By Steve Parkhurst, Senior Editor, USDR.
Looking at the news and opinion out of London each day.
5-11-15
David Cameron can unleash young people’s talents – by getting their wages up again
With full command of Parliament the new Government should encourage the investment in skills and training that will lead to better pay
Liz Kendall announces she’s running for Labour leader
In an interview with Andrew Neil, Liz Kendall has confirmed that she’s running for Labour leader. In a polished performance, Kendall set out why she believes education has to be at the centre of Labour’s message, arguing that is what enables people to get good jobs and earn decent wages. She also subtly reminded people of her doubts about the whole Miliband strategy and message by quoting her own warning—delivered back in January—that Labour couldn’t afford to just sound like the moaning man in the pub.
Miliband made ‘terrible mistake’ in ditching New Labour, says Mandelson
Intervention from key architect of New Labour comes as Chuka Umunna and Tristram Hunt signal interest in running for party leadership, with Liz Kendall first to clearly declare intention
How David Cameron will manage his Tory coalition
Up until Thursday night, everything that David Cameron and George Osborne had done in government had had to be agreed by the Liberal Democrats. Every policy had to go through the ‘Quad’, the coalition government’s decision making body made up of Cameron, Osborne, Clegg and Alexander. That doesn’t have to happen anymore.
Margaret Thatcher’s legacy should be a Conservatism For Bolton West
We first published this piece after her funeral. Today, we re-issue it in honour of the Conservative win there last Thursday. Warm congratulations to Chris Green.
5-10-15
Overnight, he has turned from the mechanic called to fix the deficit into a 10-year PM
David Cameron’s next big task is to turn his ‘One Nation’ into a reality
The victorious Prime Minister could, if he chose, turn the Conservatives into English nationalists. But if he wants to do great things, he must think bigger
Despite the election victory the case for free enterprise needs to be made
The Labour Party will now have a debate surrounding their choice of next leader as to whether they can win an election with the message of returning to socialism. Ed Miliband was clear that that was the direction he proposed to take us.
Why Labour lost
All political parties struggled in the election to convince people that they would keep their word. Mr Miliband came up with the most ludicrous response to this problem, with his Edstone. The idea that you need an inscribed stone in your garden to remind you of what you believe in and need to do struck most of us as absurd. The content of the promises was banal which compounded the problem.
5-9-15
No tears for Ed Miliband, please. He was the reason Labour lost
No one should mourn Ed after his resignation – he was inelegant and self-righteous. And with his departure, Labour can change and win again
History will judge Nick Clegg more kindly than the voters have
The Lib Dems created many of their own problems, but still deserve more credit
Today Britain has changed, changed utterly. A terrible beauty is born.
So this is what history feels like. Painful, frankly. None of the usual meteorological metaphors – earthquake, hurricane, avalanche, landslide, tsunami – seem strong enough. Make no mistake, Theresa May was right. This is the biggest constitutional drama – even crisis – since the abdication.
Ed Miliband was an all right leader. That’s exactly why he was destined to lose
It’s not that he was terrible. It’s that he just wasn’t as good as the other bloke
The capital was the only place where the party made significant gains — but last night was a devastating blow
Early work for the new Parliament – settling the UK constitution
5-8-15
The Liberal Democrats have been punished for doing the right thing
The voters who abandoned Nick Clegg need to grow up
It was the Standard what won it, apparently
In 1992 the Sun claimed it was them ‘wot won it’, fast forward to the next time the Tories achieved a majority and an editor of a different paper is claiming ‘victory’
Miliband ditched New Labour but, beyond a basket of populist gimmicks he struggled to find anything with which to replace it
Labour must find how to turn its principles into the sort of policies that might just catch the ear of a radio listener or TV viewer
Labour leadership campaign: who might have a pop?
So there could be a Labour leadership contest coming up. Who might have a pop?
In British politics no good deed goes unpunished
It was Clare Booth Luce, the witty and glamorous wife of the publisher of Time magazine, who coined the phrase that no good deed goes unpunished. It is all you need to know about British politics today.
