Ed Balls took time out from holding Michael Gove to account at the weekend to turn his ammo on Gove’s deputy Sarah Teather, who has thus far escaped censure for the schools cuts – and who it now emerges lobbied her boss to give preferential treatment to schools in her Brent Central constituency and spare them the Building Schools for the Future axe.
London Mayor Boris Johnson today branded the Coalition’s immigration cap “a shambles” – putting him once again on a collision course with the Government.
The Government has announced that it is to press ahead with plans to privatise the Royal Mail – describing the action as “urgent”. A number of recommendations have been given to the Coalition from the former deputy chairman of Ofcom, Richard Hooper. Speaking out this afternoon, Labour leadership candidate Ed Balls and former London mayor Ken Livingstone opposed the privatisation.
Ed Jacobs looks back at the week’s events in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Yesterday, Experian reported on the impact of that on the north east where 43 per cent of jobs are in the public sector. In Tees Valley, three council areas – Middlesbrough, Redcar and Hartlepool – all have very low resilience because they only have industries vulnerable to damage and closure, skill levels too low for easy transfer to other occupations, ageing populations and a weak enterprise culture.
Today it was announced that Boris Johnson is to stand as the Conservative candidate in the 2012 election to be mayor of London, hoping for a second term in office…
David Willetts, minister of science, yesterday confirmed on the Today programme that the science budget will be cut. Although I don’t agree with this policy, I was not surprised. The decision has been widely trailed, with most university departments quietly bracing themselves for this outcome.
This week MPs have voted in support of a Bill which would mean that next May the country would get to decide on whether they want to stick with FPTP (first past the post) or switch to AV (Alternative Vote). While this may not have been the choice many of us who support a more proportional system wanted we shouldn’t underestimate its significance.
The pastor at the centre of the Qur’an book burning controversy has said his plans are “on hold”, saying “as of right now, we are not cancelling the event, but we are suspending it”.
The leading blogs of left, right and centre, Left Foot Forward, ConservativeHome and Liberal Democrat Voice have teamed up to publish a special, limited edition newspaper – Litmus – looking at the key issues facing Britain today, which will be distributed at the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat Party conferences.
