NICK COMFORT | Governments get tired, and so do ministers. That is why prime ministers are tempted every so often — as Gordon Brown has so publicly been — not just to reshuffle the pack but to...
MIKE THATCHER | It was the speech of his life, they said. An oratorical tour de force. Authoritative and yet apologetic; humble, while still combative.
MIKE THATCHER | It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good. Gordon Brown might not think so at the moment, but the collapse of global capitalism could save him from the ignominy of an unscheduled...
PETER WILBY | This ought to be a pregnant moment for the Left. The project of free-market capitalism, liberated from the dead hand of state regulation, has unravelled.
MIKE THATCHER | TUC conferences ain’t what they used to be. Gone are the days when prime ministers quaked as the labour movement marshalled its big battalions.
TONY TRAVERS | It is a measure of the Conservatives’ confidence that shadow chancellor George Osborne has let it be known that he is now considering public expenditure cuts.
MIKE THATCHER | Chancellors are not supposed to tell the whole truth. Of course, they shouldn’t lie, but being overly frank is not top of the job description.
DAVID LIPSEY | The US party conventions spark typical British condescension towards our largest former colony. We regard them as exercises in vulgar razzmatazz compared with the deeply serious...
MIKE THATCHER | Payment by results has never been far from controversy. Introduced in England in 2003 as part of an NHS internal market, it has been ignored by every other part of the UK.
PETER HETHERINGTON | Far away from the Westminster village, seemingly out of reach of a questioning media, a rather arbitrary reorganisation of English local government is under way.
MIKE THATCHER | Roy Keane, the manager of Sunderland Football Club, blamed it on wives and shopping. Overpaid footballers, he said, would rather play for an inferior London team than head to...
CONOR RYAN | There might be an August lull in speculation over Gordon Brown’s future. But the prime minister faces a testing September as he seeks to relaunch his government.
MIKE THATCHER | Labour MPs might have broken up for the summer, but there is still a frenzied atmosphere as Gordon Brown clings on to power amid growing concerns about his leadership of the party...
MIKE THATCHER | Poor old Ed Balls. Just when most MPs are chucking their order papers in the air, as they head off for the long summer recess, the schools secretary is having to stay behind to...
HELEN DISNEY | Welfare-to-work or ‘workfare’ was once a novel concept in the UK. Just a decade ago, in the heyday of New Labour, the idea of using private firms to encourage back into work people...
MIKE THATCHER | It used to be glamorous foreign trips to estates and villas owned by the likes of Cliff Richard, Robin Gibb and Silvio Berlusconi. Now it’s a domestic break sampling the delights of...
MELISSA BENN | For those with any remaining doubts about Barack Obama‘s formidable personal appeal, I direct them to the YouTube clip ’Barack Obama on Ellen’
MIKE THATCHER | Power to the people has long been a rallying cry for politicians both radical and conservative. The latest to embrace this somewhat vague concept is our own communities secretary,...
PETER RIDDELL | The Conservatives are starting to prepare for government. There are close parallels with New Labour’s position in the mid-1990s: a largely inexperienced team, after a long period in...
VICTORIA MACDONALD | It has long been a source of frustration for politicians that if you ask a member of the public what they think of the National Health Service they will grumble and moan and...
MIKE THATCHER | Like buses, NHS reforms tend to come in fits and starts. We haven’t had any for a while, but this week – to coincide with the NHS birthday bash – three came along at once.
MIKE THATCHER | What do ministers think local government is really for? As delegates gather in Bournemouth for the Local Government Association’s annual conference next week, they might well ask...
JACKIE ASHLEY | In an ideal world, what are the three words that should apply to local government? Well, ‘trusted’, ‘accountable’ and ‘popular’ wouldn’t be a bad place to start.
