Prime Minister Questions - 3rd December 2014

Wednesday'sPrime Minister Questions was a prelude to the Chancellor Autumn   statement and it was interesting to say the least. 

Ed Miliband focused his six questions by reminding David Cameron of pre election promises. 

It was embarrassing for David Cameron, who ended up mixing up his jokes and accused Ed Balls of being a sado machist which he then had to walk it back and apologise.

David Cameron did not answer a single question posed to him and was busy focusing on insulting Ed Miliband.

It was a clear win for Ed Miliband and it was good time reminder David Cameron of all the promises he has failed to keep. 

So Ed did well and after relentless attacks from the media he made a great comeback and showed he has courage for the fight in the next six months.   

Prime Minister Questions - 19th November 2014

In last weeks Prime Minister Questions Ed Milliband asked David Cameron various questions about the NHS. David Cameron response was almost embarrassing. 

He was trying to be funny and make fun out of Ed Milliband he only succeeded in making himself look like he was uncomfortable discussing the subject. 

So Ed performed well today but he focused little too much on statistics and I worry that if he did regularly it would lose the effect it had today.

Considering the daily attacks that Ed faces from the right wing media he keeping himself composed and is performing remarkably well under pressure. 

David Cameron is beginning to feel the pressure therefore he has become heavily reliant using tabloid headlines to attack Ed which smacks of desperation. 

So if Ed can keep this up and not get distracted it will help get closer to winning the election in less than six months. 

Prime Minister Questions - 5th November 2014

Last weeks Prime Minister Questions Ed Miliband questions were all about Europe and he asked David Cameron specific questions on Europe and most of which David Cameron was unable to answer. 

Ed had the upper hand in most of the exchanges and all David Cameron could do to detract from Euro question was to question Ed Miliband's leadership skills. 

Although I thought Ed won the exchange he needs to do more then real off soundbites and statistics. He now  needs to find way of proving that he is Prime Minister material. 

Ed is really going have to up his game to prove that he is capable of fulfilling the role as Prime Minister. 

He needs to take the personality that he shows at PMQ's to outside of Westminster bubble if  he really wants to win this election. 

Prime Minister Questions 29th October 2014

This weeks Prime Minister Questions was mainly about immigration. Ed Miliband asked David Cameron some really good and questions and had David Cameron on the ropes. 

Ed even managed to back David a Cameron in the corner and force him to hold a key parliamentary vote before the next election by-election. 

David Cameron answers were very much scripted answers and he looked very awkward. 

David Cameron is desparately trying to chase the UKIP vote and so this exchange would not have gone down well with a UKIP voter. 

Whilst Ed Miliband came across self assured and he able to address this issue  without coming xenophobic.  

So this was a good win for Ed and hopefully he will continue build momentum.  

Prime Minister Questions - 22nd October 2014

In this weeks Prime Minister Questions focused on the NHS. David Cameron was again blaming Labour for the problems with NHS Wales. Ed Miliband was excellent at highlighting the problems within NHS England.

David Cameron response was weak and  even his own party did not really seem to be supporting him. I think it is bit ridiculous of David Cameron to blame Labour for NHS Wales when he is Prime Minister of the whole country. 

So I think that Ed Miliband won the exchange by sticking the facts and highlighting that David Cameron is responsible for NHS England which is having some serious problems. 

These are the kind of exchanges that are important for Ed Miliband to win he has any realistic chance of becoming Prime. Minister in eight months time. 

Autumn political conferences

The political conferences have now taken place and Labour Party took place few a weeks ago. I was a little disappointed with Ed Miliband. 

I did not expect him to say that he will continue with the same destructive Tory policies. 

I really hope Ed can up his game in the next eight months because this is his election to lose.

The Conservative party conference got off to a bad start with the resigniation of MP Mark Reckless. 

The Tories did not say anything new but instead doubled down on their destructive policies that many have suffered from. 

UKIP where the next to hold there conference and Nigel Farage was buoyant from the defection of Mark Reckless from the Tories to them. 

Farage was again promising to cause an earthquake in British politics. Sadly he is probably right and his brand of extreme right wing politics will probably succeed. 

Liberal Democrats held there conference last week and Nick Clegg is a man in deep trouble experts have predicted that the Lib Dems will lose almost half there MPs in the next General Election. 

There really wasn't much Nick Clegg could say that would change what the experts are predicting. I suspect he has lined himself with a nice job in Europe. 

So none of the parties had a game changer of a conference party so there is still lots for each of the parties to do. 

Scotland says No....

So the people of Scotland rejected independence and it was right result. I don't think that financially Scotland could look after itself and the UK needs Scotland. 

I still fundamentally believe that David Cameron messed this up from the get go. 

He never took it serious before polling  day and then when he realised that the Scottish people might vote for independence he started offering them everything and the kitchen sink. 

He has now realised that he needs to offer English voters something too and to me it is like watching a man a totally out of his depth.

For the people of Scotland this has been a win/win situation they had David Cameron and Westminster begging them to reject the referendum, so they will now get more power. 

Scotland decides...

Well the day has finally come! the people of Scotland will decide today whether they want to be part of the UK. 

Not many people British people including me was paying too much attention the referendum talk. But I have to admit that in the last few weeks this has really caught my attention. 

I think that if the people of Scotland vote Yes then the Scottish people who voted no might at some point relocate to England.

I think from an English perspective it could put even more pressure on health, housing and education services. 

