By Steve Parkhurst, Senior Editor, USDR.
Looking at the news and opinion out of London each day.
6-1-15
Britain must develop a new global vision
Our country now needs to decide what it really wants from its armed forces
So what if people aren’t happy that his appearance would have cost £275 per second?
Yvette Cooper turns on Labour leadership rivals
Shadow Home Secretary says Andy Burnham is stigmatising the poor and suggests Liz Kendall has swallowed the Tory manifesto
The ECHR. Gove V May, Round Two?
Nick Timothy’s article today arguing that Britain should quit the ECHR will be read as representing the Home Secretary’s view at a time when the Justice Secretary is still weighing his options.
5-31-15
The Left talks of fairness – but means nothing of the sort
Tories must take back the language of social justice, so that words such as ‘inequality’ have some real meaning again
Yvette Cooper makes coded attack on Liz Kendall for ‘swallowing’ the Tory manifesto
Yvette Cooper may lack some of Andy Burnham and Liz Kendall’s momentum but she remains a formidable opponent in the Labour leadership contest. On the Andrew Marr Show this morning, Cooper was quizzed on how enthusiastic she is for the job, given her late entry to the contest
Cameron’s goal is to suggest that it’s not just the left who care about the poor
Despite scepticism from the left, it’s worth taking Cameron’s commitment to the needy at face value
Sadiq Khan Could Fall In The Zac Race To Become Mayor Of London
The most feared Westminster commentator on the Labour leadership, MPs’ holidays and Andy’s ‘Fandies’ (plus several other good tidbits)
5-30-15
Ed Miliband’s loss is a positive for Labour, y’know
Exclusive: senior Labour figures tell Michael Deacon how the party can move beyond this month’s crushing defeat
Are these children victims of the Tory welfare cap or sheer parental stupidity?
Children are not a surprise. They are not delivered, out of the blue, by a vindictive stork
The humiliation of the pundits leaves Cameron free to appeal to the people
The media’s comic inability to foresee the election result will have political consequences.
Nigel Farage must take a front seat in the EU referendum — a response to Stuart Wheeler
How very tiresome it already is to hear arguments over the European Referendum campaign based not on numbers and facts, but on emotion, intuition, and partisanship. I would have thought that after Dan Hodges’s worst nightmare, politicos would be a bit more cautious about their predictions. Ukip’s former treasurer, Stuart Wheeler, doesn’t seem to have received the memo.
Dealing with a German led EU
In the run up to the Euro I was invited to various meetings and even dinners with senior Germans. They thought that if they explained to me the inevitability of the Euro and the alleged joys of more European integration I would see their point and change my mind. These events always started very amicably, with my hosts praising part of the UK’s democratic traditions and past and even finding good things in what I had said and written.
5-29-15
The Government is reducing the unions’ power as political donors – now we must act to reform our own party finances
New reforms will stop union barons funding Labour without their members’ consent. But we also need to change our own funding model.
The attack on Douglas Carswell was wrong, but that doesn’t make him right
The logic of Ukip’s only MP when he dismisses anti-austerity protests is that the whole population must submit to an ‘elected dictatorship’
Ben Harris-Quinney suspended from Conservative party
Earlier this month Ben Harris-Quinney stepped down as the chairman of the Bow Group, following internal frictions over the Conservative think tank’s partial Ukip endorsement ahead of the election.
Why meeting the NATO two per cent defence target matters
We can’t risk Putin reading a failure to hit it as a sign of weakness.
Business and the EU referendum
I always think it wise to look at what big institutions do, rather than believe everything they say. The parade of executives from large multinationals telling us the UK has to stay in the EU or else, does not ring true.
5-28-15
This was a truly ‘one nation’ Queen’s Speech
The first fully Conservative Queen’s Speech since 1996 combined economic effectiveness, strong leadership and, crucially, social justice
We’re giving everyone the chance to get on
Welfare reforms and Universal Credit will change the country’s attitude to benefits, says the Work and Pensions Secretary
Daily catch-up: Inequality in Britain – a defence of the mansion tax
Plus reading on the NHS, the Human Rights Act and Hieronymus Bosch
Yvette Cooper snaps up six more MP supporters for her leadership campaign
They’re an interesting mix, ranging from Londoners like Karen Buck, Lyn Brown and Emily Thornberry to those with seats in the Midlands, such as Ian Austin, Jim Cunningham and Steve McCabe, and helps the Cooper campaign’s claim to have nationwide support, rather than backing from MPs in certain parts of the country.
Cheer up, Eurosceptics
For years some Eurosceptics have written to me and others complaining that there is no referendum on staying in the EU. They argued that the Conservatives could not win a General election, and argued that if they did they would rat on the promise. Well, they were wrong on both counts.
5-27-15
Daily catch-up: the lesson of defeat, ‘let’s try the same again only a bit more’
Plus a timely QTWTAIN and some updates from the Moose
Rebranding the Tories will take more than just upbeat words
With the agenda set out in today’s Queen’s Speech, the Prime Minister is on a mission to spread his party’s appeal
What would the Queen’s Speech be like if Ed Miliband was Prime Minister?
Imagine a world which never was – one where David Cameron lost the election, and Labour’s awkward leader is about to step up…
Will Nick Clegg’s response to the Queen’s Speech mean anything at all?
Could there be a sadder sight today than Nick Clegg, intervening on behalf of his now tiny ‘minor party’ in the Queen’s Speech debate? The Lib Dem leader is responding to this afternoon, his first intervention since the general election, and plans to use his slot to complain that the Tories are already turning their backs on the ‘clear thread of liberalism’ that his party installed in the government.
Queen’s Speech – powers for Scotland and England
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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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