Ed Miliband ‘appeals to Labour’s lost voters’: 8 in the morning – September 8th

Did Tory Minister Sajid Javid know about shady goings on at Deutsche Bank?

Today, the European Commission has levied a record €1.7bn (£1.4bn) fine on five major banks – including Deutsche Bank. Sajid Javid – the Tory Financial Secretary to the Treasury – was a senior staff members at Deutsche Bank during the period that the investigation by the Commission covered. Between 2004 and 2009 Javid  was a senior manager at Deutsche Bank, joining the Board of Deutsche Bank International in 2007. Deutsche Bank today received the biggest fine – over €725 million – for […]

PMQs Verdict: Nick Clegg is a Tory

By Mark Ferguson

Let’s start by being clear about something – this was not PMQs, at least not in any meaningful sense. It’s been a while since we’ve had one of these Clegg/Harman head to head contests, so I’d almost forgotten what they were like. Now I remember – they ain’t great. Neither has a great deal of opportunity for practice in the particular bear pit that is PMQs, and I’m afraid today it showed. Harman landed a few good lines (“let us […]

Labour MPs attack Conservatives over plans to axe benefits for under 25s

Labour MPs showed their anger over Tory proposals to axe benefits for under 25s at a debate organised by the Society of Labour Lawyers and Young Labour Lawyers last night. Lisa Nandy MP said David Cameron was “demonising young people in the most appalling way”. The Shadow Minister for Civil Society, said: “Removing benefits for under 25s would sweep away the safety net for homeless teenagers, for LGBT teenagers who are thrown out of their homes, for care leavers and […]

Ed Miliband is the real deal

By Toby Perkins

Just a few short months ago some claimed Labour was the third most interesting party in British politics. How different things look today. Ed Miliband has surged to the front and a host of government policy shifts have changed the dynamic – just as the Christmas lights go up and the world of politics looks towards the 2015 election. The Tories have been left looking like opportunistic political lightweights, happy to change their tune on any issue on any given […]

Tory attacks on Darling aren’t bizarre – they’re calculated

By Mark Ferguson

Reports in this morning’s papers (including this one in The FT(£)) suggest that there’s been some fairly systematic and grubby briefing against Alistair Darling. Seemingly “Senior Tories” believe that he is “comatose most of the time” and a “dreary figurehead”. I’m not suggesting the Tories don’t understand Scotland – but their performance north of the border would suggest that they aren’t really the experts on what the Scottish electorate are looking for…. Now Alistair Darling has been briefed against before, […]