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Five: PMQs verdict: Another win for Farage Another dispiriting PMQs as the parliament slowly winds to an end. With tax evasion leading proceedings, there was a sense that Miliband and Cameron were slinging mud at each other in a manner which would do neither of them much good. But if you needed something to cheer you up, there was at least the news that we'd soon be getting new angles on the TV coverage. As Alex Stevenson concluded: "It's going to take a lot more than a lower vantage point..." Four: Four reasons why big business attacks on Labour have failed The first of two pieces this week looking at the defects of Tory and big business attacks on Labour. The argument that Miliband is bad for businesses because he wants to reform them is a weak one on a logical basis, but also an electoral one. After hammering away at it for a couple of weeks, Labour's polling started to creep up. A mostly victorious encounter with Lord Fink seemed to cement the impression that cost-of-living and corporate misbehaviour provided decent material for Miliband. Perhaps it's the Tories who have a problem with business – they're too close to it. Three: Hung parliaments could break Labour-Tory stranglehold on drug policy The failure of either mainstream party to look like they might secure a majority brings in all sorts of new possibilities to British politics, not least of which is the chance for previously unwinnable campaigns to get a look-in. This piece looked at how drug reformers might be able to benefit from smaller parties' influence on Labour and the Tories. The two parties maintain a stranglehold on the debate, but not, any longer, on the Commons. Two: Comment: Buried in a minor consultation - Scotland's ID cards plans You cannot kill what does not live. ID cards appear to have reared their ugly heads again north of the border. There they are, in a seemingly innocuous consultation on the Scottish NHS central register. According to this guest post, the scheme is virtually indistinguishable from Labour's ID cards, with the database being used to connect citizen's data across every Scottish government service. It’s hard to escape the sense they’re trying to get this through without public debate. It's unlikely they'll succeed. One: Big business is making Ed Miliband's case for him A second piece on the success of Miliband in a week the media insisted would be a failure for him. The Labour leader is actually significantly less critical of big business than the general public and the HSBC scandal serves to demonstrate why. It's not difficult to see why people have become wary of business sector 'warnings' when the director of the British Chamber of Commerce calls plans for fathers to spend more time with their kids a "spectre". A less hysterical and knee-jerk approach from pro-business figures would do much to salvage their reputation. Best of the rest...'Muslim Lives Matter' protest outside BBC is deeply misguided Protests against the BBC over the Chapel Hill murders may be misguided - but they show how suspicious Muslims have become of western media Top cop warns Boris Johnson about 'horrific' water cannon Johnson warned on US trip about use of controversial weapons Coalition law leaves 50,000 without debt advice Ministers are refusing to use cash from payday lender fines to fund charities offering debt advice. Don't they realise this looks bad? Comment: How the Home Office fails torture survivors Our safeguards to protect torture victims in detention are barely worth the paper they're written on Is anyone at the MoJ listening to Simon Hughes? A review called five months ago is nowhere to be seen. Is the department ignoring its own minister's requests? Stop bashing the zombie parliament Right now we need MPs to be doing less talking and more listening - so what's wrong with a zombie parliament? Could children in prisons be the next abuse scandal? As child abuse scandals sweep the country, we ask if we're doing enough to protect children in prisons How EvilCorps' lobbyists are making a mockery of us all An eye-watering list of bad things lobbyists can do to get their way The horror in detention centres won't be fixed by a narrow review As they Home Office announces a review of detention centres, we reveal the horror behind the barbed-wire walls | An expanded Heathrow will benefit all of BritainBacking expansion at Heathrow isn't just what's best for London - it's the choice for UK airports up and down the country too. A clear choice for the electorateChris Keates: "In the last two weeks we have heard from the leaders of the two major political parties on their plans for education post the General Election". 2014 repossessions down 26%, says CMLThe number of repossessions fell to 21,000 in 2014 - 26% fewer than the 28,900 in 2013, and the lowest number since 2006, according to latest data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders. Government rejects consensus of subject experts, public, and religious leaders, marginalises Humanism in GCSE and A levelsPublishing its final version of the revised subject content for GCSE, AS and A level Religious Studies (RS) in schools in England, the DfE has excluded the Annex on Humanism, in spite of majority public support for its inclusion. Scottish land reform proposals would damage fragile rural communities claim sporting and land management organisationsA group of sporting and land management organisations have voiced their concerns over a number of land reform proposals in an open letter to Dr Aileen McLeod, the Minister responsible for Land Reform in Scotland. |
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