By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. Further to Tim Montgomerie's report earlier this morning, Conservative MPs and others are asking whether the main driver of the move was the Liberal Democrats' desire to get Hayes out of DECC – though they will find Michael Fallon no pushover: the very opposite – or David Cameron's wish […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. On Friday, 50 MPs, including 34 Conservatives, wrote a letter to the Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, expressing their "serious concerns" with the Department of Health’s proposal to introduce plain packaging for tobacco products. The letter stated that: "There is no reliable evidence that plain packaging will have any public health […]
“Send for Fallon” is the cry from the belly of 10 Downing Street whenever there’s trouble to shoot. The interview with Mr Fallon, Deputy Tory Chairman, begins at just after four minutes.
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter Earlier this week I covered some of the Budget debate contributions from backbenchers. On Thursday, other Tory MPs gave their verdicts on the Chancellor's financial plans. I have compiled the best speeches below. David Evennett (Bexleyheath and Crayford) was pleased the Chancellor had partially retreated from his earlier Child Benefit […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. The question of select committee impartiality is raised today by Tom Watson's appointment to the Shadow Cabinet. Although he doesn't have a specific department to shadow, he is the "Labour Party Deputy Chair and Campaign Coordinator", and is listed as an ordinary Shadow Cabinet member – in between the […]
by Paul Goodman Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon) returned to Labour's debt legacy – "The shadow Chancellor was wrong blindly to dismiss what is happening in the gilt markets. I read the yield curve this morning, just as he did, and it is clear that 10-year gilts yields are low at the moment. If the market believed […]
By Paul Goodman Peter Hoskins has posted a brief account on the Spectator's Coffee House site about this morning's Treasury Select Committee appearance by George Osborne. The Chancellor promised to allow the committee to approve his proposed new appointments to the Office of Budget Responsibility – thereby giving them the power to veto his suggestions […]
I wondered earlier this week here whether Labour MPs would use the Select Committee elections to make life difficult for David Cameron. They didn't. Instead, they lined up behind the Conservative establishment candidates. Andrew Tyrie took the Treasury Select Committee; Richard Ottaway, Foreign Affairs (a big, big consolation prize, after his defeat in the 1922 […]