Week of Jan 9 – 15 – US Daily Review

Read Time:2 Minute, 51 Second

By Steve Parkhurst, Senior Editor, USDR.

Looking at the news and opinion out of London each day.

1-12-18

Junior Labour MPs in line for promotion after Corbyn ally quits frontbench

Chris Williamson resigns as shadow minister after Tories criticise his suggestion to raise council tax for rich homeowners

Boris Johnson accuses Labour of putting special relationship ‘at risk’ after Donald Trump cancels UK visit

Boris Johnson has accused Jeremy Corbyn and Sadiq Khan of putting the special relationship between the UK and the United States “at risk” after Donald Trump cancelled his visit to London.

1-11-18

A failure to leave the customs union would destroy the Tories

Only two of the last five Conservative Prime Ministers have been true Tories. Sir John Major and David Cameron fall into that category, in their own very different ways, even if Mr Cameron’s final, revolutionary act of direct democracy, the Brexit referendum, makes him more of a radical.

Today’s PMQs proved that Corbyn would be just as useless as Theresa May at saving the NHS

Today’s exchanges were the usual pointless trading of statistics, insults and irrelevancies, while the health service goes from bad to worse

Nigel Farage’s referendum call should be greeted with caution

What to make of Nigel Farage talking about why there might need to be a second Brexit referendum? To some on the Remain side, this is a moment—the Evening Standard have splashed on it, the Liberal Democrats have welcomed it and Labour MP Chuka Umunna has declared that Farage for ‘the first time in his life is making a valid point’.

1-10-18

The worst-handled reshuffle in recent history – perhaps ever

Mind you, the substance of it was a lot better than the style (though that wasn’t hard). The lesson May will surely draw is not to have another big upheaval.

Are reshuffles a good idea?

Good management in companies works hard on succession planning, mentoring, supporting people in jobs, offering training, and talking to employees about their career development. There are regular appraisals which provide a chance for senior managers to explain again what they are looking for and for employees to comment on the workplace, support and direction.

Don’t be fooled – these free-speech obsessives approve of no-platforming

The establishment voices who vilify student ‘snowflakes’ are routinely excluding political ideas they don’t like. Socialism or environmentalism, for instance

Is Trump’s America working?

It can be hard to look past the President’s excesses – but the realities of government and the economy tell a more mixed story than you might assume.

1-9-18

May is right to drop her vote on the hunting ban – it should never have been in the manifesto in the first place

At best, people don’t think about the issue. But as soon as they do, they overwhelmingly support the ban. A vote would have been hugely damaging.

What happened to the railway industry when fully nationalised?

The railways were nationalised shortly after the war and stayed in public ownership until the 1990s under John Major. The track, stations and signals, the bulk of the assets, were renationalised by Labour early this century.

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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