Blog Archive
Archive from 2011
The Merkozy power grab extends beyond a tax on the City of London
The Merkozy power grab extends beyond a tax on the City of London The sheer effrontery of the Merkozy power grab is becoming clearer by the day. Now we know that they don’t just want to cripple the City with a job-destroying financial transactions tax. - 8 Dec 2011
Cameron’s ducking and diving over Europe is all about dodging a referendum
Cameron’s ducking and diving over Europe is all about dodging a referendum - 7 Dec 2011
The numbers game suggests Cameron will have to back down over a EU referendum
Tory MP Bernard Jenkin, a veteran of the Maastricht revolt against John Major’s European policy, today predicts that David Cameron will be forced to abandon his refusal to hold a referendum on the proposed new 'fiscal union' treaty outlined by Angela Merke - 6 Dec 2011
Eurozone crisis is having a ‘chilling’ effect on UK economy - and on Cameron’s hopes of re-election
David Cameron faces the most demanding and dangerous week of his premiership - 5 Dec 2011
To end the pension apartheid, the PM must not give an inch
Today, the unions will attempt to bring the country to its knees because of the Coalition’s plan to reform the public sector’s unsustainable pension system. The union barons claim that the reforms will wreck the lives of their hard-working and low-earnin - 30 Nov 2011
Gove’s drive to restore school standards is the best answer to the youth jobless crisis
Two headlines but one story. "Teenagers to be given jobs funded by the taxpayer", says the front page of The Daily Telegraph. "Restore elitism to our schools", is the splash in the Daily Mail". - 28 Nov 2011
Osborne’s spin war cannot bury the bad news tomorrow
It seems to have become customary for the details of a Budget or a mini-Budget to be leaked to the media well in advance of the event itself. - 28 Nov 2011
Trapped in a video game
I feel sorry for Sienna Miller. So much distrust, paranoia, insecurity and anxiety in her life. - 24 Nov 2011
Dave puts one over on Vince as he stands up to the Lib Dems at last
Two cheers at last for David Cameron today after Business Secretary Vince Cable announced he would review the case for giving bosses of small firms the power to sack employees without having to give reason - 24 Nov 2011
Thatcher is ‘greatest PM’ as Europe’s peoples crave strong leadership
The aftershocks in politics last far longer than in the natural world. And with the defeat of the Socialist government of Spain, the Eurozone earthquake has claimed another victim. - 21 Nov 2011
Labour seems ready to ditch its love of Europe to put Cameron on the rack
Labour seems ready to ditch its love of Europe - 16 Nov 2011
Cameron should read Maggie’s Bruges speech again - and then level with the country
David Cameron should be thinking of making his version of the Bruges speech as he prepares to fly to Cannes tomorrow for the G-20 summit and yet more agonising over the future of the Eurozone. - 2 Nov 2011
David Cameron Has Some Thinking To Do: He Must Put Britain First
Cameron's first job is to spell out where he stands on the European question. Then he must set about getting the best possible bargain for Britain and not being afraid to tell the likes of Sarkozy and Merkel where to get off. - 27 Oct 2011
Cameron has no choice but to change his tune on Europe
Cameron has no choice but to change his tune on Europe - 25 Oct 2011
Is Liam Fox cunning enough to dig himself out of trouble?
