Tag Archives: david cameron

Mark Pack

Book review: Campaign 2010, The Making of the Prime Minister by Nicholas Jones

By Mark Pack | Wed 18th August 2010 - 8:50 am

I am usually sceptical about instant history book as they come out before there has been time for reflection or analysis and yet whilst events are still fresh in your mind. Too often therefore the instant history account simply tells you what you can still remember, and no more. However, Nicholas Jones’s book does a good job of avoiding this trap by being rather more about Campaign 2005 – 2009 than Campaign 2010. The book may be titled Campaign 2010, but much of it is better reflected in the subtitle, The Making of the Prime Minister, for it is about the longer story of where David Cameron came from and how he repositioned the Conservative Party.

Continue reading »
Posted in Books | Also tagged , and | 2 Comments
Kaye Stearman

The Independent View: Arms deals with India – why Lib Dems should say no

By Kaye Stearman | Sat 14th August 2010 - 10:50 am

PM Cameron’s heavyweight government plus business trip to India went swimmingly, so we are to believe, despite that diplomatic faux pas about Pakistani support for terrorism and Indian discontent about proposed immigration quotas. One fortunate outcome for Mr Cameron was that both issues diverted attention from a highly contentious arms deal involving arms giant BAE.

Under the deal, 57 Hawk jets will be manufactured under licence in India with BAE’s Indian partner, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), with technical support from BAE. Roll-Royce also gets a slice of the deal as its jet engines will be used in production. The deal is …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Also tagged , and | 8 Comments
Stephen Tall

Vince: Cameron is “100% behind” my graduate tax proposals

By Stephen Tall | Sun 8th August 2010 - 10:00 am

Lib Dem Business Secretary Vince Cable is interviewed in the Sunday Telegraph (“in open-neck pink shirt and slippers”, intriguingly).

The paper chooses to headline it, Vince Cable: ‘I’m not having fun in government’, trying to feed into the narrative that Vince is a semi-detached member of the coalition government, though he’s certainly loyal in all his utterances. Incidentally, the headline quote set in context reads rather more uncontroversially: “People sometimes ask me ‘are you having fun?’ ” he says. ” No! It’s hard work and it’s tough, but it’s important.”

The paper largely ignores what seems to me a …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 4 Comments
Stephen Tall

The Saturday Debate: Should Turkey be admitted to the EU?

By Stephen Tall | Sat 7th August 2010 - 8:45 am

Here’s your starter for ten in our Saturday slot where we throw up an idea or thought for debate:

In all the recent controversy surrounding David Cameron’s recent foreign policy pronouncements some of the substance has perhaps been lost: here was the leader of a major European country unequivocally urging that Turkey be admitted as a member of the European Union.

This has tended to be an uncontroversial view among the British political classes, who regard Turkey as a vital fulcrum in reconciling the West and the Islamic world. It is far less popular among the voters of Europe, as a …

Continue reading »
Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 33 Comments
Stephen Tall

Cameron admits foreign policy gaffe, mis-speaks that “Iran has got a nuclear weapon.”

By Stephen Tall | Thu 5th August 2010 - 7:55 pm

There will be red faces in Number 10 tonight after the latest foreign policy gaffe from David Cameron. Speaking today at his one of his PM Direct events, the Conservative leader stuck up for Turkey’s application to join the EU, stating it would be able to help Europe address a number of issues:

I think be a good political influence because they can help us solve some of the world’s problems like the Middle East peace process, like the fact Iran has got a nuclear weapon.”

Except Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapon. His advisors later clarified that Mr Cameron …

Continue reading »
Posted in Europe / International | Also tagged and | 28 Comments
Helen Duffett

Biggest. Lib Dem conference. Ever.

By Helen Duffett | Thu 5th August 2010 - 11:20 am

Ahead of next month’s Liberal Democrat Conference, the Independent has a few superlatives on the party’s biggest gathering yet:

One thousand extra pass applications are being processed for next month’s conference in Liverpool. Security controls are being tightened and hotels in the city have experienced a rush in bookings.

More than 7,000 delegates, members of the media and commercial attendees are expected to travel to the conference, compared with its usual attendance of about 6,000. The number of journalists attending is likely to leap from 1,000 last year to more than 1,500.