I have read that Scottish Nationalist Party think that they run the economy based on the oil in the North Sea. 

There are quite a few countries around the world that have an oil based economy and not all of them have been successful. 

Ultimately I think the No vote will be successful but after this I think that David Cameron's  lack of leadership has been exposed. 

It seems like at first he wasn't particularly bothered but once it had been explained to him the real impact on the UK economy did he really start caring. 

Now David Cameron has offered the people of Scotland everything and the kitchen sink in a last attempt to keep the UK together. 

It's really desperate politics and he probably would not be in this situation if he had taken the referendum debate seriously in the first place. 

So I hope the people of Scotland stay with the UK after all they can look forward to receiving all those political and financial gifts offered by David Cameron. 

The death of Michael Brown - Missouri - Ferguson

On the 9th August in Missouri, Ferguson, eighteen year old Michael Brown was killed by a police officer. According to eye witnesses he may have been shot up to six times.

Apparently Police Officer Darren Wilson had asked Michael to get out of the road and this somehow ended with Michael Brown being shot dead up to six times.

For me this another shocking case that is hard to get my head around. It's clear that Michael Brown was no angel but to be shot him up to six times sounds more like an execution.  

Since the shooting of Michael Brown things have gone from bad to worse for the little town of Ferguson. 

As hundreds of people protested Michael Brown's murder, some wanted to exact revenge and the police have reacted with military weapons I.e. Tear gas. 

The Missouri Governer Jay Nixon decided to use the National Guard to control the situation and so far this has been unsuccessful. 

For me the police seem to be making mistake after mistake and nobody in the state Missouri seem to know what they are doing. 

At some point the police will realise they need to stop treating protesters as terrorists and engage them in a positive way that may not necessary bring a solution but quell the unrest.

As the public is waiting for the official report in Michael 's death. I hope that they are able release  this information without even more unrest. 

Like I said Michael Brown was no angel and he seem that  he had issues he needed to deal with and instead of a police being an authoritive and calming force, this police officer Darren Wilson acted unilaterally and killed Michael Brown. 

I am hoping that once the current unrest subsides the African Americans in Ferguson will come together and some how turn this tragedy into a learning point from stronger and better community relations with the police. 

Hopefully both the community and the police will learn that aggression just leads to more aggression and rarely solves anything.  

Gaza Strip - latest crisis

Tensions have flared up again between Israel and Palestine. This started with the deaths of three Israeli boys and this has lead to the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian people including children. 

Whilst I feel the pain of hundreds of innocent Palestinians, I feel that they have been let down by the Palestinian Authorities and placing to much faith in Hamas. 

Whilst Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is  a Man that only knows how to use brute force. I was sad when the Israeli people elected this man to be their Prime Minister at a time when they could have elected a more moderate Prime Minister. 

So the violence will sadly go on and more people will continue to die until there is a ceasefire.

 I know I sound pessimistic but I don't believe the current leadership of either Israel or the Palestinians want peace. 

If anything is going to change in this conflict it's going have to be a change of leadership from both sides and I don't really know how realistic that is. 

President Obama needs to get more involved as Israel need the USA support and I think if President Obama had a proactive role in this conflict then at least Benjamin Netanyahu would have to listen and could result in a temporary ceasefire. 

Malaysian Airlines crash - The Political fallout

A Malaysian airline from Holland and on it's way to Malaysia crashed last week and it was brought down by a Surface to Air Missile in Ukraine. 

This plane crash killed two hundred and ninety five people and nearly two hundred of them where Dutch nationals and ten British nationals. 

The investigations has just started but there is strong evidence to suggest that this airline was brought down by Russian backed fighters. 

If it is proved that Russia where involved in bringing down this airline it could have some far reaching consequences politically for Russia. 

I think if it is proved that Russian government where involved then applying sanctions against Russia will not be enough.

President Putin has been quick to deny that Russia had anything to do with it and  Russians at the moment seem quite supportive of him. 

In the UK David Cameron has been using his Public Relations background to full effect by pressing for sanctions against Russia.  

But then he is not prepared to return any of the money that some billionaire Russians linked to the Russian government have donated to the Conservative Party. 

President Obama has been very even handed at the moment and he waiting for confirmation of Russian involvement before pointing the finger. 

As there was only one American on the plane he might only be able to advise without really getting involved.

But the next week or so will give us better indication of what the European Union response will be.

 I think that Russia where involved and once it's proven not only should they apply financial sanctions but they also need to relocate the 2018 World Cup to a safer region. 

Reshuffling the pack...Cameron style

Last week Prime Minister David Cameron reshuffled his Cabinet with some far wider changes than most expected.

The first shock was the sacking of 

the Foreign Secretary William Hague. Now I for one did not see this coming I had a soft spot for William Hague. 

I thought he performed reasonably well on the world stage and did not really do anything wrong. 

Apparently William Hague was sacked for having moderate views on the EU. He has been replaced with a supposedly Euro sceptic MP Philip Hammond. 

Another shock of the week was the sacking of the Education Secretary Michael Gove. I for one I  am relieved that he has gone. 

Michael Gove spent the last four years desperately trying to increase Conservative ideology in education. He will most be remembered for his politicisation of  OFSTED. 

Gove spent his last few months as the Education Secretary picking fights with the Home Secetary Teresa May and once it became public knowledge his tenure as the Education Secretary was all but over. 

David Cameron replaced Michael Gove with Nick Morgan and this his cynical attempt to improve his standing amongst  women in the forthcoming general election.  

