Showing records 71 to 80 of 333
Article - Published in Pensions Week - 31 October 2011
A number of leading public sector workers' unions have yanked the government
into court. They are asking their Lordships to decide whether the government is
acting lawfully in changing how public sector pensions are indexed. Up until
recently, public sector pensions have been increased by RPI. The government has
changed this indexation to CPI.
Article - Published in The Liverpool Echo - 29 October 2011
NONE of the last three Prime Ministers ever had a proper job running anything before coming into the Commons. And it shows. All were hopeless at managing their team of MPs here at Westminster and David Cameron is proving no exception.
Article - Published in The Liverpool Echo - 22 October 2011
The Prime Minister is running "frit". How else can one interpret his seizure of
the debate MPs have decided to hold on Britain's future with the European Union?
Backbench MPs now have a right to decide what Parliament debates. Thanks to the
overwhelming support in Merseyside the backbench committee, that decides these
matters, gave Steve Rotheram the chance to hold a debate on Hillsborough. It
turned out to be a great Parliamentary occasion.
Article - Published in The Liverpool Echo - 01 October 2011
THIS column comes with a health warning. I nominated and voted for Ed
Miliband.
I did so for one simple reason. While Tony Blair was the best election winner
Labour has ever produced, some of the things his government got up to, and that
of Gordon Brown, left an unpleasant taste in my mouth. Labour needed to move
on.
Article - Published in The Liverpool Echo - 24 September 2011
NEXT week Labour comes to Liverpool. The Liberal Democrats met this week in Birmingham.
What political lesson can be drawn from these events? The Liberal Democrats
failed to make what I think is their most important political call. The fate of
the Lib Dems is sealed up to that of the coalition. How they perform at the next
election will in large part be determined by how well the Coalition does.
Article - Published in The Daily Telegraph - 23 September 2011
The new constituency boundaries, which were announced last week, have sent
650 MPs in search of 600 parliamentary seats. But as they look for new berths,
MPs would do well to carve out a new role for themselves – one that is fit for
the 21st century rather than the 19th.
Article - Published in BBC Radio 4's Sunday Programme - 18 September 2011
If the recent rioting and looting prove anything it is that the country no longer sings from the same hymn sheet.
Article - Published in The Liverpool Echo - 03 September 2011
VINCE Cable looks like he is earning his place at the top table. You may remember that some months ago he was ensnared by two young attractive undercover Daily Telegraph reporters.Posing as constituents, the reporters got Vince talking about the Murdoch bid for BSkyB. What followed was tragic.
Vince bragged about how he was going to deal with Murdoch. The Prime Minister took away Vince's media brief and the rest is history.
Article - Published in The Tablet - 27 August 2011
Only a fool can believe there was a single cause of the riots that spread across some British towns and cities less than three weeks ago.
Article - Published in The Liverpool Echo - 06 August 2011
What is the right relationship between the Labour Party and the trade unions?