The speech made by the Queen to open the new session of parliament was of more interest for what was not in it than what it contained, i.e. most of the manifesto Theresa May ran on during the recent election campaign. Neither was there mention of a state visit by Donald Trump. That the latter…
The general election campaign is entering its final stages. On Friday, the two main party leaders, Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn, will for the second time this week go head-to-head in a televised stand-off. People will write angry things on the internet. Mrs May will say “strong and stable”. The nation will engage soberly with serious matters of policy.
Is a u-turn really so bad? The Prime Minister has predictably been lambasted from some quarters for her decision to hold a general election in June, after numerous statements insisting she would not do so before 2020. As with so many politicians before her (think Hammond’s National Insurance tax hike or Osborne’s pasties), the moment…
Theresa May has announced she will seek a general election on 8 June. On Wednesday a motion will be moved in the House of Commons which if passed will see parliament dissolved on 2 May.
And they’re off. Theresa May has officially notified Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, that Britain is leaving the European Union.
In keeping with his “Spreadsheet Phil” persona, Philip Hammond’s Budget today was mostly boring. Many of the announcements had been expected, due to a tightly controlled drip-feed to the media over the last week or so.
Correctly predicting what’s going to be in the Budget is akin to completing the football pools or picking the lottery numbers, given the variables and levers that a Chancellor has to pull at any one time.
There was much focus on the Supreme Court last week, where judges upheld a ruling that MPs must be given a vote on Britain leaving the European Union. The result was that parliament remains sovereign.
George Orwell famously wrote that in a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. Except, of course, he never wrote anything of the sort.