James Macintyre's Blog, page 14

Racism and the City: the ghastliness of Carrie and her gang

I saw Sex and the City 2 by mistake. But even I was shocked by its aggressive, anti-Islam, liberal fundamentalism.

I've never knowingly liked Sex and the City. But I do like the cinema. And last night, after a mildly long day, I decided to wander down to my local picture house and go for whatever was on.

The late showing was, alas, Sex and the City 2. I hesitated, as one would, but then decided that a couple of hours of this stuff might provide the sort of mindless distraction which can...

Tory loyalists dismiss Cameron

If the likes of ConHome have their way, the coalition government will fall apart.

Yesterday, I blogged on the prospect of David Cameron backing the Alternative Vote (AV) in order to seal his pact with Nick Clegg.

It comes as absolutely no surprise that ConservativeHome has sought to "rubbish" the idea, citing "sources" at Downing Street. The author of the rebuttal, Jonathan Isaby, is indeed well connected in the Conservative Party, and again it is not shocking that many Tories -- the vast m...

Cameron

AV referendum presents Cameron

Harman blasts Cameron over

Prime Minister ducks question as Clegg nods him on.

One miniature prologue on today's Prime Minister's Questions: John Bercow, the Speaker, called as the second questioner Nadine Dorries, the MP who has devoted much of her time to leading a failed coup attempt against him from the Tory back benches, about which you can read here. It shows that Bercow is in fact a very big man, and not a "stupid, sanctimonious little dwarf", as the Tory health minister Simon Burns outrageously called him...

1.3 million jobs to go

The Budget

Have the Lib Dems got a real voice in government?

The key lies in the jobs that they hold.

In the course of conversations for a piece on the coalition in this week's New Statesman, one observer made the claim that the Lib Dems lack influence on the coalition because of the nature of the jobs that they are in.

The theory is that Nick Clegg's decision not to hold a ministerial brief could backfire. Clegg was compared to William Gladstone when he outlined a range of constitutional reform proposals last month. Yet the exact nature of those...

In the background for now at least, the long and important Labour leadership battle rages on

David Miliband launches campaign against VAT rise +++ Ed Balls benefits from Question Time bounce +++ Ed Miliband pitches to

Alan Johnson

Shadow home secretary is no airy-fairy liberal.

Alan Johnson should be listened to when he attacks the Tory-led coalition government's proposed cap on immigration. Partly because of what he calls "eye-watering" cuts to the Home Office budget, the former home secretary has described the decision to go ahead with a cap -- first proposed by the Tories under Michael Howard in the 2005 election, and which business people have criticised -- as being "at best . . . a gesture; at worst . . . a...