Tag Archives: andrew george

PMQs: Miliband hoist by his Balls’ petard

By Paul Walter | Published 19th January 2012 - 8:24 am

Let’s start with what Ed Balls, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor said in the Guardian on January 14th:

My starting point is, I am afraid, we are going to have keep all these cuts. There is a big squeeze happening on budgets across the piece. The squeeze on defence spending, for instance, is £15bn by 2015. We are going to have to start from that being the baseline. At this stage, we can make no commitments to reverse any of that, on spending or on tax. So I am being absolutely clear about that.

So, it was something of a surprise when Ed …

Posted in PMQs | Also tagged david cameron, david hamilton, economy, ed balls, ed miliband, tessa munt, unemployment | 15 Comments

Andrew George writes… A veil of initiatives

By Andrew George MP | Published 16th January 2012 - 9:53 am

The Iron Lady cast a steely shadow over the Westminster village last week.

Memories of Baroness Thatcher’s reign of heavy metal terror still strike fear in those who inhabited the place in the days when she would mercilessly handbag anyone who dared to cross her path.

Last week, of course, her major Hollywood biopic was released. Fearing unfavourable comparisons, the PM appears to have gone into manic overdrive; launching an overlapping series of popular-sounding and eye-catching initiatives.

Having spotted that City fat cats are still awarding themselves performance-related perks, which bear no relation to their performance, the PM has become quite cross. …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged david cameron, margaret thatcher, NHS | 6 Comments

LibLink: From David Laws to Andrew George – The Lib Dem rebellion league table

By The Voice | Published 19th December 2011 - 11:55 am

Over on Left Foot Forward, Mark Pack has blogged an infographic analysing the patterns of rebellion amongst Liberal Democrat MPs:

Liberal Democrat peers used to be in a remarkably privileged position in the party. Not only because they have held office without the pesky need for elections but also because for many years the third party in the House of Lords has been the key swing vote when the government has been wanting to get legislation through…

[However,] helped by the primacy of the Commons, revolts by Liberal Democrat MPs which could cost the government its majority are now no longer the neglected,

…

Posted in LibLink, Parliament | Also tagged david laws, mark pack | 9 Comments

PMQs: Bits start to fall off Cameron’s wagon

By Paul Walter | Published 22nd June 2011 - 7:53 pm

After last week’s Miliband success at Prime Minister’s Questions, this time we started off with Ed Miliband in softly softly mode. He asked about Libya and the service chiefs’ concern about an extended campaign. Displaying a becoming measure of gravitas, he also asked whether the defence review should be revisited in the light of the “Arab Spring” which William Hague has described as more important than 9-11. That’s a good question given that the review didn’t mention Libya, Tunisia or Egypt.

David Cameron said he has been assured by the military grand fromage that we could keep the campaign going as …

Posted in Parliament, PMQs | Also tagged angie bray, david cameron, dna samples, ed balls, ed miliband, greg mulholland, iainstewart, john thurso, libya, the speaker, theresa may | 9 Comments

Parliament debates Libya: what Liberal Democrat MPs have been saying

By Mark Pack | Published 21st March 2011 - 8:45 pm

Here are some selections from today’s debate in Parliament so far on the United Nations resolution on Libya and subsequent military action which touch on the questions of international law, the Liberal Democrat position, what is happening in other countries and the question of Iraq:

Bob Russell (Colchester) (LD):In view of the obviously barbaric attacks by Gaddafi on his own people, does the Prime Minister agree that those officials and military chiefs who are still standing firm with Gaddafi stand every chance of being hauled before the war crimes tribunal?

The Prime Minister: The hon. Gentleman makes an excellent point. The

…

Posted in News | Also tagged bob russell, david cameron, libya, martin horwood | 31 Comments

The developing dynamics of the Lib Dem Parliamentary Party

By Mark Pack | Published 19th August 2010 - 6:24 pm

Just over 100 days into coalition, it’s becoming clearer how the Parliamentary Party (in the Commons) is shaping up and where dissent is likely to come from in future. As I’ve argued previously, overall the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party has been remarkably united over the last few years. (Even the ousting of Charles Kennedy was conducted with a remarkable degree of speed and agreement amongst MPs, especially when compared with the long-running leadership agonies in Labour and, pre-2005, the Conservatives.)

Coalition is putting that Lib Dem cohesion to the test in new ways and we’re starting to see who the …

Posted in News | Also tagged coalition, mike hancock, simon hughes | 10 Comments

When is a rebellion not a rebellion?

By Stephen Tall | Published 15th July 2010 - 7:30 pm

The Coalition decision to raise VAT was, by some measure, the most controversial aspect of the Government’s first budget. In our recent survey of party members, 42% opposed the move, though 48% endorsed it (however reluctantly) to deal with the deficit.

