It is odd that some people find this award inappropriate. It is both inspired, and deserved, not because of efforts by the EU to promote peace in trouble spots, but because it is the major contributory combination which has brought the longest period of peace among the nations of Europe since the time of the […]
Andrew Mitchell continues to deny the words attributed to him and recorded at the time in Police Notebooks. It is worth noting that in a court of law when an accused is in denial and challenged by the notebook evidence of three Police officers (not ordinary coppers, but from the elite Diplomatic Protection Squad) the […]
The BBC is being somewhat cautious about reporting the unfolding Savile scandal. This is not surprising since the Corporation is at the heart of a good deal of what is alleged to have happened. It is also rather shy about referring to its new Director General, George Entwistle, because Mr Entwistle was Head of Vision (TV) at the […]
Cameron arrived at the Tory Conference in an awkward atmosphere of muttering about his leadership and Boris fever. He can leave knowing that he has demonstrated two things; he is by far and away the best leader the Tory party has and Boris is a showman. There will be no more talk of stalking horses. […]
To hold all they have and win another score or so seats at the next general election in 2015, many think the Tories will need a miracle. They will certainly need a plan, but above all they will need a message. A clear message, not one fudged by the demands of coalition. It is as […]
We are pre-occupied with the party conference season and the never ending uncertainties of the euro. Little attention is being paid to developments across the Atlantic, yet it is there that the most important election of all is being held in November. It is not just about who is to be President of the United […]
Any delegate arriving for the Tory Party Conference in Birmingham, who is not seriously worried about the electoral prospects of their party, is a fool. Not only are things not going according to the Tory plan on the economy, for whatever reason, which would be bad enough but arguably outside the government’s control. The scale […]
Far too much store is now laid at the podium of the leader’s speech at party conferences, few of which are recalled by anyone for long. Leaders begin to think of themselves as celebrities, their parties think of them as idols, but the modern voter looks to them as managers and innovators. They are judged […]
Ed Miliband is invoking the spirit of 1945 in a nostalgic think back to the post war Attlee government. This is a foolish and meaningless comparison. Yet it need not be. The reason for the Attlee triumph was an entirely new prospectus put before the British people; a welfare state, social justice, public ownership and, […]
As an emotive public relations exercise the Prime Minister’s speech to the UN in New York should play well, especially with his party. However it was not the speech of a statesman, neither will it do any good. Unfortunately the FCO and Downing Street do not see the difference between diplomacy and banging the drum. […]