Posted by Chris Lowe on 29 January 2010
The most recent polls point to either a very small Conservative majority or a hung parliament after the next General Election. It is a peculiarity of how the votes stack up that even if the Conservatives are 10 points ahead of Labour there could be a hung parliament, while if Labour were that far ahead, [...]
Posted by Warwick Smith on
As we await the evidence of Witness number 69 to the Chilcott Inquiry, David Blunkett’s defence of Tony Blair on Radio 4’s Today programme this morning contained much of what you’d expect, but a high spot for me was his answer to the question of whether Tony Blair’s money making activities had made the ex-Prime [...]
Posted by Logan Ashcraft on
Dick Morris, President Clinton’s top advisor and acclaimed political analyst, explained how American culture and its political system will continue to “instinctively reject Obama’s euro-policies” of nationalized institutions and big government. He pointed out that the Democratic super-majority in Congress has changed the American legislative system into a faux-British Parliament by removing the obstacle course [...]
Posted by Katharina Derschewsky on 28 January 2010
Wow! When I went to Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP’s lecture on Tuesday night, I did not expect the Environment Secretary to talk so passionately about the transformative change that will have to be embraced if Britain was to be turned into a green rather than a mean society. Granted, Benn did have a brilliant [...]
Posted by Logan Ashcraft on 27 January 2010
A survey published in McKinsey Quarterly presents two astounding facts that should command the attention of the entire business community, or at least of those who are interested in gaining a leg-up on their competition. One: although the majority of executives surveyed agree that businesses must “proactively and regularly engage with the government,” less than [...]
Posted by Katharina Derschewsky on 26 January 2010
At last night’s LSE ‘Speaking with the Speaker’ event, I got to know a bit more about John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons and current incumbent of the Buckingham seat (one of the safest Conservative seats in the country).
Fair-minded, a good facilitator and endowed with an impressive memory, Bercow became Speaker because he [...]
Posted by Marco Di Benedetto on 21 January 2010
2009 saw a raft of important changes to the European Union including the European Parliament elections, the ratification of the Lisbon of Treaty and the re-appointment of the European Commission President. 2010 may not be as eventful but the first and seemingly straightforward task of appointing the College of Commissioners has so far proven to [...]
Posted by Sophia Wilson on 19 January 2010
This afternoon I attended the Policy Exchange seminar on social care: ‘Careless: Why does no-one know about social care?’ It was an interesting event if not a bit depressing. Each speaker did pay lip-service to the argument that things were improving and that the issue will continue to rise up the political agenda, however the [...]
Posted by Katharina Derschewsky on
Following my (almost) crazed obsession with anything that has social media in it, I found myself among people that the Independent frequently lists as Britain’s most influential bloggers and tweeters in Westminster’s Grand Committee last night. While actively adding to the event’s live twitter stream, I eagerly listened to what the panel had to say [...]
Posted by Chris Lowe on 18 January 2010
A cautionary tale. As I sat alone on the train from Leeds on Friday evening, I was joined by three executives on their way back from a meeting with the Department of Health at Quarry Hill.
It was absolutely incredible how much company confidential information information they gave away. Apparently they are so far behind on their software development [...]