By Steve Parkhurst, Senior Editor, USDR.
Looking at the news and opinion out of London each day.
6-8-15
What must be done now that we’ve won
The current entrepreneurial spirit and endeavour are the strongest I have experienced in my career.
Although instead of trying to force anyone out, parties should be worrying more the about their selection of candidates
Selling bank shares
The government has announced it is going to sell more Lloyds Bank shares, and start selling RBS shares. That is a good idea. The Labour government was wrong to buy the shares in the first place, as we discussed at the time. They should have found other cheaper ways of supporting what had to be supported in the banking sector, by loans against security with controlled administration for banks that could not meet their obligations.
6-7-15
The whole of Britain should be a tax haven
George Osborne should use his budget to cut taxes. You can’t redistribute wealth unless you first create some. Simples
He is a problem-solver and has the critical backroom role of hacking through thickets of bureaucracy
Tories must back Cameron’s push for EU to return to its roots
Telegraph View: A new Tory eurosceptic group has been formed. We hope that they give full support to a Prime Minister trying to get the best possible deal on Europe
6-6-15
‘Green’ Zac Goldsmith could be a serious bet for City Hall
Attention to the 2016 mayoral race has so far been hogged by Labour’s crowded field — partly through a tacit acceptance of the lazy assumption by the party that its candidate will be a shoo-in. True, Tessa Jowell, Sadiq Khan and David Lammy are unlikely to lose sleep over the Tories who have declared so far. Zac Goldsmith, however, would be quite another matter, as Claire Kober, Labour leader of Haringey council, conceded this week.
Rising debt is a problem for nearly all the world’s developed economies. Tackling it must be a priority
MPs’ pay: Cameron has cake and eats it. (And what’s the point of having cake unless you eat it?)
The palaver over MPs’ pay is a consequence of our collective unwillingness to decide what they are and what they should do.
The Left thinks the voters are stupid. No wonder Labour lost.
Plus: ComRes – waving. Harris-Quinney – drowning. Bring on Zac Goldsmith. Welcome, Paul Abbott. Jeremy Corbyn, my part in his rise. And: I will miss Charles Kennedy.
6-5-15
How Winston Churchill’s work for The Telegraph helped him defeat Hitler
Seventy-five years after Sir Winston Churchill’s famous ‘We shall fight them on the beaches’ speech, Boris Johnson introduces a selection of the former prime minister’s journalism written for the Telegraph, which is collected in a new volume
Labour didn’t lose because it wasn’t left-wing enough or Scottish enough
Planning an EU referendum campaign? Here are the three facts you need to know
Tony Blair is the least trusted voice on the issue. But Nigel Farage is the second least trusted.
House prices and new homes
Yes, you are right. Controlling the numbers of people coming to the UK to live and work is an important part of restoring balance to our housing market. The Prime Minister has promised to do that.
6-4-15
The Tories have a one-off chance to make the case for capitalism
Too much ground has been ceded to the Left – the fight is on for free markets and less tax
Syed Kamall MEP: It’s been a good month for Tories, and our allies, in the European Parliament
We won in the UK, entered government in Finland, welcomed a new Italian party, won the Polish Presidency and are optimistic about the Danish election.
Selling social housing
There is one persistent mistruth in the debate about the wisdom and complexity of requiring Housing Associations to sell homes to their tenants at a discount. The critics say that this will reduce the number of social homes available. Let me reassure them. No-one demolishes or destroys the home when it is sold. The same family that rented it carry on living in it as homeowners. The housing stock and the living arrangements remain identical pre and post sale.
6-3-15
Labour’s problem was not a bad leader but a dying party
Rebranding is futile. A workers’ party founded 115 years ago is an anachronism . So what, now, is the Labour party even for?
What can modern politics learn from Thatcher?
The first volume of Charles Moore’s biography of Margaret Thatcher is one of the finest political books of recent times. With the second volume due out in October, Charles, a columnist for the Telegraph, has agreed to also become a visiting scholar at the think tank Policy Exchange where he will work on what lessons contemporary politics can learn from Margaret Thatcher’s career.
Greece, elections and the Euro
Ever since the Greek voters rejected EU austerity policies the Euro area has been in a state of shock. The rest of the zone, led by Mrs Merkel, tried to pretend nothing had happened. If Greece wanted the rest of the money under the last loan agreement, they said she had to carry on with the cuts and the privatisations to qualify.
Outlook bleak for Stormont as talks collapse
Also: ‘Self-financing’ Yes campaign bankrolled by the SNP; and Welsh Labour minister uninterested in ‘English Labour’ leadership contest.
6-2-15
Why can’t politicians speak in clear, interesting English?
Going forward, we need to roll out a long-term grammatical plan for hardworking speechmakers.
It’s time to crack down on rip-off NHS agencies
This government has pledged at least £8bn more for the NHS, but we need to make sure that money is being spent effectively
We announce Party members’ choice for next leader. It is…Liz Kendall
ConHome apologises to her for any damage caused.
The courage it took to oppose the Iraq war was monumental
In the land of Magna Carta, individual liberties already exist – Human Rights Act or no
A British Bill of Rights would remind our courts that judges are not obliged to let Strasbourg tell them what liberty means
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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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