The current crisis surrounding Dr Fox has all the hallmarks of a classic political scandal. Is there a cunning way out? - 10 Oct 2011
Britain’s women want what we all want - a better future and not an apology, Dave
After 6 years, you might expect Dave to be making a little headway on this touchy-feely agenda. - 3 Oct 2011
Cameron is right to target plastic bags, environmentally, economically and politically
By restating his support for getting rid of, or at least reducing this menace, shows that he is still a moderniser choosing subjects not always associated with Conservative leaders - 29 Sep 2011
Talk about the politics of envy. Red Ed makes Tony Benn look a moderate
Ronald Reagan said it best: "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help." - 28 Sep 2011
Free Schools need to make a profit to succeed
Why should not those firms be allowed to set up Free Schools here in the UK or work with parents, charities and community groups to help them run their Free Schools more professionally and successfully? - 21 Sep 2011
Frank Field is right to want to end the dole for school-leavers
Losing a job can be frightening and soul-destroying at any time in life. But to be cast on the scrapheap on leaving school sends a terribly depressing message and one that can have grave consequences for the rest of society. - 20 Sep 2011
Dave should beware the Lib Dem cuckoo in his nest
he Lib Dems are the cuckoo in the Tory nest. Right now they are suffering at the polls, mainly because half the people who backed them at the election, have switched back to their natural home - Labour. - 19 Sep 2011
Career politicians will be the death of the Commons
I have a confession to make. I actually like MPs - in contrast to the great British public, who roughly put them on a par with child molesters and estate agents, according to a weighty new survey. - 16 Sep 2011
William Hague, the statesman? Not a bad bet
Whisper it softly, but William Hague is on the way back. Certainly events are propelling the Foreign Secretary and former Tory leader to centre stage. - 15 Sep 2011
The U.S. should get help from Britain on Palestinian statehood
Given the potential consequences of any such vote, the Obama administration should be flexing all its diplomatic muscle to ensure that it does not stand alone against this reckless and provocative move. - 14 Sep 2011
Turn the grammar school clock back five minutes, Dave
Nick Wood has begun blogging over at Right Minds, the Daily Mail's new online political comment section. - 13 Sep 2011
Nick Wood: Britain’s teenage rioters know the nasty party is long dead
The Tories, once seen as cruel but efficient but more latterly (pace John Major) feeble and inefficient, eventually bought Theresa May's argument that the clue to electoral recovery lay in niceness. - 9 Aug 2011
SDSR fatally flawed and fails to back UK defence manufacturers
SDSR fatally flawed and fails to back UK defence manufacturers - 5 Aug 2011
TUC anti cuts survey says nothing new
TUC survey attacking Big Society is not only misleading but complete and utter rubbish - 2 Aug 2011
Labour must not be allowed to use phone hacking to break-up and shackle the free press
Labour's proposal has absolutely nothing to do with finding out who hacked Milly Dowler’s phone, or the families of soldiers killed in Afghanistan, or stopping this from happening in the future. - 21 Jul 2011
Miliband missing the target as he loses focus on phone hacking scandal
Mr Miliband has made a tactical error in trying to expand his attack operation from a narrowly focused set of issues which enjoyed broad public support, to a much bigger battle of overhauling the entire media world and breaking up a news giant. - 18 Jul 2011
The wisdom of ages: octogenarian Paul Volcker has lost none of his edge
It takes a special figure to draw out the big names in business and finance to a lecture theatre at Cass Business School on a humid London evening where Paul Volcker was running rings round the financial community in analysing its ills. - 15 Jul 2011
Wanted: A Cabinet Toughie
David Cameron needs an attack dog - so says a peer whose reputation was forged in the heat of the whips office in John Major’s government, who I happened by in St James’s park this morning. - 12 Jul 2011
Gormengone – a story of crumbling institutions
Jonathan Haslam blogs on the fallout from the News of the World phone hacking scandal - 8 Jul 2011
The Labour Party is up to its neck in Balls
Ed Balls claimed the Brown plot to topple Blair was 'balderdash', but Thursday night's leaks have plunged the Labour party into disarray. - 13 Jun 2011
It’s all broken – but don’t let the government do anything
We at Media Intelligence Partners are reassuringly thorough when it comes to the Archbishop of Canterbury and have given his New Statesman piece the once over. - 10 Jun 2011
Nudge and the taxman - the boys will be round to see you
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has entered the faddish world of ‘nudge’ theory with a report showing that the labeling of a benefit has an impact on its use. - 9 Jun 2011
Blatter blather and the art of betraying the beautiful game
Half a round of muted applause for ending the executive committee stitch up on which country hosts the World Cup. But this really doesn’t address the issues that should be front of mind for the governing bodies. Change is essential. - 2 Jun 2011
Germany: A new Angela on nuclear power
Nine months ago, Angela Merkel comfortably referred to nuclear power as a safe “bridge” on the road to more renewable energy ... Now she wants to switch off and shut down the nuclear industry all together. Why? - 1 Jun 2011
Enshrining the Military Covenant into Law must be more than a press release
Alistair Thompson writes on the disappointing rule-by-press-release which characterised the Government's latest announcement on the Military Covenant - 19 May 2011
What now for the Lib Dems?