David Cameron also gave some key ministerial jobs to other women. I don't believe the changes he has made will make any difference. As he is hoping that voters will have short memories and will forget the hardship of the previous four years.

I also think that David Cameron has made even more enemies in his own party than he had before. 

He will definitely need to watch his back as William Hague and Michael Gove are both probably feeling quite bitter about being humiliated.  

Prime Minister Questions -

In last weeks Prime Minister Questions, Ed Miliband focused his questions on the National Health Service. 

Ed mainly asked about the problems in the Accident and Emergency where waiting times have significantly increased in the last four years. 

As usual David Cameron responded with usual sound bite about how Labour are in charge of the NHS in Wales and they are providing a poor service. 

This response from David Cameron is a sign that he knows that Ed Miliband has the upper hand when comes to the NHS so he doesn't feel comfortable answering questions on the NHS. 

Overall Ed won the exchange and he came accross as self assured and knowledgable of the problems facing the NHS. 

Ed needs to keep pressing home his advantage and hopefully as Election Day looms more voters will start to listen to him. 

Hacking - political fallout

The hacking trial concluded last week and Andy Coulson the former editor of the News of the World and a former Communications Director for the Conservatives was sentenced to eighteen months.  

The conviction of Andy Coulson is hugely significant as the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer totally trusted him and asked few questions before employing him. 

It is not unreasonable for the public to ask why David Cameron chose to ignore the advice of newspapers like The Guardian who advised David Cameron that Andy Coulson came with baggage.

This trial was eight months long and it chronicled the detail in which hacking extensively took place. This included the hacking of the murdered teenager Milly Dowler. 

Andy Coulson denied any knowledge of the hacking of Milly Dowler's phone but the jury did not believe him. 

Labour's Ed Miliband had taken strong principled stance to bring the journalists at the News of the World to justice especially over the hacking of Milly Dowler's phone. 

For the Prime Minister David Cameron that hacking trial did not put him in good light. He came across as someone who was trying to please too many people and was scared of Rupert Murdoch. 

So now Andy Coulson and some of his ex-colleagues have been convicted. I hope the days where some journalists abuse there positions and politicians are scared to confront them is behind us.  

Prime Minister Questions -25 June 2014

In last weeks Prime Minister Questions Ed Miliband focused his six questions on the conviction of David Cameron's former Communications Director Andy Coulson for hacking. 

Ed Miliband asked David Cameron six awkward questions about why he chose to ignore advice from various people. 

All David Cameron could do was respond with stock responses about how Levenson inquiry cleared him of any wrongdoing. 

It was good day for Ed he had David Cameron on the back foot and looking very awkward. David ended the exchange asking why Ed doesn't  ask him about the economy. 

Which told me that David Cameron feels vulnerable when talking about the Andy Coulson.

 I think this hacking scandal and the conviction of Andy Coulson could come back and haunt David Cameron at the General Election. 

Labour and Ed Miliband need to press home the point that it's questions David Cameron's leadership and the kind of people he trusts in inner circle. 

Ed's questions to David Cameron were helpfully backed up by the questions that his backbenchers who asked David Cameron similar questions on hacking. 

So this was a good clear win for Ed Miliband and I am hoping he can continue to focus David Cameron 's leadership problems especially as the opinion polls have started to tighten. 

Prime Minister's Questions - 18th June 2014

In this weeks Prime Minister's Questions, Ed Miliband focused his six questions on the ongoing tensions in Iraq. 

Ed was particularly focused on the reports that British citizens have been fighting in Iraq. 

The exchanges between Ed Miliband and David Cameron where very amicable and it was nice to see. 

However Ed made sure that his backbenchers where asking key questions on the NHS. 

After about four questions on the NHS, David Cameron got annoyed and responded with usual soundbite about how Labour are in charge of the NHS in Wales and not running the service properly. 

So although the questions that Ed asked where met with an amicable response. Ed's backbenchers asked the question which I think rattled David Cameron. 

It's not easy for Ed at the moment with poll after poll suggesting that he is not leadership material.

 He just has to ignore these polls and focus the issues that affect voters I.e. the changes to the NHS, zero hours contract and childcare. 

Prime Minister's Questions 11th June 2014

Prime Minister's Questions returned after a one month break and Ed Miliband did not waste any time in asking David Cameron some key questions. 

Ed's two main topics where education and accountability in the Birmingham schools scandal and the Home Office and passport delays. 

Today Ed was back to his best he asked the kind of questions that David Cameron had no real answer to and in the end David Cameron responded in his now typical "flashman" style. 

Both these topics are important to voters and these are the kind issues that can make or break a leader. David Cameron I came accross as weak and not full aware of the facts. 

So Ed Milband has returned from the months break with a real bang and had David Cameron on the back foot he just now to keep up this line of attack. 

Review of the UK Euro elections

The results of the Euro elections was announced yesterday and as expected UKIP got the largest share of the vote. 

Although UKIP did well and came top, like the local elections they didn't do particular well in the major cities. 

The Conservatives came third overall and this was bad result for David Cameron and it has put pressure on him to either form a pact with UKIP or call the EU referendum earlier. 

Neither of which Cameron wants to do and it leaves him and his party in a perilous situation. 

The Labour Party had the best set of results since 1999 and doubled the number of MEPs in London alone. But strangely the BBC said was a terrible result for Labour. 

