Meedja on the Insanity Pills

New G8 emissions plans sound gr8...

The G8 committee has revealed new plans to halve global emissions by 2050. BBC. David Miliband has denied reports that he wants to take Gordon Brown's job away from him. The Guardian. Boris Johnson has scrapped a controversial deal with Venezuela that was designed to fund cheap transport for Londoners.… read more…

Written by Oli Anderson on 26 May 2008 8:07 AM. Permalink

Ministry for Unedification

Chivalry is dead and Jack Straw killed it...

Chivalry is dead and Jack Straw killed it, according to Foreign Secretary David Miliband in a speech that he made on his recent trip to America. The comments came in reference to a 2006 incident which saw Straw, Miliband's predecessor, forcing Condoleezza Rice to sleep on the floor whilst he… read more…

Written by Oli Anderson on 23 May 2008 11:27 AM. Permalink

Meedja on the Insanity Pills

Crewe by-election gets classy...

The Crewe by-election has all the hallmarks of a class war as Labour take the 'toff' approach. The Times. The UK is seeking exemption from a proposed cluster bomb ban. BBC. David Miliband has denied rumours that he is to quit for a position with the EU. ePolitix. The government… read more…

Written by Oli Anderson on 19 May 2008 7:42 AM. Permalink

Meedja on the Insanity Pills

Brown bites back..

Gordon Brown has defended himself against party rebels. The Guardian. David Miliband has praised Pakistan's 'fragile' new government. BBC. The cost of the London 2012 Olympics has risen again. The Times. E-Politix. Chinese shares have become worth only half of what they were last October. BBC.… read more…

Written by Oli Anderson on 22 Apr 2008 7:44 AM. Permalink

Meedja on the Insanity Pills

Mps to watch their wallets..

MPs have called for tighter scrutiny of government spending. E-politix. David Miliband is to have a nice cup of tea and a chat about terrorism with the President of Pakistan. BBC. The Conservatives have proposed a £55 weekly payment for mothers to cover the cost of raising children. The Times.… read more…

Written by Oli Anderson on 21 Apr 2008 7:44 AM. Permalink

Ministry for Backbench Bitching

Stop Labour infighting, yells David Miliband

Everyone remembers the diplomatic kid at school. You know - the one who used to intervene whenever there was a playground fight, saying something like 'let's just all get along with each other', at which point all the other kids stopped scrapping with each other and turned on him… read more…

Written by C J Davies on 20 Apr 2008 10:06 PM. Permalink

All change please

Who's the next Labour leader?

Gordon Brown hasn't been having an easy time of late - he's had to put with up talk of an economic meltdown, persistent lagging in the opinion polls and all sorts of general indications that he might not be all that popular. And now it looks like his own… read more…

Written by C J Davies on 9 Apr 2008 12:34 AM. Permalink

Department for Tax and Spend

On the never-never

Defra, according to the National Audit office, can't set a budget: Over the last two years the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) approved an annual £3.8bn spending plan that was £230m more than the figure allocated by the Treasury to tackle green issues and pay farm subsidies.… read more…

Written by Lloyd Shepherd on 6 Mar 2008 8:09 AM. Permalink

Meedja on the Insanity Pills

Now, that's entertainment

Anne McElvoy in the Speccie today argues that we are about to be governed by, wait for it, The Jam Generation: What do David Cameron, David Miliband, Nick Clegg, Yvette Cooper, Michael Gove and (just about) George Osborne have in common? They are part of the Jam Generation: a powerful… read more…

Written by Lloyd Shepherd on 15 Feb 2008 8:30 AM. Permalink

News From The Big Tent

The A Team

Here comes the A Team. According to Times, Hannibal Brown is going to push some talented people into the spotlight: Mr Purnell, 37, Ed Balls, 40, his wife Yvette Cooper, 37, Mr Burnham 38, David Miliband 42, his brother Ed, 37, Ruth Kelly 39, and Douglas Alexander, 40, will be… read more…

Written by Lloyd Shepherd on 11 Feb 2008 9:10 AM. Permalink

Department for Expanding the British Museum

What would Dave do?

