Morning Report – April 25th

Want to read the worst news story in a serious newspaper today. No need to trawl through all of the papers, we can safelys ay this one takes the prize. The Telegraph are reporting the horrifying news that Ed Miliband, that Socialist scamp, has taken the princely sum of £15,000 from a major trade union. The shock of a trade union supporting a major figure in the labour movement has shocked me to the core. Worse still – in what is surely the most tenuous, desperate, space-filling link of this bank holiday monday, we’re also reminded that Miliband says he speaks for “middle England”. That’s despite the fact that Miliband actually talks about the “squeezed middle” (which is different), and that Unite, as Britain’s largest union, probably has more than its fair share of middle england, middle class and squeezed middle types. Don’t let the facts get in the way though eh? Not when there are reds to be bashed!

Elsewhere today, Jackie Ashley has turned some heads with her suggestion that a 2011 election is possible. However as Mark Ferguson argued here yesterday, it’s Huhne, rather than Clegg, who is really seeking to bring down the coalition. Over at Conservative Home there’s some sound analysis from Tim Montgomerie that is well worth reading. He suggests that Cameron needs to be ready for an early election. Worryingly, Cameron is perhaps the most ready of the three major party leaders at present.

And it never rains but it pours for the Lib Dems. Research from the Fabian society, covered by the Guardian, suggests that all of the female Lib Dem MPs could be wiped out at the next election (whenever that is). There’s also a rather cheeky suggestion that Ming Campbell and Charles Kennedy should offer their safe seats to female MPs to female candidates to reverse the trend. Cheeky – but probably right. You can read more on that research over at Next Left.