TOPIC OF THE WEEK... Gordon Brown. William Hague opened fire on the man who would be Britain's next Prime Minister but the Chancellor won enthusiastic (but slightly ill-founded) billing in this morning's News of the World. Excellent pieces by Fraser Nelson in The Spectator and a leader in today's Business exposed the client state that Gordon Brown is building:
"Parts of Britain are now almost wholly dependent on the state. In Manchester Blackley, 67% of the electorate are government employees or welfare clients, the figure is 67.5% in Liverpool Walton and a staggering 71% in Cynon Valley. In some areas where old-fashioned manufacturing or mining has long since died out, government has taken its place, leaving ghettos of dependency where there is no room for the market economy to breath. Such places will be forever dependent on wealth being generated in those parts of Britain (largely London and the south-east) which are not yet socialised; no wonder they are staunch supporters of Mr Brown’s ever-expanding state."
A GOOD WEEK FOR... Paul Goodman, Robert Key and Sir George Young. The WriteToThem website revealed that these three Tory MPs - and Conservative MPs generally - were the fastest responders to constituent email.
A BAD WEEK FOR... Theresa Villers. The North London MP defended the jailing of David Irving. Visitors to this site were almost universally unimpressed.
TORY POLITICIANS OF THE WEEK... The 'Times Nine'. Nine Tory MPs wrote a letter to The Times complaining about the Church of England General Synod and its one-sided decision to boycott companies that make products used by Israel in the Palestinian territories.
PLAY OF THE WEEK... I can't think of anything political in this recess week so I'll suggest Barcelona beating Chelsea and Henry's breathtaking goal against Real Madrid.
CONSERVATIVEHOME POST OF THE WEEK... My suggestion that big donations to the Conservative Party be limited to something like £100,000pa as part of a wider campaign to encourage more diverse funding of the Conservative Party. Many of you disagreed with me but the discussion was excellent.
EXTERNAL BLOG POST OF THE WEEK... Gerard Baker's expose of the opportunism of too many US politicians - including Bill Frist and Hillary Clinton - over the sale of some US ports to a Dubai firm.
THE POST THAT RECEIVED THE MOST COMMENTS...
- GoldList candidate: Priti Patel (96). Three more people were added to ConservativeHome's GoldList this week - Priti, James Cleverly and Lee Rotherham. Iain Dale narrowly missed out and is keeping Adam Rickitt company on the list of rejected nominees.
THE POST THAT RECEIVED THE FEWEST COMMENTS...
BEST COMMENT OF THE WEEK... Daniel Vince-Archer reacting to the undemocratic Livingstone suspension:
"Has Theresa Villiers started a 'Jail Livingstone' campaign yet?"
"I can't think of anything political in this recess week so I'll suggest Barcelona beating Chelsea and Henry's breathtaking goal against Real Madrid."
Surely it was Messi for Barcelona absolutely splitting apart the Chelsea defence at every opportunity. Definately one to watch for the world cup.
Posted by: Rob Largan | February 26, 2006 at 15:47
Editor - and you moan about Dr Who!
Posted by: Mark Fulford | February 26, 2006 at 16:04
He moans about Dr Who, but seems all to happy to reference Star Trek: Voyager from time to time.
The hypocrisy of some people...
Posted by: James Hellyer | February 26, 2006 at 16:20
a couple of friends of mine run a hotel that annually has Trekkies stay while the city hosts a convention... after meeting them en-masse you begin to appreciate the thoughtful, intelligent Dr Who fan club
Posted by: Ted | February 26, 2006 at 18:36
You know you're going to get some readers wanting to know the name of that hotel, don't you Ted?
For the benefit of the uninitiated, what is so "thoughtful" and "intelligent" about the Dr Who fan club?
Posted by: Editor | February 26, 2006 at 18:41
It was really quite a dull political week wasn't it? One thing I was shocked to discover this week was that the UK government has no power to ban the import of poultry from those countries affected by the Avian flu virus.You've all guessed it falls to those marvellous people at the EU commission to decide our fate.Unbelievable isn't it?
Posted by: malcolm | February 26, 2006 at 18:50
Rentamouth Amanda Platell thinks Cameron is a loser. This from a someone who thought he was the new Messiah a few weeks ago.
You remember Ms Platell. She was the genius who persuaded william Hague to pose in a baseball cap at the Notting Hill Carnival.
Can anyone recommend a cheap and efficient hitman?
Posted by: john Skinner | February 27, 2006 at 00:08
If Amanda Platell says it is so, it cannot be right.
Posted by: Big John | February 27, 2006 at 10:07
艺术漆
LED显示屏
Posted by: gg | April 08, 2008 at 03:15