Political opinion

Last week’s shrinking GDP figures were spun by George Osborne as due to the crisis in the €urozone. The decline in GDP could hardly be ...

George Osborne gave a cast iron promise last October: “Britain will not be putting money into the bailout fund either directly or through the IMF… ...

Some 110,180 visitors made 317,354 visits to view 504,939 pages. The top stories in order of popularity were: Internship Available in Tom Watson’s Office Newsnight Fashion Report Huhne ...

Guido won’t bother with the fashion round up this time, but devout nicotine addict Laurie Penny popped up on our television again this lunchtime, complete ...

Poor Jeremy Hunt is getting frightfully carried away with his £12 billion Olympic baby: “come and enjoy what will be the most exciting time in ...

Chris Tarquini rounds up this weeks biggest stories from the other 192 nations in the world.

Tola Ositelu argues that the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee should hearken back to the original Jubilees of biblical days.

Ed Jacobs presents his weekly round up of what's been going on in the rest of the British Isles. This week, Alex Salmond continues to ...

Reema Patel details why Britain needs to reform how we care for the elderly in the UK - but explains why it won’t be easy.

The hate of the hard Right, bigotry-based commentariat was on ugly display again this week - and this time, it was Britain’s disabled people in ...

I don’t have a great track record of memo-writing. Peter Mandelson once walked into Downing Street and a snapper caught a memo I had written ...

Labour will be travelling on the wrong line if it gives its wholehearted support for the proposed HS2. This is one infrastructure scheme that deserves ...

I propose the following basic elements in a new constructive policy on Scotland for the Labour Party: 1. Scottish independence, just as much as devo ...

In policy terms, Labour is facing its biggest challenge for a political generation.  In order to respond to the ongoing economic crisis and the resultant ...

Related posts: Dorries vs Rifkind on the EU Blair to lead Labour policy group Abortion rights: Back on the political agenda Georgian International Group slams ...

12.30pm Megan Moore on Comment: The Archbishop of York doesn't deserve to be called a "bigot" by Twitter's intolerants ToryDiary: Tory voters want a mansions ...

7.15pm WATCH: George Osborne talks to Faisal Islam about the lack of economic growth in Britain and the €urozone 4.15pm WATCH: Cameron: It is for ...

8pm WATCH: George Soros: "German insistence on austerity could destory the European Union" 5pm Teatime newslinks: The political debate over Stephen Hester's £1m bonus from ...

7pm WATCH: David Cameron: "This is a time for boldness, not for caution" 5pm Cameron's €urozone speech and Clegg's tax cut speech lead our teatime ...

The Syrian situation is worsening by the day. Now the Arab League has pulled back its monitors in ...

This week’s bookbencher is Gloria De Piero, the Labour MP for Ashfield. She has a soft spot for Wuthering Heights and Karl Marx’s Das Kapital. ...

Douglas Alexander may sometimes hide the meaning of what he says under a layer of jargon but he remains ...

A-ha! Labour have hit on a line on the benefits cap, and Liam Byrne is peddling it in ...

I'm presenting Radio Four's Week in Westminster this morning, on deficit wars, London wars, welfare wars, and another ...

Our Top Five most clicked stories of the last seven days were: Rod Liddle attacks “pretend disabled” in Sun column That “fair and transparent” Scottish ...

In a blog post linking to Scrapbook’s viral story from yesterday, the Daily Telegraph’s James Delingpole has waded into the “pretend disabled” debate – siding with, ...

After Scrapbook parodied Alex Salmond’s leading referendum question on Wednesday, Left Foot Forward’s Alex Hern has put the academic smackdown on the SNP’s dodgy wording: “Do you ...

Amid the criticism that Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney has been taking lately over his financial and tax affairs, it can be hard for the layman ...

A “Doncaster” doctor used by David Cameron to promote his health reforms yesterday has quit his commissioning group and doesn’t even live in Doncaster. The ...

I consider myself firmly in the 'against' camp when it comes to jokes alluding to rape or sexual violence, not because I'm easily offended, and ...

I wrote two weeks ago about Boris Johnson's fake campaign for an inevitable council tax freeze. Day after day, thousands of Boris's supporters have been ...

RBS’s award of a £963,000 bonus to Stephen Hester has provoked anger. A chart of stock prices shows one reason why. In the last 12 ...

