Category: Conservatives

PMQs: It’s panto season, and Cameron tells the best jokes

December 14, 2011 1:11 pm by Kiran Stacey

Ed Miliband started well at today’s PMQs, using David Cameron’s words from his 2011 New Year message to highlight the government’s failure to stop the rise in unemployment, which has hit a new 17-year high.

Miliband quotes the PM as saying: “What is uppermost in my mind is jobs,” before asking, “What went wrong?”

There then followed such a well-worn debate (“Unemployment is rising,” says Labour; “Here’s what we’re doing to tackle it,” say the Tories) that half the press gallery fell asleep during it.

Continue reading: “PMQs: It’s panto season, and Cameron tells the best jokes”

Tags: pmqs
Posted in Conservatives, David Cameron, Ed Miliband, Europe, Lib Dems, Nick Clegg, UK economy, UK politics | Permalink

Will the UK let the 26 use EU institutions?

December 12, 2011 5:22 pm by Kiran Stacey

One of the key achievements of Britain’s veto in Brussels on Thursday night was supposed to have been that not allowing the full 27 members of the EU to sign a treaty would have stopped the 26 countries willing to go ahead using the EU’s institutions to do so.

The main effect of that would be to stop the European Commission scrutinising other countries’ budgets, and the Euroopean Court of Justice implementing the Commission’s decisions. This would make it much harder for Brussels to interfere in the fiscal plans of member states.

Continue reading: “Will the UK let the 26 use EU institutions?”

Tags: eu
Posted in Coalition, Conservatives, David Cameron, Europe, UK politics | Permalink

Labour to LDs: Work with us on Europe

December 12, 2011 3:01 pm by Kiran Stacey

Douglas Alexander has written a piece for the New Statesman trying to prise open the cracks in the coalition over Europe.

In the run up to this afternoon’s debate on the EU, during which Ed Miliband is expected to paint Cameron as isolated both at home and abroad, the shadow foreign secretary has invited the Lib Dems to work with Labour to get the UK back into the heart of Europe.

He writes:

The roots of what happened on the night of Thursday 8 December lie deep in Cameron’s failure to modernise the Tory party. Just because he puts party interest before the national interest, there is no reason others should do the same. That is why I make a genuine offer to Liberal Democrats to work with us to try to get a better outcome for Britain, between now and when this agreement is likely to be finally tied down in March. Work can and should start immediately both to win back friends and allies and to consider what rules and procedures can avoid Britain’s further marginalisation.

Continue reading: “Labour to LDs: Work with us on Europe”

Tags: Douglas Alexander
Posted in Coalition, Conservatives, David Cameron, Ed Miliband, Europe, Foreign policy, Labour, Lib Dems, Nick Clegg, UK politics | Permalink

‘Nervous’ Lib Dems toe the line on Europe UPDATED

December 9, 2011 2:41 pm by Kiran Stacey

Nicolas Sarkozy avoids shaking David Cameron's hand

So Britain has isolated itself in Europe by refusing to sign up to a deal to save the eurozone because other countries refused to give the UK specific safeguards to protect the single market and the City of London. Tory backbenchers are delighted, but what does the pro-European Lib Dem half of the coalition make of it?

Anyone expecting a massive bust up at the heart of the coalition will have been dismayed to read Nick Clegg’s statement this morning. The deputy prime minister said:

The demands Britain made for safeguards, on which the Coalition Government was united, were modest and reasonable. They were safeguards for the single market, not just the UK.

What we sought to ensure was to maintain a level playing field in financial services and the single market as a whole. This would have retained the UK’s ability to take tougher, not looser, regulatory action to sort out our banking system.

Continue reading: “‘Nervous’ Lib Dems toe the line on Europe UPDATED”

Posted in Coalition, Conservatives, Europe, Foreign policy, Lib Dems, Nick Clegg | Permalink

The explosion of hedge fund donations to the Tories

December 8, 2011 2:55 pm by Kiran Stacey

The FT has a big analysis piece today on how hedge funds became some of the Tories’ biggest donors. The graphic below displays how important the industry has become for filling the party coffers, and how quickly that has happened. If you want to analyse the full graphic, along with details of who the donors are, follow this link (behind the paywall).

A couple of interesting points to note from the analysis too:

Even though it was Labour who deregulated the City and helped hedge funds flourish, it is the Tories who have reaped the most direct benefits, at least in terms of support from the industry for their party.
Even donors admit that Tory MPs’ desire to cut the 50p top rate of income tax is because these rich City donors are so close to the party. One told the FT: “There probably aren’t many votes in cutting the 50p top rate of tax, but among those that give significant amounts to the party, it’s a big issue, and that’s probably why it’s a big issue for the party too.”

Tags: hedge funds
Posted in Conservatives, David Cameron, UK politics | Permalink

Ministers may consider interest rate cap

December 7, 2011 11:59 am by Kiran Stacey

The FT reports this morning that payday lenders (or legal loan sharks as they are also known) have been flooding into the country looking to take advantage of hard-up recession-hit borrowers and the UK’s lax lending laws. Borrowing at rates of up to 5,000 per cent, customers can find their debts escalating at a startling pace.

Even though many other countries have interest rate caps, the UK has never gone down that route. The government has always said it is wary of implementing such a cap in case it pushes poor people into the hands of illegal loan sharks instead.

