Tony Blair
The Lib Dems try to exploit phone hacking
The phone hacking saga continues interminably. Simon Hughes appeared on Sky News earlier in the day to discuss the latest revelations. He refused to condemn David Cameron for entertaining Andy… Continue reading
16 CommentsFrom the archives: When Gordon loved Rupert
Gordon Brown graced the political stage with a rare cameo this week – if half an hour of deluded invective masquerading as reasoned piety qualifies as a cameo. Brown would… Continue reading
24 CommentsEnter Gordon Brown, with dynamite
The clunking fist is descending on Rupert Murdoch. After rumours all afternoon about Gordon Brown giving a statement on phone hacking to the Commons, the Guardian has come up with… Continue reading
88 CommentsBarroso’s EU confidence trick
Say what you like about Jose Manuel Barroso, he’s a wily old card. The European Commission president makes public demands for Britain to surrender its rebate in European Union membership… Continue reading
27 CommentsPersonality and politics
One of the things about the press that politicians frequently complain about is that papers concentrate more on personalities than policies. But reading the latest extracts from Alastair Campbell’s diaries… Continue reading
19 CommentsCan Cameronism be Europeanised?
In 1997 New Labour was not just a domestic programme; it was a foreign policy too. Known as the "Neue Mitte" in Germany, Blair’s Third Way soon attracted such converts… Continue reading
18 CommentsGeneral outspokenness
Recent wars have given rise to an unusual phenomenon in British civil-military relations: frequent, and often high-profile interventions, by serving or recently retired senior military officers in public debates. The… Continue reading
31 CommentsMilburn withdraws the Blairite seal of approval
Alan Milburn’s article for the Telegraph this morning is a rhetorical blitzkreig against the coalition and their NHS reforms. From its opening shot that "The Government health reforms are the… Continue reading
25 CommentsMiliband and the past
Labour’s simmering resentments and self-doubts have been boiling over recently — and today is no different. Compare and contrast The Sun’s interview with Tony Blair with Andrew Grice’s article on… Continue reading
16 CommentsBring on the strikes
An old boss of mine once said to me: when you start a new assignment, seek out a fight — and win it. The same advice should be given to… Continue reading
50 CommentsBurnham burns up
Andy Burnham has caught up with Coffee House’s revelation earlier this week that the Treasury, the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department of Education are going to… Continue reading
13 CommentsYour three-point guide to today’s Ed Balls files
Less soap opera, and more policy grit, in today’s batch of Ed Balls files. There is, for instance, a lot on Gordon Brown’s proposed Bill of Rights (here, here, here… Continue reading
33 CommentsFrom the archives: New Labour’s civil war
The Telegraph’s publication of all those documents today has got everyone talking about that feud again. Here is what The Spectator’s former editor Matthew d’Ancona had to say about the… Continue reading
7 CommentsBalls in the limelight
The most important political consequence of the leak of the Project Volvo documents is that it reminds everyone in the Labour party of what a divisive figure Ed Balls is.… Continue reading
23 CommentsYour five-point guide to the Ed Balls files
Intrigue, hilarious intrigue this morning, as the Telegraph releases a bunch of documents that clarify just how far the Brownites went to oust Tony Blair. They are, it is said,… Continue reading
52 CommentsBlair is still a believer
To an extent, British politics is still determined by whether or not you agree with Tony Blair. For more than a year, the coalition and the opposition have been debating… Continue reading
19 CommentsFrom the archives: Bush in London
You may have noticed that Barack Obama came to the country on a state visit this week. But he wasn’t the first US President to be extended an invitation from… Continue reading
2 CommentsMore freedom for some schools means better schools all round
Academies, as CoffeeHouser knows, are booming. There were around 200 of them when Michael Gove became Education Secretary last May. Now, just a year later, and steaming well ahead of expectations,… Continue reading
12 CommentsFrom the archives: The Good Friday Agreement
On Sunday, it will be thirteen years to the day since the people of Northern Ireland voted in a referendum on the Good Friday Agreement. The result was one of… Continue reading
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