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Nick Clegg is probably looking forward to the TV election debates with almost as little enthusiasm as David Cameron is. The contrast between the Cleggmania of 2010 and the near contempt of many voters today will be hard for him to take – or…
“I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself.” In office Ronald Reagan never completely lost his actor’s sense of timing and the gift for delivering a good line. When he made that quip in 1984 most saw it as…
Black Wednesday was the biggie – September 16th 1992, the humiliating collapse of Britain’s economic policy. That was a black day. Black Monday had come earlier – October 19th 1987, a day of panic and tumbling share prices globally…
David Cameron is arguably in a worse position than Jesus was on the eve of the crucifixion. Christ was denied three times by Peter. But Dave went to Rochester and Strood on five occasions and still he got the thumbs down. And that’s why the…
It is rude to sneer. It’s also a bad idea. Sneering reduces vision: you can’t see clearly with your face screwed up. When David Cameron became leader of the opposition Labour sneers probably prevented front-benchers from seeing the threat…
Here’s what the Conservatives have done recently: Announced £7bn of unfunded tax cuts in their continued quest to be the “fiscally responsible” party. Claimed to have halved the UK surcharge to the EU by pre-counting the UK rebate and…
“Some of you, I hear, support me simply because you think I can win.” That was the young Tony Blair, newly elected leader 20 years ago, cheekily saying the unsayable at the Labour party conference in Blackpool. I doubt Jim Murphy will be…
Right, let’s get this straight. You can’t say “swamped”, but “under siege” is ok. “Swamped” should have been replaced by “under pressure”. But there is nothing disproportionate, hyperbolical or inflammatory about “under siege”. People of…
That story about the frog not noticing that the water it is sitting in is getting hotter and hotter, with fatal results? Probably not true. But why let the facts get in the way of a cherished metaphor? There is a bigger point here…
If politics is “show business for ugly people” it might be worth recalling the famous Hollywood dictum of screenwriter William Goldman: “Nobody knows anything”. What Goldman meant was that producers, writers, directors and executives might…
“In this election, as always, there is [a] choice. You can vote for our opponents, and watch them take Britain back to the 1970s. Back to socialism… We are pledged to cut tax rates again.” You recognise those words, don’t you? We have heard…
Next Sunday I will be attending a memorial service for Geoffrey Goodman, who died a year ago at the age of 91. Geoffrey was an extraordinary guy, a superb journalist, and simply the greatest man I have ever known. He flew in bombing raids…
