David Cameron

The Poms are clearly not as enlightened as us Kiwis. David Cameron facing a defeat in the House of Commons over gay marriage.

David Cameron is facing the prospect of another defeat in the Commons over his plans to legalise gay marriage.

More than 100 Conservatives are said to be ready to back a “wrecking” amendment to the same-sex marriage Bill that could cost the Treasury £4 billion.

If enough Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs also support the amendment – which would open up civil partnerships to heterosexual couples for the first time – then Mr Cameron’s plans will be in jeopardy.

The amendment, proposed by Tim Loughton, a former Tory minister who opposes same-sex marriage, will be backed by many Labour MPs, opposition sources said.

The Liberal Democrats are known to support such a reform.  Read more »

I would have thought David Cameron would have learned, after they nailed Labour ministers for excessive troughing time after time. Seems he is a slow learner.

Almost 20 ministers and MPs have pocketed up to £180,000 each after selling their taxpayer-funded second homes for a profit.

The MPs have jointly made more than £1 million by selling their second homes, and under parliamentary rules they are entitled to keep the money.

The scale of their windfall was disclosed for the first time in figures released by the parliamentary watchdog today, and prompted accusations that MPs were making a personal profit from taxpayers’ money.

Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, handed all the profit he made on the sale of his second home to House of Commons authorities in 2011.

Sources close to Mr Clegg said the Liberal Democrat leader believed it was the “right thing to do”, although it is largely up to MPs to decide whether they want to do the same.  Read more »

In a case reminiscent of a similar NZ case, UK police have arrested the Deputy Speaker, Nigel Evans on suspicion of rape:

Mr Evans, a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, was questioned over claims made by the two alleged victims.

They claim to have been raped and sexually assaulted between July 2009 and March 2013 at his constituency. Both were in their twenties at the times of the alleged attacks, although their exact ages have not been disclosed.  Read more »

Have a listen to Ed Miliband being extremely slippery about Labour’s tax, borrow and spend policies. What a slippery little weasel.

I can’t wait to here someone in the media here put David Shearer under the cosh like this. The full interview at BBC has the questioning start at around the 1 minute mark.

Ed Miliband struggled to explain his party’s economic policies when he was asked repeatedly whether Labour would be borrowing more money to spend on public services and tax cuts.

During a chaotic radio interview, the Labour leader was questioned 13 times over the details of how he would afford policies intended to boost economic growth including building projects and a VAT cut.

Mr Miliband’s aides were also later forced to clarify the party leader’s policy on benefits for pensioners after he suggested that Labour would consider limiting winter fuel allowances and free TV licences to the poorest older people.

The 15 minute set-piece interview was part of a series of features with party leaders running this week on BBC Radio 4’s World at One. Nick Clegg and David Cameron are also due to be questioned.

Mr Miliband clashed repeatedly with the programme’s presenter, Martha Kearney, who at one point resorted to asking him for a “straight answer”.  Read more »

Despite the spin from Downing Street that David Cameron is offering a Thatcherite solution for Britain I have my doubts. I don’t think David Cameron has the guts for a scrap. The Tories face the same problem as National does here.

After years of demonisation by the left who wrote the narrative for too long, and locked in expensive welfare programmes to keep the electorate enslaved, their focus groups told them that they had to be nice. So rather than grasp the nettle against unions and special interests and speaking truth to the elecotrate about the dire consequences both John Key and David Cameron took the wet option.

It is time they manned up.

Unfortunately the numbers are against both.

Sometimes in politics, numbers speak more eloquently than any words. Those figures are not a grid reference, yet they point to the central issue in Conservative Party politics after Margaret Thatcher. They also describe the struggle facing the man trying to fill her shoes.

The first three numbers are the share of the vote Baroness Thatcher took in the general elections she fought as Conservative leader, in 1979, 1983 and 1987. The last, smaller, figure is Mr Cameron’s score in 2010. The difference forced him into coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

What were the components of Lady Thatcher’s victories? And can Mr Cameron ever hope to reassemble all the pieces of the puzzle and build something not seen since 1997 – an all-Conservative Government?   Read more »

The BBC seems intent on broadcasting Ding Dong the Witch is Dead as some sort of macabre celebration of the death of Margaret Thatcher. They are disgrace, perhaps David Cameron might look at some savage cuts, bound to be plenty of savings to be found.

The BBC is at the centre of a new row over the death of Baroness Thatcher after admitting it may broadcast a song mocking her passing.

Ding Dong the Witch is Dead, a song from the Wizard of Oz, has sold 20,000 copies this week after anti-Thatcher campaigners encouraged people to buy it to celebrate the death of the former Prime Minister.

It is currently number four and on course for a place in the top five by the time The Official Chart Show airs on Sunday, three days before Lady Thatcher’s funeral.

The decision on whether to broadcast the song is the first test for new Director-General Lord Hall, who started in the £450,000-a-year post last week.  Read more »

ITN has a great series of mini-documentaries about Margaret Thatcher.

Margaret Thatcher is dead, aged 87. We take a detailed look at her “biggest” battle with Arthur Scargill and the National Union of Miners. Margaret Thatcher came to power at the end of the infamous Winter of Discontent in 1979, and spent the next decade curbing the power of trade unions.

Her year-long battle with striking miners between 1984 and 1985 typified her confrontational attitude to the union movement and her victory paved the way for a radical shift in the balance of power in industrial relations.

Read more »

Britain’s greatest peace time Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died.

Baroness Thatcher, Britain’s greatest post-war prime minister, has died at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke, her family has announced.

Her son, Sir Mark, and daughter Carol confirmed that she died this morning.

Lord Bell, her spokesman, said: “It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning.A further statement will be made later.”

Lady Thatcher died at the Ritz hotel at about 11am after suffering a stroke. Her children were not at her bedside as they were abroad. Her doctor and carer were there when she died.

Buckingham Palace said the Queen was saddened by the news.

David Cameron, the Prime Minister, said: “We’ve lost a great prime minister, a great leader, a great Briton.  Read more »

John Key has bet David Cameron that he can push gay marriage through parliament first.

Both countries are currently debating in the parliament about gay marriage and it looks like John Key has the edge with the law looking set to pass on April 17.

When I spoke to John Key about the startling revelation that he had bet David Cameron he can push through the legislation before Cameron could he said “The rumours are true, I’ve bet £50,000 against David. I reckon we can get it through before him.”

When queried about the amount he added “If David Shearer can have an offshore bank account I don’t see why I can’t have one too, so I decided to set the bet at £50,000  to ensure I’m over the threshold” and “You’ll know that i’ve won the bet when I announce to the press gallery I just discovered a British bank account with around $NZ90,000 in it and have amended the pecuniary interests register accordingly.”  Read more »

Christopher Booker laments the state of the UK energy industry, weighed down with subsidised inefficiencies which will hold Britain back as it emerges from the recession:

An obsession with CO2 has left us dangerously short of power as coal-powered stations are forced to close.

As the snow of the coldest March since 1963 continues to fall, we learn that we have barely 48 hours’ worth of stored gas left to keep us warm, and that the head of our second-largest electricity company, SSE, has warned that our generating capacity has fallen so low that we can expect power cuts to begin at any time. It seems the perfect storm is upon us.

The grotesque mishandling of Britain’s energy policy by the politicians of all parties, as they chase their childish chimeras of CO2-induced global warming and windmills, has been arguably the greatest act of political irresponsibility in our history.  Read more »