Public sympathy is the name of the game. First Brown, in his Guardian interview, and now Jacqui Smith looks for the same over her expenses claims.
Thankfully we were spared any tears.
On the issue of her resignation - which came days before a host of other ministers quit - she said the news had been leaked early against her wishes.
What a surprise! Since when has Brown taken others into consideration?
These MPs just don't get it and possibly never will.
Cabinet members have been meeting in secret since the expenses scandal hit the headlines to come up with innovative ways to maintain their income levels. Tonight a new bonus scheme has been announced that will considerably increase their take-home pay.
Every time a U-turn is announced by a Cabinet member he or she will be rewarded with a bonus of £5,000. The bonuses will be funded by the Prince of Wales following the outcry over his latest accounts. Gordon Brown has already let it be known that any bonuses he receives will go towards paying off government debt. The Treasury calculates that government borrowing will be reduced considerably and there is even talk of a surplus being announced on the eve of the general election.
This panic measure will be introduced immediately and follows Mervyn King’s latest outburst of earlier today.
The new Speaker did well at PMQs but then decided to tell the Commons about a recent dream:
When Ministers have key policy statements to make the House must be the first to hear them, and they should not be released beforehand.
Brown has called an emergency session of the Cabinet for later today to discuss this matter. Our Dear Leader admitted that this announcement totally undermines how this Government operates.
The BBC Management will meet in emergency session to discuss how the long silences in future editions of the Today can be filled.
Finally, it has been announced that both Nick Robinson and Robert Peston, two of Brown’s most prominent spokesman, have been put on part-time working until further notice.
Lord Elvis of Paisley decided last week to stop blogging and explained why. He has had a change of heart and has asked fellow bloggers to link to his latest post, which I am happy do.
Following on from the outing of Nightjack, Lord Elvis should be encouraged to continue whether or not we agree with his views. We bloggers shouldn't play into Murdoch hands but continue to debate and argue on subjects that we feel strongly about using the medium that we have available.
Keep going bloggers. Don’t be intimidated by Murdoch and his henchmen.
Can you believe that in 21st century Britain a chap stands up and reads this out. Either he is on something or I should be! Also look out for Jack Straw in his establishment role.
Unbelievable stuff. New Labour. Old Britain.
As Prescott would say, ‘Tradition in a modern old fashioned setting.’
The Guardian reports this morning that Blair and Brown will be summoned to to give evidence to the Iraq inquiry, which will now be held mainly in public. As the paper says:
The move to open up his hearings, which came on the eve of a Commons debate on the inquiry, shows that a wholesale change of the terms has been carried out since the inquiry was established by the prime minister last week.
Other changes announced:
• Expert assessors, including retired senior military officers, public and constitutional law experts and experts on post-war reconstruction, will support the five members of the inquiry. These experts could cross-examine witnesses.
• Chilcot has indicated that he remains open to the idea of publishing an interim report, according to Clegg. The Lib Dems and Tories want an interim report to be published before the general election. Chilcot, whose inquiry is not due to report until July 2010, is expected to be highly cautious about publishing on the eve of the election.
• Witnesses will not, as expected, be required to swear an oath. But Clegg says Chilcot has indicated that he will specify to witnesses in writing and verbally that their evidence must be truthful.
In a further embarrassment for Brown, Chilcot has indicated that the membership of inquiry team was too narrow, implying that further changes could well be on the way.
Presumably one of the consequences of the inquiry being held in public is that it will now take longer. Chilcot, rightly, will not wish his inquiry to become a political football in the run up to an election if it is held next year. It matters little if the inquiry's report is delayed by several months. What does matter is that Chilcot is credible, authoritative and, moreover, believed by the public.
Cameron should highlight the way Brown has totally mismanaged the setting up of this inquiry at PMQs. He has more own goals to aim at than he could ever hope for.
Newsnight had a compelling interview with the middle man involved in passing on the details of MPs’ expenses. Henry Gewanter makes a very convincing case why he acted as he did and why anonymity matters:
I will say though that there were conditions which involved protecting the sources and that included the possibility of legal defence.
It is important that this whistleblower's protected from possible repercussions so I can't discuss anything about them.
Shame on the The Times and Daniel Finkelstein that the same principles are not adhered to by the Murdoch press. Both clearly felt it was the right and proper to out Nightjack as it is in the best interests of News International, no matter what the consequences for the individual concerned.
Does The Times think that Gewanter should have exposed the whistleblower on Newsnight or at any other time. Somehow, I doubt it.
There has been little movement in the polls since the European and local elections and this is confirmed by the new MORI poll:
CON 38%(-1), LAB 21%(-4), LDEM 19%(nc)
Anthony Wells notes:
Perhaps more interestingly, significantly more people (41%) said they thought the economy would get better over the next twelve months- the highest figure MORI have recorded in 12 years.
We need more evidence, but Brown and Mandy should be very concerned about these findings. Labour are getting little credit as voters become more optimistic about economy. Brown’s last stand on Tory cuts against Labour investment is not resonating with the electorate.
Note: As Brown demonstrated on his BBC lunchtime interview, he is becoming increasingly delusional about MPs expenses, believing the electorate will give him thanks for sorting the mess out.