The Liberal Democrats had a bad Euro election and they only have one Euro MEP down from eight. Like I said in my previous blog Nick Clegg should do the honourable thing and resign. 

Overall great Euro election for UKIP and the Labour Party but the Labour Party have a lot to do to ensure they get that majority in May 2015.

Review of the UK Local Elections

Last weeks local elections had some very surprising results. It was clear from the results that UKIP are no longer a fringe party and they made significant gains in the local elections.

UKIP made some surprising gains in the North and South East England. But where unsuccessful in inner London where Londoners rejected there Euro/immigration policies. 

Whilst I accept that UKIP have made some considerable gains, the media especially the BBC said it had been an "earthquake" to UK politics. 

Which I think completely oversimplifies it yes UKIP made gains but they failed to make any inroads into various cities in the UK so they have some work to do to convince black and ethnic minority groups that they are not a racist party. 

Meanwhile Conservatives had a poor local election losing councils like Hammersmith and Fulham, Croydon and Cambridge. 

A loss of these councils would be a bitter blow to David Cameron and his party are losing vital support and getting a majority government in 2015 is looking more elusive with each passing day.

The Labour Party had a successful local election they gained over three hundred seats. 

But if you watched the BBC and other media outlets then they had a terrible election and this thought is not backed up with the statistics. 

Labour need to work on ensuring that they can get the people from the main cities to vote and this will ensure they are elected as a majority government. 

The shock of the local elections was the Liberal Democrats who did very badly and even lost the running of Kingston Borough Council to the Conservatives. 

I personally think that the Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg should resign and allow the Lib Dems to regroup and salvage some proud. 

So overall I don't think any of the parties where outstanding and they all have some real work to do before the next General Election. 

Prime Minister's Questions - 14th May 2014

In today's Prime Minister's Questions Ed Miliband focused his six questions on the Pfizer/AstraZeneca bid. 

Ed did reasonably well and he was a lot more aggressive in his responses but my problem is even though this bid does need due care and attention. 

Ed needs to focus on asking questions that a lot more people can identify with. Last week and this week Ed missed a golden opportunity to talk about Zero Hour Contracts. 

I found the avoidance of this subject a little odd but then this week he made a big announcement about guaranteeing GP appointments within 48 hours. 

I would have thought talking about the NHS would have been an excellent talking point. 

The polls are now beginning to tighten and Ed need to get his message out clearly and concisely. 

I think if Ed wants to be the next Prime Minister he needs cancel his summer holidays because he has a lot of work to do. 

Right now the right wing media are preparing there attack dogs to undermine   Ed and he needs to be ready for this onslaught or he will not win the next General Election which will be a disaster for him and for the UK. 

A year to the next UK General Election 2015

It's now officially a year to the next General Election in the UK and the polls have started to narrow. 

Labour have had a consistent five point lead but now only have a one point lead. This could be because more people are feeling optimistic about Britan's economic future and may want to stick with the Tories. 

Labour need make the choice clear by  highlighting the problems in employment like the zero hour contracts and the rise in foodbanks. 

The Tories will continue to promote and hope GDP figures go up and I suspect promising more growth post 2015.

UKIP are doing well in the polls and they could very much decide who wins the next General Election. 

It's time that both the Tories and Labour took UKIP seriously or they will find out the dire consequence of ignoring them.   

Prime Minister's Questions - 7th May 2014

In today's Prime Minister Questions Ed Milliband focused his six questions on rents and the Pfizer and AstraZeneca deal.

I did like the questions the Ed Miliband chose to ask David Cameron. But at the same time would have been nice if Ed had asked David Cameron about the rise in zero hour contracts. 

I was a little disappointed with Ed Milliband today after he has been doing so well. He needs to keep up the strong attacks and today he came across less combative and more diplomatic. 

A year to the next General Election and Ed Milliband and his backbenchers need to get ready for the battle and it starts with PMQ's. 

I am confident that today was a slight blip and Ed Milliband will back on message his strong more aggressive attacks. 

Prime Minister Questions - 30th April 2014

After the Easter break Prime Minister's  Questions is I back! Today Ed Miliband focused his six questions on the sale of the Royal Mail.

The sale of the Royal Mail is both a sensistive and a political hot potato for David Cameron. 

Ed Miliband pointed that a select few have really benefited from the sale. Which Ed Miliband believes was sold below the market value. 

David Cameron desperately tried to avoid answering the questions put him instead focusing on children of Labour MP's who are candidates for 2015 election. 

David Cameron tried to end the exchange on the news that Ed Miliband had hired President Obama's former adviser David Axelrod. 

However House Speaker John Bercow cut him off and David Cameron was heard saying he hadn't finished to which John Bercow replied he had finished and moved on to the next question...ouch!!!

Ed won the exchange today as he focused on the beneficiary of the Royal Mail sell off and pointed that British people and the workers of the Royal Mail where the main losers. 

However I do wish that Ed Miliband had brought up the Office of National Statistics report that about 1.4 million people are on zero hour contracts. 

But I suspect that Ed will probably bring this up when David Cameron is least expecting it. 

 

So it was great to have PMQ's back after the Easter break and even better that Ed Miliband picked up from where he had previously left off. 

Prime Minister's questions - 8th April 2014

This weeks Prime Minister's questions was the last one before the Easter recess. Ed Milliband focused his six questions on the conduct and resignation of the Culture Secretary Maria Miller. 

Ed was excellent and contrary to what David Cameron was saying about Ed joining the political bandwagon. Ed came across well in trying to explain to David Cameron how is backing of Maria Miller was misguided. 

