There’s a bit more on the war of Coulson’s Clearance here, from Robert Peston, who I seem to remember attracted attention back in 2011 as being oddly pro-Murdoch. I know the answer to why Coulson was not given top level security vetting in 2010. What happened was that Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood had decided…
Read More heywoood, always up to no gooodThis piece from Tom Watson is excellent. I can’t think of more than one other pol who understands mobile networks as well, and the other one knows more about fixed. Perhaps Watson is just well advised, but then picking good advice is a very important skill. On this strength, he’s the second best mobile analyst…
Read More #crimsontide is coming for your mobile billTo follow up some points from this bit of ‘kipperology, the Grauniad recently interviewed Alan Sked. Of course he does his shtick about how there were no nutters or extremists in the gang when he was around, no sir. He also makes some reasonable points about UKIP being a sorry mess and there being a…
Read More SkedmarksPollsters suggested Labour must get 300 to 500 seats. Labour promised to get 150 seats. Labour got 300 to 500 seats. Suddenly the same polling says Labour must get 490 seats. Link two says the Tories briefed that they must get 500 seats. Could the figure of 490 be an effort to avoid quoting No.10?…
Read More earthquake prediction mastered at lastReally important data point in the light of this post: Yougov: 49% of UKIPPERs are 2010 Tories (15% LAB, 14% LD, 7% UKIP, 15% non voters/minor party) of whom a mere 16% are under 40. Interesting. — James Smith (@thejimsmith) May 27, 2014 2010 Tory voters, 84% (84%!) over 40? That’s Group Three for you,…
Read More Quantifying UKIP Group ThreeThese two David Hencke pieces on the election for chairman of the House of Commons Defence Committee are interesting in the light of this post. We have, on the one side, hilariously rightwing Tory Julian Lewis. We have, on the other, a pick between Rory Stewart and Keith Simpson. Interestingly, even John McDonnell (and most…
Read More Pick a Tory. G’wanAs the day goes on, the initial UKIP-fest is wearing off a bit as more local election results come in. It’s still a good excuse to discuss this article in the Torygraph by Stephen Bush, someone who apparently “works on Benedict Brogan’s must-read e-mail”. Presumably, when he gets promoted, another intern will proudly announce that…
Read More Not two UKIPs, three UKIPs.What links all these items? YouGov – 56% support rent controls. 33% against. Tories are going to have to come with a new attack line… — roadto326 (@roadto326) May 4, 2014 No, its not a "lurch to the Left" : even 52% of Tory voters support renationalisation of rail and energy .. pic.twitter.com/ZEfDWMeNXX — Labour…
Read More The politics of control, or what Labour can learn from the ‘kippersI recently read William Langewiesche’s Aloft (Penguin Modern Classics), his collected essays on flight. One of these, justly regarded as a classic, deals with the loss of Valujet 592 near Miami in 1996, an accident which bears a strong resemblance, in his telling, to the parallel experience of rail privatisation in the UK. Deregulation permitted…
Read More Aloft1: Houses have got stupid expensive. You may have noticed Here’s a great chart from James Plunkett of the Resolution Foundation, making the point that it will take you your life to save for a deposit. Note that the curve takes off like a homesick angel in the mid-90s, when prices start back up again,…
Read More 12 links on Bob Crow, and how to get the look