What should Labour's response be? What is the exact characterisation of inequality? … What are the policy instruments that can be most effective?" It was not rousing stuff.The panel explained their ideas for Labour's next move. The shadow foreign secretary felt the party needed to emphasise "the contributory principle" in welfare benefits, in order to establish "a something for something welfare state"; Labour needed to win back "political consent for tackling inequality at the bottom", he said. Creagh,
kate spade wallet sale, the shadow environment secretary, wanted Labour to tackle food poverty, and Lord (Stewart) Wood, an adviser to Ed Miliband, suggested a German idea about building incentives into parental leave to encourage parents to distribute it between them.
"It was more than about one person's ambition; it was about whether or not Labour could manage a transition in office." He says if Labour had held an election in 2007 this would have been seen as a success. He says he thought Brown needed a manifesto and a mandate and not to go to the country at that point was "a big mistake", Balls says.6.34pm: Why does Balls think he has become such a controversial figure in British politics? Balls says David Cameron has called him "the most annoying person in British politics". He gets a cheer. The Sunday Times did a poll and Cameron was seen as just as annoying as him, and George Osborne and Lord Mandelson were seen as more annoying.He says Mandelson was a lightning rod if people were upset with things Blair had done, and Balls played that role for Brown.
And if Obama doesn't use Europe as a warning sign for what Romney would bring to America, he'd be missing out on an important opportunity.(Thanks to Ian70 in the comments for flagging this up.)? Alastair Campbell on his blog thinks David Cameron's media blitz yesterday was a mistake.Being on telly from PMQs. Fine. Being on telly from summits and big speeches with big points to make. Good. But stop being your own spokesman on running stories of the day.Nadine Dorries has said all that before, about you and George being posh boys who don't get people's lives. That's the other thing that happens when the mood changes – things people ignored in good mood times suddenly gain traction in bad mood times.
Under draft rules, Mr Osborne could be compelled to appear before the EU assembly's monetary affairs committee to explain himself in an "economic dialogue" with MEPs. ? Nicholas Timmins in the Financial Times (subscription) says the changes to the health bill announced by Cameron yesterday will increase bureaucracy.Commissioning groups will be constrained by the need endlessly to consult – listening to patients, clinical senates, clinical networks,
marc by marc jacobs bag, health and well-being boards and citizens' panels – while their activities are scrutinised by Health Watch, the new patients' group.Most of these bodies will have the power, if not to veto plans, then to refer them back or send them up to the commissioning board.
Perry sat out Iowa but announced his candidacy last weekend to steal the straw poll's thunder. OK, that's a legitimate tactic. And Perry can, and does, point to the fact that 40% of all new jobs created in the US since mid-2009 were created in the lone star state – 1m during his tenure as governor. Surprise surprise,
kate spade outlet, Perry credits his business-friendly policies.Well, we're all in favour of business-friendly policies, Indeed, we're so business-friendly around here that we fight valiantly to protect many businessmen from their own macro-economic stupidity.Alas, it gets worse from here on. Governor Perry's version of brash Texan – admittedly, he's the real deal, not a Yale-educated counterfeit – makes George W Bush look like a Greenwich Village pinko.
Capital Economics, a leading firm of economic analysts, said it was likely the UK was already in recession.? Ed Miliband has accused Cameron of "smug complacency" over the state of the economy. Describing the government's attitude as one of "total arrogance", Miliband told Cameron at PMQs: "You and your chancellor are but the byword for self-satisfied, smug complacency and that is the reality." But Cameron said that there was "not one ounce of complacency" in the government. Commenting on the growth figures, he said:These are disappointing figures, they are not unexpected figures, they are what the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast - a small decline in GDP at the end of last year.
He is as he is, while recognising that people do actually need to get to know him better. A lot of people don't know who the leader of the opposition is, especially only two years into his role.12.30pm: There are at least two polls in the papers today.Opinium in the ObserverLabour: 39% (down 3 points from Opinium last week)Conservatives: 29% (down 1)Lib Dems: 10% (up 2)Ukip: 10%Labour lead: 10 points (down 2)But the Observer says some of the figures in the poll are gloomy for Labour.Depressingly for Labour, 29% say the current coalition government is responsible for the present state of the economy against 46% who blame the last Labour government.Even among Labour voters there are real doubts about Miliband's ability to be prime minister – 29% of Labour supporters say they "definitely" or "probably" can't imagine him as prime minister.
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