It was notable that when David Cameron was responding to Ed Milliband is normally very vocal back benchers where fairly quiet. 

 

That tells me that they may not politically agree with Ed Milliband but they understood his line of questioning and they did not want to be seen as backing Maria Miiller. 

So another strong performance by Ed Milliband  and I hope he will be able to hold into this momentum that he has built.   

Prime Minister's Questions - 2nd April 2014

In this weeks Prime Minister's Questions Ed Miliband focused his questions on the sale of the Royal Mail.

Ed Miliband won the exchange by highlighting financial mistakes that the government have made in the sale of Royal Mail. 

David Cameron's first line of defence line was that the Labour Party had thirteen to the to deal with the Royal Mail and they did not do anything. 

Ed Miliband reminded David Cameron the tax payer had lost out as David Cameron sold the Post Office too cheaply. 

Ed Miliband gave timely reminder of  implying that the Tories cannot be trusted with economy.

So Ed did well but David Cameron's responses where pretty convincing. 

Prime Minister Questions - 26th March 2014

In Wednesday's Prime Minister Questions, Ed's questions to David Cameron was mainly on the energy and gas prices. This was because one of leading gas company's decided to freeze its gas prices. 

This was one subject that Ed Miliband has campaigned heavily on. So now that gas companies are listening, Ed can really push is message about pushing for gas companies to freeze their prices. 

Ed did well again I don't think David Cameron had really prepared himself to answer questions on the energy. 

David Cameron made  little attempt to answer the questions put to him. He just really focused on personally attacking Ed Milliband and he will probably hope that this looks good to the wider audience.

Ed did well and hopefully he will carry it to the General Election and beyond. 

Spring Budget 2014 - Review

What stood out to me in George Osborne's budget speech was the parts on childcare, savings and personal tax allowances.  

This is George Osborne's  penultimate budget before the next General Election and to me everything he was offering today was about securing vital votes for the next General Election. 

George Osborne's  childcare proposals are welcome but for me and I am sure many families up and down this country it has come two years too late and do not really go far enough to alleviate the financial burden of childcare. 

Most economic commentators have described George Osbourne's increase of ISA annual limit to 15K as the 'rabbit in the hat'. 

Again I think it is a great initiative but stats show that people have started to save considerable less so raising the annual limit to 15k is great but not many people will benefit from it. 

Raising the personal tax free allowance  to £10,500 is also welcome and it means that very low income will get some additional financial help. 

But what George Osbourne's budget fails to address is the squeezed who are getting by on food banks and not much else. 

So the rather cynical side of me says that George Osbourne's will have mass appeal in the right demographic Tory voting areas. Only time will tell whether this appeal can be translated to votes on Election Day. 

Prime Minister Questions - 19th March 2014

In today's PMQ's Ed Miliband focused his two questions on the Russian/Ukraine crisis and mental health funding. 

The exchanges between Ed Milliband and David Cameron where pretty low key and this was due to the fact that the budget speech was due to take place after PMQ's. 

So neither Ed or David had the upper hand in today's exchanges. However some of the Labour back benchers asked the type of rhetorical questions which normally annoy David Cameron and made PMQ's a bit more interesting. 

So Ed gave another very assured performance but David Cameron managed to stay and look calm and collected so there was no obivious winner to me.  

UK immigration policy

As regular readers of this blog would note that I am not this current administration biggest fan.

 So when I reviewed the speech the new Immigration Minister, James Brokenshire made on immigration which included the controversial part about the rich elite employing foreign nationals. 

I couldn't believe the breathtaking hypocrisy, most of you will not have forgotten the recent advertisement that this administration run urging illegal immigrants to "go home".

We then find out that the Immigration Minister, Mark Harper, who sanctioned this advert was employing an illegal immigrant to clean his one bedroom flat. 

In the last week David Cameron, Teresa May and Nick Clegg have confirmed that they have employed foreign born nationals and two of which have gone on to get British passports. 

All this really means that the Tory chase for UKIP votes has backfired badly. What remains to be seen is whether it will matter when voters go to the polls this year for the European elections and next year General Election. 

Prime Minister Questions - 5th March 2014

In yesterday's Prime Minister Question Ed Miliband focused his six questions on the ongoing crises between Russia and Ukraine. 

It was a bit surprising as he could gone on various domestic topics like immigration or the resignation of the Downing Street adviser Patrick Rock.

It shows that Ed Miliband is not out to get cheap political points. As a mention of either of these topics would have been a guaranteed win. 

It probably might have impacted on how long David Cameron will stay in his job Prime Minister. 

I suspect that Ed is secretly hoping that David Cameron continues to stay in his job at least until General Election Day as he probably thinks he has a fair chance of beating him.

The actual exchanges between David Cameron and Ed Miliband was different to the weekly banter. 

It was not really about who came out on top but Ed's wise decision to avoid opportunistic wins.  

Countdown to the UK General Election

We are now fifteen months to the next General Election and things are beginning to hot up. 

The right wing media mainly the Daily Mail published articles about three senior Labour politicians Harriet Harman, Jack Dromey and Patricia Hewitt. 

It was mainly do with the roles in they had in the National Council of Civil Liberties and what they did or did do to get rid of affiliates the Paedophile Information Exchange. 

The Daily Mail run this story for about six days before Harriet Harman and her husband Jack Dromey responded. 

