Stephen Hodgson

Archive for the ‘National Politics’ Category

On Tuesday (8 June 2010), new Loughborough MP Nicky Morgan delivered her maiden speech in the House of Commons.

I have reproduced it here in full. (See original Hansard source).

Nicky Morgan (Loughborough) (Con): Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to make my maiden speech during this debate, which is addressing a critical part of the new Government’s future programme. I congratulate the previous speakers, particularly those who have made their maiden speech and set the bar very high for the rest of us.

It is an honour to speak as the first female Member of Parliament for the Loughborough constituency. I pay tribute to my two immediate predecessors. One, my right hon. Friend the Member for Charnwood (Mr Dorrell), is still a Member of the House. Unsurprisingly, I have been researching previous maiden speeches and it would appear that he made his maiden speech during the Budget debate following the 1979 election. Little did he think that one of his successors, 31 years later, would be speaking as the Conservatives were preparing another emergency Budget after a change of Government.

My immediate predecessor, Andy Reed, worked tirelessly for his constituents following his election in 1997. He was respected as a man of principle and resigned as a Parliamentary Private Secretary over the Iraq war. He was a committed Christian and-I hope that he will not mind my saying this-a well known sports fanatic. Several Members on the Government Benches have already asked me whether I am going to take his place on the parliamentary rugby team. For the record, the answer is no. I hope that I will be able to serve the people in the Loughborough constituency as well as he did.

Loughborough is a wonderful mix. It sits, as my two immediate predecessors said in their maiden speeches, between Nottingham, Derby and Leicester, and that has clearly not changed. Loughborough is a town of about 50,000 people but it expands by 12,000 or so during term times thanks to our world-famous university, which is back on the map, as the football to be used at the forthcoming World cup was designed there.

Just across the M1 is the town of Shepshed, which, as I have discovered since the beginning of my candidacy six years ago, feels ignored by every tier of government. I hope that I will be able to put that right during my time as its Member of Parliament.

Finally, a number of smaller villages make up the constituency, including Hathern, Sileby, Quorn, Barrow upon Soar, Mountsorrel Castle, and some picturesque Wolds villages. The fact that I have villages in my constituency raises interesting rural issues that I hope to be able to take further forward in the House.

We have a sizeable ethnic community, and it has been my pleasure, in my six years as a candidate in the constituency, to meet and learn more about them, and to visit the Shree Ram Krishna centre, the gurdwara, the Geeta Bhawan and our two mosques.

At one time, Loughborough was renowned for its textiles and hosiery manufacturing. Now, we are known for pharmaceuticals, research and engineering, and for manufacturing bells-Taylor’s is one of the last remaining bell foundries in the country. The bells have been exported worldwide, and even hang in St Paul’s cathedral here in London.

I want to touch on the importance of supporting the manufacturing sector, as other Members have done. Much has already been said-and, I am sure, will continue to be said-about spending cuts and tax rises, but more needs to be said about supporting private sector businesses, which are the backbone of our economy. We rely on our private sector businesses to provide employment, to train apprentices, to give people skills and, of course, to supply exports.

In March in Loughborough, just before the election campaign started, we received the devastating news that AstraZeneca is to close its Charnwood site, with the loss of at least 1,200 jobs locally. I hope that I will have the opportunity in future debates to raise a number of issues relating to the closure. I am proud to be part of the taskforce, of which my predecessor Andy Reed was a vital part, that is working to fill the site and plug the gap. I hope that we will end up not with a black hole in the middle of Charnwood, but with a site that new businesses and many other industries can use, so that we can still have a full manufacturing sector in the town.

We need to support strong manufacturing businesses, particularly with regard to research and development. Although manufacturing accounts for only about 20% of our economy, it accounts for about 75% of research and development in this country. The services sector is important, but manufacturers take on apprentices and give people new skills in a way that the services sector does not necessarily do so. We need both. I am delighted to see that, in the coalition agreement, the Government mentioned the need for a more balanced economy; in fact, that was mentioned earlier today, too.

With a background as a solicitor advising companies large and small on raising finance both in the City of London and outside, I hope that I will be able to use my time in the House to ensure that we have a truly business-friendly environment in Britain. That would be good for my constituents, for Loughborough, for the east midlands, for Leicestershire and for the country. I hope that we can replace the jobs that have been lost, and can ensure a burgeoning manufacturing sector by the time that this Government leave office.

