How the government’s 2012 growth forecasts have slumped disastrously

How to take the toxicity out of the MPs salaries debate

By Mark Ferguson

The long drawn out process of giving MPs a divisive and unnecessary pay rise has been going on for what feels like years now. I’ve written before about why it would be grotesque for MPs to see their salaries increase at a rate ten times what many others workers are receiving (especially those in the public sector, whose salaries MPs are deliberately holding down). I also don’t buy the argument that if we don’t pay MPs ever higher salaries then […]

IDS has failed spectacularly – why is he still in a job?

By Sue Marsh

So finally today, IDS will face the Work and Pensions Select Committee to answer questions about Universal Credit. http://t.co/3l9Vzw1vNR I say finally. I’ve written the sentence above about 5 times, only for Mr Duncan-Smith to have “prior engagements” or for him to get mysteriously stuck in Paris. But with a sprinkle of reindeer dust and a magic Xmas wish, we should get to hear from the man himself, what exactly is going on with Universal Credit. Oh, we know it […]

Ed Miliband’s tribute to Nelson Mandela – “We mourn his loss. We give thanks for his life. And we honour his legacy.”

Speaking in the Commons today – Ed Miliband made the following tribute to Nelson Mandela: Mr Speaker, today we remember the incomparable life of Nelson Mandela. This House traditionally gathers to pay tribute to those who have led our country. It is unusual for us to meet to honour the leader of another. Why was it so essential that we should commemorate the life of President Mandela in this way? For simple reasons. He is an enduring and unique symbol […]

Ed Miliband’s Christmas card

Miliband’s Christmas card is out, and he’s stuck with his usual style – a family photo. Here it is:   h/t: @paulwaugh

Get your act together and your ducks in a row

By Stefan Stern

As psephological indicators go, the Any Questions audience is not entirely reliable. All through the 1980s audience members would applaud panelists who declared that teachers and nurses clearly deserved to be better paid, and if that meant higher taxes to fund those pay rises, so be it. But the applause of Any Questions audiences would not then be reflected in the votes cast at general elections. In fact, you suspected that some of those who had clapped the left-leaning guests […]