 

Although there response confirmed that they had nothing but contempt for this group. The Daily Mail have been determined to get some political capital out of this. 

I have to say that the Labour Party response was fairly late and it was somewhat a weak response. 

Ultimately if Labour want to get back in power they need up their game and be prepared for the mud slinging contest.

As the Tories aided and betted by the right wing media are ready sling some mud to get them reelected. 

If Labour want to get relected then they have to be prepared to fire back at the smears or sling some mud of their own.

Prime Minister Questions - 26th February 2014

In this weeks Prime Minister Questions Ed Miliband asked about the money being spent on flood defences and climate change. 

Both these areas are very sore point for David Cameron as the floods mainly affected areas that vote Tories.

 

During the floods it was quite evident many of these Tory supporters felt that the government response to the floods was inadequate. 

David Cameron gave is usual stock responses but you could tell that both questions really got under his skin. 

Ed Miliband has really upped his game and is doing a marvellous job and this has been reflected in the polls. 

He just needs to keep the pressure up and he is hoping that six point lead in the opinion polls will be reflected in the ballot box. 

The UK Floods - Review of political response

The floods have now subsided in most parts of the UK. So it is now all about the government response to the floods. 

I think that David Cameron has really struggled with the response to the floods.  He realises that he had to come across as decisive in decision making and show strong leadership.

David Cameron was at first trying to blame the Environment Agency to promising lots of money to the flood victims. 

This comes at a time when he has imposed bedroom tax on council tenants and more and more people are using food banks. 

So to these people David Cameron looks like he is making token gestures that will help him to win the General Election. 

So far the polls have not moved an inch towards to the Tories. Whilst Ed Miliband personal rating has improved as he setting the agenda and making David Cameron look flat footed. 

Ed Miliband has been talking up climate change. Whilst the Tories including David Cameron are very sceptical about climate   change. 

So I think Ed just needs to keep trying to get his climate change message a cross and hopefully it will start to resonate with the public before next year general election. 

Prime Minister Questions - 11th February 2014

Today's Prime Minister's questions was about the floods. Ed Miliband asked David Cameron about the proposal to make five hundred and fifty Environment Agency flood staff redundant. 

David Cameron refused to answer the question directly instead confirmed that money would be no object in helping the flood victims. 

Ed Miliband gave a very self assured performance and he stuck to facts and asked questions about jobs that David Cameron was not expecting. 

David Cameron looked little uncomfortable when responding to the questions. 

Maybe because he knows all this is out of his control and although he is promising all these resources I am not entirely sure he can deliver on his promises. 

It is notable that David Cameron has not set up a command station or special phone line that victims of the floods can call. 

It is especially worrying when I view tv images of flood victims buying and sandbagging there properties with little sign of of help from the authorities. 

So it was a commanding performance from Ed Miliband whilst David Cameron has a little bit more to be worried about. 

The politics of the floods - The blame game

Britain is currently experiencing the worst flooding in over two hundred years and the politics of the blame game is in full swing. 

I have to say that these floods have been ongoing for about two and half months. 

However it is only now it has become a political problem for David Cameron. 

It really came to the top of David Cameron's attention when Prince Charles  went to visit one of the flooded areas and then called David Cameron. 

However the Tories are already trying to pin the blame on the Environment Agency which is headed by the former Labour Minister Chris Smith. 

However Labour party have claimed that this government reduced the budget on floods defence system. 

David Cameron has been trying to claim that " dredging" is the answer. However this has been dismissed by science experts who claim this method is ineffective. 

There is more rain is expected this week and it is expected to get worse so David Cameron will need to show real leadership or will start losing valuable support from regions that normally support the Tories. 

The best PMQ's ever!!!- 5th February 2014

Every week I write a little review about PMQ's and most of the time I have say that,  I watch it a little disheartened that the policies that our affecting my life own do not really come up.

However today was different in his first question Ed asked David Cameron what he was doing about the floods affecting large parts of the UK. 

David Cameron gave his usual bog standard replies about how his government are doing everything they can and they have increased spending on this area. 

If I was one of those affected by the floods, I would have come away thinking and the Prime Minister is trying to make a political point whilst my house is under water. 

 

Ed's next set of questions where about women, public life and childcare. Ed started off noting that there was not a single women on the government front bench.

 

He went to attack David Cameron on the lack of females in his party and the widening pay gap between men and women. 

Ed stated that women are struggling to return to work due to the lack of affordable childcare. 

David Cameron was well and truly flummoxed and did not really have a credible response. 

 

Instead he tried to move the discussion to trade unions and the current train strike which fell a little flat. 

Ed played a blinder today he succintly managed to link the lack of female MP's in the Tory party to pay and childcare issues. 

They Tory back benchers where reasonably quite today as I suspect they knew that Ed Miliband had a point. 

I believe that women will be very key to any party getting a majority and hopefully Ed Miliband will continue to craft his message and ultimately get those votes in. 

Michael Gove love him or hate him..he is probably here to stay...

The Education Secretary Michael Gove has had a very busy weekend from ousting current OFSTED Chief  Sally Morgan. To announcing new discipline measures in schools. 

In some sections of the media these announcements went down like a led ballon. 

Some have accused him of being an ideologue others think he trying to bring back the 1950s education system. 

However the current criticism has not phase Michael Gove in the slightest as he has the solid support from the Prime Minister.

 Gove is very determined to bring the changes he believes will make England's education system better.  