And Miliband moves up from last week’s record low This week’s leader ratings from YouGov are just out and all three main party leaders see ...

… The big news today, of course, has been that the chairman of RBS, Sir Philip Hampton has given up a £1.4m shares bonus due ...

Mitt up by around 10 points on the first round of calls for our Florida poll…this one may end up being a snooze — PublicPolicyPolling ...

Could Dave seal the first Tory working majority since 1987? One market sadly missing at the moment that on which punters can predict how many ...

… This is, of course, PB’s regular overnight open thread where all things political are discussed. Welcome to the cafe – have a good evening. ...

Tony McNulty looks forward to the Florida primary.

Shelagh Fogarty says our role models are often very close to home.

Tony McNulty has a little quiz for you about the candidates for the Republican nomination.

Denis Macshane argues that the French Presidential election is the important one this year.

Scott Colvin explains why you should read self-help books and is upset about Crystal Palace's loss.

by Atul Hatwal Back in the mists of late 1996 I remember trotting along to Labour’s HQ, Millbank, for a meeting on first time voters. ...

by John Spellar John Healy has produced an excellent article on the unpleasant Tory group launching an attack on trade union rights and their ability ...

by Peter Watt In government it can be difficult to keep telling a coherent story about what the common purpose of the administration is. You ...

by Jonathan Todd The main gallery of Bill Clinton’s presidential library in Little Rock, Arkansas, which I visited last month, contains sections on the various ...

by Jon Ashworth Earlier this month we learnt that the prime minister has completed angry birds. On every Thursday we learn what business the government ...

Secure in the knowledge that Dr Rowan Williams will be vacating the See of Canterbury at some point this year, it stands to reason ...

The Prime Minister’s speech at the World Economic Forum ...

Setting aside for the moment that His Grace thought the ...

As readers and communicants will know, His Grace is a ...

According to The Sunday Times (£), the bishops of the Church ...

Much wailing and gnashing of teeth today on the right as evidence emerges that David Cameron is backsliding on his ‘veto’ preventing the European Union ...

There’s no prize at stake – just the opportunity to prove you’re wittier than any other LDV reader… (Image from The Guardian.) Here’s Labour top ...

To believe the Government’s hype, we are currently experiencing a liberal revolution in England’s education system – powers are being decentralised, with schools given more ...

I attended Alex Salmond’s lecture at the Scott Trust this Tuesday. It will come as no surprise to most of you that it was a ...

Here’s your starter for ten in our weekend slot where we throw up an idea or thought for debate… Since the £963, 000 shares bonus ...

  Looks like Nick Clegg is going to be closer to this month's EU summit than ...

Ed Miliband's interview with The House magazine is now up online. Read the full ...

Nick Clegg's unusual approach to pre-Budget negotiations - using the TV sofas as...

Lib Dem local government minister Andrew Stunell is viewed by many colleagues ac...

David Cameron, George Osborne and Danny Alexander have all just been emailed the...

In the NHS, we face a conflict of interest No pilot studies from a market fundamentalist Losing all the benefits of aggregate demand to the ...

“Millions of cancer carers missing out on benefits“ I shall overlook, on this occasion, the oxymoron of the Telegraph headline – they go on to ...

The Labour Party has clasped the clitorally vulnerable victim-hood of the Feministas to its bosom and bitterly resents any attempt to portray an ideologically opposed ...

When the Data Protection Ombudsman opens his mail in the morning. If you’re reading this news article using your O2 mobile phone, you’ll be pleased ...

‘Shisha Bar Danger’ screeches the Birmingham Mail, helpfully regurgitating the misinformation in the 2009 BBC post which explained that Shisha smoking was ’100 times more ...

Liz Kendall uncovers NHS document which outlines five layers of management for new GP-led commissioning systemAndrew Lansley is once again ...

The first minister insists his 10-word referendum question on Scotland's independence is 'straightforward and clear', but polling experts disagreeIt captured ...

Here's the view from Berwick-upon-Tweed, that sturdy northern outpost, via leading local Lib Dem Jim Smith and the Guardian Northerner's ...

• Lord Mandelson interview - summary• Nick Clegg speech - summary• Lunchtime summary

It's a common complaint, but politicians are no worse at relying too much on the past than bankers, economists or ...