Queen’s Speech There were no big surprises here. Some will doubtless emerge when the detail of the Bills is published. That will be the moment for us to comment as it is in the detail that this Blog finds the devils. I am not convinced about the expansion of Academies plan. I have nothing against these […]
The New Government Osborne and Laws gave an impressive and coherent performance at their news conference today. There is something refreshing about any new government and the new dynamics of coalition make this one especially impressive. The last time that there was a real sense of getting to grips with intractable problems was in 1951. […]
Tomorrow The First Cuts There have been leaks already about where the £6 billion axe will fall, as well as warnings of pain to come. The argument to cut now or later has been largely overtaken by the Euro crisis and the reports of Mandarins being overruled by outgoing Labour Ministers, who pumped up spending in the […]
Another Sting This Blog has no interest in, or knowledge of, the finances, business affairs, introductory powers or relationships of the latest victim of a set up, the unfortunate Duchess of York. Recently it was Lord Triesman, who found himself at the centre of an expose (sorry my keyboard does’t do accents). At one level […]
Trident This Blog earlier supported a Lib Dem proposal to re-examine the case for Trident. Something on these lines is now coalition policy as an adjunct to the defence review shortly to begin. I have previously suggested that Trident is over specified, capable more or less of ending the world as we know it and […]
Curbing The Banks Sooner or later this has to happen everywhere. It is to the greatest credit of the United States that it is the first to act. Once America sees a problem and accepts it, it acts. This is why it retains the edge on Europe and most likely always will. Contrast with the […]
Price of Alcohol This is again in the news, with Tesco backing a halt to loss leading alcohol sales. They may even support a legal minimum price. Various informed and thinking contributors have been giving their views on the media. A major problem appears to be the fact that booze is now so widely available […]
Labour Leadership The leadership campaign has revealed an ever growing list of lacklustre male candidates (with the possible exception of Ed Milliband who alone has something extra), which tends to emphasize the tired and battered nature of the party following defeat. I think it a very great mistake for leaders of political parties to throw in […]
Euro In Trouble This blog has been consistent in its analysis of the situation with the Euro. The fundamental problem is that there is no central direction of financial policy. My phrase is that you cannot have a currency without a government. A currency without a central government is similar to a country without an effective central […]
Transformation There is an extraordinary transformation occurring, led by two similar but different young men, the like of which this country has never seen. One is so very English privilege, the other, with no English blood at all is so very British privelege. The first Eton and Oxford, the second Westminster and Cambridge. Both have […]