Tag Archives: george osborne

What the papers say…

By Robert Dobson | Sat 9th January 2010 - 2:20 pm

Brown sees off the plotters…just – The Daily Telegraph, 7.1.10

“Gordon Brown was forced to rely on lukewarm backing from senior Cabinet colleagues last night to see off an attempt to oust him as Prime Minister.

“By last night, the attempted coup, which had begun at lunchtime, appeared to have failed as no senior figures were prepared to back it. But while every senior minister issued a statement condemning the letter, few voiced strong support for Mr Brown.”

MPs could be in line for £15,000 pay rise – Daily Mail, 6.1.10

“MPs could receive a big pay rise to compensate …

Posted in News | Also tagged alistair darling, david blunkett, david cameron, gordon brown, lord adonis, matthew oakeshott, NHS, steve hilton and vince cable | Leave a comment

Vince: Tory sums do not stack up

By The Voice | Mon 4th January 2010 - 2:25 pm

Lib Dem Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable has wasted no time in pointing out the huge gaps in the arithmetic of the Conservatives’ draft election manifesto. Earlier today, at the launch of the manifesto, David Cameron stated that his proposed inheritance tax cut would be paid for by taxing non-doms, saying:

“Every other spending pledge we have made, every tax pledge we have made, is fully costed and fully set out. If you take for example the pledge on inheritance tax, which we’ve said is not for a first budget but is a pledge for a parliament, that is to be paid for by taxing the non-doms, the people who live here but do not pay full tax here.”

However Vince was critical of both the principle of the inheritance tax cut and the Tories’ sums. He pointed out that the annual gap between the revenue from non-doms and the lost inheritance tax will grow from £350 million in the first year of the next parliament to almost £1.5 billion by 2015, a total of almost £6 billion. He said:

Posted in News | Also tagged david cameron, inheritance tax, non-doms and vince cable | 2 Comments

Opinion: Cameron tries to woo Lib Dem supporters – should we be worried?

By Layla Moran MP | Mon 28th December 2009 - 3:35 pm

I write this after watching the 6 O’Clock news on Sunday. After the usual sick feeling that I invariably feel when I hear Cameron speak subsides, I am left in a state of mild shock at what he just tried to do: make the public believe that there aren’t many differences between the Lib Dems and the Tories and scaremongering our supporters into voting for them under the pretence that a hung parliament would be ‘bad for Britain’.

I start by addressing the latter point first. There is an argument that decisive action is needed in facing the economic crisis. As I am not an economist and have heard this from many noted sources I will take this as read. However, the idea that the Liberal Democrats would, through a hung parliament, have a say in how and what is done is fantastic news to Lib Dem supporters. I hear the Tories want to set up some sort of “getting out of the recession” committee to work out what to do. Well who would the nation rather have steering this committee than Vince Cable MP? I’m sorry we don’t say this enough: he was right! And he’s consistently right. Over and over again. It beggars belief that this could be twisted into something bad for Britain.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged david cameron, education, non-doms and vince cable | 9 Comments

What the papers say…

By Philip Young | Sat 26th December 2009 - 3:43 pm

Civil servants are as bad as bankers … The Telegraph trumpets Gladstone’s anniversary … Tories support Labour’s school Sats Tests … Another dodgy Tory donor exposed … Labour split on voting reform … Lords skim expenses cream … BBC to make film on Thorpe tragedy … what Chris Huhne thinks of Prince Charles … Unions sit on money for Labour … look at who says Hauge is Vauge …and the only thing the final polls of the year can agree upon is that Liberal Democrat support is holding up

Now Civil Servants join bankers in ludicrous bonuses – Daily Mail,, 24.12.09

…

Posted in News | Also tagged abdelbaset ali al-megrahi, chris grayling, chris huhne, david cameron, ed vaizey, electoral reform, essex county council, fouad makhzoumi, jeremy thorpe, julie kirkbride, michael gove, nick clegg, norman lamb, peter mandelson, sion simon, theresa may, tony greaves, universities, vince cable, what the papers say, william gladstone, william hague and willie rennie | Leave a comment

Vince: the accountants’ choice as Chancellor

By Stephen Tall | Wed 23rd December 2009 - 10:20 am

My favourite bedside reading, Aaccountancy Age, has the story:

Vince Cable has emerged as the accountants’ choice for the next Chancellor following the pre-Budget report. In a poll of around 600 readers conducted by Accountancyage.com both before and after the pre-Budget report, the Liberal Democrat deputy leader and shadow chancellor proved popular with members of the profession, with 44% and 45% of voters wanting him as next chancellor rather than political rivals Alistair Darling and George Osborne.