I have discussed before when the by-election in Michael Martin's former seat could be called to mitigate damage to Labour. The matter pops up again this morning:
Gordon Brown is under pressure to move the writ for the Norwich North by-election this week, or face the risk of losing the seat in the autumn, so reopening the arguments about his leadership.
He has delayed partly because he wants to hold the Norwich vote at the same time as the by-election in Glasgow North East, being held due to the retirement of the Speaker Michael Martin.
As also noted:
….if the by-election is not held on July 16 or July 23, with the writ moved almost immediately, it cannot take place until after parliament returns in October.
If the by-elections are not called for July, this possibly gives a clue as to whether Brown is considering an October election. If he is, but has not finally decided, there is little point in moving the writs now. Only if he has ruled out an October election will the by-elections be held at the end of July, after the Commons has adjourned for the Summer recess.
Reading the press this morning it would seem that Bercow is a dead man walking before he has even decided to wear the Speaker’s wig. Both Tory Bear and Rachel Sylvester give their views and Paul Linford’s comments are worth noting.
Let us give Bercow his chance, let him find his feet and prove that he can bring reform to the Commons and stand up to the executive. He can make a start at PMQs by dealing head on with the Labour planted questions and insisting Brown gives straight answers.
To rephrase the question that R A Butler was once famously asked about his prime minister:
Would you say that this is the best Speaker we have? Answer: Yes.
If Bercow doesn't prove himself there is a simple mechanism for the removing him after the election, when a sitting Speaker has to seek re-election.
It is everyone's interests, no matter what was behind his election, that he is given the opportunity and backing of all MPs to succeed.
Some things never change. I never win bets. Let us hope that the Commons now unites behind Bercow (the Tory benches did not look that pleased) and he makes a success of being Speaker.
Young v Bercow in the 3rd round. All other candidates have withdrawn.
Come on George, make my day.
More bad news for our Dear Leader. In a letter to Gordon Brown, Sir John Chilcot said:
I believe it will be essential to hold as much of the proceedings of the Inquiry as possible in public, consistent with the need to protect national security and to ensure and enable complete candour in the oral and written evidence from witnesses.
More mobile phones will have to be replaced tonight.
My man is well placed. These candidates go through:
Bercow: 179
Young: 112
Beckett: 74
Haselhurst: 66
Beith: 55
Widdecombe: 44
The good news is that Brown’s little plan backfired. I big V-sign to the whips.
RBS fails and the new chief executive gets £9.6m from the taxpayer.
Zimbabwe fails and gets £5m from the taxpayer.
More delusion from Brown:
There are great signs of progress, a budget and economic plan are in place, schools are reopening, children are once again filling the classrooms.
I bet he honestly believes what he says about a country where over half the population need food aid, i.e. are staving.
Brown says the government had “left no stone” unturned in efforts to free the hostages. Graeme Moore, father of one of the hostages held in Iraq, hits out at the Foreign Office:
They haven’t done anything. They should have been straight in directing negotiations right from the beginning.
And on Brown’s role:
….the PM can make the time and effort to telephone both Simon Cowell and Piers Morgan but he wouldn't contact families waiting to learn the fate of their sons kidnapped in Iraq.
Ouch!
Interesting, is is not, that for Brown everything become a priority not only when tragedy happens but when headlines are made.
Not flash, just Gordon.
The BBC is reporting that RBS’s chief executive, Stephen Hester, is likely to receive a pay package of £9.6m providing certain performance benchmarks are achieved:
Mr Hester would only get the maximum remuneration if the share price were to hit 70p, which would give the taxpayer a profit of £8bn.
Mr Hester would only get the maximum remuneration if the share price were to hit 70p, which would give the taxpayer a profit of £8bn.
Lending more money would be risky and might not be compatible with big growth in the RBS share price.
In other words, a higher share price is more beneficial to Hester than lending to the customers, the good old British taxpayer.
And don’t forget, in April, RBS announced 9,000 job cuts, having made a loss of £24.1bn in 2008 - the largest loss in UK corporate history.
It must be a good day to bury bad news!
We arrive at the great day when a new speaker is elected and what a spectacle it won’t be. Oh yes, you will see the speeches of the candidates and the new speaker being dragged to the chair. Apart from that nothing. The votes are by secret ballot and all we will have to keep us amused are pictures of the Commons chamber with MPs milling about.
In the new age of transparency what we will probably not have is a politically impartial election. Read all about it here, here and here.
The key time is 10.30, which is the cut-off for candidates to declare. Stand-by to see is if a dark-horse enters the field or whether any of the 10 candidates so far declared drops out. Each candidate must be nominated by 12 MPs from more than one party.
Let us all hope that MPs surprise us all today, defy the whips and elect a Speaker that will stand up to the executive and bring about real reform. We can live in hope.
Without the whips poking their noses in, George Young should be the one to watch. Several reasons. One is clean on expenses, has the experience to do the job and is not a Labour MP.
In truth, anything could happen and probably will with Brown and his henchmen pulling the stings. It will be brave person who puts a bet on until the runners and riders are declared later this morning.
If you are not interested in grown men driving cars round in circles or Lord’s being turned into a base ball arena, try you hand at this. The web site builds a psychological profile of you based on the content of your tweets.
If you can work what the results mean let me know.
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