- Let’s be honest. There’s a clear link with Islam (£) by David Aaronovitch, The Times
- Intellectual property is an innovation killer by Joshua Lachkovic , KernalMag
- Dumb Idea Hall of Fame by Aaron David Miller, Foreign Policy
- Nadine Dorries threatens Cameron's Party Leadership by Nadine Dorries, Daily Mail
- Boris set for party leadership? by Traci Watson, USAToday
- Anti-Israel students deface Star of David at student conference by Jonny Paul, Jerusalem Post
- Jihadist Videos on University Facebook by Rupert Sutton, Huffington Post UK
- Skintland: Heads I Win, Tails You Lose by Alex Massie, Spectator UK
- Green tax on conservatories by James Slack and Tamara Cohen, Daily Mail
- Saudi princess: What I'd change about my country by Staff writers, BBC
2012: The Continuity Coalition
A happy new year from our UK Political Editor Harry Cole. It's going to be an interesting one, though ideally David Cameron would rather that things carried on the way they were
Back home, one of the most interesting tactics we have seen develop over the last year is what I like to call “distraction politics”. Or "Look at the Shiny". Take the health reforms for example. There have been pauses, consultations, listening exercises, debates, fights, rolled up sleeves, press conferences, pool footage etc etc. All the usual stuff. The government has also backed down and ended up watering down proposals to the point where they are pretty much unrecognisable.
Meanwhile Michael Gove has very quietly instigated a complete revolution in the way that schools are run and controlled by the state yet nobody batted an eyelid. While everyone fretted about health, the reforms that this government will be remembered for have been slipped in under the radar and are on their way to completion. It’s a clever move and you should keep an eye out for this sort of thing. When a lot of noise is being made on one subject, and ground being given, take a look at what is happening elsewhere.
As ever with politics though, it comes down to “events dear boy, events”. And there are plenty this year!
If Ken were to win in London it would be a body blow to Cameron. The odds on this happening are low, but Boris could have a nightmare re-election campaign. Expect whoever wins to bill it as a referendum on the other party, a nonsense line, but a powerful one nonetheless.
Ed could have got rid of Ken as the candidate. If Labour fail to break through in London, I would hazard a guess we will see some London Labour MPs break ranks and put the blame on him, not Ken.
If Boris wins, then Cameron had better start war-gaming on how to keep the Mayor out of parliament before the next election. There is only one job Boris wants after his current one and that is his old chum Dave's.
A bad Olympics would be blamed on Boris, though the pain would reach the very top. The room for things to go wrong here is huge. Before dirty bombs and terrorists even enter the picture let’s take a moment to remember that this is a major international event that requires transport links and paper pushing -- these haven't been our finest assets in recent years.
Legislatively as well there are a couple of stumbling blocks this year. Don't for one second expect the House of Lords to abolish itself. That one is going to be a messy battle. HS2 will be dragged through the courts all this year as well, despite it getting the green light this week. However, such battles are unlikely to ruffle too many feathers.
Will we be sitting here gearing up for a new term next year with Cameron as PM, Clegg as his lovable, if slightly accident prone deputy, and awkward old Ed Miliband still struggling as leader of the opposition? Yes, I think we probably will.
Harry Cole is The Commentator's UK Politics Editor and the news editor for the Guido Fawkes blog
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Lets recap:
Conservatives are just continuity Labour:
Highest immigration ever - beating Labour!
Highest youth unemployment ever.
Highest fuel taxes ever.
Highest public spending ever.
Lies & duplicity over EU bailouts to the IMF
HS2 - destroying England & Tory voter base
As for Clegg - it is obvious now that he serves a foreign power - the EU, & should be removed from office.
There is nothing Conservative about this Government - we may as well have stuck with Brown - at least we knew we were being f****d by him.
Vote UKIP.
I wonder what odds you'd get on Ed 'stepping aside'? Cue big brother dearest?
Ed will not step aside for his brother quite yet, if Labour have even an ounce of sense they wouldn't let him leave until about 12 months before an election (one they intend to win anyway, I suspect they do not want to win at the minute, because they are incapable of doing 'nasty' things).
Given usual Labour strategy, they will probably wait for Cameron to balance the budget having gone through all the necessary pain, then come in promising free helicopters for pensioners and a lifetime subscription to the Guardian. Yes, that would just about do it.
There's a transcript of the sepceh up on Labour View which has one major advantage over any recording: you won't be needlessly distracted by Ed M's poor sepcehifying. Very few people can hope to be a Martin Luther King-class orator, but Miliband has to do better. Even something as elementary as pausing in the right places would be a significant improvement. That way he wouldn't sound as if he was handed the sepceh fifteen minutes before he delivered it. It is not a great sepceh although it does have some good lines. Not a great deal of substance though, but we can't make too much of that since Labour is still engaged in its seemingly endless policy review. It also has at one very bad line, so here's some free advice to Ed's sepceh-writers: do not remind voters that the 1980s ever happened; the Tory government before this one was never That Bloody Woman and TINA, it was always and forever Lamont and the ERM, Maastricht and the flapping of white coats, and endless petty scandals.Must try harder, 3/10.
Astute as ever. I wonder how the Scottish question will develop as the year goes by...