The local elections and AV referendum have delivered a hammer blow to the Lib Dems. For a party and a leader so feted before the General Election there is only one real question on everyone’s lips: what happens now? - 13 May 2011
Future power is soft power
On Monday’s Newsnight and today at breakfast Professor Joseph S. Nye, former US Assistant Secretary of Defense, began a round of media and think-tank sessions to promote his latest book. - 11 May 2011
Snatching PR defeat from hammer blow to Al Qaeda
We are seeing a government PR debacle. This is quite remarkable from a country as media saturated as the USA and from politicians supposedly as media savvy as any in the world. - 6 May 2011
On the White House decision not to release the Bin Laden photos
While many have attempted to make a compelling case, overall the arguments in favor of releasing the images have been for the most part unconvincing and, at times, even ridiculous. - 5 May 2011
Ed Miliband: the real loser from the AV vote
A No vote is an earthquake for the Coalition government. So is Ed Miliband the winner whatever the score? - 4 May 2011
To turn against Pakistan now would be deeply unwise
Pakistan needs to come on side with the West. But we must recognise that the country has also suffered terribly from terrorism and not write it off. - 3 May 2011
Ed Miliband is playing a dangerous party game on AV
There has been much concentration on the splits within the Coalition of late, mainly over the differing views of the Conservatives and Lib Dems on the Alternative Vote, but Labour are more split than the Coalition. - 20 Apr 2011
Blackberry Playbook no fun for CEO Mike Lazaridis
Obsessive early adopters will get their chance to test the beast on 19 April. But will they buy? - 18 Apr 2011
We don’t need celebrity clowning to help us choose our electoral system
Liberal-left luvvies are out in force to change Britain's electoral system to AV. But the current system is fine whatever Eddie Izzard thinks - 15 Apr 2011
David Cameron is losing the battle on why cuts are necessary
The Government has virtually no wiggle room for tax cuts, or for pump priming the economy to boost that all important ‘feel good factor’ and without this the polls are only going to be heading in one direction...down, down and down. - 14 Apr 2011
Facts are Sacred
The Prime Minister has fallen victim to a bad brief and a hungry media. In a highly unfortunate move, Mr Cameron hoped to pin his colours firmly to the mast of social mobility by citing some (apparently) shocking admission statistics from Oxford University - 12 Apr 2011
Time for another U-turn Mr Cameron
Nick Clegg on Tuesday launched an astonishing attack on middle class families whose only crime seems to be a desire for their children to do well and a get good job. - 8 Apr 2011
The Alternative Vote has nothing to do with fairness
I admit, there are worse things to look at first thing in the morning than Colin Firth, but when it’s his opinion on ‘our clapped-out politics,’ I find myself reaching for the shredder. The last thing our clapped-out politics needs is AV. - 7 Apr 2011
UK Uncut to pieces
Britian has a Tea Party movement of its own, except it's left-wing, it favours (very) big government, and it's rapidly losing support - 6 Apr 2011
Human Rights, Press Freedom and the Award that Should Have Never Been Given
Hugo Chavez has received the Rodolfo Walsh journalism award for his "unquestionable and authentic commitment" to freedom of the press, an award that ignores his human rights and censorship record in Venezuela. - 4 Apr 2011
France and Britain forced into rethink on regime change
Given the level of division within NATO it is clear that London and Paris are now trying to fall into line with their partners - 30 Mar 2011
Government apprenticeship plans will help Britain’s young people
The Government, facing rising youth unemployment and a worrying skills shortage, are pinning their hopes to an old fashioned solution - apprenticeships. - 30 Mar 2011
Burying BAA(d) news under a light dusting of budget fall-out
Committed scrutinisers of spin-doctory, smoke, mirrors and sleights of communications hand (i.e. everyone in this office) took our collective hats off this week to BAA, the airport owner formerly known as British Airports Authority. - 29 Mar 2011
In harm’s way – front line police deserve protection too
Police have civil liberties that should be protected too. - 28 Mar 2011
A picture paints a thousand people
Image is perception, perception is reality and, based on all that, the reality must clearly be that the vast majority of people are up in arms at the government’s reasonably modest plans to bring public spending back down to 2007 levels. - 28 Mar 2011
Forget budget day, learn to love budget week
Osborne and the Treasury have shown themselves to be quite acute in getting over broad themes from the budget into the pubic domain and setting the scene. - 25 Mar 2011
There was never going to be a quick fix to Labour’s economic mismanagement