Reading through the Hansard transcript of last night's EU Treaty debate on TheyWorkForYou, a few things become clear. Firstly, the boy Miliband did a good job, on paper, of laying out what the Treaty is for and why it's different to the constitution. He even admitted (after nudging by Ken… read more…

Written by Lloyd Shepherd on 22 Jan 2008 9:23 AM. There are 2 comments so far. Permalink

Westmonster Media Club

Live! PMQs 12/12/2007

OK, here we go. It's getting close to Christmas, Brown's got to make a flit to Lisbon later today, and we can expect questions about that, about policy pay, about The Meaning of Life (aka, 42) and about the Children's Plan (assuming anyone's had time to read it yet). Usual… read more…

Written by Lloyd Shepherd on 12 Dec 2007 11:51 AM. Permalink

Ministry for Moules Frites

Last-minute flit to Lisbon

What on earth is happening with the EU Reform Treaty? We were told that the Gord wouldn't be attending the signing ceremony in Lisbon on Thursday because of a prior engagement with the Commons Liaison Committee, which shows either a: an admirable attachment to the forms of British government or… read more…

Written by Lloyd Shepherd on 11 Dec 2007 12:40 PM. Permalink

Department for Kite Flying

Mail tries Teddygate for size

Simon Walters in the Mail is claiming that Blair Stalking Horse (TM) David Miliband tried to stop Muslim peers rescuing the teddy bear teacher from a Sudanese jail. Gist of the story is that the Foreign Office didn't want to rock the boat and argued she was getting out in… read more…

Written by Lloyd Shepherd on 9 Dec 2007 11:45 AM. There are 1 comments so far. Permalink

Department for Silly Lists

Who Do You Think You Are Kidding Mr Cameron?

We've had quick squiz over what is loosely referred to here at Westmonster as our "reporting" over the past week, and have been shocked at the high volume of Government-in-the-brown-stuff style stories. Lest it be doubted - we believe that this administration is just the sort of very-British crack-squad that this country needs to… read more…

Written by Lloyd Shepherd on 22 Nov 2007 4:57 PM. There are 2 comments so far. Permalink

Department for Expanding the British Museum

Miliband: master of the double entendre?

Heh. An otherwise unremarkable Foreign Office Questions was livened up briefly by Miliband the Younger's response to a question as to whether the FCO anticipated Musharraf would still be in power in a few weeks hence.… read more…

Written by Lloyd Shepherd on 20 Nov 2007 2:24 PM. There are 4 comments so far. Permalink

Points, In Order

Icebergs and revolutions

BONG! Are the Eyebrows heading for a Northern Rock-shaped iceberg? Alistair Darling defended his role in the bank's ongoing ishoos, as "suitors" (as they are rather quaintly called) line up to shaft vigorously make their arguments for the fair lady's hand. BONG! Still, as Guido reported yesterday, it's not bad… read more…

Written by Lloyd Shepherd on 19 Nov 2007 5:38 PM. Permalink

That Was The Week That Was

In which bollocks were - comprehensively - dropped

Is being leader of the Opposition easy, we were asking last night in the pub? Yeah, we all know that being an MP is bloody hard work if you do it properly, and the higher you get, the more demands there are on you. So how has Davy Cameron made… read more…

Written by Lloyd Shepherd on 17 Nov 2007 10:02 AM. There are 1 comments so far. Permalink

While You Were Sleeping

News in brief: Westmonster on the road edition

Damp squib of the day: Miliband the Younger's Europe speech. Anybody else finding the tabloid habit of salaciously referring to a suspect in the Meredith Kercher murder as "Foxy Knoxy" - as if she's an actress in a porn movie - a little bizarre? Westmonster feels that this obsession with the… read more…

Written by Lloyd Shepherd on 16 Nov 2007 8:55 AM. Permalink

While You Were Sleeping

Trouble up t'Home Office

Poor Jacqui Smith's getting a bit of a drubbing in the papers this morning over the latest immigration scandal to hit the Home Office. The Telegraph takes her to task for failing to station pitchfork-wielding mobs on the white cliffs of Dover, the Independent takes a broad look at… read more…