The number of organisations, including firms, unions and charities,

…

Continue reading »
Posted in Conference | Also tagged | 19 Comments
Stephen Tall

Hughes on Cameron’s council tenancies plans: “It is not a Liberal Democrat policy, it is not a coalition policy.”

By Stephen Tall | Wed 4th August 2010 - 2:02 pm

Lib Dem Voice’s Sara Bedford reported here this morning her reaction to David Cameron’s suggestion that he wanted to look at fixed-term tenancies to help solve the issue of scarce council housing.

Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes has been quick to make plain his outright opposition to the proposal, telling the Evening Standard’s Paul Waugh:

“The ideas put forward by David Cameron this week in no way represent the policy of the coalition and certainly do not represent the policy of the Liberal Democrats.

“We will not let anybody have their homes taken away. We must continue to suppport established

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 46 Comments
Sara Bedford

Social housing: a home for life?

By Sara Bedford | Wed 4th August 2010 - 8:55 am

None of us, especially those who are councillors, can fail to understand the huge crisis of social housing waiting lists. It’s not simply the homeless or those in desperate need of a decent home. Many families will never be able to afford to buy their own home, yet face many years in unsuitable and overcrowded accommodation because of a shortage of affordable homes to rent.  Currently social housing tenants are granted secure tenancies, not only for their lives, but often to pass onto their children. This continues regardless of the needs of future tenants. So would fixed-term tenancies be a fairer way to allocate the limited supply of cheap housing?

Certainly David Cameron seems to think so. Speaking in Birmingham yesterday, the Prime Minister said it makes sense for tenants to be given fixed-term deals in future – so they can be moved on if their circumstances change and those in most need can be housed.  After hearing from a mother living in overcrowded accommodation, he said:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 32 Comments
Helen Duffett

Clegg and Cameron’s joint letter to Cabinet

By Helen Duffett | Tue 3rd August 2010 - 2:25 pm

The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister have issued a reminder of the Coalition government’s priorities in the form of a joint letter to their Cabinet colleagues.

The letter, aimed at the public just as much as ministers, includes a summary of the “central purpose that will guide all our decisions as a government.” The letter says that deficit reduction and economic recovery will be achieved by redistributing power from government to communities and people, and by governing for the long term.

It’s a message, amid criticism of the cuts that the government has announced over its first twelve weeks, that the Coalition is looking at the long haul.

Here’s the text of the letter in full:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 21 Comments
Helen Duffett

How much will coalition change Liberal Democrat conference?

By Helen Duffett | Wed 28th July 2010 - 9:20 am

Party conference rumour season is well underway, with more special guest speculation than last month’s Glastonbury. But whoever’s doing the briefing, it doesn’t seem to be coming from the Liberal Democrat side.

The story that David Cameron might address Lib Dem conference seems to have originated from the Independent:

David Cameron and Nick Clegg are drawing up plans for closer links between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats and senior figures from the two parties will address each other’s party conference this autumn.

The two leaders are keen to cement the coalition and a special meeting of the Cabinet next month will discuss a joint approach to the party conference season, including co-ordinated policy announcements. One option is for Mr Cameron to address the Liberal Democrat conference in Liverpool and Mr Clegg the Tories in Birmingham. More likely, at present, is that other Cabinet ministers will “change places” and speak at their coalition partner’s event.

The Guardian also ran a similar story the same day: David Cameron could speak at Liberal Democrat conference.

– Well, yes he could,* but here are some things to consider:

Continue reading »
Posted in Conference | Also tagged , , , , , and | 11 Comments
Chris White

Opinion: Reasons to be cheerful

By Chris White | Mon 26th July 2010 - 11:45 am

As some of us head for the beach at the end of a very long term, it might be a good idea to see whether there is any light in the current political gloom.

I can count no less than 6 ‘reasons to be cheerful’.

First of all, last week saw the initial meetings of the new Westminster policy teams, designed to facilitate dialogue and communication between the Liberal Democrats in government, especially ministers, and interested parliamentarians, councillor representatives and the Federal Policy Committee.

The ones I attended were workmanlike – and anyway are a great deal better than anything our Coalition …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 18 Comments
Mark Pack

The battle over Trident

By Mark Pack | Tue 20th July 2010 - 2:20 pm

At the time the coalition government was negotiated, Trident looked to be one of the most contentious policy areas for the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to agree on. However, for all the barbed Cameron – Clegg exchanges over Trident during the election, it now looks as if the biggest tensions on the issue are coming from within the Conservative Party.