...and all Tories must now be braced to ride the coming storm - 24 Mar 2011
Labour should never be forgiven for the mess they got us in to
It’s budget day. It’s also another day of chaos in Japan and bloodshed in Libya, but for today at least all eyes will be on fuel duty, national insurance, tax bands and spending. - 23 Mar 2011
Cameron and Osborne should learn from the Man With No Name
As mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea Clint Eastwood pioneered the small state with only one council meeting a year. Are Cameron and Osborne headed in the same direction on Budget Day? - 22 Mar 2011
Will Obama’s trip to Latin America be too little to late?
This week President Obama starts a five day trip to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador -- his first visit to the region since being elected to office. - 21 Mar 2011
When it comes to language, the Left should be held to their own standards
Just look at some recent examples of the Left’s use of language, and see if you can spot a common theme. - 18 Mar 2011
Obama and Cameron let the monster Gaddafi triumph - it’s like Jimmy Carter all over again
Western foreign policy is heading for its biggest reverse since the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979. - 17 Mar 2011
Come back Dubya, all is forgiven…
"George W has gone, and with him his hawkish cabinet of "gun toting cowboys." These guys might well have been trigger happy, but when a crisis occurred - they acted", writes Alistair Thompson. - 15 Mar 2011
Japan’s tragedy: nature shows who’s in charge
Nothing from the Hollywood CGI dream-factory could compete with the pictures of a tsunami's relentlessness overtaking and destroying of towns and farmland. - 14 Mar 2011
Prince Andrew should think about a long holiday
A good old fashioned scandal involving a Royal is always hard for the press to resist. - 11 Mar 2011
When a nudge becomes a shove
The Coalition Agreement stated that “Our Government will be a much smarter one, shunning the bureaucratic levers of the past and finding intelligent ways to encourage, support and enable people to make better choices for themselves.” - 10 Mar 2011
Can’t see the wood for the trees – Jordan’s caves in on boxgate
The latest consumer scare story – killer cereal boxes – provokes the usual outbreak of hyperbole and blood curdling headlines. - 9 Mar 2011
Cameron should ponder Macmillan’s wise words
Most prime ministers leave a rhetorical footprint. Churchill gave us blood, sweat and tears and fighting on the beaches. Thatcher scorned the U-turn... - 8 Mar 2011
They do it by numbers – actuaries and communications
One thing you can say for certain about actuaries is that they know about numbers. - 7 Mar 2011
The lost art of public speaking
In the 11th Century, an Egyptian scribe offered a piece of advice for his fellow countrymen: “Put writing in your heart that you may protect yourself from hard labour of any kind.” - 4 Mar 2011
The art of giving
It was a great Oscar speech by Colin Firth. No tears, no thanking his dog, no funny jokes. But he did seem to miss someone out. And that would be the taxpayer. - 3 Mar 2011
Artificial intelligence, geopolitics and communications – it’s getting weird
A recent lecture at London’s Royal Institution by Ben Hammersley has contributed to the debate about the digital world, communications and politics. Jonathan Haslam considers the implications. - 1 Mar 2011
‘We don’t need no education’: if only it were that simple
The evidence reveals two key problems that exist in our education system - a lack of discipline and ignorance. - 28 Feb 2011
The Strategic Defence and Security Review puts the UK at risk
The Strategic Defence and Security Review failed to predict the rapid pace of change in the Middle East. - 25 Feb 2011
Food shortfalls continue misery for North Koreans
There are reports coming out of North Korea that they are again suffering from a severe shortfall in food supplies. - 24 Feb 2011
The internet: a place where even our political leaders sometimes look silly
The internet, for all its capacity for disseminating knowledge, facts and opinions, can also be a massive time waster. - 23 Feb 2011
Arab uprisings expose the moral gymnastics of the Left
Only the liberal Left can combine hypocrisy, smugness and intellectual confusion in equal measure at much the same time. - 22 Feb 2011
Protests, U-turns and a failure of government messaging
After Caroline Spelman told the Commons last week that the government had "got it wrong" on the policy of selling off the country's state-owned forests, many people were quick to credit the embattled Environment Secretary with "a good U-turn." - 21 Feb 2011
The West forgets Iran at its peril
"let us not forget Iran’s role over the past several years in spreading its web of state-sponsored radical Islamist movements in neighbouring countries - and their quest to build an illegal nuclear weapons program" writes Mike Magan... - 18 Feb 2011
David Cameron should be pleased this week, but what will Labour do to respond?
