Respect to Nick Robinson

Good on him.

On My LBC Show Tonight From 7pm

On my LBC show tonight from 7...

7.10pm Is it time to revive vocational education, as we hear that 188,000 18 year olds have failed to get into university? Guest: John Hayes MP, Minister for Skills & Further Education

8pm How can the EU justify increasing its budget by 5.9% and costing Britain another £870 million? Guest: Dan Hannan MEP

9pm The LBC Legal Hour.

You can listen to LBC on 97.3 FM in Greater London, DAB Radio in the Midlands, parts of the North, Glasgow & Edinburgh, Sky Channel 0124, Virgin Media Channel 973 or stream live at lbc.co.uk

To take part in the programme call 0845 60 60 973, text 84850, Email iain AT lbc DOT co DOT uk or tweet @lbc973

If you miss the programme and want to download it as a podcast (minus the ads!) click HERE. There is a £2 monthly charge but you have access to the entire LBC archive and schedule.

Al Jazeera English on the CSR: Dale & Hasan Do Battle

This is a 25 minute programme on the CSR from Al Jazeera English, recorded yesterday, featuring Mehdi Hasan, Vanessa Rossi from Chatham House and Iain. It got a bit sparky towards the end.

Nick Robinson: Blogger of the Year?

I was supposed to attend the Editorial Intelligence Comment Awards this morning, but due to pressures of work I couldn't. I've just heard that Nick Robinson beat Melanie Phillips and Paul Waugh to win Blogger of the Year.

I wrote THIS in September when I heard the shortlist...

Having won the award last year I have to say I am extremely disappointed that
not a single independent blogger is shortlisted this year. More evidence that
the mainstream media is eating up the blogosphere?

I think Nick Robinson is one of the finest political journalists there is. But the best blogger in Britain he is not. Paul Waugh really does have a strong claim to that title for reasons Will Straw has eloquently outlined HERE.

I hope the organisers of this award will pick a jury next year who actually know something about blogging and would urge them also to differentiate between independent bloggers and those who blog as part of their mainstream media job. They are very different beasts.

Nadine is Cleared by Standards Commissioner

I'll report this press release from Nadine Dorries MP without comment, if you don't mind. Mainly because I am tied up with work.

In a report to be published later today, the Parliamentary Commissioner for
Standards, John Lyon, rejects the complaint made by Michael Barnbrook of the BNP
against Nadine Dorries MP and her use of Parliamentary allowances.

The complaint was made that the second home Nadine Dorries rented in her
constituency, was in fact her main home. The Standards Commissioner concludes
that following an extensive inquiry which lasted for fifteen months, it was not
and therefore does not uphold the complaint .

The report also confirms that Nadine Dorries did not make claims against the John Lewis list, did not claim for a mortgage or furniture, did not flip and that her claims against allowances were entirely appropriate.

Para 174 My overall conclusion is that Ms Dorries was not in breach of the rules of the House in claiming against Parliamentary allowances for her constituency home

Nadine said: “It is a relief that after fifteen months I can once again hold my head
up. I am delighted to have my name cleared. Over 52% of my constituencts who
know me were wonderful and put their faith in me once again at the 2005 election
returning me with a massively increased majority of over 15,000. I am thankful
that I can now demonstrate their faith was well placed."

UPDATE: Full report HERE.

Those Who Fund the Taliban Are Guilty of Treason

Sky News's Stuart Ramsey has made a fascinating report about the Taliban, with whom he has spent time in Afghanistan. It provided a remarkable insight into the way they operate. But there was one quite shocking thing that we learned from it and that is that, according to one of the Taliban representatives, Britain is the leading funder of the Taliban with contributions wending their way to them via British mosques.


Now of course this could just be propaganda, and the Taliban are very good at propaganda, but if there is a scintilla of truth in it we need to find out how this happening, who is facilitating it and then prosecute them. For treason.

The Daley Dozen: Wednesday

1. Fraser Nelson thinks that George Osborne is a clever political operator.
2. Vicky Ford reports it has been a rather expensive day in Brussels.
3. Liberal England gives Cameron the thumbs up.
4. Tory Bear suggests students should go back to school.
5. Stephen Hoffman has a few things to say about civil liberties.
6. Daniel Hannan wants us to start acting more like America.
7. A Very Public Sociologist is not happy with the Coalition cuts.
8. Nick Pickles asks is there a price on freedom?
9. Joy Johnson thinks the BBC cuts are to please Murdoch.
10. Mary Riddell welcomes us to broken Britain.
11.Unionist Lite congratulates Andrew Rosindell on his victory.
12. Political Scrapbook is happy with at least one thing.

On my LBC Show Tonight From 7pm...

On my LBC show tonight from 7...