Labour MP Stella Creasy has also waged a long campaign to get the government to crack down on these companies, and now her campaign is gaining momentum.

Continue reading: “Ministers may consider interest rate cap”

Tags: Legal loan sharks, Payday lenders, Stella Creasy
Posted in Coalition, Conservatives, David Cameron, Recession, Tax, UK economy, UK politics | Permalink

Tim Collins lands another Tory government in it

December 6, 2011 2:00 pm by Kiran Stacey

The Independent has a terrific scoop today on how Bell Pottinger, the PR firm chaired by Lord Bell, Baroness Thatcher’s former media adviser, has been promising potential clients access to senior figures in Number 10.

Perhaps the most damaging part of the story for the government is the boast from Tim Collins, managing director of Bell Pottinger Public Affairs, that he was able to get David Cameron to raise the issue of intellectual property with the Chinese government on behalf of Dyson, one of their clients.

The paper quotes Collins as saying:

Continue reading: “Tim Collins lands another Tory government in it”

Tags: Bell Pottinger, Lobbying, Tim Collins
Posted in Conservatives, David Cameron, UK politics | Permalink

There will almost certainly be no EU referendum this parliament

December 5, 2011 6:07 pm by Kiran Stacey

A British protester burns an EU flag

Two sources who would know have told members of our political team that the chances of having a referendum on EU membership this parliament are very low indeed.

One ruled it out altogether, the other said the “number one priority” of coalition policy on Europe was not to have one.

David Cameron pretty much guaranteed that today when he said there would only be a referendum “if a new treaty passes powers from UK to Brussels” adding:

As Prime Minister, I do not think the issue will arise.

Continue reading: “There will almost certainly be no EU referendum this parliament”

Tags: EU referendum
Posted in Coalition, Conservatives, David Cameron, Europe, Lib Dems, Nick Clegg, UK politics | Permalink

PMQs: Ed Miliband declares class war

November 30, 2011 12:59 pm by Kiran Stacey

Most of the exchanges at PMQs today were fairly predictable in the light of yesterday’s autumn statement. Ed Miliband accused the prime minister of having failed to meet his fiscal plan; the prime minister accused Labour of wanting to borrow even more.

But there was a fascinating undercurrent running throughout this session, one that took us back to the politics of the 1970s and 80s.

It began with Miliband’s first question. Perhaps surprisingly, given links to the unions are often perceived as one of Labour’s weak points, he went straight in on the strike action by public sector workers taking place across the country today. Not only that, but he identified overtly with those on strike:

Continue reading: “PMQs: Ed Miliband declares class war”

Tags: Autumn statement, pmqs, strikes
Posted in Conservatives, David Cameron, Ed Miliband, Labour, UK politics, Unions | Permalink

Who will suffer from a cut in tax credits? The squeezed middle

November 28, 2011 5:40 pm by Kiran Stacey

Unless there is a last minute U-turn in Whitehall tonight, one of the ways which George Osborne will pay for the various jobs and infrastructure schemes in Tuesday’s growth review will be to squeeze tax credits.

This is a result of protracted bargaining – Osborne wanted to freeze benefits, but the combined efforts of the Lib Dems and Iain Duncan Smith put a stop to that. Eventually the compromise was made that credits would come under the axeman’s blade instead.

So who suffers if these are frozen or cut?

Continue reading: “Who will suffer from a cut in tax credits? The squeezed middle”

Tags: Benefits, George Osborne, Iain Duncan Smith, tax credits
Posted in Coalition, Conservatives, Deficit, Lib Dems, Nick Clegg, Recession, Tax, Treasury, UK economy, UK politics | Permalink

Exclusive: Byrne writes to Clegg to demand answers on jobs fund

November 25, 2011 3:43 pm by Kiran Stacey

The controversy over how Nick Clegg’s £1bn jobs fund is to be paid for has overshadowed the announcement itself, much to the annoyance of the Lib Dems. This morning, John Humphrys spent most of his interview with Clegg asking him whether tax credits were going to be squeezed to pay for his plan.

I should point out that no tax is hypothecated: we should not think the tax credits money is going directly into the jobs fund. However these things are true:

Continue reading: “Exclusive: Byrne writes to Clegg to demand answers on jobs fund”

Tags: Liam Byrne, Work programme
Posted in Coalition, Conservatives, Lib Dems, Nick Clegg, UK economy, UK politics | Permalink

PMQs: Cameron somehow wins on youth unemployment

November 23, 2011 12:40 pm by Kiran Stacey

Ed Miliband had some good lines ready for today’s prime minister’s questions. He decided to focus on youth unemployment, which recently topped 1 million people for the first time since records began.

Sensibly, he focused on long-term youth unemployment (over 12 months out of work, which is now at 260,000 people): both because Cameron would probably misinterpret the question and try to answer on overall youth unemployment (he did), and because the longer young people stay out of work, the harder it is for them to get back into the jobs market when the economy recovers.

Miliband decided to focus on the effect of scrapping Labour’s Future Jobs Fund, but Cameron was able to bat that away by referring to the Work Programme:

Continue reading: “PMQs: Cameron somehow wins on youth unemployment”

Tags: pmqs, Youth unemployment
Posted in Conservatives, David Cameron, Ed Miliband, Labour, UK economy, UK politics | Permalink