It is still very early days but we will have a better idea by the end of this week. If Mr Gove continues to receive solid support from David Cameron and the right wing media. 

Amanda Knox...is she misunderstood or just bad?

I have followed this case from the very beginning and along the way I believe the Italian judiciary have made mistakes. But that does not excuse Amanda Knox of being guilty of murder. 

From the beginning Amanda displayed very strange behaviour and a total lack of empathy for the dead girl Meredith Kercher. 

Whether it was doing handstands for the media for falsely accusing an innocent man of murder. However she seems to retain some powerful support in the media. 

Now the Italian judiciary have found her and her ex boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito again. 

I believe other than strange behaviour if Amanda wanted to clear her name the first thing she would do is undergo a lie detector test. 

But I suspect Amanda would not agree to a lie detector as she prefers to do interviews and write books. 

All this must be very painful for the Kercher family and I sincerely hope they get the justice that they so richly deserve. 

Prime Minister Questions- 29/01/14

In Today's Prime Minister's questions Ed Miliband asked David Cameron one question on Syria and it was about the number of Syrians that Britain would be willing to accept.

David Cameron gave a strong response about how Britain would take the most vulnerable but did not specify how many. 

 

Ed moved on to Labour proposal of a 50% tax rate for millionaires and he asked David Cameron three times if it was true that the Tories wanted to further reduce millionaire's tax rate to 40%. 

Three times David Cameron refused to directly answer the question. Ed managed to get David Cameron in that political corner. Which made David Cameron look weak and indecisive. 

Ed did well this week and he asking the issues that affect people up and down the country. Whilst David Cameron was shouting out a lot of his answers today and looked little out of his depth. 

Review of the of President Obama's speech

President Obama made his State of the Union speech  last night, as I expected a large part of the speech was decidated to the US economy. 

President made an impassioned plea for better pay for low paid workers and for Congress to work with him pass some bills.

President Obama discussed the successes of the Affordable Care Act and how it was changing people lives. 

It was great that President Obama talked about the NSA and making sure that they do not over reach their power in the future.  

From an international prespective it was good that he discussed the withdrawing of troops from Afghanistan and regulating the drone programme. Giving more assistance to Syrian opposition. 

Overall President Obama made a good speech and but some pundits have said it was quite a predictable speech. 

I don't think that is always a bad thing as President Obama was developing topics from last year. 

As usual the Democrats where very appreciative of his speech whilst the Republicans looked largely unmoved by his speech. 

So it look like the  President has another partisan year of politics to look forward to. Where he will probably make some progress but with very little help from the Republicans. 

Working women and childcare

One the first policies the Coalition government put into place was to cut the child tax credit.

 This has meant many families up and down country have both parents working but are struggling to cover childcare cost. 

The childcare in the UK is expensive and the average nursery in London charge about £50 day which can work out to be over £1000 a month. 

The changes in child tax credit has meant that two parent with a joint income of over £32,000 are unable to claim tax credit. 

In London £32,000 is over the average earnings and this meant some parents are staying home unable to work due to these cost. 

Historical records have shown that with each general election the female vote is increasing. 

I think there be will women up and down the country who will be thinking about the cost of childcare before they decide whom to elect. 

As families up and down the country know that affordable and trustworthy childcare is a must before either parent can even consider going back to work. 

Preview to President Obama's State of the Union address

Tonight President Obama will make his State of the Union address and there are various topics which I think he will touch on. 

Firstly he will talk about the US economy and how things have greatly improved in the last year or so but will probably state how there is a lot more to do and this is difficult without the help of Congress. 

Secondly he might talk about the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare and how after it's initial teething problems the act is greatly benefiting many Americans. 

Thirdly on the international front he might talk about Syria and how the America needs to bring world leaders together to end the current crisis. 

The topics I hope President Obama will discuss is firstly doing more to limit access to guns and I hope he worries less about the gun lobbyist. 

Secondly I hope he will talk about the NSA and hopefully he plans to ensure they do not abuse their power. 

Thirdly I hope on international he will talk about Afghanistan and how handing of power back to the Afghans is going. 

So there is a lot for President Obama to discuss and is approval rating is back up to 50% and this means that Americans are reasonably happy with his Presidency but he has a lot of work to do! 

The rise and rise.....of food banks!

Ok I will be honest before 2010 I did not know that food banks ever existed in the UK. Now there are apparently over one thousand food banks in the UK. 

Now as a mother of one myself I can see how more and more families are beginning to rely on food banks. 

Now that we are deep into winter most people are probably wisely saving money for their heating bills. This may mean making cut backs in other areas and for some families it is food. 

These days I guess that a decent family shop for food is about £200 a month and if the family eats meat then the monthly shop might be even higher. 

When times are tough spending £200 plus a month food can be very challenging. 

At this stage it looks like food banks are to stay, unless there is a change in the economy that struggling families can benefit from. 

Yay! UK economic recovery...but who is benefiting?

So the GDP figures are out and it now shows the best growth figures since 2007! So this should be a reason for all of us to celebrate right?

Sadly even the Business Secretary Vince Cable is convinced that the economic recovery is too closely aligned with the housing recovery which is not good for the economy.

This would explain why the the average families are not feeling the benefits of this recovery. More and more families are turning to food banks to feed their families. 

I am sure the Chancellor George Osbourne will be very happy with these GDP figures and the Tories will be hoping that this good news will boost them in the opinion polls. 

I personally do not believe it will have the desired affect as too many families up and down the country are not feeling the affects of this economic recovery. 

