Watching Gordon Brown in action today at PM’s questions, I couldn’t help thinking he was actually enjoying himself for the first time. The body language was more relaxed, the smile a little less robotic.
He seems to think this clever Goldman’s wheeze on saving the Northern Rock with a government-backed bond issue offers the government an escape route from the whole fiasco and could even end up with the taxpayer making a profit. Read more
Iran and the 42 day rule
The debate over the Anti-Terror Bill looks likely to be one of the biggest challenges to Gordon Brown since he became PM.
Countless legal experts have stepped up to criticise the increase in pre-charge detention from 28 days to 42. Read more
Northern Rock
David Cameron had the best lines at Prime Minister’s Questions today. On Northern Rock, he claimed, the public had been offered a "sub-prime deal from a sub-prime minister". Very good.
He also suggested that Gordon Brown had turned from Prudence into Del Boy. And the difference between administration and liquidation, he quipped, was: "Administration is what the government is in at the moment, liquidation is what will happen by the British people at the next election." Read more
MPs expenses
The Information Commissioner wants more transparency in the publication of MPs’ expenses. Not everyone agrees.
Denis Murphy, a Labour MP, says he voted against similar proposals last time around but will listen to what the commissioner has to say. Read more
| About this blog | Blog guide |
Jim Pickard is the FT's chief political correspondent, having joined the lobby team in January 2008. He has been at the FT since 1999 as a regional correspondent, assistant UK news editor and property correspondent.
Kiran Stacey is an FT political correspondent, having joined the lobby in 2011. He started at the FT as a graduate trainee in 2008, working on desks including UK companies and US equity markets before taking over the FT's Energy Source blog.
FT's latest UK politics & policy news