Breaking the North/South divide

Political Editor Phil Hornby blogs from Parliament

The north/south divide just got bigger.

Some of the cafes and restaurants in the Palace of Westminster are promising a special menu next week to celebrate food and drink from the South of England.

This hasn't gone down well with MPs from the north and the midlands, who are demanding similar weeks to celbrate their own regions' cuisine.

Black pudding and faggots? Can't wait.

So far, the south of England week seems to consist of just one meal: lobster, cooked in lemon, with a glass of English white wine thrown in. Price: 20 quid.

I'm not sure how many takers there will be, and I am not sure how representative of the south that meal is. Maybe they'll come up with some more recipes before the great week begins.

I'll keep you posted.

Libs Dems struggle for the limelight

Politcal Producer Ben Burton blogs from Parliament

Many Liberal Democrats complain that their party doesn’t get a fair share of coverage in the media. In our part of the world in particular - whilst they only hold a handful of seats - they do have a substantial number of voters and believe they deserve more attention.

But with all of Gordon’s trouble leader Nick Clegg (pictured right) isn’t leading the TV bulletins and all eyes are on Crewe and Nantwich. The ever growing consensus is that the Tories will finally win a by-election in a seat they don’t already hold, their first gain from Labour in 30 years.

Normally the Lib Dems cause a storm when a by-election is called and few would write them off. But this time around thanks to the Tories things don’t look so good and the Lib Dems might be wise to not go courting any more publicity.

They’ve imposed a candidate on the association there and are still hoping that they can mop up all those voters fed up with Labour and some that can’t bring themselves to vote for the Tories.

But things don’t look good.

David Cameron’s Conservatives appear to be running away with things and Britain’s third party could be left with a very small share of the vote.

Nick Clegg hasn’t had the best of times since he took the top job. This contest could prove a major test for the young leader and if it’s a bad result he won’t want to be answering too many questions.

If their poll ratings don’t improve (they went down in overall vote share in the local elections at the beginning of the month) even former leadership contender Chris Huhne could be seriously worried about his future employment.

His majority in Eastleigh is less than 600 hundred!

Gordon Brown on the FA Cup

Political Editor Phil Hornby blogs from Parliament

Gordon Brown held his monthly news conference at Downing Street today. There were lots of questions about 10p tax, the credit crunch, his future as Prime Minister…

And then a journalist from Wales popped up to ask him if he was going to wish Cardiff City luck in the Cup Final. “You’re a Raith Rovers fan,” the questioner reminded him. “So will you be cheering for the underdogs on Saturday?”

Now, Mr Brown is too canny to fall for that one. Sure, he’s sometimes accused of dithering, and of not being able to make his mind up – but this time, his indecision was completely understandable.

There are of course lots of votes in Cardiff – but there are two important parliamentary seats in Portsmouth, including Portsmouth North which is a marginal Labour seat.

So, in a diplomatic triumph, the Prime Minister said he was looking forward to watching the Final, was sure it would be a terrific match….and wished both teams well.

Political memoirs pack punches

Political Correspondent Sally Biddulph blogs from Parliament


Another day, another memoir….there has been quite a run on them of late in Westminster. We’ve got the former Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott’s: “Prezza: Pulling no Punches”, Cherie Blair’s “Speaking for Myself” and Labour’s former chief Fundraiser and Tony Blair’s tennis buddy, Lord Levy’s “A Question of Honour” – all released within a week of one another and all making uncomfortable reading for a wounded Prime Minister.

All of them talk about the stormy relationship between Gordon Brown, then Chancellor, and the former Prime Minister, Tony Blair. We’ve heard about the keys to Number 10 being rattled above Tony Blair’s head from Cherie, "Prezza" saying he told Tony Blair to sack Gordon Brown and Lord Levy saying he felt let down by both Number 10 and Number 11 during the “Cash for Honours” investigation. The PM has said he won’t be swayed by such memoirs and is getting down to the “serious business of politics” and running the country. He may have decided to turn his attentions to fixing the 10p tax fiasco, but journalists’ bags up here are weighed down with the three tomes, as we all search for that next nugget of intrigue. With serialisations in major newspapers, there’ll be more revelations to come.

I actually bumped into Lord Levy yesterday in Millbank, our Westminster Studios, and said to him I had bought his book. He shook my hand firmly, looked me straight in the eyes, pulled me close and kissed me on both cheeks and said “how marvellous my dear!”. I have never met this man before and was quite taken aback by his sheer exuberance. He went on to say “do tell me what you think, even if you think it’s total rubbish (he actually used a far more emphatic word, which we can’t print here) drop me a line at the Lords”

And as a final thought, at a press lunch on Tuesday, the Tory leader and Witney MP, David Cameron, was asked, “whose memoir would you fear most and why?”. Without hesitation he said, “My wife, Samantha’s!” An instinctive answer perhaps and one that left me wondering if it was a veiled warning to Tony Blair about Cherie’s!

MP John Denham rallies troubled Labour

Political Producer Ben Burton blogs from Parliament

It’s no secret that the vast majority of Labour MPs in the South and South-East are a tad concerned about holding on to their jobs.