In my series of posts reviewing the content of the coalition document, I pointed out the compromise it contained on Trident:

It will be replaced unless there is a better value for money alternative. What the wording leaves unclear is the

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 16 Comments
Stephen Tall

One from the archives … Chris Huhne slams the Alternative Vote

By Stephen Tall | Sat 17th July 2010 - 4:20 pm

Actually, I’ve not trawled back that far – just five months, February this year, when the Lib Dems’ Chris Huhne launched a salvo on The Guardian’s Comment is Free against the Alternative Vote as a means of electoral reform:

is very similar to first-past-the-post in two key respects. Because it is based on single constituencies – a virtue for its proponents, who say they prize the constituency link – the parties continue to select one candidate each, and the voters only have one choice for each party. …

Conservative opposition to electoral reform gives the lie to David Cameron’s pretence that

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 10 Comments
Mark Pack

Nick Clegg: delivering a Liberal Parliament

By Mark Pack | Fri 16th July 2010 - 12:39 pm

Nick Clegg has been giving a speech at the think-tank Demos today, setting out his vision for what this Parliament should achieve – and what the Liberal Democrats should get from it.

The heart of the argument is in this early section:

Now that the Liberal Democrats are in government, liberal ideas are being deployed directly. What you are seeing is liberalism in action. And I can tell you that as Deputy Prime Minister, my liberal instincts are stronger than ever. Our goal is clear.

By the time of the next election, on 7 May 2015, Britain will be a more liberal nation.

This

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 13 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Nick Clegg & David Cameron – We’ll transform Britain by giving power away

By NewsHound | Mon 12th July 2010 - 11:20 am

The Pirme Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, David Cameron and Nick Clegg, have jointly authored an article in today’s Telegraph setting out their hopes for the coming Parliament. Dealing with the deficit is vital, they say – but the real mission of the Coalition is to give people control over their lives.

On dealing with the deficit:

… for both of us, sorting out the public finances is a responsibility, not a passion. We didn’t come into politics just to balance the books. We are both ambitious for Britain: we want to change our country for the better. We want to

…

Continue reading »
Posted in LibLink | Also tagged , and | 12 Comments
Helen Duffett

David Cameron to campaign against Alternative Vote reform

By Helen Duffett | Fri 2nd July 2010 - 2:40 pm

This morning, David Miliband – leading contender for the Labour Leadership – said that he’s in favour of Alternative Vote reform.

Now the BBC reports:

David Cameron will campaign against changing the voting system, his spokesman said, in a referendum expected next May.

His spokesman said the PM would be asked his view and “clearly his view is that he’s not in favour of it”.

There’s been some ambiguity about whether Cameron being against AV constitutes him campaigning against the reform – the Prime Minister’s own spokesman doesn’t yet seem sure:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 10 Comments
Stephen Tall

David Miliband backs Alternative Vote reform, lays down gauntlet to Cameron

By Stephen Tall | Fri 2nd July 2010 - 9:40 am

With Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg set to announce 5th May, 2011, as the date of the referendum on electoral reform, David Miliband – currently the leading contender to become the next Labour leader – was this morning asked the direct question whether he would back the move to the Alternative Vote. His answer was unequivocal: yes, and he would be infavour of Labour members campaigning for it during the referendum campaign:

I think that it’s important that we move to a system where every Member of Parliament has at least 50 per cent of the vote of their constituents.”

It’s …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 5 Comments
Paul Walter

PMQs: Cameron does not butter a single parsnip

By Paul Walter | Wed 30th June 2010 - 6:20 pm

Well I must say, there was some dazzling stuff at Prime Minister’s questions today. But for those who might have expected some light, rather than heat, to emerge; there was disappointment. The score was 5-5 in footballing terms. A dazzling draw.

Harriet Harman’s display of debating skill was particularly stunning today. Her point was very simple and powerful. 1.3 million jobs will be lost as a result of government budget cuts, says a report this morning.