Here are the results in full:

Pre PBR

George Osborne 45%
Vince Cable 44%
Alistair Darling 10%

Post PBR

Vince Cable 45%
George Osborne 38%
Alistair Darling 17%

As …

Posted in News | Also tagged accountancy age and vince cable | 2 Comments

What the papers say…

By Philip Young | Sat 19th December 2009 - 10:21 am

Vince makes the front page of the Daily Express, Nick scores two page leads in the Mail, Huhne forces a Tory U-turn, Paddy bazookas a Brigadier, Bob Russell biffs a Bishop and The Telegraph’s Deputy Editor says George Osbourne is a childish prat … A few press clippings you may have missed, in our Newspaper Review of the Week.

“Tories lack clarity” – Simon Heffer, columnist: Daily Telegraph, 16.12.09

“Do the Tories enunciate a clear alternative that will benefit not merely their supporters, but also the country? Not yet. It’s not just that George Osborne seems to have no clear plans to …

Posted in News | Also tagged bob russell, chris huhne, nick clegg, paddy ashdown, vince cable and what the papers say | 6 Comments

What the papers say…

By Philip Young | Sun 13th December 2009 - 10:05 am

Over at the Daily Mail, is the shine coming off Brand Cameron, or, is this just a kick up the pants? First comes the big slap…then the boot, with a stiletto heel.

Daily Mail, leader-column, 12.12.09:

“At a time like this, it’s madness to ring-fence any budget at the expense of the rest. Even sacred cows can be hugely overweight. Since 1977, billions have been poured into health and education, without the improvements in standards we’d expect.

“How can Mr. Darling claim there’s no scope for cuts in the NHS, on the day we learn it is spending £1 …

Posted in News | Also tagged alistair darling, azad ootam, bob ainsworth, chris huhne, david cameron, john maples, john thurso, norman lamb, PBR, royal mail, steve webb, what the papers say and willie rennie | 3 Comments

How Mike Hancock saved George Osborne

By Mark Pack | Mon 9th November 2009 - 7:22 pm

The FT has the story:

Now here is a heart-warming tale of goodwill and political selflessness to start this cold winter day, a story of how a Lib Dem turned away an extraordinary piece of Tory intelligence and helped scupper Gordon Brown’s election plans.

Who is the man of honour in this a place of skulduggery and low politics? Arise Mike Hancock, the maverick Lib Dem MP for Portsmouth South.

Posted in News | Also tagged mike hancock | 1 Comment

Daily View 2×2: 12 October 2009

By Stephen Tall | Mon 12th October 2009 - 9:45 am

2 Big Stories

MPs’ expenses row re-ignites as MPs question findings of independent inquiry

In case you thought the row had blown itself out, here comes the sequel:

Gordon Brown has urged MPs to repay expenses claimed up to five years ago if asked to do so following an audit ordered after the furore. There are reports that some MPs plan to defy calls to repay money and may challenge the request in the courts.

The PM is among hundreds of MPs expected to be asked to repay sums following a review of all claims by former civil servant Sir Thomas Legg. …

The BBC understands he has set retrospective limits for some items and annual limits on what he believes they should have claimed. These are £1,000 a year for gardening, and £2,000 a year for cleaning. It is believed to have angered some MPs who say they will not repay the money.

Saturday’s Telegraph reported the following snippet:

Last night, the Lib Dems, who are confident that they avoided the worst excesses, stepped up pressure on the Conservatives

Posted in Daily View | Also tagged gordon brown, mark thompson, matthew oakeshott, mps expenses, peter black, thomas legg and vince cable | 2 Comments

Daily View 2×2: 9 October 2009

By Helen Duffett | Fri 9th October 2009 - 12:07 pm

2 Big Stories

Widely questioned as being rather premature, and merited more by vision than achievements so far, President Obama’s award is making the headlines this morning:
Barack Obama wins 2009 Nobel peace prize (Telegraph)

Less than a year after taking office, Mr Obama won the prestigious award after calling for worldwide disarmament.

