Monthly Archives: July 2008

Tears in the Tiergarten? Obama is just another politician from the age of spin.

It was fitting that warmonger Obama should make his speech in front of the Siegessaule. This ugly monument to Prussian militarism was moved to its current place and enlarged by the Nazis at the end of the 1930s. The Goddess of Victory sports wings, as if from the Imperial Habsburg eagle. They formed the backdrop [...]

Posted in Blog | 5 Comments

Obama looks more and more like any other US politician

Senator Obama is travelling to demonstrate he is a great international statesman in the making. The more he travels the more compromises he has to make, and the more hollow will seem his message of wonderful change. Today in Berlin he has allowed himself to be billed to speak in front of the Victory Column [...]

Posted in Blog | 6 Comments

MPs locked out for 11 weeks

The Parliamentary recess is a symbol and a symptom of the overmanned and under achieving public sector. Some of my Labour colleagues will tell you that MPs have to work very hard in the recess – they have to catch up with all the constituency business which the pressure of a Westminster session puts on [...]

Posted in Blog | 27 Comments

John Redwood interviewed for Total Politics magazine

John Redwood recently took part in Total Politics magazine’s “Daily Politico”. A transcript of the questions, and of John’s replies, follows: Why did you get involved in the political world? I was fed up with so many things working badly in the UK. I wanted to privatise the inefficient nationalised industries and create wider ownership. [...]

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Will the Bank grasp the opportunity of falling petrol prices to cut interest rates?

Whilst the politicians in the USA are thinking of legislating to stop speculators in commodities, and MPs in the UK are busily enquiring into whether there has been speculation in commodity markets or not, the real world has moved on apace. The share prices of commodity producers are indicating falls in energy and some commodity [...]

Posted in Blog | 9 Comments

Nissan needs the pound, not the Euro

It was music to my ears to hear Nissan’s revision today of their position that if the UK did not join the Euro they would invest elsewhere. They made a clear commitment to invest in Sunderland to produce their next new European vehicle there. When Nissan made that foolish comment it was damaging to those [...]

Posted in Blog | 4 Comments

John Redwood welcomes announcement of funds for flood defences

John Redwood today welcomed the Government’s announcement that Wokingham Borough Council and West Berkshire Council are to receive additional funding to help develop and maintain their flood defences. The Department for Communities and Local Government has allocated £30.6 million through its Restoration Fund to help local authorities affected by the floods of June and July [...]

Posted in Press Releases, Wokingham and West Berkshire Issues | 2 Comments

The EU and Zimbabwe abandon democracy

Today two pieces of news are juxtaposed which should make supporters of democracy pause for thought. In Zimbabwe we are told there is a chance that the dictator who lost the election may be about to sign an agreement with the Leader of the Opposition, offering some kind of sop to him whilst retaining the [...]

Posted in Blog | 16 Comments

We need practical greenery, not more taxes.

During this second cold and wet summer in succession it is good to enjoy the occasional day of warm sunshine, and remember wistfully past summers which were so much hotter. At least I can blog more, because week-end games of cricket are being cancelled all too regularly owing to rain and bad light! This week [...]

Posted in Blog | 15 Comments

Extracts from Conservative Economic Policy Report on fiscal framework

The Conservative Policy Review warned that the removal of powers from the Bank of England could make it more likely a bank went under. It also pointed out that the fiscal rules were well and truly broken a year ago and suggested ways to remedy them: 2.1. Making the Bank of England Independent The Chancellor’s [...]

Posted in Blog | 18 Comments
  • About John Redwood

    John Redwood has been the Member of Parliament for Wokingham since 1987. First attending Kent College, Canterbury, he graduated from Magdalen College, and has a DPhil from All Souls, Oxford. A businessman by background, he has been a director of NM Rothschild merchant bank and chairman of a quoted industrial PLC.
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