Iain Martin of the Wall Street Journal provides one of the best summaries of Gordon Brown’s non-resignation speech that I’ve read.

Iain writes:

It was classic Brown. He laid out the terms on which the rules allowed him to remain in office. He accepted that Cameron and Clegg were talking, but said he was on hand if it didn’t work out.Other than that he was mostly getting on with the job, as usual.

It all sounded rather self-centred, despite it including an appeal to the national interest. If there was a reference to colleagues with seats lost or voters feeling let down by him and his party then I missed it. Even his biggest supporters admit that as so often with the PM it’s all about Gordon. In this manner he waxed and waned on what he was doing today. That seemed to involve him being important, and telephoning other important people. Let’s say there was not much emotional intelligence on display or recognition of his situation.

It was a study in a certain kind of stubborness and disinclination to confront cold hard truth. He could have acknowledged defeat, accepted it and subtly prepared the ground for his inevitable exit.

Is Brown likely to be PM in ten days? Surely knowing the answer is no, Brown’s priority should have been to manage a dignified retreat.

Iain goes on to provide an alternative speech that would have allowed Gordon Brown to resign with dignity.

Brown is shamefully desperately clinging on when it is clear voters have rejected him. The BBC is even reporting that Gordon Brown made an abusive phone call to Nick Clegg last night:

Liberal Democrat sources have told the BBC’s Jon Sopel that Gordon Brown delivered a diatribe laced with threats when he spoke to Nick Clegg last night by phone. It was in sharp contrast to the respectful and constructive talk between David Cameron and Mr Clegg, they added.

It’s about time Gordon Brown actually acted in the national interest, rather than just paying lip service to it. That starts with him clearing the way for a new prime minister.

A powerful short film looking at New Labour’s record in government.

The final Conservative election broadcast of the General Election campaign is a positive and optimistic message about change and the Contract between the Conservative Party and voters.

The Conservative Contract says that if you elect a Conservative government on 6 May, the Conservatives will:

Change politics

• Give you the right to sack your MP
• Cut the number of MPs by 10 per cent
• Cut ministers’ pay by five per cent
• Give local communities the power to take charge of the local planning system
• Make government transparent

Change the economy

• Cut wasteful government spending
• Act now on the national debt
• Reduce emissions and build a greener economy
• Get Britain working by giving unemployed people support to get work
• Control immigration

Change society

• Increase spending on health every year, while cutting waste in the NHS
• Support families
• Raise standards in schools
• Increase the basic state pension
• Fight back against crime
• Create National Citizen Service for every 16 year old

Read the contract in full at Conservatives.com.

Since the General Election was announced on 6 April 2010 there has been a significant increase in traffic to this blog driven by Google searches for ‘andy reed expenses’ and ‘andy reed mp expenses’. It seems voters in the Loughborough constituency are keen to familiarise themselves with the expenses of the former Loughborough MP – the current Labour candidate – Andy Reed – before deciding how to vote.

For those interested in a whistle-stop tour of Andy Reed’s expenses claims, the following links should prove helpful:

Analysis of Andy Reed MP’s expenses (18 June 2009)
Shameless Andy Reed should repay expenses (13 December 2009)
Andy Reed’s “Simplify” Challenge – Expenses Edition (1 January 2010)
Andy Reed told to repay £900 expenses but instead keeps digging (4 February 2010)

Andy Reed was deeply involved in the expenses scandal and he enriched himself at taxpayers’ expense. He took full advantage of the expenses system and he was even ordered to repay £900. If Mr Reed isn’t re-elected on 6 May 2010 he will no doubt then sell his taxpayer-funded Westminster second home and pocket the profit like so many other MPs have done in the past.

Loughborough needs a new MP – someone who hasn’t become part of the Westminster system and someone who hasn’t been embroiled in the expenses scandal. In short, Loughborough needs to vote for change on 6 May!

On Tuesday evening (20 April 2010) I was involved in running a careers workshop at Hind Leys College in Shepshed organised by Loughborough’s Conservative candidate Nicky Morgan. The workshop was a great success with a number of people, mostly aged 14-16, attending the two-hour event to learn more about CVs, covering letters, confidence and interview technique – all essential elements of finding a job and especially important in the current economic climate. Attendees also learned about starting a business.

The day after the workshop (21 April 2010) the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released the latest unemployment figures. The latest information shows that in the three months to February 2010 unemployment rose to 2.5 million people. The two worst hit regions in the UK were Yorkshire and the Humber and the East Midlands (see this article from BBC News).