He had also worked to restart the stalled Middle East peace process since taking office in January.

In an announcement in Oslo, he was honoured “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” the head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Thorbjoern Jagland said.

“Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as (Mr) Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future,” the committee said.

“His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.”

The committee said it attached special importance to Mr Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.

Royal Mail strike – Christmas come early?
And not in a good way…

Posted in Daily View | Also tagged barack obama, jonathan calder, nich starling, nobel peace prize and royal mail | 4 Comments

Osborne’s pensions plan would leave women in the lurch – Webb

By Richard Huzzey | Wed 7th October 2009 - 1:46 am

Lib Dem Work and Pensions spokesman Steve Webb was quick to share his thoughts about George Osbourne’s plan to raise the retirement age with Lib Dem Voice readers yesterday.

Today he has issued a stinging rebuke of the implications of the Tory scheme for women:

Women have been a total afterthought to this announcement. It is simply impossible for the Tories to save £13bn a year by raising the state pension age for men alone.

George Osborne’s plans would require the pension age for women to increase each year until 2016. The Tories must come clean or risk leaving every

…

Posted in News | Also tagged pensions and steve webb | 7 Comments

Vince – Osborne’s policies are “Lib Dem Lite”

By Stephen Tall | Tue 6th October 2009 - 7:10 pm

Today saw the Tory shadow chancellor George Osborne deliver his conference speech to the party faithful in Manchester, including setting out a number of spending cuts:

>> Public sector pay freeze in 2011 – except frontline military or people on less than £18,000
>> Keep 50p top tax rate for now
>> End Child Trust Funds for all but the poorest families
>> No tax credits for families earning over £50,000.

His Lib Dem opposite number Vince Cable is distinctly underwhelmed:

Posted in News | Also tagged economy and vince cable | 8 Comments

CommentIsLinked@LDV … A Vince double-bill – ‘Osbornomics’ and single mothers

By Stephen Tall | Mon 5th October 2009 - 1:25 pm

Lib Dem deputy leader Vince Cable’s path has gone beyond mere sainthood – to his financial omniscience we can now add his media omnipresence. In today’s Independent, he delivers a withering attack on what he terms ‘Osbornomics’ in, erm, honour of the Tories’ shadow chancellor.

First, Vince tries to pin down Boy George’s guiding economic philosophy:

The last Conservative government was led by people who had a clear sense of ideological direction and conviction. Mrs Thatcher was clearly influenced, directly or indirectly, by the ideas of Hayek – rolling back “the serfdom of the state”. Sir Geoffrey Howe and rising stars like Nigel Lawson had developed a response to the inflationary 1970s through the monetarist ideas of Milton Friedman and the Chicago School. It is very difficult to see any clear or consistent thread this time round.

However, he acknowledges Mr Osborne has publicly lauded one philosopher, one Adam Smith:

Posted in LibLink | Also tagged adam smith and parenting | 1 Comment

The Times: Osborne to be investigated by sleaze watchdog over #mpsexpenses

By Stephen Tall | Thu 2nd July 2009 - 5:30 pm

Here are the allegations, as summarised in a Lib Dem press release issued this afternoon:

George Osborne used his second homes allowance on a London property and then switched it to a large farmhouse in his Cheshire constituency of Tatton. He bought the Cheshire residence ten months before he won his Tatton seat in 2001. Instead of taking out a mortgage on the farmhouse he increased the mortgage on the London property which he bought for £700,000 in 1998.

He designated the London house his second home, even though it was his main residence, so he could claim mortgage interest payments.

…

Posted in News | Also tagged john lyon, matthew oakeshott and mps expenses | 7 Comments

Daily View 2×2: 25 June 2009

By Alex Foster | Thu 25th June 2009 - 8:00 am

How fitting that while Ricky Gervais and Phil Jupitus share a birthday with Michel Tremblay, a Canadian writer I studied as part of my degree, the US should be celebrating National Catfish Day.

