Looking at the news and opinion out of London each day.
7-19-14
Miliband’s message: I’m neither New Labour nor Old Labour
On the hottest weekend of the year, few people would want to be stuck inside in Milton Keynes. But that is where the Labour hierarchy finds itself. For this weekend is the party’s national policy forum.
Actually Mr President, I’m Ed, not David Miliband
The Labour Party leader’s trip to America for a brush-by with Barack Obama is not just pointless, but is bound to be humiliating
To get on in Cameron’s government, don’t be brave like Gove and Co
David Cameron is reshuffling the Conservative Party out of its best claim to re-election in 2015, for the sake of dubious PR gloss
The ambulance service is in a state of emergency
Frontline paramedic staff are leaving their jobs in droves
Take it from me, Liz Truss: it’s up or out
The new Environment Secretary must combat issues as diverse as tree diseases and slow rural broadband – or fall like her predecessors
7-18-14
The Trojan horse inquiry’s draft report shows Michael Gove had to go
It was Gove’s determination to shake up the educational ‘blob’ that allowed ideologues to target Birmingham schools
Reshuffle 2014: Beware the revenge of the ‘Uglies’
There are two reasons why David Cameron’s cull of the ‘Uglies’ – the Conservative ministers who don’t perform well on camera – had to be so vast. The first is that the Tories need an unprecedented increase in support in order to secure an outright majority – but they have a weak brand that doesn’t appeal to the electorate.
Oh yes. This is what Theresa May went into politics for
The home secretary has been declared officially hot by a Spectator writer – aptly capturing the sticky-palmed zeitgeist
7-17-14
Andrew Gimson’s PMQs sketch: Cameron the martinet cracks down hard on indiscipline
While new women smiled on the Treasury Bench, scattered about the Chamber were ex-ministers who imagined they could afford to think for themselves.
7-16-14
View from 22 podcast special: reshuffle review
In this View from 22 podcast special, Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman round up some of the key stories from the reshuffle, including Gove’s shock demotion, the increased number of women in the Cabinet and whether the government has become more Eurosceptic and less green.
What a weird Cabinet reshuffle
This is an odd reshuffle. It’s clear what message David Cameron is trying to send. “I like women. I really do. I like them much more than I like old Etonians.” And teachers. Hence his surprising decision to demote the NUT’s bête noire, Michael Gove. Not to mention badgers. Which must be why he’s axed their nemesis Owen Paterson.
The new employment statistics in three charts
Higher employment, more job vacancies – but still wages haven’t caught up with prices.
7-15-14
William Hague, the brilliant Tory who lost his passion for politics
William Hague’s departure will be a great loss, but as Foreign Secretary he has become invisible
Men, Beware Men
That’s to say, male, middle aged Cameron and Osborne must beware of the male, middle aged revenge of their Commons colleagues.
Gove is gone, but the Gove era endures
Michael Rosen, children’s laureate, reacts to the education secretary’s departure, and the ongoing corporatisation of the classroom
Video: the assassination of Michael Gove
Michael Gove‘s departure from the Department for Education is the biggest shock of this reshuffle. Tory MPs have been even more surprised by it than they were William Hague’s leaving the Foreign Office.
The ‘fight’ against beggars is another vicious New Labour legacy
York city council should be ashamed of its lack of compassion towards homeless people – and it’s all part of today’s poor-baiting culture
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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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