7.10pm Whats your reaction to the CSR? Guests: Andrew Mitchell and Chukka Umunna

8pm How has London fared in the CSR? Guests: Eric Pickles & Caroline Flint

9pm The LBC Parliament with Michael Fallon, Siobhain McDonagh and Olly Grender

You can listen to LBC on 97.3 FM in Greater London, DAB Radio in the Midlands, parts of the North, Glasgow & Edinburgh, Sky Channel 0124, Virgin Media Channel 973 or stream live at lbc.co.uk

To take part in the programme call 0845 60 60 973, text 84850, Email iain AT lbc DOT co DOT uk or tweet @lbc973

If you miss the programme and want to download it as a podcast (minus the ads!) click HERE. There is a £2 monthly charge but you have access to the entire LBC archive and schedule.

EU Shoots Itself In the Foot: Part 94

Can you believe it... On the day Britain announced swingeing cuts, the EU voted today for a 5.9% increase in it's budget. And on top of that voted to increase maternity benefits which will cost British business £2.5 billion.

I hope David Cameron will give a good swing to the Thatcher handbag when the budget comes before the Council of Ministers. Which, I assume it does...

Vicky Ford MEP has the full story HERE.

Caption Competition: Keith Simpson Goes Pink

This is Tory MP Keith Simpson wearing something I am sure he normally reserves for Saturday evenings at home in Norfolk...

Osborne Shoots Labour's Fox

As I type this, Alan Johnson is doing his best to revive the fox which George Osborne shot. It doesn't look as if he is being very successful. Playing for laughs on a day of utter seriousness if not a very wise strategy, but I suppose he has to hide his lack of economic competence somehow.
George Osborne spoke for an hour. He announced many things which were uncomfortable and unpalatable, but most people in their heart of hearts know were necessary. To misquote Paul Keating, these were the cuts we had to have. Were they as drastic as some of us thought they should be? No, not quite. Were they as hard hitting as Labour were expecting? No. But will they be attacked as vicious and uncaring by the left and their allies? Of course they will. That's politics.

But the fact that at the end George Osborne was able to announce that instead of the 20% average cuts Labour announced in their budget his cuts amounted to an average of 19% rather shot Labour's fox. We all know that if Labour had been in power now, they would have had to announce similar cuts in spending. We know that. They know that. So their attacks on 19% cuts will ring rather hollow.

Quote of the Day

"Aircraft carriers without aircraft, are like a pub without beer."

Norman Tebbit speaking last night at a Bruges Group event

What Did The Public Sector Ever Do For Us?

The Return of Sound Money?

Earlier this morning I was walking over Lambeth Bridge when I ran into a senior figure in the government. "It's going to be a good Conservative day," he remarked. "Indeed," I agreed. Not because the CSR is going to inflict policies on the country which will inevitably lead to job cuts - no one would want to do that in any normal economic circumstance - but because it means that after a very long time, the British government will be returning to policies based on 'sound money'. Short term individual pain will lead to long term economic gain. It did in 1981 and it will now. There's no way of soft soaping that message. And I firmly believe it is one the British public understands.

If this CSR is to work there will indeed be a lot of painful medicine to swallow. But no one ever said it would be easy - well, that's not quite true. Labout try to make out that armageddon is over the horizon just because the Tories would cut by 5% more than Labour would have, and will be doing it within four years, not five. Everyone knows it's complete hogwash, the rubbish they come out with, and they haven't really got any alternative plan. And they have an economically illiterate shadow chancellor who hasn't an original economic thought in his head. And in his first week in the job has disagreed with his own leader on the issue of banking regulation.

A lot of his will be watching his performance this afternoon to see if he can provide a propoer critique of what George Osborne announces, and to see if he can indeed offer a viable alternative to the CSR. I am not holding my breath.

This CSR is not the end. It is the beginning. Even with the painful cuts which will be announced today, we will only be returning to the spending levels of 2006. There's a lot further to go before we can truly say that the days of 'sound money' really have returned.

UPDATE: Liam Murray has some wise words HERE.

The Daley Dozen: Tuesday

1. Boris Backer writes a letter to PC World.
2. City Unslicker reviews Iain's radio show.
3. Not a Sheep discovers that Charles Dickens was in favour of cuts.
4. Sunny Hundal on why Labour can't sack Ken Livingstone.
5. His Grace has a look at Defence Review. He isn't happy.
6. Evan Price thinks Channel 4 is wrong on tax avoidance.
7. Alastair Campbell explains just why he is the king of hypocrisy.
8. A Very British Dude is in fact a European.
9. Cicero feels sorry for little rich boys.
10. Nick Robinson has some inside information on the future of BBC funding.
11. Jon Craig reports about Lib Dems happiness with Trident's future
12. Tom Clougherty wants a real pro growth agenda.