David Cameron didn’t deny this estimate came out of the treasury or say that he would publish what Harman called these “hidden treasury documents”. He did …

Continue reading »
Posted in PMQs | 39 Comments
Mark Pack

Government moves right, political agenda moves elsewhere

By Mark Pack | Mon 28th June 2010 - 9:20 am

Whether driven by circumstance or long-term plan, the reaction of David Cameron to the general election result has been an attempt to realign British politics around the centre-right, using the need to strike – and then keep an agreement – with the Liberal Democrats as a way to drag his party away from its more right-wing elements. Doubtless future biographers will spill much ink over what might have been had he got closer to the winning post on his own, or even past it, just as the question of how pluralistic Tony Blair would have been had he not got …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 77 Comments
George Gosling

Opinion: A European question for the coalition

By George Gosling | Sat 26th June 2010 - 9:20 am

Like many here, the idea of a coalition with the Tories goes rather against the grain for me. What convinced me to at least give the ‘new politics’ a chance was not the thought of David Cameron in Number 10 (and certainly not the idea of Boy George in Number 11), but the amount of positive inclusions in the coalition agreement.

Mark Pack has done a good job, here on LDV, of going through the agreement line by line. There is much for us to be happy about. What still causes me concern, however, is the amount that is not …

Continue reading »
Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Also tagged | 6 Comments
Jonathan Ellis

The Independent View: A fair, humane and effective asylum system can quite literally be an issue of life or death

By Jonathan Ellis | Tue 22nd June 2010 - 9:20 am

Last week, people across the UK celebrated Refugee Week – a time to reflect on the contribution refugees make to their communities around the UK, and celebrating that refugees are welcomed and valued here.

As we approach the 60th anniversary of the UN Convention for Refugees next year, it is ever more important that the new government honour our proud tradition of offering shelter to those fleeing persecution in their own countries. It is clear that the main countries refugees have been fleeing from over the last ten years – Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Zimbabwe, Eritrea – are countries where …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Also tagged , , and | Leave a comment
Paul Walter

PMQs: Prime Minister’s tennis

By Paul Walter | Wed 16th June 2010 - 5:50 pm
Continue reading »
Posted in PMQs | Also tagged , , , , , , , and | 6 Comments
Mark Pack

Two Tory non-doms quit the Lords

By Mark Pack | Fri 11th June 2010 - 10:29 pm

A footnote to our previous coverage of Lords McAlpine and Laidlaw, two non-dom Conservative members of the House of Lords. They had both for a long time been unmoved by criticism of their tax affairs, but ahead of changes to the law they have both decided to give up their seats in the Lords.

Lord McAlpine’s case was relatively straight-forward, but Lord Laidlaw’s case had the added twist that he broke a promise he made on being appointed. Indeed, the Lords Appointment Commission was subsequently moved to say that they would not have authorised his peerage if they had known …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 4 Comments
Paul Walter

PMQs: Hattie tries to throw a “stinger” in front of voting reform

By Paul Walter | Wed 9th June 2010 - 4:20 pm

Prime Minister’s Questions is definitely becoming more subdued these days. The bellowing and ya-boo atmosphere has reduced by about 80% since the election. The Cumbrian shootings have dominated both sessions so far, which has added to the quietish feeling.

Harriet Harman has suddenly developed an interest in the electoral roll and the fact that “3.5 million people” who could be on it, aren’t. Fascinating. She seems to have suddenly come up with this as a reason to throw a sort of police “stinger” in front of voting reform – or at least constituency boundary re-drawing. She seems to have forgotten that her party was in power for thirteen years. Why didn’t they do something about electoral registration then? And, as David Cameron retorted, the last election was fought on recently redrawn boundaries anyway – which rather kiboshed Hattie’s argument.

Harman then had a go about CCTV. David Cameron went off on one, ending up about rights to enter people’s houses. He did make some good points about civil liberties during which Nick Clegg nodded very strongly. Harman raised an estate on her patch where they want CCTV coverage. Cameron said it was all about proportionality. If only he could say that about voting reform.

Good joke from Cameron:

Continue reading »
Posted in PMQs | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , and | 42 Comments
Stephen Tall

Cameron won’t campaign against AV in referendum

By Stephen Tall | Mon 7th June 2010 - 7:10 pm

Yesterday’s Times reported the news that David Cameron has decided not to spend his political capital campaigning against electoral reform, whenever the referendum on changing from first-past-the-post to the alternative vote is to be held:

Cameron insisted he remained a supporter of the present voting system: “I will not change my view that the alternative vote is not an improvement to first-past- the-post, so I will make that clear at the time.”

