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July 2nd, 2010

From ‘Lock them up, or let them out?’ to electoral reform – round up of political blogs 28 June – 2 July

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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Blog Admin

July 2nd, 2010

From ‘Lock them up, or let them out?’ to electoral reform – round up of political blogs 28 June – 2 July

0 comments

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Chris Gilson takes a look at the week in political blogging.

Weekend

Nick Robinson looks at the government’s new thinking on troop deployment in Afghanistan, while Paul Goodman at ConservativeHome says that Cameron wants to be out of Afghanistan “as soon as possible”.

Mike Smithson at PoliticalBetting.com talks about the risks of David Cameron addressing the Liberal Democrat party conference later on this year, while Liberal Conspiracy suggests that Lib Dem MPs are still supportive of Nick Clegg …for now, while Tom Harris is critical. James Forsyth at Coffee House blogged on the drop in the Lib Dem’s support at the polls, Gordon MacMillan at Harry’s Place has more. Mike Smithson at politicalbetting.com thinks we might be returning to the era of two party politics.

Left Foot Forward has an interview with David Miliband about the budget and his thoughts on the government’s planned spending cuts. Tim Worstall rejects the thought that education is about to be severely cut. Sunder Katwala at Next Left has an in-depth analysis of the ‘fairness’ of the budget cuts.

Tim Montegomerie at ConservativeHome looks at the government’s objectives, while Chris Dillow at Stumbling and Mumbling has some harsh critiques of Iain Duncan Smith’s reforms at DWP.

Monday

Peter Wrigley at Keynesian Liberal talks electoral reform, as Rupert Read at Liberal Conspiracy blogs on the left’s need for electoral reform.

Tim Montegomerie at ConservativeHome is very positive about David Cameron’s performance at the G20; Nick Robinson has some more details about his time in Toronto.

LabourUncut is downbeat about Iain Duncan Smith’s future in the government, saying: “He is a series of accidents which are starting to happen”. Gary Gibbon blogs on the government’s immigration cap for non-EU migrants, recently announced. Blogoir is very concerned that we do not seem to be able to reduce our EU contributions.

Guido is rather cynical about the size of impending spending cuts. Jim Pickard at the FT’s Westminster Blog looks at the DECC/Defra reorganisation, that could have been.

Sunny Hundal at Liberal Conspiracy briefly blogs on the subject of declining support for the Liberal Democrats in the polls. Mark Pack says that the coalition is taking over a lot of Labour’s traditional political ground, while Paul Sagar at Liberal Conspiracy thinks it’s time the coalition ditched the term ‘progressive’ in reference to the budget. George Eaton at The Staggers blogs on the Liberal Democrat VAT rebels. Tim Montegomerie at ConservativeHome looks at what was missing from last week’s budget.

Chris Smith at The Staggers looks at the role that Special Advisors might play in the Labour leadership race. Mike Smithson at politicalbetting.com asks whether or not Gordon Brown’s continued absence from Parliament means he should give up his seat.

Tuesday

James Forsyth at Coffee House looked at the small Liberal Democrat VAT-rebellion – only 2 MPs voted against the rise; Mark Pack has a bit more on this as well. George Eaton at The Staggers takes a look at how the Lib Dems might claw back some support after their recent polling hits.

Sara Williams at the Adam Smith Institute’s blog is critical of the government’s immigration cap, and suggests some alternatives, Sarah Mulley at Left Foot Forward also has some criticisms as does Sholto Byrnes at The Staggers.. Tim Montegomerie at ConservativeHome has details of Home Secretary Theresa May’s plans to ensure make sure that all economic migrants take out private health insurance to relieve pressure on the NHS.

Iain Dale is mystified as to why the Cabinet is meeting in Bradford today, later he reports that Labour is having a hard time filling some select committee seats.

Alex Barker at the FT’s Westminster Blog has ten facts about the incapacity benefit. Michael Burke guest blogging at Left Foot Forward says that cuts won’t reduce the deficit, but investment will. John Redwood says we should watch the pound. Wat Tyler at Burning our Money has a good discussion of the national debt and all its permutations. Iain Dale is dismissive of the Guardian’s warnings that public sector cuts will mean 1.3 million jobs may be lost – the private sector will compensate for this, he says.

Gary Gibbon at SnowBlog previews Ken Clarke’s expected comments on Wednesday on prison reform, while Tim Montegomerie at ConservativeHome has some misgivings about the political impact of the new government’s policing and prison policies.

George Eaton at The Staggers looks ahead to 2015, and the possibility of another Tory-Lib agreement after that election.

Wednesday

Paul Goodman at ConservativeHome says that with his comments on prison reform, Ken Clarke is now ‘challenging Michael Howard’s legacy’Iain Dale voices his general agreement with Ken Clarke, as does George Eaton at The Staggers. Conor Ryan at Conor’s Commentary weighs in on policing targets.

Sunny Hundal at Liberal Conspiracy says that there are concerns that the private sector may not be able to create enough new jobs over the next few years to compensate for public sector job cuts. Nick Robinson looks at the job loss statistics deployed in PMQ’s today.

Ed Jacobs at Left Foot Forward looks at risks to art funding in the time of austerity, and Will Straw (at the same blog) blogs on the possibility of continuing stagnation of business investment under the coalition.

Thursday

David Herdson at politicalbetting.com wonders what will become of Vince Cable’s future career.

Thaddeus Wilson at Anna Raccoon blogs on prison policy from a libertarian point of view, while Peter Wrigley at Keynesian Liberal has some thoughts about the costs of prison policy in an age of public sector cuts. Tom Copley at Labour Uncut is not happy at being on the same side as Ken Clarke in the prison reform debate. Fraser Nelson at Coffee House looks at the 190 Tory manifesto pledges that have not made it into the coalition document.

Caroline Crampton at The Staggers says that David Milband is trying to distance himself from the Blair/Brown legacy, while his brother talks about his support for the independence of the Scottish Labour party from London, according to Ed Jacobs at Left Foot Forward.

Tim Worstall has no sympathy for MPs’ complaints about the alleged inefficiency of ISPA, but Tom Harris MP is still very unhappy with the situation.

Iain Martin at the Wall Street Journal says that David Cameron has not explained well enough that private sector job creation will make up for public sector job losses, while Chris Dillow at Stumbling and Mumbling is sceptical that private sector job growth will offset public sector job cuts. Similarly, Sunny Hundal at Liberal Conspiracy is deeply unconvinced about Tory predictions of job growth over the next few years, while Wat Tyler at Burning our Money is a little more optimistic.

Paul Goodman at ConservativeHome investigates William Hague’s euroscepticism.

Friday

David Herdson at politicalbetting.com wonders how the electoral reform referendum, to be announced today, will affect the coalition (Nick Robinson warns of trouble), while over at Snowblog Gary Gibbon looks at the politics involved in the referendum. Paul Goodman at ConservativeHome says AV would be ‘bad for Britain’. George Eaton at The Staggers says that electoral reform is not just for the ‘elite’, while James Forsyth says that this referendum is very risky for the Lib Dems. Will Straw at Left Foot Forward outlines why Labour should support AV.

Sunny Hunday at Liberal Conspiracy says reducing inequality and poverty = reduced crime; Shamik Das at Left Foot Forward has comments from Ed Balls on the budget.

Old Holborn tries to get some insight into parliament’s arcane rituals, and Iain Dale writes in praise of Iain Duncan Smith.

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