Murdoch, the Gospel of Matthew, 10 O’Clock Live & the beam of British hypocrisy
by Stephen Tall on April 26, 2012
Rupert Murdoch was the cause of my first and only political speech while at university. This was back in 1996, I think, and a motion had been proposed that the common room should subscribe to BSkyB for the football. My (…)
The 3 Lib Dem mayoral candidates profiled
by Stephen Tall on April 26, 2012
Three mayoral elections will take place a week today. Though the media has fixated on London’s Boris/Brian/Ken campaign, there are contests also to elect the first-ever mayors of Liverpool and Salford. In addition the following cities will hold ballots on 3 May on whether to adopt the elected mayor system: Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Coventry, Leeds, […]
No. 10 admits Clegg right to differentiate Lib Dems from Tories/Labour over cosying-up to Murdoch
by Stephen Tall on April 25, 2012
In today’s Prime Minister’s Questions, a riled David Cameron appealed across the political divide to the other major conservative party in the Commons, inviting all politicians to accept they’d been guilty of cosying-up to the Murdochs’ News International empire. Nick (…)
Nick Clegg on the double-dip recession: “our answers are the right ones to repair the damage done”
by Stephen Tall on April 25, 2012
Nick Clegg spoke this morning to the Institute of Directors, shortly after the announcement that the Office of National Statistics estimates that the economy contracted by 0.2% in the first three months of 2012 — a second quarter of shrinkage that officially means the UK is once again in recession. Here’s what he had to […]
Has the mystery of the ‘unidentified Lib Dem’ asked to lobby Vince about Murdoch been solved?
by Stephen Tall on April 25, 2012
Amid all the questions floating round yesterday following the extraordinary revelations exposed by the Leveson inquiry, was this intriguing one: who was the ‘Lib Dem MP’ referred to by Frederic Michel, News Corp’s director of public affairs (Europe), lined-up to (…)
In my day, ‘quasi-judicial’ actually meant something. Why Jeremy Hunt should never have been allowed to decide on BSkyB in the first place.
by Stephen Tall on April 24, 2012
The Leveson inquiry has today laid bare the extent of the behind-the-scenes support that culture secretary Jeremy Hunt and Tory leader David Cameron offered the Murdochs ahead of News Corp’s attempted takeover of BSkyB. What is in fact astonishing is (…)
In other news… Michael Brown extradited, unpaid party internships, Jo Swinson for cabinet? & other stories
by Stephen Tall on April 24, 2012
Here’s a round-up of stories we haven’t had time to cover on the site this past few days… Lib Dem donor Michael Brown to be extradited to UK (BBC News) Convicted fraudster and former Lib Dem donor Michael Brown is facing a hearing in Spain for extradition to the UK. He was flown to Madrid […]
I would have sacked Vince Cable for standing up to Murdoch – what Ed Miliband said 16 months ago
by Stephen Tall on April 24, 2012
Jeremy Hunt is in hot water today following the revelations at the Leveson Inquiry of the closeness of his relationship with the Murdochs during their attempted takeover of BSkyB. The culture secretary was handed quasi-judicial responsibility for handling the deal after Lib Dem business secretary Vince Cable was snared by the Telegraph declaring war on […]
I agree with Mark: The public did *not* reject proportional representation last year
by Stephen Tall on April 23, 2012
Mark Thompson makes an excellent point over at his blog here. He points out that those Conservative MPs who now oppose the Coalition Agreement commitment to elect the House of Lords using proportional representation because they claim last year’s referendum (…)
Psst! Whatever you do, don’t tell the Tories democratic reform is in their own best interests
by Stephen Tall on April 23, 2012
A few weeks ago I wrote an article for Conservative Home offering some unsolicited advice to David Cameron’s party. I argued that a party that had achieved electoral success in the 1980s by appealing to the classless entrepreneurialism of aspirant ‘Middle England’ had once again become established in the electorate’s eyes as the party of […]