How the government’s 2012 growth forecasts have slumped disastrously

Labour to cut ties with Co-op Bank as it continues to slash debts

The BBC reports this morning that the Labour Party is to cut its near century long relationship with the Co-op Bank: “The Labour Party is looking to sever its links with the troubled Co-op Bank, bringing to an end one of the oldest political partnerships in the UK. The BBC has learned that Ian McNicoll [sic], Labour’s general secretary, is looking to move loans worth more than £1m to the trade union-owned Unity Trust Bank.” Speaking to LabourList this morning, […]

It’s not growth that wins elections, it’s being on the side of ordinary people

By James Morris

Perhaps the most misunderstood insight in the history of politics was chalked on the wall of Bill Clinton’s war-room as he ran for the Presidency in 1992: it’s the economy, stupid. Today, that phrase is being used to argue that the 2% growth predicted by the OBR for 2015 is David Cameron’s ticket back to Downing Street. What is seldom mentioned is that the US economy grew at double that level for a whole year before the 1992 election, yet […]

Experience is a double edged sword

By Emma Burnell

In just over a year Labour could be back in power. That we are able to say this after the dreadful defeat we suffered in 2010 is an extraordinary testament to the leadership of Ed Miliband and the success of the electoral strategy he has doggedly pursued in the face of significant internal opposition. The Labour Party is at an odd juncture in terms of its sheer make up. Because the real power players of New Labour started making a […]

Blair says the West must be prepared to work with Putin and the Egyptian military

Tony Blair may not have been Prime Minister for nearly seven years now, but his views – particularly on foreign policy – are always newsworthy. This morning he gave a wide-ranging and controversial speech at Bloomberg’s London HQ on the Middle East, urging the West not to pull back from the Middle East as an unsolvable problem, but to engage. Although despite the billing, this was as much a speech about faith as it was about geo-politics. At the roots of Blair’s […]

Labour set up rapid rebuttal unit for election campaign

Labour plan to step up their media monitoring process in the run up to the 2015 general election, according to The Independent. A team will be in charge of rebutting negative media to avoid a re-run of the 1992 election, where an onslaught of attacks from the press played their part in a unexpected Conservative victory. Michael Dugher, the MP in charge of Labour’s communications, is this week in the US discussing strategy with new appointment David Axelrod and other political […]