Written by Lloyd Shepherd on 14 Nov 2007 8:15 AM. Permalink

Department of Kite Flying

Aitken: poacher turned gamekeeper

The big story this morning is that "disgraced former Cabinet Minister" (as the Guardian describes him) Jonathan Aitken has been asked by the Boy Cameron to lead a study on penal reform on behalf of the Centre for Social Justice, which advises the Conservatives on matters of policy. "Don't send… read more…

Written by Lloyd Shepherd on 11 Nov 2007 11:56 AM. Permalink

Gawd Bless Yer Ma'am

LIVE! Queen's Speech, 6/11/07

Well done Her Majesty! Didn't she read the list of legislation beautifully? Amongst everything else there will be legislation on the EU Reform Treaty, a Bill to keep da yoof in education, various stuff on climate change, reforms of the criminal justice system, a new Homes and Communities Agency is… read more…

Written by Lloyd Shepherd on 6 Nov 2007 11:58 AM. There are 2 comments so far. Permalink

That Was The Week That Was

Of Kings and knaves

Parliament went into prorogation on Tuesday, but that didn't mean it wasn't a week packed full of uproar beginning on Monday with the visit of King Abdullah and concluding when the verdict of the de Menezes shooting came in on Thursday and the backlash against Ian Blair started in earnest.… read more…

Written by Lloyd Shepherd on 3 Nov 2007 12:25 PM. Permalink

Department for Expanding the British Museum

Saudi Arabia: our shared values?

Westmonster cannot help but admire the grit of Saudi leader, King Abdullah. In spite of the news that whatshisname from the Liberal Democrats had refused to swap pleasantries with him over canapes, somehow His Highness has managed to summon up the inner-steel to carry on with his British visit in… read more…

Written by Lloyd Shepherd on 29 Oct 2007 4:57 PM. There are 3 comments so far. Permalink

While You Were Sleeping

LibDems spar, a nation yawns

"What I'm going to do is a little bit risky," says Nick Clegg of his strategy, in advance of the first major speech of his campaign. As this is Nicky, the mind fails to boggle. Michael Gove on Ming Campbell: great socks, crap policies. John Yates (of cash-for-honours fame) to… read more…

Written by Lloyd Shepherd on 23 Oct 2007 7:55 AM. Permalink

While You Were Sleeping

Global equality, knickers, and handpuppets

Westmonster is currently watching the bloke from YouGov trying to explain to whichever fruity blonde is doing the morning slot on News 24 that the results from yesterday's council by-elections cannot be extrapolated to give the Tories a lead, should a general election be called tomorrow. The poor pollster has… read more…

Written by Lloyd Shepherd on 28 Sep 2007 9:13 AM. Permalink

Points, In Order

Pre-Campbell insania

BONG! Westmonster is off to perv at listen to the musings of Alistair Campbell in an hour, so it's gonna be an early roundup, kids. Priorities and all, ya know? BONG! Spotted earlier was Labour MP Parmjit Dhanda wearing quite the loudest suit (maroon with brown tie) seen so far… read more…

Written by Lloyd Shepherd on 25 Sep 2007 4:59 PM. Permalink

News From The Big Tent

Isn't he the dreamiest?

Judging from the number of ladies-of-a-certain-age walking past the Westmonster pitch as Conference breaks for lunch, it would seem that young master Miliband has quite a following amongst the female delegates. Next time he has to make a speech like that, maybe he could liven it up by flirting with… read more…

Written by Lloyd Shepherd on 25 Sep 2007 12:55 PM. Permalink

While You Were Sleeping

Greetings from the land t'interweb forgot

Day two of the Labour Party Conference and the WiFi still isn't working. Anyone surprised? Anyone? Last night LBGT (which stands for "Les/Bi/Gay/Trans," fact fans) Labour held a reception at which the oft-heard female lament of "Where are all the decent men?" was comprehensively answered. Newly-selected PPC Stephen Twigg… read more…

Written by Lloyd Shepherd on 23 Sep 2007 12:05 PM. Permalink

Westmonster: “David Miliband”