The party’s MPs have also been wrestling with the issue. The VAT increase was debated on Tuesday night in the Commons – in the end only Colchester’s Bob Russell from the Lib Dems voted against the Government, siding with a Labour amendment.

As Jim Pickard in the FT notes, St Ives MP Andrew George, and four other Lib …

Posted in News, Parliament | Also tagged bob russell, charles kennedy, ming campbell, vat | 13 Comments

LibLink: Nick Clegg and Danny Alexander on the Budget

By NewsHound | Published 27th June 2010 - 9:19 am

Writing in The Observer Danny Alexander says,

Labour’s approach of denial and complacency would bring higher interest rates, fewer jobs, less growth, more debt. It exposes us to much greater risks of financial irresponsibility – being forced by others to cut harder, with less care and control. That is the position of some European countries – it must never be Britain’s. There is nothing progressive about the consequences of denial and delay.

The coalition has chosen responsibility. We are restoring order to the nation’s finances, credibility to our position internationally, and confidence in our economy that is essential for growth. Having chosen

…

Posted in LibLink | Also tagged budget 2010, danny alexander, nick clegg, vat | 9 Comments

Revisiting Jo Swinson and the Telegraph’s #mpexpenses stories

By Stephen Tall | Published 11th June 2009 - 6:30 pm

Remember the Telegraph’s hatchet job on Lib Dem MP Jo Swinson during their series of revelations about MPs’ expenses? (Lib Dem blogger James Graham has followed-up the issue on his own Quaequam Blog! HERE).

Well, on Monday evening, as billed here, I had the chance to put these points direct to the Daily Telegraph’s assistant editor, Andrew Pierce, at a debate posing the question, A triumph for journalism? (You can watch the debate online here – worth watching in full, but the section focusing on Jo starts about 29 minutes in).

The issues of dodgy …

Posted in News, Parliament | Also tagged #MPexpenses, alan reid, andrew pierce, jo swinson, journalism.co.uk, martin horwood | 6 Comments

Daily View 2×2: 21 May 09

By Alex Foster | Published 21st May 2009 - 10:03 am

What’s up in blogs and news.

In the media

The expenses row continues to rumble with the MP for my ancestral home of Leominster getting scalped by the Telegraph alongside Ruth Kelly and a duck, if the pictures are to be believed.

Meanwhile over the Daily Mail has been working hard to bring you this extreme comparison with Cornish MP Andrew George – they’ve found one of his constituents who commutes to LB Barking & Dagenham, but whose weekday residence is a £30 tent. There’s some grass left in Parliament Square, isn’t there? We could have a tent city for MPs …

Posted in Daily View | Also tagged mps expenses | 7 Comments

The Telegraph should apologise to Andrew George and Alan Reid

By Alix Mortimer | Published 14th May 2009 - 9:57 am

Not the kind of stern injunction I was expecting to come out with after a day of Liberal Democrat expenses revelations, I must say. I was all prepared to be angry, disappointed, humbled and even-handedly condemnatory. It has become a sort of communally agreed ceasefire in the political blogosphere and the media in the past few days – no-one’s allowed to query, say “eh?” or doubt the word of the Telegraph. That would be being cocky and partisan. One must only observe the same humilities as everybody else. Shock horror expressions must be worn at

…

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged alan reid, mps expenses | 54 Comments

The restoration of Andrew George?

By Alix Mortimer | Published 13th May 2009 - 10:00 am

There’s no peace for a blogger this morning. Earlier today I gave Andrew George, whose flat is sometimes used by his daughter, a stern 4/5 for piggy-wiggyness. My basis for this was that, whatever the precise ratio of usage between Andrew and his daughter, I didn’t want to pay for something that was for her benefit as well as his.

Andrew has just made the following statement on his website:

Fact 1: We purchased nearly 1/3 of the flat ourselves and bought half of the furniture and fittings without making a claim from taxpayers’ money.

Continue reading »

Posted in News | Also tagged mps expenses | 13 Comments

Lib Dem MPs’ expenses: it could’ve been worse (and might still be)

By Stephen Tall | Published 12th May 2009 - 11:47 pm

The Telegraph has now published its Lib Dem MPs’ expenses revelations. At first glance, my initial reaction is… phew: compared to the Labour and Tory abuses covered in previous days it looks like the Lib Dem expense claims are – relatively speaking – minor.

Of course, I realise that’s not entirely the point – to have ill-advisedly claimed even the most minor items brings the system and Parliament into disrepute, allowing the media and our opponents to say we’re all the same. And as Hywel notes in an LDV comment thread below, ‘“Not as corrupt as other MPs” …

Posted in News | Also tagged chris huhne, julia goldsworthy, lembit opik, ming campbell, mps expenses, nick clegg | 17 Comments

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