The number of ‘economically inactive’ people (those not in work and not seeking work) in the UK is now a record 8.16 million people, or 21.5 percent of the population! We can’t go on like this. We need government policies that will encourage job creation and get people back into work such as Conservative plans to increase training opportunities, to encourage new business start-ups through Business Clubs, to help equip people with skills through Work Clubs and to make it easier for employers to take on new staff by cutting red tape and scrapping Labour’s National Insurance jobs tax.

I am delighted that in Loughborough and surrounding areas Conservatives are already working to try to help people into work. Conservative candidate Nicky Morgan has launched a Business Club to help small businesses and in the last six months she has organised two highly successful careers workshops, including the workshop in Shepshed last Tuesday. But there is much more to do – we now need to elect a strong Conservative government to embed Conservative support for job creation in national policies and to get Britain on a jobs-driven path to economic recovery.

The above image shows the Conservative Party’s latest billboard campaign highlighting Conservative policies for a new welfare contract to end benefits abuse and get people back to work.

David Cameron said yesterday:

We’re going to change the whole way welfare is done in this country so everyone takes responsibility and plays their part. This is our new welfare contract: do the right thing and we will back you all the way. But fail to take responsibility – and the free ride is over.

Conservative plans for benefits include:

• * cut the benefits of anyone on Jobseeker’s Allowance who refuses to join a new Work Programme;
• * cut the benefits of anyone who refuses to take up reasonable job offers;
• * cut benefits for up to three years for anyone caught repeatedly committing benefit fraud;
• * reassess all current claimants of incapacity benefit – if you are fit for work then you will be transferred onto JSA; and
• * require long-term benefit claimants who fail to find work to ‘work for the dole’ on community work programmes.

The Conservatives will introduce a new Work Programme, which will:

• * make sure you get help as soon as you need it – straight away for those really struggling to find work, and after six months if you’re less than 25 years old;
• * help you start your own business by giving you access to a business mentor and start-up loans;
• * create a range of business-led training places to get you started on the road to employment, with 50,000 places in the hospitality and leisure industry to begin with;
• * give you somewhere to go during the day – Work Clubs – so you can learn skills, find opportunities, make useful contacts and provide other people with support;
• * if you’re under the age of 25, provide a huge range of extra training opportunities – 400,000 apprenticeship, training and college places over two years; and
• * pay back-to-work providers in full only if they get you into work for a year or more.

A Conservative government will tear up the old ways of dealing with worklessness, which has got worse under Labour.

Read more about the Conservative Party’s new welfare contract.

Today is Budget day and a key milestone before the General Election.

Yesterday Conservative Party chairman Eric Pickles announced that he wants the public to help wade through the detail of the Budget in a “crowdsourcing” initiative – a ‘many hands make light work’ approach via the Internet.

Eric Pickles writes:

Tomorrow we have what will hopefully be this Government’s last ever Budget. We all know what Labour’s Budgets are like by now – they’ll go for the headlines with a giveaway of glittering goodies, whilst stashing away all the nasty stuff into the small print.

Wading through all this small print ourselves is a huge job. This year we’ve decided to do something a bit different – we’re going to crowdsource our response to the Budget. Once the Budget’s out, we’ll publish it in a simple format as soon as possible so you can have a good dig into it. The Treasury has hundreds of civil servants working on all this and there’s no way we can match their resources – so it’s important for as many of you as possible to lend a hand in analysing the detail.

All you have to do is log on to Conservatives.com tomorrow afternoon, have a look, and start picking out anything that might be misleading or hidden away. Together, we can make sure we hold this Government to account over its economic incompetence.

As someone who works in both politics and in tax, Budget day is always an event for me and this initiative will make today even more interesting than usual, as well as speeding up the process of spotting the small print and hidden tax rises.

Earlier this week I wrote about the big role that the Unite union is playing campaigning for Labour in marginal constituencies like Loughborough. Unite is behind the British Airways strikes that started today and the Conservatives have now launched a national campaign highlighting Gordon Brown’s inaction on the BA strikes and Labour’s financial dependence on the Unite union.

Cash-Gordon.com is an Internet campaign to encourage people to spread the word about Unite’s close links with the Labour Party and the role of Unite’s political director Charlie Whelan in both organising the strikes and organising the Labour Party.

The Cash-Gordon.com campaign background is described as follows:

One of the great untold stories of British politics is how Unite has taken advantage of Labour’s near bankruptcy and the departure of Tony Blair to gain an unprecedented grip on the party.

