By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter The Economist magazine has put online an article from its print edition urging the government to drop High Speed Rail 2. Indeed – the Economist calls HS2 "The great train robbery" and introduces the article by saying: "High-speed rail lines rarely pay their way. Britain’s government should ditch its […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Education, gave a speech at the Durand Academy in Stockwell, South London, earlier this week. We're covering it a couple of days late, but it was an important speech, and I've highlighted below some sections that readers will be interested in: Mr […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter Nadine Dorries, a Conservative MP, and Frank Field, a Labour MP, jointly tabled an amendment to be debated when Parliament returns this month. The amendment's aim is to break the stranglehold on abortion counselling of certain groups which Dorries and Field say have a financial conflict of interest in […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter As reported last week, this Parliament has seen more rebellions than during the Major years, and in fact, the 2010 intake has been the most rebellious since at least 1945. The last Parliamentary year has seen Conservative rebellions on issues such as European bailouts, recognising marriage in the tax system, or […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter Figures released today by the Department of Education show that the introduction of the new English Baccalaureate is having an immediate impact – the proportion of pupils taking the core academic subjects at GCSE level has increased. The English Baccalaureate, which was introduced in January this year, is achieved by […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter Andrew George, the Liberal Democrat MP for St Ives, is a rebellious, Coalition-unfriendly backbencher with a particular animosity toward the government on NHS matters. Earlier on in the summer, he launched this attack on the Conservatives: "I'm afraid we can't trust the Tories with the NHS. They brazenly ignored […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter Figures released by the Treasury's annual Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses today have shown a record gap in yearly public spending on people in Scotland, and people in England. The total public spending per Scot last year was £10,212, compared to £8,588 in England. The gap is now £1,624, an […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter It's the August Bank holiday, and what better way of enjoying politics this afternoon than watching this set of videos of the peerless Charles Moore discussing Lady Thatcher – whose authorised biography Moore is writing. He is interviewed by Peter Robinson, of Stanford University's Hoover Institution:
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter Last month we covered the findings of a survey which showed Speaker Bercow’s oft-repeated complaint (as shown in the video segment above) about “the public” not liking robust debate in the House of Commons, was unsupported by public opinion. But a survey is only a survey, and the wording – […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter This Parliament has seen more rebellions than during the Major years. The 2010 intake has, in fact, been the most rebellious since 1945, as this graph below demonstrates: We have regularly covered Conservative rebellions, on issues like European bailouts, recognising marriage in the tax system, or on law and […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter The BBC is reporting that Scottish Labour MP Tom Harris "has stated his interest in becoming the new Labour leader in Scotland.". Harris is firmly on the centre-left, and was one of Labour's star bloggers before leaving the blogosphere last year. He also stood, unsuccessfully, for the Shadow Cabinet elections […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter A new e-petition has been launched today by chef and broadcaster Anthony Worrall Thompson, calling on the government to review the smoking ban – a policy generally unpopular with ConHome readers. The text of the petition is: "We petition the Government to review the impact of the smoking ban on […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter Labour politicians have long pointed to their "Plan B", and their deficit reduction strategy that would, apparently, be carried out slower than the Coalition plan, and be less "painful". Ed Balls, Labour's Shadow Chancellor, told the House on Thursday – in a debate on the Global Economy, during the […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter A fine, cut-out-and-keep column from Polly Toynbee today. She kicks off by calling this government "small-staters": "So far, the small-staters are losing. A small state means – and Cameron has not budged – a smaller police force and shrunken social programmes, with more potential for anarchy."
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter Thursday's recall of Parliament included a Commons debate on Public Disorder. The debate was introduced by the Home Secretary, Theresa May, and some of the contributions from Conservative Members were covered here yesterday. Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Education, wound up the debate. Firstly, Mr Gove praised the contributions […]