Author Archives: johnredwood

Apparently Ministers are advised to abstain today on the issue of whether we should have an early referendum on the EU. Let’s look at the case for each possible course of action: Vote against the proposal to amend the Queen’s speech motion Conventionally this is what Ministers would do. After all, they framed the Queen’s [...]

In the debate yesterday the main problem as always was getting people to look at the facts. Conventional wisdom has it that the US has  carried on spendign and borrowing on a large scale. This fiscal stimulus has promoted growth. Meanwhile according to the UK’s critics, the UK has cut too far too fast, resulting [...]

           As there are no elections for the rest of this year - unless by elections come along – I wish to use this break from the hustings to revise my approach to posting party political material.           In future if someone writes in saying in terms Vote x party (including Conservative) or vote for [...]

             There are four possible referenda on offer at the moment and in discussion in Westminster. 1. There is Mr Cameron’s proposal,a  referendum in 2017 on the question Do you wish to accept the new relationship with the EU we have negotiated, or leave the EU?, to be legislated for now. 2. There is [...]

             This week a group of mainly Conservative MPs tabled an amendment to the Queen’s Speech. The amendment states, in Queen’s speech style language,                “This House respectfully regrets that an EU referendum Bill is not included in the Gracious speech”.            Some of you would want a full bloodied motion, but I can [...]

              On Monday at 5 pm I am debating austerity and growth policies at the Sheldonian Theatre , Oxford under the chairmanship of the Warden of St Antony’s College. The other main  participants are Martin Wolf of the FT, Robert Skidelsky and Meghnad Desai.             The topic is “Austerity in the UK and the  Eurozone: [...]

             In a way I was one of  the first modern Tory modernisers. In 1995 I said “No change, no chance”, and called for new policies and new approaches to Conservative politics. The party opted for no change, and went down a very large defeat.             In opposition a group of people developed a [...]