Monthly Archives: July 2011

            This week new analysis showed that the Parliament first elected in May 2010 has been more rebellious by far than the Thatcher, Major, Blair and Brown led Parliaments. Conservative MPs have been the most rebellious.           This should come as no suprise. Coalition governments are by nature different from majority governments. The Coalition [...]

  Political commentators think something important happened yesterday when the slumbering press problems sprung to prominence.  Chris Bryant, who moved the special debate on the phone hacking affair, deliberately brought several newspapers into the frame in addition to  the News International stable. The TV and radio media stressed that they thought the whole question of [...]

               On Monday night I was lobbied strongly to get the government to cut overseas aid. It was not the first time, and doubtless will not be the last that this happens.               My adviser was someone who helps raise money for charity in the UK, someone with a strong conscience about poverty and [...]

             The £9.3 billion for the IMF passed in Committee by 10 votes to 6 today. The Committee divided on party lines.             Bill Cash, Steve Baker, Douglas Carswell, Peter Bone and I went and spoke against, but we were not voting members of the Committee. Graham Stringer and Gisela Stuart also spoke against [...]

             The Report published yestersay into care for the elderly posed the question what is fair between the generations?            Should the elderly person pay for their care in a Care home, if they have capital available to do so? Or should the rest of society pay for that elderly person’s care, so they [...]

          On Tuesday morning  this SI Committee in Committee Room 14 at the Commons will allow  ninety minutes consideration of the extra £9.5 billion for the IMF. Some or even much of this money will be lent to Euroland countries in trouble. As  a comparison the Coalition government cut Labour’s spending plans by £5.2 billion in [...]

  There is another leak, this time from Dr Roy Spendlove to Dame Lucy Doolittle   Dear Lucy, I have returned to work after the day of action about pensions. I hope you realise just how strongly many of us feel about the pensions issue. I am pleased to report strong support for our principled [...]

  There are few signs of the spending cuts when you try to drive around the UK.  The other evening I found simultaneous  road works on the M1, M3, M4, M 40, A 404 (M) and A 322. There is  a large programme of bridge changes over railway lines being undertaken, along with substantial alterations [...]