Tuesday, 2 October 2007

The Poliblogs 2nd October 2007

Attack Gordon Brown's record - not his personality

Earlier today George Osborne joked (in remarks that did not appear in the text issued to the press) that anyone would be as cynical about human nature as Gordon Brown if they had spent so long working with Ed Balls. He then went to make a joke about Alistair Darling's charisma. Later today, I understand, Chris Grayling - whose energy I admire - will call Gordon Brown a "liar".

Conservative Home

Could this body cause Gord to delay an election?

What if a million people were unable to vote? One of the issues that is emerging about an early election is coming from the Association of Election Administrators - the body that represents those charged with running elections. Their chief executive, John Turner, has been popping up everywhere in the past twenty four hours making the same points - that because of the administrative arrangements it might be difficult staging a general election where those entitled to vote can vote.

Political Betting

Surge For The Hills!

So it was 1000 troops home by Christmas, not 2000 as leaked last night, but the effect is the same, take the Tories off the front page, answer the burgeoning 'support the troops' groundswell from the right and shoot the Lib Dems anti-war fox. It's a (partial) victory for anti-war campaigners - if Brown didn't think troop withdrawal was a more popular policy than 'staying the course' he wouldn't be doing it. You can always trust a politician to act in his own self interest and Brown's evidently interested in having an election that will have no talking points at all and no one to mention Mr. Blair's little Middle East adventure.

Blair Watch

Brown's next election visit: Baghdad

If anyone thinks that nice Comrade Chairman Brown would not do all he can to get the Tory conference out of the headlines, his visit today to Baghdad is all the proof you need to know he will use any instrument he can to manage the news agenda and deny opponents the coverage they would expect to have in a multi-party democracy.

Jonathan Wallace

Gordon's Plan A - An Election Now

Until now Labour strategists have been coy. But this morning what we'd all worked out anyway has been confirmed by senior sources. The Brown team are conducting opinion polls in key marginals, and if the results are strong enough for Labour, the Prime Minister will call a General Election next week. Preparations are being made for such an announcement with a diary of events planned to give Gordon Brown a fair wind. Today's trip to Iraq will be followed later this week with the green light for the long delayed London Crossrail project and Lord Dhazi's report on making the NHS more patient-friendly.

Boulton & Co.

UK Politics: Tory economic policies

Quick take on this today due to work interfering somewhat with blogging. Sadly I am no Dizzy, Croydonian or Iain able to swan off to the conference for a few days...

Five main ideas stick out:

The CityUnslicker

Conservative Conference - William Hague on the EU Treaty.

I've just watched William Hague's speech on foreign policy and it was absolutely fantastic. What's more he offered the British public something that Labour never would - The right to a referendum on any future EU Treaties by LAW.

Daily Referendum

The capacity to surprise

If the Tories are serious about capturing the Eurosceptic vote, they are going the right way about it. That much can be said for William Hague's surprise announcement in a speech at today's session of the Party conference. Confirmed on the Conservative website, he has promised that the next Conservative government would amend the 1972 European Communities Act, so that any future agreements that transferred powers from Britain to the EU would require a national poll.

EU Referendum

Tory Promises on Europe – Always Good for a Laugh

William Hague, the only Tory with a licensed sense of humour, has had ‘em rolling in the aisles once again in Blackpool. He has called for the original Accession Treaty by which Britain joined the then European Community to be amended so that any new treaty which ‘signed away’ powers to Europe would have to be subject to a referendum.

Wit & Wisdom

It's all about the headlines, don't worry about the sums

I haven't had as much time as I would of liked, to keep up with political events and in particularly the Conservative party conference over the past few days. Although I have been trying to keep up with a fair few blogs to see what has been going on and last night I also managed to catch the BBC news at 10 o'clock and then Newsnight after that.

Miscellany Symposium

Severn Barrage

The fight to get a barrage built across the Severn estuary took off in earnest today with a report from the Sustainable Development Commission backing the idea, but warning about the excessive costs. In my view the case for this barrage is very finely balanced, but whatever one's view the issue needs to be resolved quickly so that we can move on with the agenda on sustainable energy.

Peter Black AM

Has Ming has destroyed the LibDems credibility

Will he or won't he call an election is like waiting for a baby to be born. Wishes Gordon Brown would make up his mind and stop all the speculation. His dithering or one might say his keeping it close to his chest is actually making some political activists crazy - election fever is gaining momentum nationwide, speculation is writhe. Still think he is going to wait until after David Cameron's conference speech on Wednesday and test the mood, but that only my opinion. Might end up with egg on my face.

Suz’s Blog

What if they held an Election and nobody came?

Political insiders enjoy party conferences and elections in the way that more normal people enjoy a day at the races. I am currently rather sour about political insiders because I have recently returned from North Korea, where every breath and syllable is subject to politics, which simply refuses to leave anyone alone at any time of the day or night. It makes you wonder if politics is a healthy occupation, or a form of mania. I hope to write about that in the Mail on Sunday shortly, and possibly on this blog as well.

Peter Hitchens

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