This campaign uses Facebook Connect to empower you to spread the word to your friends. You will earn action points as you go along, so you can track your progress. See the big number above to see how many we have all earned together, and the table below to see your current ranking.

Unite is Britain’s biggest trade union, and is currently the organising highly damaging strikes at British Airways.

Under the political direction of Charlie Whelan, Unite is using its financial and organisation muscle to drive government policy and build a Labour Party very different to the one that appealed to Middle England and won three general elections. Instead, with Gordon Brown as leader, there has been a reversal of much-needed public service reforms, a return to industrial militancy and a regression into atavistic class war rhetoric.

…

Strikes and other forms of industrial action are on the increase yet senior Cabinet ministers seem reluctant to act. Unite is preparing to cripple British Airways, but it took several days for any minister to speak out. It was only after Lord Adonis, one of the few remaining Blairites in government, condemned Unite that other ministers, including Gordon Brown, made criticisms of the proposed strike. The fact remains that Labour is still propped up by the strikers’ money.

…

The facts about Unite’s increasing domination should be in the public domain. The British people are entitled to know what kind of government they will get if they vote Labour. That’s why we’ve launched this Facebook campaign – so that together we can make sure people know the truth.

This in an innovative and necessary campaign and it’s important that people appreciate the close links between Unite and Labour candidates in marginal constituencies like Loughborough.

The union behind the British Airways Easter strike, Unite, has been revealed to be actively involved in campaigning for Labour in marginal constituencies like Loughborough. The Telegraph reports that a leaked memo written last month by Unite’s political director and former spin doctor Charlie Whelan reveals Unite’s role in marginal constituencies:

In the leaked memo Mr Whelan confirms: “We’ve been in touch for the last year or so with Unite members in the key parliamentary marginals. We’ve asked them their voting intentions and what issues matters to them.

“That has led to a dialogue to firm up Labour support.”

…

George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, told the Daily Telegraph that Mr Brown should immediately stop taking money from Unite.

He said: “This is a test of Gordon Brown and he is ducking that test. You cannot on the one hand condemn the [British Airways] strike while at the same time accepting money from the union orchestrating it.

“The Unite union is becoming a party within a party. It is selecting candidates and running the campaign in the marginal seats.

“Its political director has open pass to Downing Street and, as this email shows, he is directing Labour’s campaign and boasting about it.”

In separate news today, Conservative shadow cabinet minister Michael Gove gave a speech setting out how dependent the Labour Party is on the Unite union.

Michael Gove said:

There can be few more powerful forces of conservatism opposed to the flexibility, freedom and choice of the post-bureaucratic age than the Whelanist Tendency now in control of the Labour party.

Labour’s re-unionisation has put them in bed with the past at a time when it is crucial that this country wakes up to the future.

…the last thing we need is a political system where genuine participation in democracy is out-muscled by union power.

This election will decide the future of this country and Labour represents a move backwards, not forwards.

Unite has given the Labour Party £11m since 2007. In the six years prior to that, Unite’s constituent unions, Amicus and the TGWU, gave £15m to the Labour Party. The Labour Party has received absolutely vast sums of money from these unions and there can be no doubt the unions have increasing influence over Labour Party policy and, according to latest leaked memo, over Labour Party campaign strategy in marginal constituencies like Loughborough.

Voting for Labour is now intrinsically linked with support for the big public sector unions like Unite. It’s difficult to believe that just weeks before the election Unite plans to disrupt the Easter holiday plans of thousands of people with the British Airways strike.

I wonder whether voters will be willing to support Labour knowing of the party’s increasingly close links with (and financial dependence on) unions keen to organise militant strike action, especially when the UK economy has only just barely got out of recession. Loughborough’s Labour MP, Andy Reed, is, of course, a union-man himself – a member and former delegate of public sector union UNISON – so the role of unions in the Loughborough campaign is already established.

The BBC reports that the EU’s European Commission is now warning about the size of the UK’s budget deficit:

The government’s plans for reducing the budget deficit are not ambitious enough – according to a European Commission report to be published on Wednesday.

The report warns that the UK is not on course to cut its deficit in line with EU rules by a deadline of 2015.

Those rules say deficits must be below 3% of GDP, but the UK’s is expected to hit £178bn – 12.6% of GDP – this year.

