Tory Hatchet Job

The Tories normally reserve their venom for their political opponents, but all may not be as well as it should be at Cameron HQ. The political magazine Standpoint have published a highly personalised attack on Cameron's chief strategist, Old Etonian Steve Hilton. You may not have heard of Hilton, but he occupies something of the position that Campbell and Mandelson occupied under Tony Blair. As such, he clearly generates enemies amongst the party apparatchiks, one of whom may be the author of the Standpoint piece. Entertaining though the piece is, however, if you like a bit of personal vitriol with your tea and toast, its credibility is somewhat emasculated by being published anonymously. So the most we can say is that one, relatively articulate, person, possibly at Tory HQ, doesn't like Hilton. And that's it. Nonetheless, it does give a bit of an insight into politics behind the scenes, and the editor of Conservative Home, Tim Montgomerie, sometimes suggested as an adviser for Cameron himself, did at least leap to Hilton's defence.

The Blogging Punch

John Prescott has brought his own brand of say it like it is politics to the blogosphere. His blog seems to be very much the unvarnished Prescott, and is part of Alaistair Campbell's new website, campaigning for a Labour 4th. term. Prescott made minor ructions with a recent post describing former Downing Sreet policy chief Matthew Taylor as a "typical pointy head" and likening him to a "Mekon" (the science fiction villain from the Dan Dare comics!). Go and have a read - it'll cheer you up no end.

The Change We Were Waiting For?

President Obama didn't get much joy from Iran's president as a result of his broadcast on Arab television the other day, but that shouldn't detract from the momentous nature of his words and his gesture. One thing I wanted from Obama was some indication that he might dare to tread where others would have feared. I wanted him to be as different from his predecessor as it is possible to be. And his appeal to the Muslim world was just that. A sign that there really might be a new way of doing things in the White House now. Andrew Sullivan has the issue down to a T in this post.

Liberals in Coalition?

The great debate about a hung parliament and coalition government after the next election continues to entertain Westminster insiders. The latest to launch into print on this charming parlour game is the Fabian Society's Sunder Katwala, in the New Statesman. He argues that it is time for Labour and the Lib Dems to acknowledge their position as progressive parties, and form a pre-emptive coalition against the skin-deep progressive Cameron Tory Party.

This might appeal to a Labour Party struggling to believe that its leader can give them another term in office, but it would be death to the Liberals. Paul Burstow, the Liberals' chief whip, suggested to the visiting SGS students this week that the present system in Britain was 'broken'. He used the term more than once. And if it is, and if the Liberals want to be seen as the party of system change, then a coalition with either of the major parties will merely usher them into the same tawdry pit. They cannot credibly pursue the Burstow claim if they are simply shoring it up by sharing power with one of the other parties. That was their problem in both Wales and Scotland, and it is noticeable that the Liberals in those two countries have chosen not to make the same mistake again, even at the expense of unstable minority government. A coalition may bring them power; it will also bring them political disrepute.

Thursday Update

The Labour rebellion on the Oppositions motion to do with the Third Runway included 3 MPs who have not rebelled before since Gordon Brown became Prime Minister, according to the Philip Cowley Revolts site. More grist to the mill of those wanting to argue that large Commons majorities are not necessarily giving the government an easy ride.

The Four Lords a Charging scandal has given rise to a new rash of articles about reform of the Lords. Jonathan Freedland puts the case in the Guardian, and see also the letters which his article provoked.

Could there be an early election in Scotland? First Minister Alex Salmond failed to get his budget passed, thanks to Green non-compliance, and this might trigger the events that force a new election.

And Jon Rentoul in the Independent discusses teaching the history of the Blair government.

Update Links

Here are some links to bring you up to speed on a selection of current stories.

The story that no-one this morning seemed to be aware of - Sir Paul Stephenson is the new Met. boss. An intriguing appointment given the hash that was the Damian Green Arrest affair.

Is Gordon Brown in trouble? The FT speculates that he has been told to tone down all his frenetic activity, as it seems to be turning voters off. Especially since they don't appear to see many positive results.

The Spectator's Political Editor Fraser Nelson gives the monetarist view of the crisis, attacking Brown for not controlling the money supply. This crisis was predictable and man-made he says. Only problem being, as one commenter notes on the article, that Nelson wasn't one of those who predicted it!

Did the then Cabinet raise any concerns about the Iraq war? Cabinet papers eventually released under the 30 Year Rule should tell all, but, as the First Post reports, Cabinet Secretary Gus O'Donnell is fighting hard to have those particualr minutes excluded from the Freedom of Information Act.

The First Day

There's no doubt that President Obama knows how to orchestrate the media! The minutiae of his first day in office has been carefully drip fed to the hungry media hordes, and there is little we don't appear to know. There is substance there as well. His first pronouncements as President, just announced to the press corps, have been to freeze senior White House pay, insist on a new ethics standards, limit the access of lobbyists and commit to greater transparency and feredom of information. These are no small deals in the new administration's determination to be seen as a fresh start, one that can be trusted by the people.

Obama signed the first executive orders in front of the press, and his affable Vice-President then had to administer the oath of office to the new senior staffers. Joe Biden usually manages to make a slip up or two, and here he seemed to be casting a sly dig at the Chief Justice when he asked for a copy of the oath, saying "I don't have Justice Roberts' memory". The Chief Justice, of course, misquoted the presidential oath of office yesterday when administering it to Obama.