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Month: March 2012

What’s the #grannytax saga done to George’s leadership chances?

What’s the #grannytax saga done to George’s leadership chances?

Betfair Politics Is he still a worthy favourite? George Osborne remains the favourite to be Cameron’s replacement but I just wonder how much damage this will do to his leadership ambitions? Today’s rushed commons statement by the home secretary on alcohol pricing, something that almost never happens on Fridays, is an indication of how much trouble the government spin machine thing they are in. Clearly the hope is that the narrative will move on. But just looking at the front…

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Six reasons why the Lib Dems shouldn’t be written off

Six reasons why the Lib Dems shouldn’t be written off

Antifrank on why prospective 2015 losses are being overstated 1. The Lib Dems won’t fight a national general election The Lib Dems, unlike the Conservatives and Labour, will not seriously be trying to win a general election. They will be trying to hold their current seats (or if polling improves, get a few extra). They’re going to be fighting seriously in 100 or so seats. On current polling, that number may halve. Seats which get disproportionate effort are going to…

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Concern about petrol prices rises sharply in the MORI issues index

Concern about petrol prices rises sharply in the MORI issues index

Ipsos-MORI Should George have blocked the coming duty increase? Forget the granny tax and the 45p tax rate is the biggest threat to the coalition popularity at the moment the increasing cost of petrol and diesel. The MORI issues index for March is just out and shows a sharp rising in the proportion sample raising the price of a litre. As the chart shows it’s up by more than double to 13% in this monthly face-to-face survey where, uniquely, interviewees…

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Will the 45p make Brand Tory more or less toxic?

Will the 45p make Brand Tory more or less toxic?

What’ll it do to Dave/George’s majority goal? In a recent Indy column Mary Ann Sieghart reported on how Tory head of strategy, Andrew Cooper, is saying that about 10 per cent of voters agree with Cameron on the deficit, think Dave is a strong and fair PM, but don’t like his party and aren’t inclined to vote for it. Sieghart went on: “..These voters still see the Tories as callous, out of touch, the party of the rich, and obsessed…

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Ed and Nick get closer to Dave in MORI’s leader ratings

Ed and Nick get closer to Dave in MORI’s leader ratings

Why the improvements for Miliband and Clegg? The focus on the budget in the past couple of days has over-shadowed the latest Ipsos-MORI poll with its all important leader ratings. These have been part of the firm’s polling for 37 years and the firm remains the only non-online pollster that asks this on monthly basis. The question is framed as – are you satisfied or dissatisfied?. The latest numbers show the best ratings for Ed Miliband since last last summer…

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Is the pensioners’ tax Osborne’s biggest gamble?

Is the pensioners’ tax Osborne’s biggest gamble?

Why’s he hitting those most likely to vote Tory? Lots to digest from the Osborne budget and the item that I’m most surprised to see is the phasing out of pensioners tax allowances. Eh? These are are people who played a key part in getting rid of Labour ar the last general election. They are the most blue-inclined segment of the electorate, and they are most likely to be on the register and to vote. Also many have been hit…

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