In a separate article the BBC says the Conservatives are poised to reveal what cuts they will make if elected:

The Conservatives are preparing to outline spending cuts they would make in this financial year if they are elected, the BBC has been told.

BBC political editor Nick Robinson said the party was waiting for next week’s Budget before unveiling more details.

Earlier shadow chancellor George Osborne called the PM “dishonest” over the need for urgent spending cuts.

…

Mr Osborne added: “I think the central point we have to understand here is that the debt is holding back the British recovery, and unless we get confidence into the British recovery – and that comes from dealing with our debts – then we will not be creating the jobs that we all want to see.”

The UK national debt and the annual overspend (the deficit) are at record levels – dangerous levels. The UK is edging closer to losing its AAA rating on government debt. The unsustainable public debt is now risking a double-dip recession and holding back the recovery of the UK economy. The UK was the last major economy to leave recession at the end of last year. If the current government approach of spend, spend, spend continues we will probably see the Bank of England printing more money, inflation shooting up (it’s already now at 3.5 – 3.7 percent – well above the government’s target of 2.0 percent) and ever higher interest rates.

Public sector union UNISON recently produced a scare-video saying that if spending cuts are made then 999 calls will go unanswered and bins will go uncollected. The truth is that the government routinely wastes money and it is quite feasible to cut spending and secure the recovery without affecting the quality or level of frontline services. The TaxPayers’ Alliance have produced a rebuttal of the UNISON scare-video:

It will be interesting to see what next week’s budget brings and I look forward to seeing George Osborne set out some of his plans for if the Conservatives win the General Election and he becomes the next chancellor.

Charnwood Borough Council has covened an action group which will meet for the first time this Friday to discuss the consequences of the decision to close the AstraZeneca Charnwood facilitiy in Loughborough and to agree ways to support the staff and plan for the future use of the AstraZeneca site. Local organisations involved in the action group include Leicestershire County Council, Loughborough Town Centre Partnership, Loughborough University, Loughborough Chamber of Trade and Commerce, Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce and Prospect Leicestershire. AstraZeneca has also been invited to join the action group.

The Leader of Charnwood Borough Council, Councillor Mike Preston, has said:

We are moving as quickly as we can to see what we can do in terms of reducing the impact of that blow as much as possible.

It is early days but I think it is important everyone works together to address this now.

Prospective Conservative MP for Loughborough Nicky Morgan has said:

This will be a huge shock for staff and their families and very difficult news to take on board. The company must do all it can to support them and to ensure staff are given the option of working for the company elsewhere in the UK and overseas, if they want to pursue that option.

It has always been important to Loughborough to have such a large company based locally and to lose the site now is extremely bad news for our town and local area. I hope to be discussing this matter with the company as soon as practicable.

Meanwhile Loughborough MP Andy Reed raised the issue in the House of Commons this afternoon:

Mr. Andy Reed (Loughborough) (Lab/Co-op): AstraZeneca in my constituency has decided to relocate its research and development facilities to Cheshire, which will cause 1,200 jobs to be lost to the local economy in 2011. Overall, pharmaceuticals are strong in the United Kingdom, and the Office for Life Sciences has ensured that many such jobs remain in the UK. However, that is no consolation to the 1,200 people who will have to relocate from my constituency, so will my right hon. and learned Friend assure me that the Government will give every assistance to the taskforce that we will set up this week to address the situation and ensure that there is economic and development help for the constituency of Loughborough and the people who will be affected?

Ms Harman: I can give my hon. Friend that assurance. We do not believe in standing by, letting people fend for themselves, letting recession take it course, or that unemployment is a price worth paying. We have an active interventionist policy to support industry, including in the regions, which would suffer if the regional development agencies were abolished, as proposed by the Conservatives.

Unfortunately people in Loughborough can take little assurance from Harriet Harman’s reply in the Commons. Instead of giving a serious answer to a serious question and offering an actual government commitment to help people in Loughborough, Ms Harman instead used the question as an opportunity to make partisan political comments about the Conservatives.

People in Loughborough want to know how the Labour government will help, not what Ms Harman thinks of Conservative Party policy on the economy. Perhaps Ms Harman doesn’t appreciate that there are 1,200 jobs at stake, 1,200 families directly affected and an entire town, borough and county that will feel the effects of the closure of AstraZeneca’s Loughborough site.

Loughborough MP Andy Reed should be furious that Harriet Harman used his question as a cheap opportunity to attack the Conservatives.

