The commentators                    11-06-15

...on politics

Shock horror. A chancellor of the exchequer thinks we should not spend beyond our means. The habit must end. The Micawberish cliche, respun by George Osborne’s aides before his Mansion House speech, is hardly new. Jim Callaghan shouted it at a rally in 1976, as did Margaret Thatcher at her party ad nauseam. Gordon Brown had his 1997 “golden rule” and America its Gramm-Rudman act. Such homespun mantras are recited by treasuries round the world, but they are dust blown away by the hurricane of politics. Like all voodoo economics, they are both right and rubbish.
- Simon Jenkins, The Guardian
Let’s hope that over the coming months we will see more prosecutions of bankers guilty of criminal activity, not excluding chief executives. The overriding lesson of the past few years is that morally dysfunctional banks shouldn’t be trusted to put their own houses in order.
- Stephen Glover, Daily Mail
Allister Heath
There are many who believe that the British government should borrow tens of billions more and hope for the best. Those who argue along those lines generally try to maintain a semblance of fiscal responsibility by arguing that current spending (on wages, benefits and the like) should be contained and that we should only “borrow to invest”. This is dangerous nonsense. At some point, the markets will return to normal. Big spenders will be punished and economies forced to embrace emergency austerity - Allister Heath, Daily Telegraph
Cameron may have been more lucky than many leaders but which prime minister doesn’t rely on some good fortune? Margaret Thatcher might have not been re-elected if someone other than Michael Foot had been Labour leader in 1983 or if General Galtieri hadn’t invaded the Falklands. Now that the Tories have won their first Commons majority since 1992 is it time for Cameron-sceptics like me to reassess the prime minister? In large part, yes.
- Tim Montgomerie, The Times
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This wasn't a story about journalists and celebs whose misfortunes no one really cares about, it was about a landmark ruling on privacy, about the comeuppance of an organisation that had repeatedly denied that it had anything to do with phone-hacking until it was dragged, kicking and screaming, into court.
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Comment archive, 2015

Westminster
April 10 General election
April 9 General election
April 8 General election
April 7 General election
Ed Miliband
March 27 Prince Charles's letters
March 26 UK politics
March 25 Cameron's exit strategy
March 24 Lee Kwan Yew
March 23 UK politics
Jim Murphy, Scottish Labour party conference
March 13 UK politics
March 12 Jeremy Clarkson
March 11 UK politics
March 10 UK politics
March 9 UK politics
Rifkind and Straw
February 27 UK politics
February 26 Minor party leaders
February 25 Natalie Bennett
February 24 Rifkind and Straw
February 23 World affairs
Merkel and Putin
February 13 UK politics
February 12 UK politics
February 11 UK politics
February 10 UK politics
February 9 Politics
Alexis Tsipras
January 30 Rape law
January 29 UK politics
January 28 UK politics
January 27 Greece
January 26 UK politics
Hebdo demo
January 16 World politics
January 15 Election debates
January 14 Charlie Hebdo
January 13 Charlie Hebdo
January 12 Charlie Hebdo
dissolution parliament
April 2 General election
April 1 General election
March 31 General election
March 30 Depression 
George Osborne
March 20 UK politics
March 19 The Budget
March 18 UK politics
March 17 Race in Britain
March 16 UK politics
Boris Nemtsov
March 6 Scotland and the election
March 5 Isis
March 4 UK politics
March 3 Radicalisation
March 2 Russia
Copenhagen
February 20 UK politics
February 19 Chelsea and racism
February 18  UK politics
February 17 UK politics
February 16 Copenhagen 
education
February 6 UK politics
February 5 Isis atrocity
February 4 UK politics
February 3 UK politics
February 2 UK politics
Pope Francis
January 23 UK politics
January 22 Chilcot inquiry
January 21 Page Three
January 20 Anti-semitism 
January 19 Religion and freedom
Charb
January 9 Charlie Hebdo
January 8 Charlie Hebdo
January 7 UK politics
January 6 UK politics
January 5 UK politics
For EI daily digests from June to December 2014 please click here
Merkel, Obama G7
June 10
Politics
June 9
Europe
June 8
Politics
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Sepp Blatter

June 5
Fifa
June 4
Politics
June 3
Charles Kennedy
June 2
British politics
June 1
Fifa
Picture
May 29
Fifa
May 28
The Queen's Speech
May 27
Europe
May 26
UK politics
labour leadership contenders
May 22
UK politics
May 21
UK politics
May 20
The Labour party
May 19
The NHS
May 18
UK politics
New Tory MPs
May 15
Ukip and Labour
May 14
The Labour party
May 13
The Labour party
May 12
UK politics
May 11
Scotland
ballot box
May 8
General election
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General election
May 6
General election
May 5
General election
Picture
May 1
General election
April 30
General election
April 29
General election
April 28
General election
April 27
General election
Sturgeon and Salmond
April 24
General election
April 23
General election
April 22
General election
April 21
Drowned refugees
April 20 
Scottish National Party
manifestos
April 17
General election
April 16
General election
April 15
General election
April 14
General election
April 13
General election
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