John Redwood's Diary (Free subscription) | yesterday
Today like many I will attend an act of commemoration. We will express our gratitude for all who died in the two great wars and successive conflicts. We will say they died for us. They died for our freedom. Like many I am eternally grateful that allied troops [...]
John Redwood's Diary (Free subscription) | 07/11/2009
The Establishment’s view that we need to be fighting a war in Afghanistan to keep us safe is not shared by that many voters any more. Under pressure from public opinion and interviewers, the government now says that of course they need good border controls and anti [...]
Steve Baker (Free subscription) | 07/11/2009
One of the first books I read on deciding to enter politics was John Redwood’s I Don’t Like Politics: But I Want to Make a Difference. From the jacket: The past decade has seen a sharp decline in membership of political parties, with a severe drop in those who vote in local and general elections. Voters
John Redwood's Diary (Free subscription) | 07/11/2009
RBS yesterday posted more disastrous losses. They are dribbling out the write offs on their loan books. They are not making much money on their current activities. Despite this the bonus payments carry on. Taxpayers are going to find this difficult to understand [...]
John Redwood's Diary (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
I have always seen myself as a keen advocate of green strategies in business and politics. To me it is commonsense to seek to cut fuel use and energy cost at every opportunity. I have helped lead teams in business in the past to develop greener technologies. I believe [...]
John Redwood's Diary (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
The problems are now accumulating fast. The death rate in Afghanistan is horrifying. The lack of clarity over the government’s strategy whilst we await President Obama’s decision is undermining confidence in the whole mission. Latest polls show now a majority share the [...]
Leicester Politics (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
Tonight Michael Portillo on This Week gave a view already made the point made by John Redwood in his excellent blog that the Quantitative Easing pump up of £25,000,000,000 is being put in place to make sure the Government does not run out of money ahead of a Spring election. What is becoming more certain is this form of funding for Government is not sustainable and whichever party runs the Country...
John Redwood's Diary (Free subscription) | 05/11/2009
The Bank has decided to print another £25 billion, presumably to boost inflation more. I think they will find inflation goes up in the New Year anyway. The decision will also have the effect of making sure the government does not run out of cash for its current spending spree [...]
John Redwood's Diary (Free subscription) | 05/11/2009
Many people writing to this site do not think Mr Hague has gone far enough in his proposals to wrestle some power back from the EU. Meanwhile a French Minister has resorted to unpleasant language to attack the Conservative position. Expect more of this in [...]
John Redwood's Diary (Free subscription) | 05/11/2009
Today we recall an attempted terrorist attack four hundred years ago. The chilling plan to murder the King in Parliament, seeking to wipe out the whole political establishement, was foiled by excellent intelligence work. The secret service of the early seventeenth century was hot, intercepting [...]
ConservativeHome's ToryDiary (Free subscription) | 04/11/2009
I can't pretend I'm enthusiastic about what David Cameron has announced this afternoon. No referendum of any kind. Given that Lisbon is a self-amending Treaty, full of ratchet clauses, the promise of future referenda on transfers of power is a bit like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. There were no meaningful threats to Europe if there is no serious willingness from other EU leaders...
Daniel1979 Blog (Free subscription) | 04/11/2009
Why go churning around the Internet when all of the best links are already here? Here is a special Recommended Reading where the texts are proboably only valid until 4pm today, and is focused on The Conservatives, Lisbon and the referendum that never was. Daniel Hannan says a referendum now on Lisbon may well no longer be the most logical option, but a broad repatriation of powers is essential. Roger...
John Redwood's Diary (Free subscription) | 04/11/2009
The insiders at Westminster all say the same thing. MPs have to sign up to Kelly. In practise it doesn’t matter whether MPs like or loathe Kelly. The government has legislated to take all [...]
John Redwood's Diary (Free subscription) | 04/11/2009
The EU has declared war on the UK. The conspiracy to make sure Lisbon comes into effect without giving the Uk people the vote they were promised by all three main parties in the 2005 election will increase the distrust of the organisation and its [...]
Next Left (Free subscription) | 04/11/2009
Just as the former Home Secretary David Davis argues that the Tory party should make a referendum on Europe its first act if elected , there is an interesting poll on ConservativeHome , showing that David Davis - followed by John Redwood or Michael Howard - would be most trusted by the Tory grassroots to lead a renegotiation of Britian's position in Europe. Why? Surely it is because Davis is widely...
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