Hopefully the meeting of the action group this Friday will produce positive ideas and plans to help those directly affected by the closure of the AstraZeneca facility and to mitigate the effects of the closure on the local economy.

There has been a lot of bleating in the last few days by Labour politicians about the role of Conservative Party Deputy Chairman Lord Ashcroft in financing the Conservative campaign since he revealed that he is a ‘non dom’ (someone who doesn’t pay UK tax on overseas earnings because of overseas heritage). Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, has even said that the idea of a non dom donating money to British politics is ‘unpatriotic‘. All this despite the Labour Party being far more reliant on non dom donors than the Conservative Party. Labour’s high-rolling non dom donors include Lord Paul, Lakshmi Mittal, Sir Ronald Cohen, Sir Christopher Ondaatje, Sir Gulam Noon, Mahmoud Khayami and Dr David Potter. Since 2001 Labour have received £10m of donations from wealthy non doms. In the same period, the Conservatives have received £5m from Lord Ashcroft.

Between 2001 and 2008 wealthy Labour non dom Lord Paul claimed £281,000 in Lords expenses. During that time Lord Ashcroft didn’t claim a penny in Lords expenses (regardless of the fact he attended the Lords).

Labour politicians would have the public believe that Lord Ashcroft has untold power and influence over the Conservative Party, especially in marginal seats like Loughborough. Loughborough MP Andy Reed has repeatedly said that Lord Ashcroft has a big influence in Loughborough (in fact, he said it again just yesterday). Last year Andy Reed even accused one local Conservative prospective MP – Ross Grant in Leicester South – of ‘laundering’ money on behalf of Lord Ashcroft!

The truth of campaign funding in Loughborough was revealed in an article in Saturday’s Independent (27 February 2010, published online in part).

The Independent revealed that just 18 percent of money spent by the Conservatives in marginal seats is funded by Lord Ashcroft, with the other 82 percent being money raised locally.

The Independent print edition even lists local party spending for the years 2007 and 2008 (combined) across the 55 most marginal seats in the country. The Independent’s findings in relation to Loughborough are as follows:

Loughborough Conservatives Total Income: £45,676
of which donations from Lord Ashcroft: £11,778

Loughborough Labour Total Income: £51,430

Loughborough MP Andy Reed also claims the Parliamentary ‘Communications Allowance’ expense. He has claimed an average of £9,348 of the £10,000 annual allowance producing and distributing his annual report. The cost of the local Conservative candidate’s annual report has to come out of general donations. That puts like-for-like spending for the time period examined by the Independent at:

Loughborough Conservatives: £45,676

Loughborough Labour: £60,778 – £70,126*

* A range is given because the Communications Allowance was not introduced until the 2007/2008 financial year

Labour politicians can complain all they like about Lord Ashcroft’s money but the Labour Party receives more non dom money than the Conservative Party and, in Loughborough, the local Labour Party has, on a like-for-like basis, outspent the local Conservative Party by as much as 53 percent. This must make Labour’s repeated local election defeats in Leicestershire even more frustrating and bitter.

David Cameron has said that if the Conservatives are elected they will change the law so that all politicians sitting in the House of Commons and the House of Lords must pay full UK tax. Gordon Brown hasn’t made any similar promise. The Conservatives have also pledged to scrap the ‘Communications Allowance’ which allows sitting MPs to produce and distribute literature at taxpayers’ expense.

Loughborough MP Andy Reed faced criticism from Twitter users yesterday after using a church sermon to launch a Twitter-based attack on Conservative leader David Cameron.

On Sunday, practising Christian Andy Reed tweeted:

Luke 6 v 27 Love your enemies was today’s sermon. Is God testing my resolve with David Cameron?! Where do I look to love anything about him?

Andy Reed’s attack was described by Conservative Twitter users as ‘mean‘, ‘nasty‘ and ‘excessively tribal‘.

The latest YouGov Daily Poll, published this evening, shows the following results:

Conservatives: 39 percent (+2)
Labour: 32 percent (-3)
Lib Dems: 17 percent (nc)

This seems to confirm that the YouGov poll over the weekend which showed the Conservative lead had narrowed to just two points was a ‘blip’. There is always a margin of error with polling and some political watchers suggest the margin of error can be as much as 4 points. Polls are useful as a way of monitoring trends but politicians and commentators mostly know to avoid reading too much into any one poll. Tonight’s YouGov results show that last weekend’s dip in the Conservative lead was well within the margin of error and more likely to be a polling blip than a real long-term movement in support towards Labour.