Looking at the news and opinion out of London each day.
6-23-14
Defeat for Cameron will be a slight to the country
In the Flanders town of Ypres this week, EU leaders are to meet for what might prove to be a pivotal moment in Britain’s relationship with Europe. David Cameron is threatening to push his fellow heads of government to a vote over who should run the European Commission for the next five years. The Prime Minister has made it clear he does not want the job to go to Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg; but he appears to have picked a fight he is going to lose.
What Ed Balls told the bankers
Ed Balls knows how to talk to bankers. Having been Gordon Brown’s right hand man and City Minister under the last government, he is well known in the Square Mile—and far more popular than you might think.
Gove plans to encourage retired workers to go into teaching
Defeating The Blob means breaking the PGCE monopoly in teacher
6-22-14
Cameron’s European plan would be upset by another Coalition
Clegg is sidling closer to the Prime Minister on Europe, but the Prime Minister might want to back away.
Miliband may have brains, but does he speak human?
Labour is worried about whether Ed is ready for Downing Street: he still does not have the bearing of a leader
It’s time to let the Lady rest in peace
She was a great Prime Minister, but modern conservatism’s veneration for Margaret Thatcher is holding both her party and her values back.
6-21-14
The dangerous, unknowable consequences of Help to Buy
The direct effects of Help to Buy haven’t been too bad because they’ve been quite limited. The indirect effects, however, could be a totally different matter.
Danny Alexander on Scottish independence, income tax, Nick Clegg and George Osborne
An interview with the coalition’s senior Scot
6-20-14
The 1922 Committee prepares to discuss ending the Coalition
As the election draws nearer, Tory MPs are turning their minds to whether or when the Coalition should break up – and if so, how.
Is Ed Miliband’s Welsh tour wise?
Ed Miliband is in Wales with the Shadow Cabinet today, and they’ve been busy praising the Labour government there for ‘leading the whole of the United Kingdom into economic recovery’. It’s interesting that the Westminster Labour party is so keen to hang out with Welsh Labour, as doing so simply allows the Tories to attack Miliband again for admiring a party with a rather mixed record in government.
If UKIP voters switch in those Blue-Yellow marginals, they look more likely to vote Tory than LibDem
The average across these seats is: Rule Out Conservatives – 63 per cent; Rule out Labour – 75 per cent; Rule out LibDems – 74 per cent.
6-19-14
Conservatives need to learn once more to speak the language of patriotism
Our politicians have left a rhetorical vacuum into which nationalist politicians – Salmond and Farage – have moved.
6-18-14
John Howard: Margaret Thatcher was my ‘guiding light’
Tim Stanley talks to the former Australian PM about conservatism, liberty, and what he learnt from Britain’s first woman prime minister.
‘Britishness’ debate: can you do Magna Carta without also doing God?
Was anyone terribly surprised by the Social Attitudes Survey published today suggesting that most people thought that, in order to be British, you should be able to speak English? Some 95 per cent thought so; the only curiosity being that in 2006 the figure was as low as 86 per cent. Nor indeed is it terribly odd that, as the authors point out, the threshold for Britishness is getting higher.
Five things you need to know about the latest British Social Attitudes survey
How have British attitudes changed over the last decade? The latest British Social Attitudes survey is out today, suggesting that Britons have become less tolerant of immigration, benefits tourism and those who don’t speak English since 2003. Here are the five key things you need to know about what Britain is thinking and feeling as a country.
6-17-14
Magna Carta is the birthright of all English-speakers
London in August 1647 was a tense and frightened city. The Civil War had exhausted the nation and coarsened its people. Parliament had emerged victorious, but it was becoming clear that the real power in the land was the military force that had defeated Charles I, the New Model Army, whose troopers were advancing on the capital, unpaid and angry.
Maude’s new union reforms are a start – but they won’t sate backbench hunger for more
Ending check-off and the rolling mandate would be welcome – but we should still demand majority mandates for strike action.
What’s the best way to prepare young people for employment?
Britain’s skills crisis was addressed by the country’s leading educationalists today at The Spectator’s half-day conference, Giving Britain the skills it needs.
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Across The Pond is edited daily by Steve Parkhurst. Steve is a political consultant, a writer at his blog as well as a Senior Editor here at US Daily Review. Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveParkhurst
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