Week of May 13 – May 19

Read Time:6 Minute, 47 Second


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

5-19-14

How would you feel if Nigel Farage moved in next door?

Just think of all the trouble that could have been saved in the Thirties if LBC’s James O’Brien had been around to interview European party leaders. It was O’Brien, you’ll remember, who cross-examined Nigel Farage on air last week and derailed the Ukip leader’s election campaign ahead of Thursday’s vote.

The danger for Miliband of being too confident about his anti-business stance

Why is Ed Miliband so content with accusations that he’s anti-business and a bit of a lefty? The Labour leader was grilled this morning on his relations with business leaders when he appeared on the Today programme, and while he did an adequate job of defending himself, he didn’t seem too perturbed by the questions levelled at him, nor the suggestion that his party is bleeding votes to Ukip. Why is he displaying such zen-like calm?

Are you a racist? Ed Miliband wants to hear from you

Are you a racist? Then Ed Miliband wants to hear from you. Well, he doesn’t want to hear from you. But he certainly wants your vote this Thursday.

5-18-14

It’s not the Euros but the PM’s response to them that counts

If Ukip beat the Tories at the polls, David Cameron must not change course but redouble his efforts to reduce the deficit

Cameron tries to avoid being dragged into Blair’s war

His assurances about the publication of the Chilcot Report are designed to calm those calling for answers.

Despite all those so-called ‘car crashes’, the Ukip bandwagon rides on

Another day, another “Ukip car crash moment”. They’ve crashed that old banger so many times it’s amazing that they’re still on the road. The latest accident was Nigel Farage’s appearance on James O’Brien’s show on LBC.

Indians voted for growth, and one area in which they are already getting it is in their population

5-17-14

In which J.Alfred Prufrock MP has a strange encounter with Nick Clegg

The Deputy Prime Minister is under some strain.

Don’t be a nervous nellie, David Cameron – debate!

A digital head-to-head in the 2015 election might just engage hip young people who are left cold by politics

Nick Clegg’s weird war with a former Gove adviser

Even by coalition standards, this is an odd one

This isn’t coalition – it’s government by blackmail

We have had much occasion to reflect, recently, on Disraeli’s dictum that Britain ‘does not love coalitions’. It’s now becoming depressingly clear that coalitions don’t much love Britain either. What started off as functional coalition government has descended into the most appalling policy blackmail which I looked at in my Daily Telegraph column yesterday.

Our political masters are horrified by Ukip. Trouble is, the voters aren’t

You can almost hear the screams from Westminster, can’t you? Every time Nigel Farage opens his mouth, the combined political classes of Primrose Hill and Holland Park react like a chorus of flashed spinsters, exposed to the hairy buttocks of a drunken navvy.

5-16-14

Twelve reasons why the morale of Conservative MPs has risen

Actually, scrap the other eleven, and just stick to one. The economy. The economy. The economy…

Nigel Farage’s car crash interview on LBC

So much for Nigel Farage’s image as a straight-talking politician. On LBC this morning, the Ukip leader went head-to-head with James O’Brien, covering a range of topics including some of the ‘idiots’ in his party, living next door to Romanians as well as the party’s recent poster campaign.

The smears against Nigel Farage – and the freedoms of Magna Carta

As we approach polling day in the European election the efforts to discredit and smear Nigel Farage and Ukip approach a hysterical crescendo. There is, however, regrettably little attempt to deal with the issues which are raised by Mr Farage.

State schools do teach us right and wrong: morals can’t be bought

5-15-14

You can’t have democracy without a demos

The fates of two very different unions are being decided – each reveals the nature of the other.

Cameron deploys his resources skilfully

Miliband’s approval rating among Tory MPs has never been higher. They roared with joy as he got to his feet today. A foolish grin spread across his face, and his lips revealed a mouth full of showroom-white teeth. Then he began to giggle, which was unnerving. Either he had a deadly weapon up his sleeve. Or he was about to resign.

Is cheerful Ed Miliband oblivious to the desperate mess he’s in?

The last PMQs for five weeks illustrated the paradox that is Ed Miliband. From the gallery, watching him lambast David Cameron over the Pfizer deal, it is easy to forget what a deep hole he is in. Labour’s poll lead, never particularly convincing, has evaporated on his watch and now the Tories appear to be overhauling them. His personal ratings as a putative PM are abysmal. He is mocked for his appearance. Long-repressed doubts among his colleagues are beginning to bubble to the surface like the ominous belchings of a slumbering volcano.

The 19-year-old showed the real, transformative worth of social media

5-14-14

Farage sells out to Cameron, principal agent of the EUSSR

The UKIP leader suggests that his party may keep the Prime Minister in Downing Street after the next election.

We need a tax system that is clear and fair

Tax scams and other avoidance measures are symptoms of a wider malaise in our revenue regime

Free schools are revolutionising state education

The last few days have been immensely frustrating for students, teachers and parents involved with free schools, because, yet again, their schools have become a political football. Following the recent ‘debates’, you would be forgiven for believing that these new independent state-funded schools have been foisted on communities who do not want them, are languishing half empty and have been written off by Ofsted, struggling to keep pace with other state schools.

As Labour stalls, it’s time to bring on the new Balls

Far from blaming the shadow chancellor for ‘crashing the car’, Ed Balls’s party is giving him more power

5-13-14

David Cameron MP: If you really want that In-Out referendum, you should vote Conservative next week

The Conservative message in these elections is clear, simple, powerful and true: we are the team that is turning our country around.

Gove uses urgent question on free schools to trumpet his achievements

Even though the row over free schools has nothing to do with the Labour party, it took a reasonable bet that it would benefit from joining the fray by asking an urgent question on the allegation that Michael Gove diverted £400 million from basic need funding to the free schools project.

Nigel Farage ties himself in knots over Ukip manifesto — again

Ukip may be sailing towards first place in the European elections, but Nigel Farage unwittingly revealed today how the party is still a long way from becoming a mature political movement. During his interview on the Sunday Politics, Farage didn’t seem to know what was in Ukip’s local election manifesto — in particular whether the party was promising to make any spending cuts.

The Gove versus Laws fight is a particularly significant one

We shouldn’t exaggerate the levels of tension within the Coalition, but this latest spat is still worse than usual.


– – – –

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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