On My LBC Show From 7pm...

On my LBC show tonight from 7...

7.10pm Have the defence cuts gone far enough? Guests: Liam Fox (hopefully), Bob Ainsworth & John Nicol.

8pm Council Housing: Is it right to restrict tenancies? Bob Blackman MP & Roger Harding from Shelter

9pm LBC medical hour phone in with Dr Peter Ilves

You can listen to LBC on 97.3 FM in Greater London, DAB Radio in the Midlands, parts of the North, Glasgow & Edinburgh, Sky Channel 0124, Virgin Media Channel 973 or stream live at lbc.co.uk

To take part in the programme call 0845 60 60 973, text 84850, Email iain AT lbc DOT co DOT uk or tweet @lbc973

If you miss the programme and want to download it as a podcast (minus the ads!) click HERE. There is a £2 monthly charge but you have access to the entire LBC archive and schedule.

The SDSR: Another Magnificent LibDem Triumph?

Here's an extract of an email sent out today by the President of the Liberal Democrats, Baroness Ros Scott.

Today, within the Strategic Defence Review, the Coalition Government announced
that there will be no final decision on the like-for-like replacement of Trident
during this parliament. So Trident will not be renewed this parliament - not on
a Liberal Democrat watch. Let us be clear, this is a significant victory for
Liberal Democrat campaigners, and a fantastic example of what our Ministers can
and do achieve in government.

But the Coalition Government is not just saying no to replacing Trident this parliament. It is going further. It is also taking important steps towards the goal of multilateral nuclear disarmament. The announcement today sees a 25% cut in warheads.

Today is yet another day that we can all feel hugely proud to be a party of government, delivering key Liberal Democrat priorities.

Anyone think she's slightly overplaying her hand on this? Or as a Conservative do you feel slightly queasy this evening? To me there's something deeply odd about these defence cuts. They seem radical, and yet we're only seeing a real terms cut in the defence budget of 2% a year.

An End to Council Houses For Life

The BBC has reported that council housing “for life” is to be phased out, due to budget cuts of more than 50% in the social housing budget. Already there has been huge outcry; the chief executive of the National Housing Federation called the proposal a “kick in the teeth to millions of people”.

I have no problem in giving a broad welcome to the move to end council houses for life. At present a council tenant can keep their property for life and even pass it on to their children. This is surely just plain wrong. The government should not be in the business of providing people with homes for life. Council houses should be there for when people fall on hard times and genuinely need help, but once they have got back on their feet they should be encouraged to find a property in the private sector, just as anyone else would have to.

Proposals look set to include local authorities checking whether council tenants still need help, and putting all new tenants on fixed term contracts and encourage them to move over to the private sector as soon as financially possible. Also “flexible” tenancies are to be introduced which will allow tenants to move round the country to find work. Grant Shapps also hopes to create a National Swap Scheme.

The government is going to end inherited tenancies, so no longer will council tenants be able to pass on their tenancies to their children. This comes after a freedom of information request discovered that more than £9 billion of council housing had been inherited to those who did not qualify for state help on their own circumstances. That is an unbelievably high figure, and I am glad the government is going to do something about it. We have a massive homeless population in this country and yet we have people living in council housing who could easily afford to live in private sector housing.

Of course, the PR problem here is that people imagine this policy is going to apply to existing council tenants. It won't. It will only apply to new tenancies. So for existing tenants nothing whatsoever will change.

It's also a consultative document, not even a white paper, and is designed to get a real debate going. There's no doubt that this is controversial and radical stuff. But is it right? I think so, but I'm open to persuasion.

Will Gordon Have the Courage to Show His Face?

Of course the big shadow hanging over the CSR tomorrow will be that of Gordon Brown. After all, he got us into this mess in the first place. Reading the final pages of Peter Mandelson's book it is clear that he was intent on a spend, spend, spend approach and resisted all attempts by Alistair Darling to rein him in.

But since the election he seems to have opted out of politics altogether. He's appeared in the Commons two or three times but that's about it. Will he be in the chamber tomorrow to hear about the consequences of his profligacy? I doubt whether he'll have the courage. He won't like to recall the fact that post 1997 John Major was an assiduous attender and would regularly sit there and listen to his record being trashed by the very same Gordon Brown that seems to believe that the deficit is really nothing to do with him, but can be blamed on the world bankers. If only it were that simple.

Brown should not only show up tomorrow. He should speak, and defend his appalling record.

But will he have the courage?

How Ken Is Defending London From the Cuts

Guess where Labour's candidate for Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, will be when the Comprehensive Spending Review is announced tomorrow? Defending London against the cuts? Manning the barricades?

Hardly. He will be sunning himself HERE. And being paid a handsome amount to do so.

By the way, it's 23 degrees in Malta.