UK News
Insights from the UK and beyond
TV interview shows Brown is brushing up
It should have been toe-curlingly embarrassing but Gordon Brown seemed to come out of it pretty well, raising the stakes for the planned debates between party leaders ahead of the election.
The prime minister’s appearance on Piers Morgan’s celebrity interview programme on Sunday night must have been designed to show a more human side to Brown — who often comes across as awkward and intellectual.
Previous such attempts have never worked that well. “Project Gordon” before he took over from Tony Blair in 2007 only attracted ridicule when it produced headlines like the then-Chancellor loving a band called the Arctic Monkeys.
Brown was asked about that on Sunday. He said that had never been the case, the Beatles were his favourite band.
Opinion poll raises spectre of hung British parliament
The latest opinion poll in Britain showing the opposition Conservatives six points ahead of the ruling Labour party has raised the possibility of a hung parliament with no one party having an overall majority and a return to the kind of political uncertainty not seen since the 1970s.
Kenneth Clarke, the Conservatives’ business spokesman, said earlier this month that a hung parliament at this point in the economic cycle would be a disaster, an assertion his boss David Cameron was quick to try to play down after the latest survey.
Live blog: BNP on Question Time
Welcome to our live blog of the BBC’s Question Time, which tonight features British National Party leader Nick Griffin on its panel.
Whichever side of the debate you fall on, no-one can deny that this has developed into a huge story. The BBC has defended its decision to invite Griffin on, Gordon Brown has predicted that it will backfire and security has been ramped up ahead of the show.
Should the BNP be able to use military imagery?
This is a busy week for the British National Party (BNP).
Today it was warned to stop using military imagery in its campaign material. A group of former military leaders accused the BNP, which has used photographs of spitfire fighter planes and Winston Churchill, of hijacking Britain’s history for their own “dubious ends.”
The distinguished generals said this tarnished the reputation of the armed forces and called on them to “cease and desist.”
from The Great Debate UK:
Send your questions to Alistair Darling
Do you have a question you would like to ask Chancellor Alistair Darling? Now is your chance.
At 1:30pm British time on Wednesday, October 21, Reuters is hosting an exclusive Web 2.0 interview with Darling and we want you to send us your questions to put to the top man from the Treasury.
Is five too young to start primary school?
The largest review of primary schooling in England for 40 years has said children at five are too young to start formal education and that six would be a more suitable age.
The Cambridge University study says play-based learning should go on for another year. Making children start school so young was a throwback to the Victorian age when the factories wanted them to start early so they could finish early and get working on the production line sooner.
Tories and Trotskyites
Chalk and organic cheese would be an understatement.
There is a surprising public perception that there wouldn’t be much difference between a Conservative or Labour government, but there couldn’t be fewer similarities between the supporters of both movements and the two party conferences.
It would be hard to imagine union activists sipping on cocktails from the Knightsbridge luxury store Harvey Nichols stand at the Labour party conference in Brighton, but in Manchester thirsty Conservatives can enjoy an HN gin ricky.
Does class matter in politics?
Three big speeches have been delivered at the Conservative Party conference so far — by party leader David Cameron, the mayor of London and national bumbler, Boris Johnson, and the party’s spokesman on the economy, George Osborne.
What do all three men have in common apart from their membership of the Conservative Party? They were all educated at elite public schools (Johnson and Cameron at Eton and Osborne at St Paul’s) and all went to Oxford, where they were members of the same dining and social set, the secretive and selective Bullingdon Club.
People, Britain and change – Brown’s speech keywords
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has promised to clean up politics, get tough on crime in his keynote speech to the annual Labour Party conference in Brighton. He also pledged to address the bonus culture that many blame for the financial crisis.
The ‘Word Cloud’ below (click the image for a larger view), produced by Wordle, shows the words he used most frequently.
Among the lobbyists at Labour conference
As a conference first-timer, I was curious to know what goes on off stage in the conference centre — where the television cameras seldom go.******The lobby area at the Brighton Conference venue is packed with stalls for various campaign groups — everyone from the heavyweights of the Nuclear Industry Association to the Paul Daisley Trust, touchingly run by the widow of a Labour MP who died of colorectal cancer in 2003.******There are plenty of sweets on offer and the canvas bag with slogan is the favourite giveaway.******The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association even allow visitors to try out on Wii Fit’s ski jump. For the record, your correspondent cleared 100 metres before crashing out on his second attempt — way off the conference record marked on the whiteboard.******The most arresting sight is a lollipop lady made of ice — she is slowly melting away in the conference heat. The Unison Union warns that public services would suffer a similar fate if political parties cut public spending.
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The Wall
