Nick Clegg is once again taking the British people for fools - Leslie
Updated: 2012-08-31 18:57:14
Chris Leslie MP, Labour's Shadow Treasury Minister, responding to The Guardian splash on Nick Clegg's tax proposals, said:
Government must act to protect investment in UK business and infrastructure
Updated: 2012-08-31 18:57:14Labour has today warned that isolation and marginalisation in Europe could leave the UK vulnerable to new regulation that does not suit the needs of its economy, and called on the Government to report on the steps it is taking to protect UK interests.Stephen Twigg response to the Pearson report 'Future Teacher Workforce'
Updated: 2012-08-31 18:57:14Stephen Twigg MP, Labour's Shadow Education Secretary, responding to the Pearson Think Tank's commissioned report, 'Future Teacher Workforce', said:Disappointing forecasts suggest short-term boost from Olympics will not be enough - Reeves
Updated: 2012-08-31 18:57:14Rachel Reeves MP, Labour’ Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, responding to the CBI’ quarterly economic forecast, said:Douglas Alexander response to IAEA report on Iran
Updated: 2012-08-31 18:57:14Douglas Alexander MP, Labour's Shadow Foreign Secretary, responding to today's IAEA report on Iran, said:Homeowners around the country are concerned about squatters and rightly want assurances from this Government - Slaughter
Updated: 2012-08-31 18:57:14Andy Slaughter MP, Labour's Shadow Justice Minister, commenting on a new law on squatting coming into affect on Saturday, said:We’ve seen the Home Secretary ramping up her rhetoric on a tougher immigration system but rhetoric is all it is - Bryant
Updated: 2012-08-31 18:57:14Chris Bryant MP, Labour’ Shadow Immigration Minister, commenting on migration statistics published today, said:We support the honours system recognising people from every walk of life and to do so on merit - Dugher
Updated: 2012-08-31 18:57:14Michael Dugher MP, Labour's Shadow Cabinet Office Minister, responding to the Public Administration's Select Committee report on honours, said:Response from Stephen Twigg to Ofqual statement on GCSE marking
Updated: 2012-08-31 18:57:14Stephen Twigg MP, Labour’ Shadow Education Secretary, responding to the statement released by Ofqual this afternoon, said:It will not come as a surprise that more and more patients are writing formal complaints - Gwynne
Updated: 2012-08-31 18:57:14Andrew Gwynne MP, Labour's Shadow Health Minister, in response to official figures showing the NHS is now receiving more than 3000 written complaints per week, said:William Hague caps off his busy summer in unapologetic fashion
Updated: 2012-08-31 15:47:37From Tuesday only people with a Facebook, Twitter, IntenseDebate or alternative registration will be able to leave comments on ConHome threads
Updated: 2012-08-31 09:49:29Should we build a third runway at Heathrow? Is Boris prime ministerial? How do we win in the North?
Updated: 2012-08-31 07:27:41The three big consequences of August 2012: Boundary review gone, Boris rising, rebelliousness growing
Updated: 2012-08-31 06:06:02Any questions for the end-August survey?
Updated: 2012-08-30 16:01:03The case for Romney in two words: Paul Ryan
Updated: 2012-08-30 15:29:24
Paul Ryan had never before struck me as an inspiring speaker. I mean, I like the fellow: he has sound ideas, he's charming and he has a demotic, boy-next-door quality which is unusual among cerebral politicians. But his chief appeal has always been as a policy specialist rather than an orator. Until last night. Ryan's [...]Why Tories shouldn’t be quick to pour scorn on Nick Clegg
Updated: 2012-08-30 12:35:27If running a business is now an electoral disadvantage, this isn't the America I thought I knew
Updated: 2012-08-29 17:28:02The US elections ought to be determined by just one issue: the economy. The country has emptied its treasury and exhausted its credit. The national debt is now at a literally indescribable level: no superlative comes close to conveying what $15 trillion means. The overwhelming majority of Americans are worse off than they were 12 [...]Why regional public sector pay still won't happen
Updated: 2012-08-29 14:30:08Tories should support more property taxes if proceeds are used to cut other, more harmful taxes
Updated: 2012-08-29 07:47:20The key to the next election lies in the midlands and northern marginals - especially the north-west
Updated: 2012-08-29 07:26:34Never mind the pros and cons of an extra runway at Heathrow, what matters most is keeping faith with the electorate
Updated: 2012-08-28 15:26:00
There is something unutterably depressing about the debate over a third runway at Heathrow. In all the conversations, it's assumed that manifesto commitments are worthless. 'These things can always be finessed', say the clever men, the moderate men, the men of judgment and bottom. I've observed before that a separate vocabulary, almost a separate morality, [...]Why not try Plan A (for Austerity)?
Updated: 2012-08-24 12:30:42
The argument over ‘the cuts’ has now become wholly detached from reality. Listen to the BBC and you’ll find the debate presented along these lines: ‘The Coalition, aiming to eliminate the deficit by 2015, has cut spending; this has had the effect of reassuring the markets and preventing a Greek-style meltdown but, on the other [...]You could spend a lifetime exploring the British Isles
Updated: 2012-08-22 05:56:23
I wonder whether you have to spend time abroad fully to appreciate Britain. Like other MEPs, I am in Brussels most of the week. Not that I have anything against the place, you understand; on the contrary, I’ve become fond of the city, and yet fonder of its Flemish hinterland. It’s just that 13 years [...]The Natural History Museum – a summer walk
Updated: 2012-08-21 17:40:34
We recently had an email from Hannah Wise at the Natural History Museum. She felt that as our blog deals with many aspects of the British countryside that we might like their short films / videos featuring Natural History Museum botanist Dr. Fred Rumsey. Each film is only a few minutes long and Dr.Rumsey talks about some [...]As long as Euro-judges can make up the law, any renegotiation is worthless
Updated: 2012-08-20 21:58:49It's difficult to agree terms with a body that can change those terms unilaterally. And that, sadly, is precisely what the Brussels institutions do. David Cameron admitted as much when last year's veto turned out to be void. While no reading of the treaties allows a sub-group of states to make use of EU institutions without [...]White Wednesday changed politics utterly: I'll be celebrating the anniversary with a reunion in Oxford
Updated: 2012-08-18 12:44:01
The key date in modern British politics is 16 September 1992: the day the pound dropped out of the ERM. Much of what has happened since needs to be understood in the context of the damage done to the Conservatives and the way in which Labour benefited, despite itself, from the.economic recovery that began once [...]A Doomed Marriage: Britain and Europe
Updated: 2012-08-16 17:25:48
What impact will the euro debacle have on EU? How did so many people get it so wrong? Why does the project carry on when its rationale has collapsed? Why does Britain seem to get a worse deal than other countries? What would we do if we left? What would the others do? I’ve tried to [...]When it's worth listening to actors
Updated: 2012-08-15 11:15:29
During the AV referendum, I quoted some hard words of Dr Johnson’s about the acting profession. We shouldn’t listen to actors on any subject, I suggested, except acting. There is, though, an important corollary: when it comes to acting, we should listen to actors very seriously. Which is, perhaps, more surprising than it sounds. A [...]