Monthly Archives: August 2008

Yesterday in seven badly chosen words Mr Darling announced the death of New Labour. To many of us it has been a slow and lingering death for some time, but Mr Darling put a stake through its heart. New Labour was a spin story devised by Mr Blair and Mr Brown in the 1990s to [...]

The Chancellor’s devastating interview shows we need a Parliamentary statement on Monday to give us a completely new set of forecasts for the UK economy. Parliament should be in session to cross examine him over one of the biggest downward revisions to forecasts ever made by an incumbent Chancellor. In March 2008 the Chancellor in [...]

The portrait of the Chancellor in the Guardian today by Decca Aitkenhead is devastating. Intended to lift the veil on the private man and to help him project his image and his message, the interview reveals a man completely out of his depth without a clue about the financial crisis swirling around him. The first [...]

The Taxpayers Alliance today have published another good piece of work pointing out just how much extra tax the government collects in the name of greenery, over and above the calculations of the cost of CO2 and pollution. Others have worked out just how much more than the cost of road provision motorists have to [...]

The West has aroused the Russian bear through its contradictory actions over Kosovo and Georgia. Russia now sees the West as asserting its power too far, recognises the West is now overstretched in the east, and thinks the West is becoming too intrusive close to Russia’s borders. I wish to stress that I like most [...]

David Milliband is playing a dangerous game. His visit to Ukraine and his support for places close to the Russian border is a further incitement of Russia, without the force to back up the position he is setting out. He comes across as a boy cold warrior without weapons, playing with fire in a part [...]

I am busy this week-end but will do the responses tomorrow. Apologies for the slight delay in service.