Ukip targets – the Conservative seats at risk
Nigel Farage’s party could thwart the Tories in these battleground seats
The rise of many smaller parties exposes the unfairness of first-past-the-post in deciding the election winner
The biggest loser of the night? Russell Brand
Forget Vince Cable. Forget, if you can, Ed Balls (and I know that’s hard, because what a joyous result that was). Expel from your mind the image of Nick Clegg crying into his cornflakes this morning while texting his old pals in the Euro-oligarchy to see if they will give him a new plush job that involves no contact with pesky plebs. For last night there was an even bigger loser than those guys. Russell Brand. Or ‘Rusty Rockets’, as his politics-packed Twitterfeed has it.
One nation
5-7-15
Campaign Calculus: 10 predictions for the general election
The election will be close, but not impossible to predict
The Conservatives believe in prosperity – Labour in a magic money tree
The parties of the Left just cannot understand that money has to be earned before it is spent
Nick Clegg got coalition wrong. Tomorrow, he’ll pay the price
It’s hard not to feel a bit sorry for Nick Clegg. He’s a decent man who took a tough decision to put his party into coalition with the Conservatives, and lost half of his support as a result. Tomorrow, his party will be hammered. His great miscalculation was imagining that in England the Lib Dems would emerge with a list of achievements voters would applaud – as they did in the 2003 Holyrood elections when, after four years of coalition, the Lib Dems overtook the Scottish Conservatives to become the third-largest party.
In principle, a Labour-SNP Government would have legitimacy in England. In practice, however, there’s a danger that it would not.
Where will voters south of the border believe it resides if, after Thursday, the SNP imposes its will on a Tory-voting England by voting on English business?
What people don’t seem to realise is that the SNP has done very little to help Scotland’s poorest and most vulnerable individuals
5-6-15
I don’t think this election has been notably negative or dirty – it’s a shame it’s almost over
Don’t just vote for yourself. Vote in the interests of your country
The election campaign might have been poor but there are still issues worth pondering – the care of the vulnerable, the constitution, and the survival of democracy itself. Vote for whoever you feel will put the nation first
Voting will make politicians care about the young
Russell Brand has discovered this new thing: every few years, British adults have the chance to choose which middle-manager they would like to make smug for a bit. He used to think the ritual was a waste of time. Now that he’s met one of the middle-managers he’s changed his mind.
When Clegg claimed over two in five families are vulnerable. And other thoughts on this election campaign
Plus: The OBR isn’t needed to audit manifestos. The SNP’s sleight-of-hand on austerity. A lack of debate on healthcare. And: don’t make promises you can’t keep.
Carving Labour’s pledges in stone is as daft as Cameron’s promise to outlaw himself from raising tax: they should just admit to the likelihood of coalition
Election 2015: Voting tactically has become more fraught in the new political order
Things have become more complex as the political landscape has changed and new parties emerge
5-5-15
This election deadlock can still be broken
Telegraph View: with just 48 hours to go, there is time for a justified Tory surge
The SNP is sweeping Scotland. Is Westminster prepared for what will happen next?
On 7 May, the SNP will have the opportunity to inflict lasting damage on Scottish Labour.
From 2020, a historian writes: How they missed Cameron once he was gone!
He adds: “There was no inevitability to the 2015 result. Had voters grasped what they had in their hands, they might not so carelessly have thrown it away.”
What difference will the election make to energy?
Energy policy is Cinderella who should come to the election ball. A combination of EU policy and UK policy first established by Mr Miliband’s legislation leaves the UK with dear energy, and with greater uncertainty over supply. They have encouraged undue dependence on wind energy, and have closed too many power stations that burned fossil fuels. The next government needs to accelerate the new build of power stations. A wise government will cut our dependence on wind energy.
Two million jobs – two million real lives improving – versus the easy words of anti-austerity
The people slinging unsubstantiated words at us are the comfortably guilty, not the beneficiaries of the jobs miracle.
David Cameron: Britain is now the success story of Europe
There is only one way to deliver the things that matter – and that’s with a strong economy
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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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