Posts Tagged “david laws”
Two questions journalists aren’t asking about Nick Clegg’s free schools speech
by Stephen Tall on October 22, 2013
Nick Clegg’s speech on free schools – setting out the policy approved by the Lib Dem conference last March – has ruffled feathers. Apparently he and David Cameron even had lunch yesterday to discuss this ‘bombshell’ announcement (which in fact won’t be made until a speech this Thursday). My view (as I set out here […]
Clegg on free schools and National Curriculum: no more, no less than party policy. And that’s for better and worse.
by Stephen Tall on October 20, 2013
No-one should be that surprised by Nick Clegg’s decision to distance the Lib Dems from Michael Gove’s schools policies — specifically that every teacher should be qualified and that every school should teach the national curriculum. After all, what Nick is due to set out in a speech this week is the policy that was […]
If he wasn’t Liam Byrne I would feel sorry for Liam Byrne
by Stephen Tall on June 25, 2013
A stark reminder that Labour can’t be trusted with the economy. The infamous letter. pic.twitter.com/E3Q2RlaUeX — Lib Dem Press Office (@LibDemPress) June 24, 2013 It’s not the only note that has landed Labour’s former chief secretary to the treasury in (…)
Eastleigh by-election: your essential round-up of the latest campaign news (13 Feb)
by Stephen Tall on February 13, 2013
Here’s a round-up of news from the past 24 hours in the Eastleigh by-election… Mike Thornton’s campaign in full swing The Lib Dems’ Mike Thornton — pictured here (by Jon Aylwin) with 1994 by-election victor David Chidgey — has been focusing on how the pupil premium, the party’s flagship education policy, has been helping Eastleigh [...]
David Laws to chair 2015 Manifesto Working Group
by Stephen Tall on January 8, 2013
It’s now official: Lib Dem schools minister David Laws will chair the party’s Manifesto Working Group. Lib Dem MP Duncan Hames, who chairs the party’s Federal Policy Committee, has just emailed members with the following message: Last night at the party’s Federal Policy Committee we agreed Nick Clegg’s nomination of David Laws MP to Chair [...]
Let’s hear it for the Lib Dem pupil premium: but don’t expect overnight miracles from it
by Stephen Tall on December 20, 2012
Excellent news from Lib Dem schools minister David Laws yesterday, with the announcement of how much Pupil Premium money each school in England will receive in 2013/14: “Liberal Democrats are building a strong economy and a fair society where everyone (…)
Michael Gove: my holiday romance with David Laws
by Stephen Tall on December 15, 2012
Michael Gove gives great talking head — in an interview with the Spectator’s Fraser Nelson, he says this of his relationship with Lib Dem schools minister David Laws: Gove has more kind words for the Liberal Democrats, with whom he (…)
How much should we tax? How much should we spend? The great unanswered questions in British politics
by Stephen Tall on September 10, 2012
A few weeks ago I took David Laws to task for proposing the UK needs to reduce public spending to 35% of GDP: it currently stands at 43%. I stand by the three points I made then: 1) Just because public spending is higher in the C.21st than in Gladstone’s day is not in itself [...]
On the Nick Clegg leadership debate and David Laws’ return to government
by Stephen Tall on September 7, 2012
The rumblings about Nick Clegg’s leadership of the Lib Dems — today my LibDemVoice colleague Paul Walter has written to make clear his own dyspeptic unhappiness, citing three triggers in the past week which have led him to conclude Nick (…)
Will the reshuffle actually matter?
by Stephen Tall on September 5, 2012
That’s the title of a post I’ve written for the Endeavour Public Affairs website here. And here’s my answer… Will this reshuffle actually matter? That’s the question which looms over the current version of musical chairs currently obsessing the Westminster (…)