Two big stories

Another climbdown for Brown as the Government backs off plans to bolster MPs’ pensions. Just hours after Clegg took Brown to task at PMQs for being wrong about Gurkhas, wrong about expenses and the Iraq enquiry. Now he’s admitted to being wrong about MPs’ pensions too. A planned increase had been accepted by all parties in March but the government now …

Posted in Daily View | Also tagged andrew reeves, mark valladares and ros scott | 2 Comments

Osborne claimed £47 for DVD of his own speech on … value for taxpayers’ money

By Stephen Tall | Thu 18th June 2009 - 11:27 am

The Evening Standard’s Paul Waugh has been doing some digging into the newly-released MPs’ expenses claims on the Parliamentary website, and has come up with this ‘file-under-you-couldn’t-make-it-up’ story:

Among the tiny fragments of new info available on MPs exes today is this:

George Osborne claimed £47 of taxpayer’s money for two copies of a DVD of his speech – and the speech was on “value for money”.

Posted in News | Also tagged mps expenses and paul waugh | 13 Comments

Lib Dems call on George Osborne to pay capital gains tax

By Mark Pack | Sun 14th June 2009 - 10:35 am

From The Telegraph:

George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, is facing demands to “pay back” £55,000 in capital gains tax, which critics say he is morally obliged to pay after “flipping” his designated second property.

The Liberal Democrats said they had calculated how much capital gains tax Mr Osborne avoided by the way he designated his London family home. They called on David Cameron to force him to pay it back.

The Tory leader has clamped down heavily on backbench Tory MPs who have abused the expenses system, but he has yet to censure a senior member of his inner circle…

Lord Oakeshott of

…

Posted in News | Also tagged david cameron, matthew oakeshott and mps expenses | 4 Comments

George Osborne: he was for cracking down on public sector pay before he was against it reviewing it

By Stephen Tall | Tue 7th April 2009 - 5:55 pm

Poor old George Osborne. It’s a tough job being ~~Ken Clarke’s deputy~~ the Tories’ shadow chancellor, desperately walking the tightrope between keeping happy your right-wing, Hannan-worshipping party activists (and that’s the majority of them), while trying not to scare away the voters for whom a right-wing, Hannan-worshipping party is a nightmare spectre (and that’s the majority of them).

That, at least, is the only explanation I can come up with for George’s current confusion about whether or not he’s in favour of a crack down on public sector pay and pensions. Here, for instance, is the Financial Times which …

Posted in News | Also tagged daily mail, daniel hannan, edward leigh, paul waugh and vince cable | 2 Comments

Tories’ double whammy tax bombshell

By Stephen Tall | Mon 23rd March 2009 - 8:42 pm

I leave the country for just three days, and come back to find that, in my absence, the Tories have fallen to bits over tax. I must try this going away lark again, some time. (What do you mean, post hoc ergo propter hoc?)

Of course, it’s possible to claim it’s all a storm in a teacup: that (i) George Osborne’s announcement that the Tories will go into the next election promising to raise the top rate of tax, and (ii) Ken Clarke’s declaration that their inheritance tax cut for the rich was an “aspiration”, are merely a …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged conservative party, danny finkelstein, david cameron, economy, ken clarke, paul waugh, recession and tax | 18 Comments

Ken Clarke lays into Conservative policy, again

By Mark Pack | Tue 27th January 2009 - 5:42 pm

Well, well – he’s certainly started with a work rate that puts some Conservative Shadow Cabinet members to shame … for it’s another day, and another attack from Ken Clarke on the policies that David Cameron and George Osborne have been pushing. Following up his earlier comments about the IMF, this time Ken Clarke has criticised them over tax policy. As Benedict Brogan reports:

What Ken Clarke has to say about promoting marriage through the tax system amounts to a violent rejection of everything Dave and George have been proposing. Better yet, he justifies it by claiming the Shadow Chancellor

…

Posted in News | Also tagged benedict brogan, david cameron and ken clarke | 2 Comments

