General Election 2015: Labour will not raise VAT if it wins – Ed Balls March 23, 2015 The Labour party will lay down a significant general election marker today, with a pledge that VAT will not rise if it is elected to power on 7 May. Shadow chancellor Ed Balls will announce the new manifesto commitment during a speech in Birmingham. Balls will say: Today I can announce a clear pledge [...]
General Election 2015: I’ll step down after second term, says David Cameron March 23, 2015 David Cameron will not serve a third term as Prime Minister if he is reelected. The Conservative leader told the BBC he would lead the country for the full five years of another parliament and then step down. After 10 years in power, he said, “it will be time for new leadership”. When asked about [...]
Labour MP for Rochdale Simon Danczuk: Ed Miliband is more of a toff than Cameron March 23, 2015 Ed Miliband faced a scathing attack today – from a member of his own party. Simon Danczuk, the Labour MP for Rochdale, said Miliband was a liability and failed to connect with voters – many of which thought him a “f*****g knob.” The Labour leader, he said, was more of a toff than Cameron, while [...]
Ukip’s economic policies fail the credibility test March 23, 2015 When Ukip released a list of 100 of its policies in January, the words “debt” and “deficit” were not mentioned once. In fact, the only time it mentioned the word “budget” was with respect to its intention to cut foreign aid spending. Of course, as today’s speeches by Nigel Farage and Patrick O’Flynn made very [...]
Ukip economic policy: Patrick O’Flynn takes aim at “onesie state” and promises tax cuts March 23, 2015 Ukip's economic spokesman Patrick O'Flynn has unveiled the economic policies the party will carry into the General Election. The headline pledges included upping defence spending by £3bn per year, hitting the Nato target of two per cent of GDP being spent on the military. "It is astonishing to think that UKIP goes into this election [...]
Jim Murphy fails to halt SNP momentum as Labour faces Scottish meltdown March 23, 2015 The stream of bad news for Labour's electoral chances in Scotland just keeps on coming. This morning it's provided courtesy of an ICM poll for The Guardian, showing Labour on course to shed 29 of its 41 seats north of the border. Jim Murphy, Labour's leader in Scotland, gained respect across the political spectrum for his [...]
General Election 2015: Alex Salmond says SNP could make Labour spend more March 23, 2015 Alex Salmond has warned that he could sabotage a Labour budget if the Scottish National Party holds the balance of power after May’s knife edge election, and if Labour refuses to provide the concessions he wants. The former Scottish First Minister said that in the event of Labour not having a majority, and Ed Balls [...]
General Election 2015: Tories pin hopes on right-to-buy housing boost March 23, 2015 The Conservatives could extend right-to-buy rules to include housing association tenants as part of their upcoming manifesto. Housing is likely to be a key area of debate in the run-up to May’s crunch General Election. The right-to-buy policy was first brought in by Margaret Thatcher. It gave council tenants the right to buy their council [...]
It’s the economy, stupid… At least for Londoners on Facebook March 23, 2015 The economy was the most talked about election topic in London over the first 10 weeks of 2015, new data from tech giant Facebook has revealed. Overall though it was health that dominated general election conversations across the country. The NHS was the most talked about election-related topic in 377 of 650 constituencies, including those [...]
Confederation of British Industry warns politicians: Don’t let election halt UK growth March 23, 2015 Britain’s biggest business group will this morning warn politicians against allowing post-election uncertainty to derail the country’s impressive economic growth. The UK is facing the tightest General Election in decades on 7 May, with many polls showing no party in line for a clear majority. And even if a coalition needs to be formed, the [...]