The Wardman Wire

Westminster Watch

Back to the Future: Part 3
Well so much for the low key reshuffle we had all been speculating about – and No.10 had been briefing the media with. As expected, Brown stuck with the big guns in Darling and Miliband, but no-one, no-one, predicted this. Nick Robinson has been saying the Tories were going back to [...]

Gordon Brown has said that he will raise the depositor protection level from £35k to £50k in the Banking Bill.  As Nick Robinson points out, this is neither in the Banking Bill nor Brown’s decision - it is being done by the FSA.  Is Brown trying to take credit where it is not due? Surely [...]

A hard act to follow
George Osborne had a hard act to follow after he stole the show with his inheritance tax announcement last year. As if to make things even harder, the government today announced the nationalisation of the Bradford and Bingley which is also vying for the news headlines. It does say [...]

Stage One complete: A success
The Tories are often, and unfairly sometimes, accused of having no policies. While they are thin on set in stone policies in many areas, it has often been very deliberate. The first stage in the Cameron plan was to “decontaminate” the brand – which he has been pretty successful at doing. [...]

Rumours are growing
It is expected that Gordon Brown will be shuffling the pack next week, and there are various rumours flying about as to who is in and who is out. We know he will be looking for a new Transport Secretary and it seems that the Geoff Hoon rumours at conference were founded [...]

So the Labour conference is well under way and so far no one has stepped out of line. It looks like that will be the order of the day. No party does unity better than the Labour party when is on show. Despite some horrendous polls, it has actually been quite a good week for [...]