The rise of UKIP

I have'nt really blogged much about the UK Independence Party. But as the European and General Elections draw closer, UKIP could have quite a pivotal role. 

UKIP's main policy to try and get the UK out of Europe and up on until recently they have not had much input in the UK's General Election. 

However now opinion polls have been suggesting that they would poll at 

least 10% in an General Election. 

This more worrying for the Tories as it is mainly Tory voters who have defected to UKIP. So for the Tories to win a majority in the next general election they need to get the 10% back from UKIP. 

Labour do not need to worry so much about the UKIP vote. However the Labour Party would hope that UKIP do not get a lot votes. As UKIP would make it very difficult for Labour to govern effectively. 

Recently UKIP leader Nigel Farage has disowned the party 2010 manifesto. Saying that UKIP will write a new manifesto after the European elections.

Now UKIP realise they can return some of their candidates to the House of Commons.

 They are now trying to be a little more tactful and are trying to hold on to their 10% of the voting public and they hope that this will be sustained until the next General Election.

Prime Minister Question's

Yesterday Prime Ministers Question's was on the back of the good news that unemployment had gone done to 7.1%.

However Ed Miliband first three questions to David Cameron was about the humanitarian crisis currently going on in Syria. 

Ed was trying to encourage David Cameron to take in some of the refugees. There exchanges where polite but I couldn't help but think that. 

David Cameron reluctance to taking in Syrian refugees is more about appeasing his media backers like the Daily Mail and not given any political ground to UKIP.

 

Ed next three questions where about the economy and at that this stage like Ed put it that David Cameron had fallen back into his 'bullingdon club' routine. 

The Ed was trying to stay calm and not shout but that may not be so effective in the chamber. 

So Ed did well this his six questions but David Cameron came across as more commanding as he shouted a little louder than Ed did. 

UK Politics in 2014

We are now a few weeks into the New Year and it's about sixteen months before the next general election. 

Both the Tories and the a Labour party have a lot to do to convince the electorate that they are the right party to govern the UK.

The Labour Party need to prove to the electorate they can be trusted with the economy. 

They also need to be able to show how they would do things differently and be more successful than the current coliation government. 

Ed Miliband has been focusing on the cost of living and various policy areas such as energy and housing.

 He is hoping that this will continue to resonate with the electorate and they will elect him as Prime Minister. 

David Cameron has to be able to prove that the Tories can be the majority government. 

David Cameron has restle votes away from the UK Independence Party to have any realistic chance of leading  a majority government. 

For both Ed Miliband and David Cameron the big test will be how well the fare in the local and European elections this May. 

Prime Minister Questions - 15 January 2014

This weeks Prime Minister Questions was  heavily dominated by the news that the tax payer funded bank, Royal Bank of Scotland was planning on giving its bankers big bonuses. 

Ed Miliband asked David Cameron what he planned to do to stop it from happening. David Cameron was not clear in his response other than trying to win cheap political points. 

 

Ed also asked him about housing and the  fact that too many land owners are sitting on their land with little intention to build. 

David Cameron's response was similar to the bankers response, where threw some insults at Ed without answering the question.

It was a tough PMQ for Ed who wants to focus on policy and not sound bites. But unfortunately for him David Cameron is very much likes sound bites. 

Ed will probably need to go back to the drawing board or each week the political pundits will say that it is a win for David Cameron and Ed does not need to give David any kind of advantage. 

UK politics review 2013

Politics in the UK evolved over the year and by the end of year we had a better idea of where each of the political parties stood.

Ed Miliband

In my opinion Ed had a very strong 2013, at the beginning some political pundits where making predictions that Ed would not survive to end of the year. 

However Ed had a good year and towards the end of year, Ed's political opponents started taking him more seriously.

Ed has been able to connect better with the British people and he comes across has someone who cares about their concerns. 

David Cameron

David Cameron started off 2013 in a very strong position however it started to change and his own backbenchers seem unhappy with his leadership. 

The Tories spent the year obsessing over Europe and demanding a referendum. David Cameron has now promised them a referendum after the next general election. 

According to the various opinion polls, David Cameron is still seen has the right person to get us out of the recession but is opinion poll numbers have been going down. 

Economy 

At the beginning of the year the UK economy was in bad shape. However now the UK economy has started to grow again. This primarily to due the housing bubble and manufacturing growth. 

Health 

NHS was under real pressure in 2013 and the government response was to cut frontline staff. So NHS is under more pressure  than ever even though cuts to its service have been ring fenced.

Crime

The crime rate has remains steady from the start to the end of 2013. This has been a suprise to me as I thought because of the recession crime would go up but this has not happened.

Nutshell

So in a nutshell even though the economy has started to grow most people are not seeing the growth. 

Staff cuts to the NHS has put it under considerable strain. 

However the crime has not increased which I was quite surprised about. 

Prime Minister's Questions - 8th January 2014

The first Prime Minister's Questions of the year was a little subdued. It could have been because the respected Labour MP Paul Goggins and the tributes from across the  political spectrum made PMQ's a more somber occasion.

 

Ed Miliband asked questions about the government response to the recent floods. As well as the rise of the betting terminals in poorer towns. 

David Cameron gave a slightly more statesman response but was still trying to imply that is was all Labours fault. 

It was notable to me that Ed Miliband set the tone for this more subdued PMQ's. In my humble opinion Ed Milband is looking more Prime Ministerial than ever.