In the news…

By Mark Pack | Mon 26th January 2009 - 9:54 am

Chris Huhne is asking the police to investigate claims of “cash for amendments” in the House of Lords. (BBC)

Ken Clarke has barely got his feet under the table back in the Conservative Shadow Cabinet and he’s rubbishing the Osborne/Cameron line on the economy: “Clarke rejects party leader’s warning over loan from IMF.” (The Guardian)

Nick Clegg says the Conservatives will not offer the radical change we need. (BBC)

Posted in News | Also tagged chris huhne, david cameron, ken clarke and nick clegg | 6 Comments

Vince condemns “long, shabby and disreputable treatment” of Equitable Life policy-holders

By Stephen Tall | Fri 16th January 2009 - 9:54 am

From today’s Times:

One million savers were given an apology — but no promise of early compensation — when the Treasury issued its long-delayed response to the verdict that regulators were partly responsible for the near-collapse of Equitable Life. Although the Treasury confirmed an ex-gratia scheme yesterday, campaigners and MPs condemned proposals to means-test payments.

There was anger, also, at the Treasury’s admission that it could take “significantly longer” than two and a half years before any cash is paid out. Ministers were accused of using “dirty tricks” to put off payments until after the next election. Justifying the delay, Yvette Cooper, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said that the level of official responsibility had still to be decided.

George Osborne, the Tories’ shadow chancellor, decided not to turn up to the debate to grill Labour over its lacklustre response. However, the Lib Dems’ shadow chancellor Vince Cable was on hand to hold the Government to account. And, as ever with Vince’s statements, it’s well worth reproducing in full:

Dr. Vincent Cable (Twickenham) (LD):

I thank the Chief Secretary for her statement. I welcome the apology, and I welcome more guardedly—because we do not yet know the full details—the compensation principle. However, that comes after the long, shabby and disreputable treatment of policyholders. The endless delay and dissimulation have angered up to 1 million of them, many of whom have lost up to half their pension to the extraordinary extent that a period of maladministration that occurred largely under the previous Government has become a massive own goal for this Government. That makes it all the more surprising that the Conservative shadow Chancellor did not think it worth his while to turn up today— Well, I am here.

Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged equitable life, house of commons and vince cable | 2 Comments

In praise of ConservativeHome

By Stephen Tall | Thu 15th January 2009 - 7:01 pm

Yes, you did indeed read the headline right. To be more specific, I write in praise of Andrew Lilico’s grown-up article today on ConservativeHome’s CentreRight platform, Ridiculous assault or legimitate spin over “green shoots”? which invites readers to

Imagine a Conservative government minister involved in the following exchange:

Interviewer: “When will we see the green shoots of recovery?”
Minister: “…I wouldn’t want to be the one predicting it. I am seeing a few green shoots, but it’s a little bit too early to say exactly how they’ll grow.”

Now imagine that the Opposition and press attacked this minister for the “insensitive”

…

Posted in News and Op-eds | Also tagged andrew lilico, baroness vadera, ConservativeHome, john thurso and vince cable | 3 Comments

More flack for George Osborne in the Sunday papers

By Mark Pack | Sun 11th January 2009 - 1:37 pm

David Smith is economics editor at the Sunday Times and today he writes of George Osborne:

Every day, sometimes on several occasions, an e-mail arrives in my inbox on behalf of George Osborne, the Conservative shadow chancellor.

Issued in response to a minor economic indicator or flaky forecast, these missives, apart from rather demeaning the office of shadow chancellor, are usually harmless enough and can be safely ignored.

Last week, however, came one that summed up the Tory problem: opposition by soundbite. For weeks, a debate has raged about whether central banks should engage in “quantitative easing”, the technique employed by the Japanese

…

Posted in News | Also tagged economy | 4 Comments

Osborne set to announce fuel tax increases

By Mark Pack | Mon 17th November 2008 - 11:10 pm

In a dramatic move intended to demonstrate his resolve and consistency, George Osborne is set to follow through on his summer consultation over introducing a fuel tax stabiliser, and will call for an increase in fuel duty.

As he said when launching the policy idea on 6th July:

A common sense plan to help families, bring stability to the public finances and help the environment by making the price of carbon less volatile.

