Gordon Brown
The report the Department for Education does NOT want you to read
One of the better policies of this government is its offering massive databases up for public scrutiny. Sunlight is the best disinfectant, argues David Cameron, and outsiders can scrutinise what… Continue reading
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Skills are the problem. But does anyone have a solution?
For years, words ‘skills’ and ‘crisis’ have been joined in British political discourse. It’s a problem that no one seems able to crack and on May 2nd, The Spectator is… Continue reading
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Margaret Thatcher’s funeral unites the political class
Where there has been discord, Mrs Thatcher’s funeral brought harmony. From my seat in the gods at St. Paul’s, I watched as Westminster’s lesser mortals gathered in front of the… Continue reading
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David Miliband resignation: political and press reaction
Here is a selection of what various Labour big wigs, political commentators and media figures have made of Miliband’s decision and his parliamentary career. And we’re interested to hear your… Continue reading
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David Miliband quitting UK politics
David Miliband is quitting the House of Commons to go and work for the International Rescue Committee in the United States, the Daily Mirror has revealed this evening. Friends of… Continue reading
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Oona King’s return to the spotlight
The Lords’ terrace was transformed into a theatre yesterday evening to stage an adaptation of Blair Babe Oona King’s House Music diaries, which recount her career as MP for Bethnal Green… Continue reading
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David Cameron tells porkies about Britain’s national debt
And then David Cameron has to go and spoil it all by telling porkies about what his government is doing to our national debt. The party election broadcast the Conservatives… Continue reading
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Restoring the 10p tax rate would be fair and simple
MPs will today debate taxes and the living wage – in particular, my campaign to restore the 10p rate of income tax. For Conservatives, a ‘starter’ rate of 10p would help… Continue reading
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Sketch: Gordon Brown resurfaces
Gordon Brown lumbered back into parliament this evening to speak in an adjournment debate at 7.10 pm. Even before dinner he managed to look both over-fed and a bit exhausted.… Continue reading
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IFS warns Osborne: don’t cook the books, like Brown
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has today published its attempt to predict what the OBR forecasts will show when they’re released as George Osborne sits down after delivering his Autumn… Continue reading
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George Osborne, balancing the budget on the backs of the rich
George Osborne has a dilemma to answer in his autumn statement (which must be finalised by 28 November, when it will be submitted to the Office of Budget Responsibility). He… Continue reading
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Sandy exposes another difference between the US and the UK
Differences between the US and the UK are often commented upon. But the storm ‘Sandy’ this week has highlighted one in particular. It is no criticism of either President Obama… Continue reading
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Keep Gordon Brown out of the battle for Scotland
I used to be a barman in a pub in Rosyth, where David Cameron is visiting today, and it’s hardly a hotbed of separatism. Its dockyard is not just a… Continue reading
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The real story of the 2007 ‘election that never was’
‘The election that never was’ is one of the most important events, or non-events, in recent British political history; if it had gone ahead, David Cameron might never have become… Continue reading
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David Cameron’s oddballs
I’m coming to the conclusion that the character of the Cameron government is the inversion of the Brown government. During the dying days of New Labour there was a snarling,… Continue reading
17 CommentsI Think Paul Krugman is Mistaken - Spectator Blogs
The great sage – once described to me by someone who attended a (highly) derivative speech he made on the Scottish economy as Woody Allen with statistics and no jokes… Continue reading
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Is Gordon Brown a Scottish Nationalist?
In 1997 the Labour government tampered with the UK constitution. They then vetoed anyone reading the minutes of the cabinet meeting where it was agreed a parliament for Scotland would… Continue reading
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Uncontrolled immigration
So the 2011 census results for England and Wales are out. And sure enough it turns out that the last decade has seen the largest population increase in any decade… Continue reading
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Osborne, class and competence
The Sunday Mirror and the Independent have jointly commissioned an opinion poll which finds that George Osborne is ‘too posh’ to be chancellor. This just happens to fit the prejudices… Continue reading
39 Comments Osborne’s debt spiral
‘If we lose sight of the central role of debt in this crisis, we will come to the wrong conclusions about how to respond,’ said George Osborne last night —… Continue reading
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