Westminster blog

The FT lets rip today with an editorial calling for the prime minister to “get a grip on his team“.

It describes the NHS reform bill as “flawed and unnecessary“; says that Jeremy Hunt has failed to give a “satisfactory explanation” over apparent breaches of the ministerial code; his administration is “aloof and exclusive“; his choice of personnel were flawed (Andy Coulson and Peter Cruddas); he has “flip-flopped” on military procurement. et cetera.

This week marks a sorry second anniversary for the UK’s coalition government. After heavy losses in local elections, and in spite of a stage-managed reconfirmation of their vows in the key electoral battleground of Essex, the two governing parties are fretful and divided.

All governments hit a rough patch sooner or later. In her first term, Margaret Thatcher suffered a much heavier drubbing at the local elections than the coalition experienced last week. Given the UK’s anaemic growth over the past year, it is surprising that the stumble did not come sooner.

But the loss of public goodwill is particularly felt in a coalition that was initially buoyed by an unexpected outburst of popular enthusiasm for cross-party government. Adversity has now begun to reveal underlying cracks in the administration. If these are not repaired, they could threaten the integrity of the whole venture….

For the rest of the editorial it’s on ft.com here.

Ed Miliband has not always struck home against the coalition, even when the goal has seemed rather wide. In the Commons this afternoon, however, the opposition leader demonstrated that Labour’s critique of the government is getting ever firmer.

The wind is behind Miliband, of course: an economy that has sunk back into double-dip recession, rising unemployment, an superfluous shake-up of the NHS, clear splits between the Lib Dems and Tories on several fronts, including Lords reform.

But the Labour leader has tied this to his theme of a government where ministers are “working for their friends” to ever more effective deployment – even if you consider his use of the phrase “cronies” to be more suitable for a 6^th form debating society.

“The heart of this problem is that the government stands up for the wrong people” is the damaging message. Labour is now repeatedly talking about rail fares, energy bills and bank charges – and criticising the overpaid bosses of such companies. And the high cost of living is unlikely to fade as a theme in the coming months.

Miliband’s job is made much easier by the Budget, in particular its cut in the 50p rate of income tax. Labour believes this was an open goal, a clearcut symbol of the

This is not a complete guide to everything the coalition will do in 2012/13; many of the government’s actions do not need fresh laws. But here is the full list of all the legislation that ministers plan to enact in the coming Parliamentary calendar. Ministers will also reaffirm their plan to spend 0.7 per cent of GDP on aid by 2013, although there is no bill to legislate this commitment.

Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill:

- repealing unnecesary legislation and limiting state inspections of companies

- setting up a Green Investment Bank

- reforming competition law

- give extra powers to shareholders to influence executive pay

- overhaul employment tribunals

Banking Reform Bill:

- implementation of some of the Vickers report to ringfence retail and investment

Proposals to create a system of shared parental leave have been bogged down in wrangling between ministers over a radical plan to grant a £5,500 “baby bonus” to parents on the birth of the child.

The plan was put forward by Oliver Letwin and would replace statutory maternity pay; the idea is that it would increase individual choice and remove a bureaucratic cost from employers. But it has not yet been implemented because of fears that it could end up costing more; given that many mothers don’t take their full 39 weeks of paid leave.

The full story is here on ft.com. It comes as the government presses ahead in today’s Queen’s Speech with plans for flexible parental leave – despite these having not yet been finalised.

Other family-friendly measures in the legislative programme for next year include helping children with special educational needs, fast-tracking the adoption of ethnic minority children and speeding up care proceedings.

Lembit Opik is leading the charge. The former Lib Dem MP for Montgomeryshire is the first one to break ranks in the wake of another terrible set of local election results for the Lib Dems and call for Nick Clegg’s head. He told BBC Radio 5 Live:

The problem is Nick Clegg: there is a poll today which suggests that 19 per cent of the people like the Lib Dems without Clegg; 12 per cent like Clegg without the Lib Dems.

My empirical view is that we would have done better with a different leader.

I don’t dislike Clegg as a person but I think you can actually point at specific mistakes he has made.

Except there is no charge. Lembit is the only one saying anything remotely like this. And his stock has fallen so low that party strategists think his intervention is actually helpful for the Lib Dem leader.

There is a curious anomaly on the House of Commons MPs’ register. Under Ed Vaizey’s list appears an event sponsored by BSkyB in late 2009 when the Tory party was in opposition. Here is a link to the right page.

Name of donor: British Sky Broadcasting Group plc

Address of donor: Grant Way, Isleworth, Middlesex TW7 5QD

Amount of donation or nature and value if donation in kind: networking event to enable the Conservative frontbench team (Ed Vaizey and Jeremy Hunt) to meet sector leaders from the arts and creative industries. Value: £3,800. I share this with another Conservative MP.

Date of receipt: 7 October 2009

Date of acceptance: 7 October 2009

Donor status: company, registration number 2247735

(Registered 9 April 2010 )

The entry implies that both Jeremy Hunt and Mr Vaizey benefited from the expenditure by BSkyB. Yet Hunt’s register carries no entry for that event; some mistake, surely? I’ve called Mr Hunt’s spokeswomen but they have not replied yet.

UPDATE: It appears that Tim Shipman of the Mail has beaten me by three minutes: here is his story. Shipman reports that Hunt’s aides deny that he attended the event.

But he adds that three other events that Hunt attended were not recorded by him despite being registered by Vaizey:

The Culture Secretary is now planning to amend his entry in the Register of Interests to show that he took a donation worth £1,473.81 from advertising agency DDB UK in September 2009, another worth £1,435 from London media hangout the Groucho Club and a third in July that year from M&C Saatchi, the advertising firm set up by Tory donor and Conservative peer Lord Saatchi. That event cost £4,563.50 – a total of £7472.31.

Steve McCabe, the Labour backbencher, has written to John Lyon, the Commissioner for Standards. His letter says: “I would be grateful if you could investigate whether Mr Hunt made a false or misleading registration of his financial interests, and whether a breach of the Parliamentary rules has occurred.”