danny and Vince tease the hall
The two conflicting wings of the Liberal Democrats are perhaps embodied by Simon Hughes and David Laws. Their political and strategic differences have surfaced in this morning’s Observer, where Hughes… Continue reading
8 CommentsClegg vs Clegg
As the Lib Dem conference approaches, we can expect some briefing from their spin doctors claiming to have "wrecked" all manner of Tory policies. It’s a petty and ugly phase… Continue reading
28 CommentsLaws calls for unity — but faces trouble
The personal and the political. They mesh to readable effect in David Laws’ interview with the Times (£) this morning, his first since resigning from government last year. There are… Continue reading
8 CommentsCameron’s personnel issues
The past fortnight has been instructive in just how little control David Cameron has over the make-up of his Cabinet. Every choice he makes, it seems, has to be weighed… Continue reading
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