The Government is having a good week so far, despite the fiasco of the email sacking 38 members of the armed forces and the Supreme Court ruling on the sex offenders register. - 17 Feb 2011
Is it really back to the future?
Spurs are beating serious opponents in Europe for the first time since the days of Danny Blanchflower, Dave Mackay and Jimmy Greaves. Is history repeating itself? asks Nick Wood. - 16 Feb 2011
Round two: the government fights backs
Christian May blogs on the developing spin war between local authorities versus central government and the media - 15 Feb 2011
Is the Department for Communites & Local Government losing the war with the Councils on cuts?
Alistair Thompson writes on the gathering storm of disgruntled councils who are lining up against Eric Pickles over local authority expenditure cuts - 14 Feb 2011
Let’s stop sex trafficking
It is well known that major sporting events attract some of the worst in human behaviour -- trafficking in the sex trade. - 11 Feb 2011
Interest rate hike? Just say no
Jonathan Haslam blogs on the chances of a hawkish interest rate rise from the Monetary Policy Committee and the possible consequences of such a move. - 10 Feb 2011
The Government must hold its nerve on the Big Society
Recently there has been something of a flurry of stories about the Big Society and most have been about the policy running into to trouble. Rumblings have been heard from sections of the Coalition that the policy is esoteric and a vote loser. - 8 Feb 2011
24 hour news presents both risk and opportunity
One of Enoch Powell's less remembered observations is that a politician complaining about the media is like a ship's captain complaining about the sea. Well today, we're permanently on the water. - 7 Feb 2011
Electorate says ‘no’: The Yes2AV campaign is heading for failure
So what is likely to become of Nick Clegg's great prize: the referendum on changing the voting system, which goes under the ghastly acronym of AV. - 4 Feb 2011
David Cameron gives some red meat to the “hungry Right” to head off trouble
Alistair Thompson blogs on Downing Street's attempts to pacify the Conservative Right after David Cameron's climbdowns on the EU budget, voting rights for prisoners and the shelving of commitments on marriage, inheritance tax and the Human Rights Act... - 3 Feb 2011
Craig who? Precisely
Before the body was cold, Andy Coulson has been replaced with almost unseemly haste by Craig Oliver to become the new No 10 communications guru. - 3 Feb 2011
Middle East revolution: Lessons from history
In President Reagan's 1982 speech to the House of Commons, he talked of the end of a bloody century marked by two World Wars and the need for optimism in the face of continued hostility by the Soviet Union and its desire for communist supremacy. - 2 Feb 2011
What’s the hashtag for this revolution?
One thing that has characterised the recent student protests in the UK is that almost every single kettled student was telling their friends about it via a stream of Twitpics and Tweets. - 31 Jan 2011
George Osborne’s second Budget
March is the 30th anniversary of one of the most pivotal moments in Britain's recent political history - 30 Jan 2011
New Media Intelligence Partners Website
MIP today unveils its new website, reflecting the company's progress in becoming one of Westminster's leading PR and political consultancies. - 30 Jan 2011