Archive for george osborne
Nick Clegg unites with Lords in battle to alter benefit cuts
So reports tomorrow’s Observer: David Cameron has been lobbied by the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, on the need to rewrite the government’s flagship benefit reform to help children suffering as a result. Clegg proposed a series of changes to the £500-a-week cap, including exempting current claimants, in an attempt to ameliorate some of the [...]
Your instant guide to what politicians really think of the banking system reforms
Lots will be said today about the government’s plans for banking reforms. You can cut your way through all the public verbiage and find out what politicians really think with this simple guide: Liberal Democrats If Liberal Democrats like them, they are Vince Cable’s reforms. If Liberal Democrats don’t like them, they are George Osborne’s [...]
“This has been a surprisingly successful autumn [for...] the Liberal Democrats”
So writes Martin Kettle in The Guardian: This has been a surprisingly successful autumn not just for the Tories, but the Liberal Democrats too. The Lib Dems have put their distinctive stamp on several progressive announcements in the autumn statement, not least the commitment to uprate benefits in line with inflation, on which Osborne vacillated. [...]
A trio of Tory / Liberal Democrat disagreements in government
Like London buses, Tory / Liberal Democrat disagreements are coming along all bunched together at the moment: Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has criticised “climate sceptics” and others who he argues are decrying the UK’s potential for renewable power … His comments are being interpreted by some as a riposte to Chancellor George Osborne who is believed [...]
Lynne Featherstone vs Steve Hilton on maternity pay
From yesterday’s Observer: In a wide-ranging interview with the Observer, Featherstone said it was vital the coalition delivered on its family-friendly rhetoric … In a forthright attack on some of the advisers shaping government policy, she criticised the role of Adrian Beecroft, a venture capitalist tasked with reporting to the prime minister on how to [...]
Once again, Osborne is the obstacle to green action
Today’s Times reports how: The Chancellor has infuriated No. 10 and Cabinet colleagues by refusing to endorse a key component in the policy to boost renewable energy. In an extraordinary move last week George Osborne was rebuked by David Cameron’s aides for failing to come on board for a key green policy. At a meeting [...]
Vince Cable does gloom
The public’s attitude towards gloomy politicians is a curious one: only too happy to mock politicians who only talk up the positive but also frequently going off politicians who talk up the negatives. It happens across all parties, as we saw in the last Parliament where both Alistair Darling and George Osborne tried talking gloomily [...]
The significant part of Tim Farron’s speech
Tim Farron is probably the Parliamentary Party’s best funny speech maker (though I’d pay good money to see him head-to-head in a laugh off with Alistair Carmichael), so it’s not a surprise that Tim’s speech to Liberal Democrat conference caught the headlines mostly for his humour and his stress-testing of political marriage analogies to destruction. [...]
Nick Clegg on the top tax rate
Nick Clegg’s interview in today’s Independent is rather more subtle on tax than the headline “I won’t let Osborne cut 50p tax” suggests. For in fact the story goes on to say: Mr Clegg made clear that the Liberal Democrats would back abolition of the 50p rate in the long run only if it is [...]
Tax: The missing ingredient from the Liberal Democrat conference agenda
There are many weighty issues on the agenda for the Liberal Democrat autumn conference in Birmingham, as well as some potentially significant debates overthe party’s medium term strategy and policy outlook. There is also, however, a curious omission: tax. The word tax is not completely absent from the agenda, but aside from a reference in one motion [...]
