Emerging from a week engulfed by the furore of the phone hacking scandal, Ed Miliband strode confidently towards the summer recess, riding high on his first major victory since becoming Labour Leader last autumn, reports Mike Indian. Read the rest of this entry »
In less than a month, Britain will go to the polls in a second nationwide referendum in its history, writes Mike Indian, offering us the chance to help shape the future of our democracy. Read the rest of this entry »
The democratic mask has at last fallen from the face of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, says Mike Indian. Read the rest of this entry »
The Coalition has pressed ahead with sweeping cuts to the Welfare budget by announcing plans for reductions in child benefit paid to high earners, reports Mike Indian. Read the rest of this entry »
Mike Indian, writing exclusively for Political Promise, on the (second) withdrawal of US troops in Iraq. Read the rest of this entry »
By Mike Indian
For any pundit of British politics, August is the time to pack your bags and a good book and head for foreign parts. All is quiet at Westminster and will be until Parliament returns in September. Indeed, for the last few years, this formula has proven itself to be a tried and tested method. Read the rest of this entry »
By Mike Indian
Against the backdrop of the African Union Summit, Mr Brown spoke about the potential for development in the continent to move it towards being a new engine of global economic growth alongside the other power houses of the world. Read the rest of this entry »
By Mike Indian
A lot in Westminster is certainly new these days. A third of the House of Commons are fresh faced MPs. The government is formed of what is, on the surface, an unforeseen partnership. This week, we have some truly formidable pledges on political and constitutional reform. Read the rest of this entry »
By Mike Indian
Our generation loathes the phrase “special relationship.” For the children of the Blair years, those words are synonymous with the infamously close dynamic of George W Bush and Tony Blair. This most political of bromances was a vital part of the slide into the Iraq War, a conflict whose most lasting legacy to satirists was Britain as America’s lap dog.
On a day when Foreign Secretary William Hague delivered his first major speech in his new role, my mind went back to the bilateral relationship that has lain at the heart of our nation’s foreign policy for the last decade. A lot has changed since Winston Churchill first coined the phrase that now seems to define Anglo-American relations, but it is still accurate so many decades after it was coined? Read the rest of this entry »
By Mike Indian
What must have been running through George Osborne’s mind yesterday?
Watching the Chancellor delivering his inauguration (and emergency) Budget, I’d like to think his mind was filled with the swell of Journey’s classic hit “Don’t Stop Believin’”. That was certainly the overriding theme of this vital first step in the government’s financial plans.
From the avalanche of sums, figures and forecasts, only a few numbers snowball their way into the minds of the public. However, the ominous rumblings at the news that VAT will rise to 20% will be impossible to dismiss. Regardless of the lengthy assurances and united front Osborne attempted to put up yesterday, this single fact looms at the vanguard of a host of concerns over the times to come. Read the rest of this entry »
