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Russia’s War in Ukraine Matters Far Beyond Its Borders Britain had a disappointingly procrastinatory Budget. America is about to have an election that may curtail Trump and/or enrage him. Westminster is once again arguing about Europe, which may be politically astute of the Prime Minister, but is desperately dull for everyone else. It’s Ukraine, Stupid!…
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4p off gherkins. Kemi Badenoch was on a roll on Wednesday. Not only did she push hard on the King of the Mid-North’s newly-revealed thinking about rejoining the European Union, but she also had a ball in her response to the Budget, training quick-fire bazookas on Chancellor John Healey (Rawmarsh & Conisborough, Labour) “resign, again!”,…
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Budget 26 Count them: 98 policy measures! £7bn in additional taxes. A similar amount in additional spending. Remarkably little change to the direction of the British economy. John Healey’s first Budget as Chancellor was an impressive demonstration of the difference between doing things and achieving things. The government calls it a Budget designed to provide…
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Budget26: crunchtime for Burnhamism. Andy Burnham has tried to demonstrate that government can do things. On Tik-Tok at least. However, on Wednesday John Healey’s first Budget will demonstrate whether the government can deliver on anything that matters at scale. So far, “Burnhamism” has been characterised by what might be called the politics of trying. Loud…
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Perhaps not the most critical issue facing the nation… but important to the PM nonetheless. The Commons was quieter this week as the government cleared the procedural decks for the Budget, which will be held next Wednesday, 28th October. Wednesday 21st October Outside the House Wednesday started with news of the government’s decision to accept…
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Because, frankly, it is beyond embarrassing. After a week in which the American administration has once again managed to complicate the defence of Ukraine, the manoeuvrings of Westminster seem almost inconsequential. Almost. At home Andy Burnham has discovered Europe, the Chancellor has discovered another fiscal difficulty and the Conservatives have discovered that an improvement in…
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Badenoch fails to land serious blows The Commons got back to work after its four week “Conference Season” recess. This seems incomprehensible to most voters who think it would be much more productive if all the conferences were held (in different places) in the same week. This (short) week’s conclusion from the Commons is that…
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…or appear to be done for a little while at least. Conference season is over. Various promises have been made, some more credibly than others. For the party of government the awkward necessity of making ambitions square with reality comes in to immediate focus with the Budget now just 16 days away on 28th October.…
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Is that light at the end of the tunnel? Kemi Badenoch has been having quite a good year. The Conservative Party has not. Twelve months ago, Badenoch was still struggling to establish herself with voters and faced periodic speculation about whether her leadership would survive. She arrived in Birmingham in a much stronger parliamentary position.…
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Burnham has sketched a destination. The next stage is harder: he needs to provide a map. There has been an unmistakable change of mood in Downing Street. Unlike his predecessor, Andy Burnham has given the Labour government a clear sense of purpose and a set of apparently genuine priorities. Social care, electoral reform, devolution, social…
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Oh Zack! It has been an extraordinary 12 months for the Greens under Polanski: shooting up from 12% in voting intention polls last October, to 21% at the beginning of the year, when it won the Gorton & Denton by-election, before gravity (and some of Polanski’s past) brought the party’s ratings back down to 11%…
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Hoping for some Realism. This task is appointed for you Frodo Andy. Andy Burnham tried to kill off talk of an early election over the weekend, insisting that he would serve out his predecessor’s mandate until 2029. Nevertheless, his first Labour conference speech as PM fired the starting gun on that election by setting out…