Welcome to Dave’s transport caff (and free school)
by Dave Osler

Poor old Fraser Nelson seems genuinely mystified. The editor of The Spectator did ‘Any Questions’ on Radio Four last weekend, and it turns out that the audience was somewhat sceptical on the central plank of Tory/Lib Dem education policy.

‘When I said that free schools would give the poor the choice that only the rich can afford, the audience laughed,’ he laments. “This is precisely what the new schools would do – yet the very proposition was seemingly risible to those in the hall.”

But public cynicism is all too well grounded, if this morning’s Financial Times is anything to go by. The opening paragraph of a story on page four announces: ‘New “free schools” will be allowed to employ teachers without teaching qualifications and could open in pubs, takeaways, shops and houses without the need to seek planning permission.’
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by Jim Killock

Can the government tell who you are emailing? Do they know who you talk to on Facebook, or who you instant-message?

Today, the answer is no, at least not without a warrant and the co-operation of the service provider. Soon, the answer could be ‘yes’.

by Guest

That the CSR is regressive isn’t anything remotely close to a surprise – it would be very difficult to make deep cuts to universal public services and not impact on the poorest, who depend on them the most.

What is interesting, though, is the fact that the government has tried to dispute the IFS’s analysis and claim that the cuts are progressive and fair.

by Sunny Hundal

If you need an example of why discipline and clear messages are so important in politics – the Labour party’s fumbles over the financial crisis is a good example of how not to go about it.

Now, some are advocating we repeat those mistakes again.

by Kate Belgrave

Last week, 35 deluded business leaders wrote to the Telegraph to praise George Osborne’s vicious spending review. I’m joining those who have decide to boycott every single company that those business leaders represent. There are two reasons for this:

by Guest

On Friday John McDonnell MP’s private members’ bill the “Lawful Industrial Action (Minor Errors) Bill” was put before the Commons.

The bill failed, but is sorely needed, as the courts system are increasingly used to crush industrial action. For illustration, I list five examples.

by Guest

A few months ago, the charity Atlantic Bridge was found guilty by the charity commission of being too party political.

It’s worth noting that in May 2003, Liam Fox, then Shadow Secretary for Health, put on a conference organised by Atlantic Bridge.

by Jenny Jones AM

Londoners only started getting in to debt for transport in 2005 with the creation of the tube PPP, but as I discovered from my analysis of TfL’s figures earlier this year, a London Mayor could be spending £350m per annum on interest and repayments by 2017/18 before they have a chance to do anything else.

And none of this is talked about by anyone, including Boris.

by Guest

The recently announced 8% cuts in the defence budget have brought out a raft of ideological commentary across the media. The Mail frets about the danger of a ‘fresh Argentinian invasion’ of the Falklands following the downsizing; the Guardian heralds the end of Tony Blair’s liberal interventionism doctrine with barely disguised glee.

The 8% cuts at first glance seem minor compared to the slash-and-burn other government departments have been subjected to, but in context they are not insignificant.

by Richard Exell

A couple of days ago I noted that the Chancellor’s statement on the Spending Review exagerated the amount of social security fraud that takes place.

A report now suggests other ministers are prone to making the same mistake.

by Dave Osler

Saatchi & Saatchi’s ‘Labour isn’t working’ advertisement of 1979 is rightly hailed as one of the most effective political posters of all time. 

Just those three words, superimposed on an image of a queue snaking back from a dole office, were a major factor in the electoral success that year of Margaret Thatcher.

 

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