Labour: a summary of old and new Labour policies

Gordon Brown, in a rather desperate last ditch bid to regain some ground on the Tories, announced a blizzard of specific policy announcements at conference this week.

The Guardian on Wednesday provided a summary. I am going to use this list to update my notes on whether Labour has abandoned its traditional principles.

Sunday roundup

The most informative articles from the weekend’s papers concern Gordon Brown.

AS last minute updates

I’m a Cabinet minister get me out of here!  She fell before she was pushed.  Is this the most desperate act in the dying days of the Labour government?  You decide!

AS revision: PM power

Ben Franklin is reported to have said that two things are certain in life, death and taxes.  We could add a further certainty: if a PM/Cab questions comes up in AS exams it will be the most popular response.  Here is a quick note about GB.

AS revision: Parliamentary scrutiny

In the run up to the exams, the Politics blog will seek to provide some help by uploading details of recent examples of political activity that can be used in the exam hall, or the odd revision note.

Here is a quick update on a story some of you may have noticed in the press, but may not have realised it is an important example of how Parliament can check the executive.

What does a spad do?

The Damian McBride affair has shed the spotlight on the murky world of special advisers.

Rawnsley again

This article will probably form the basis of my Media Monday session this week, unless I come across anything on the web between now and then.  Of course, students covering UK Issues or Ideologies at A2 will have loads to discuss on the recent attacks in Northern Ireland by Irish nationalists.

Rawnsley’s article is ostensibly about the Tory leader, but acts as a useful primer on PM/Cabinet relations during the Blair and Brown premierships. 

Gordon’s ‘depression’

Wag economists are inclined to say that the difference between a recession and a depression is that in the former your neighbour loses his job, in the latter you lose your job.  But it seems that Gordon is doing his best to put himself out of work by lurching into depression territory in what can only be described as a Freudian slip.