‘Blair does a Maggie’, screamed newspaper headlines as the fire-fighters dispute raged last month. As if to underline this, one newspaper cartoonist depicted Tony Blair looking at the alarm behind his Downing Street desk. ‘In case of fire: break glass’. Behind the...

With government intervention and rescue of banks comes added regulation. Many blame the hands-off approach in the US and UK that led to companies developing lax lending standards, but the problem here is two-fold. Not only has it become painfully obvious that...

In my view the Tories have got it wrong again. They’ve chosen a new leader, who is talented and personable. He’s got hair and he’s got a certain sense of style. Labour will find it hard to portray him as a toff, in spite of his Eton provenance. He has an easy way...

It is notable that the two most radical governments of the previous century, Labour after 1945 and Conservative after 1979, were both swept into power in the wake of the century’s two most severe economic downturns (and one ruinously expensive war) which provided...

Every discussion of the future of the Lords seems to start from the same premise. Even the critics make no significant proposal for change in the role, powers or expectations of the House. For all the talk of reform, there’s scarcely ever a word of criticism of...

David Cameron made the NHS his number one priority upon becoming Leader of the Opposition. The ongoing economic crisis has not changed this, despite a morphed election landscape as the nation braces itself for an Age of Austerity. Although some in his inner circles...

Perhaps the most exhausting month of the year, I find December strangely reassuring. You know what you are going to get; Christmas trees, carols, angels, shopping fatigue, overspend on your credit card and now it seems, stories that “Christmas is...

When we took office, our priorities centred on getting the nation’s credit card under control and creating the conditions for sustainable growth. Businesses simply will not invest in the UK unless they have the confidence that long-term interest rates will remain...

Gordon Brown contributed significantly to the present crisis by building up deficits instead of surpluses when times were good, so we run the risk of government sowing the seeds of a future crises if irresponsible short term actions are taken now. What really...