The plan stated:

If a Fair Fuel Stabiliser had been introduced at the 2008 Budget, fuel would now be 5p per litre cheaper, shaving £3.50 off a tank

…

Posted in Leadership Election | 16 Comments

FT: Tories to ditch Osborne in favour of Hague?

By Stephen Tall | Wed 12th November 2008 - 12:43 pm

A month ago Lib Dem Voice’s Alix Mortimer suggested it was high-time the Tories considered ditching their under-whelming shadow chancellor, George Osborne:

My guess is that Cameron is wincing his way through the current crisis, burying his head in a cushion every time George goes on TV, and he’s planning the reshuffle. He hasn’t spent all this time and effort decontaminating the Tory brand to have his plans trashed by some oily twerp who hides his weekly treasury briefings down the back of the sofa, old mate or not. He can’t afford to go into a General Election side-by-side

…

Posted in News | Also tagged david cameron and william hague | 10 Comments

Cameron and Osborne disagree over economic policy

By Mark Pack | Sun 9th November 2008 - 9:07 pm

David Cameron in the News of the World today had a pop at Brown/Darling and their international travel to discuss economic matters:

People need help . . . and they need it fast. They want to know politicians are on their side—not the other side of the world.

But on the very same day that David Cameron was attacking people making international journeys to discuss economic issues with other countries, George Osborne on the Financial Times website was calling for plenty of just that, with his list of demands for better international action:

I am sure all will agree that greater

…

Posted in News | Also tagged david cameron | 2 Comments

Massive drop in Conservative support for George Osborne

By Mark Pack | Fri 7th November 2008 - 7:45 am

ConservativeHome has the story:

PoliticsHome had already found a significant slump in support for George Osborne amongst the electorate at large. Despite this website’s efforts, support for the Shadow Chancellor has also plunged among the Tory grassroots. Our latest survey of over 1,600 rank-and-file members found that 49% were satisfied with Mr Osborne but 47% were dissatisfied; a net positive rating of just 2%. That is a huge shift since last month when George Osborne enjoyed a net positive rating of +70%.

Three shadow cabinet ministers have plunged in previous surveys. Andrew Lansley – after appearing to suggest large

…

Posted in News | Also tagged ConservativeHome | 1 Comment

Conservatives back themselves into an economic cul-de-sac

By Mark Pack | Tue 4th November 2008 - 1:20 pm

For a decade and more, the Conservative Party has struggled to find popular support for its economic policies. Faced with the twin burdens of the early-1990s recession and public scepticism that their tax and spending plans were not savage cuts to public services in disguise, over the last three general elections the Conservatives failed to find a convincing voice.

Under David Cameron and George Osborne, the party took different tack: sticking extremely closely to Labour’s economic policies and only offering a smidgen of a different approach. Monetary policy was to stay in the independent hands of the Bank of England, spending levels on core public services were to stay the same as under Labour (trying a repeat of the Blair/Brown tactic in the run-up to 1997, where they pledged to stick to the then Conservative government’s spending plans) and tax cuts were to be talked about as little as possible. The one smidgen of difference was to be “sharing the proceeds of growth”; i.e. some of the extra tax revenue generated by economic growth would go in tax cuts and some in extra spending.

But this was always a policy for the good times. Without growth, there are no proceeds to share around, leaving the Conservatives in a double-bind.

Posted in News | Also tagged david cameron | 2 Comments

Conservative economic policy trivia corner

By Mark Pack | Sun 2nd November 2008 - 10:15 am

One of the two men George Osborne says are his key advisers on the economic framework he wants to put in place is Alan Budd. He was chief economic adviser at the Treasury when Britain was in deep recession in the early 1990s, including before and during Black Wednesday, when sterling crashed out of the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), destroying the Government’s then economic policy and costing over £3 billion.

Let’s hope he’s learnt a thing or two 🙂

Posted in News | 4 Comments

Alison Suttie writes: Thank you to our volunteers

What’s going on with party strategy?

A strange but welcome feeling

Observations of an Expat: The Elephant Returns

Tag Archives: george osborne

2 Big Stories

2 Big Stories

Two big stories

Subscribe

Most Read

Search

Op-eds

Recent Comments