However, he also made clear he would not play an active role in the “no” campaign: “I will have other things to do as well.” …

Some in Cameron’s inner

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged | 14 Comments
Helen Duffett

What does the Deputy Prime Minister do? Nick Clegg’s new responsibilities

By Helen Duffett | Thu 3rd June 2010 - 8:54 pm

As a result of the formation of the coalition Government, a number of responsibilities will be transferred from the Secretary of State for Justice to the Deputy Prime Minister.

Nick Clegg has already been given special responsibility for political and constitutional reform; now Prime Minister David Cameron has listed the powers which will help Clegg bring this into effect:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 6 Comments
Helen Duffett

Vince Cable tops popularity poll; Clegg ahead of Cameron

By Helen Duffett | Thu 3rd June 2010 - 2:51 pm

A nationwide survey by PoliticsHome shows that Vince Cable, Business Secretary and outgoing Lib Dem deputy leader, has a higher approval rating from the public than David Cameron.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg enjoys a clear popularity gap ahead of the Prime Minister, holding an approval rating of 17, compared to David Cameron’s rating of 11.

While the two men both attract the approval of 39% of the public, fewer disapprove of Mr Clegg (22%) than Mr Cameron (28%).

From the Guardian:

The strong rating for Cable will hearten his fans, who were concerned when he announced last week his resignation as

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | Leave a comment
Paul Walter

PMQs: Hattie opens up the Coalition’s Grand Canyon

By Paul Walter | Wed 2nd June 2010 - 3:58 pm

I feel as though Norris McWhirter (late of the Guinness Book of Records) ought to have been kneeling at the foot of the Speaker’s Chair with his stopwatch for this momentous Prime Minister’s Questions. There were several records or firsts being set. The first coalition PMQs ever, I would suggest (I doubt whether Winnie or Ramsay or our David held such events). The first with Liberal Democrats on the government benches. The first with a party sporting its second female leader (Margaret Beckett was acting Labour leader after John Smith died). And it’s 13 long years since we had …

Continue reading »
Posted in PMQs | Also tagged , , , , , , , and | 17 Comments
Mark Pack

The coalition agreement: national security and the NHS

By Mark Pack | Wed 2nd June 2010 - 10:20 am

Welcome to the fourteenth in a series of posts going through the full coalition agreement section by section. You can read the full coalition document here.

The national security section is brief, outlining the creation of a National Security Council, the commencement of a defence review and a promise to “deny public funds to any group that has recently espoused or incited violence or hatred. We will proscribe such organisations”. The pledge on deportation is carefully balanced: “Britain should be able to deport foreign nationals who threaten our security to countries where there are verifiable guarantees that they will not be …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 1 Comment
Helen Duffett

Nick Clegg – working partner; working parent

By Helen Duffett | Wed 2nd June 2010 - 9:20 am

The Independent today features a relationship-focused interview with Nick Clegg. It looks mainly at two areas for balance: work/family and his working partnership with David Cameron:

Mr Clegg… insists he is determined to keep family life and government work as separate as humanly possible.

In this aim he has found an ally in the Prime Minister, who is also the father of small children. Both agreed to change the timing of a cabinet meeting to fit in with the school run. “I try – I haven’t entirely succeeded yet – as much as I can to take the kids to school,”

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 4 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • John Reed
    This is such a disappointing announcement. We must push to have the present system for pricing all electricity based on the cost of the most expensive, usual...
  • Peter Hirst
    I would add caring to bold and relevant. Getting a sympathetic ear at the end of a telephone help line is as important as an extra pound in your pay slip. Under...
  • Peter Hirst
    One of the more important issues that the electorate care about is how much political parties understand what matters to them. This varies from person to person...
  • Peter Hirst
    Inequality must be seen in the round. I appreciate living in the north-west because it gives me easy access to mountains such as in Snowdonia, The Lakes and Der...
  • Peter Hirst
    One of the aims of most societies is some sort of redistribution. So fiscal federalism must have a mechanism for the rich regions giving to the poorer. Without ...