Westminster Blog

George Osborne, left, and Danny Alexander

While Tories tear themselves apart over gay marriage, another row is creeping up on the government which could be much more long-term and damaging.

Without creating too much of a stir (yet), George Osborne and Danny Alexander are busy in the Treasury, planning their next round of spending cuts. They have told ministers that they intend to keep cutting at the same rate and in the same proportions as has been done so far, which means returning for further savings to departments that have already been hit heavily.

Theresa May, Chris Grayling, Philip Hammond and Vince Cable all realised this would place them at the front of the axeman’s queue, and urged Osborne to rethink his strategy at a stormy cabinet meeting a few weeks’ ago. Read more

David Cameron with Herman van Rompuy

As Britain trundles towards a possible referendum on EU membership, people are beginning to ask what kind of result it might throw up.

David Cameron is gambling that if he manages to renegotiate some powers away from Brussels, voters will prefer this new settlement to not being in the union at all. And if past experience is to be believed, he has reason to be optimistic: when asked to assent to a plan from Brussels, voters across Europe tend to answer yes.

The list below of all the European plebiscites that have taken place in the union’s history shows that voters have only said no to the EU nine times out of the 36 referendums that have been held. Read more