And it’s made even more unpleasant when they see poll ratings as bad as those which have dominated the weekend’s papers. Many of them are on such small majorities that it only needs a small swing to the Tories for them to be quickly adding to the unemployment figures after polling day.

However one of the region’s more experienced campaigners believes that Labour aren’t yet finished. Not for the first time John Denham MP (Southampton Itchen and pictured right) has returned to his “Southern Comfort” theme.

And Mr Denham can certainly draw a crowd. A large meeting room in Portcullis House – the modern extension to Parliament, built above Westminster tube station – was packed to hear his message: Labour can still win in the South. If they don’t, he said, there’s no way they’ll stay in power. It would be close to impossible for Labour to form a majority at the next General Election without a decent clutch of seats from our part of the world.

As the only Cabinet member with a seat in the South he highlights issues like Inheritance Tax and housing as part of the key to bringing the undecided voters back on board as David Cameron’s Conservatives continue breathing down their necks. Many Labour party members from across our region travelled to London to hear what the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills had to say but one subject was surprisingly absent. Despite his recent troubles no one at the meeting wanted to point the finger of blame at the Prime Minister.

Now, the thought of anyone actually trying to kick Gordon Brown out of Number 10 still looks unlikely. But many MPs know that, regardless of policies and ideas, the PM will be an enormous factor - good or bad - when a General Election does come around.

John Denham has called on his party to do more to understand hard working people in the South and South-East who feel they’re being ignored and he says Labour must develop a clearer vision.
The Southampton MP is highly respected in Westminster. His principled resignation from the Blair government over Iraq won him many admirers. His ideas will get a broad audience.

But the government’s problems over the 10 pence tax debacle still rumble on and not for the first time a by-election could set the political weather for months to come. Voters go to the polls in Crewe & Nantwich in ten days time. A 10 per cent swing to the Tories would give them an historic victory and if repeated come a General Election would see almost every Labour seat in the South and South-East turn blue.

You can watch the latest political reports, comments and analysis on ITV Local

Morale low as Labour return to work

Political Editor Phil Hornby blogs from Parliament

MPs are back at Westminster after the long weekend. And what a long, long weekend it's been for Labour MPs from the south and southeast.

Almost all of them know they are staring down the barrel. Last week's local election results were so bad, and morale in the party is so low.

Conversations I have had with some of them today suggest they weren't cheered up by the Gordon Brown's weekend TV appearances.

To watch a Prime Minister sit in TV studios and be accused of being 'strange' and having a cabinet full of 'youngsters and pygmies' didn't do much to reassure them about their party's prospects.

Tory MPs on the other hand just can't stop smiling in the Westminster sunshine. Many of them will be heading north in the next few weeks, to help out in the Crewe and Nantwich by-election, which has taken on huge importance in the past few days. If the Tories win there, the pro-Cameron momentum will feel unstoppable.

The Conservatives though have quite a few awkward questions to answer. What will their policies be? There are lots of generalisations, but not many specifics.

Take the environmental agenda, for instance. Being pro-green sounds attractive, but what about green taxes? Will the Tories be bold enough to talk about increasing the tax on fuel (making driving, and flying, more expensive)? What about the bin tax, which is so unpopular Gordon Brown has now un-announced it twice? What about airport expansion? What about a tax on plastic bags?

And, again, on poverty, it's easy to criticise the fiasco over the 10p tax rate, but what exactly would the Tories do to help the least well-off?

They will say they don't have to come up with specific proposals until the next general elections, which is true - but these are difficult decisions, whenever they are made.

As for the Liberal Democrats, their southern MPs know a big Tory comeback would sweep most of them away. They desperately need Nick Clegg to make an impact, and not just in the pages of GQ magazine.

The next election is probably two years away, and that's an awful long time in politics. Remember just eight months ago Labour were riding high in the polls and some grumbling Conservatives were saying David Cameron's days were numbered.

But things do feel very different here at the moment. It's as if something very significant is happening, a big change which will be incredibly difficult for Labour to do anything about. In fact it feels here just as it did in the early 1990s, when the tide turned against the Tories. They suffered three landslide by-election defeats in the south - in Newbury, Christchurch and Eastleigh. And Tory MPs knew they were doomed.

That's just how quite a lot of Labour MPs feel right now.

Bottled water debate hits parliament

Political Editor Phil Hornby blogs from parliament

MPS BOTTLE WATER CHANGE

Hildon, the mineral water company based at Broughton in Hampshire, are raising a glass to MPs here at Westminster - after a decision not to ban bottled water from the Commons.

A campaign by the Evening Standard has led to many restaurants in London offering thirsty diners tap water instead of the bottled stuff.

It's all about saving the planet. Why drink expensive water from expensive bottles which have been driven in gas-guzzling lorries, when you can have it straight from the tap?

MPs discussed the possible change in the Commons last month. And it put Sandra Gidley, the MP for Romsey, in an awkward spot.

Her environmental credentials are second-to-none But Hildon, which supplies all the Commons' bottled water, is based in her constituency, and jobs could be on the line. Not least hers (she has a majority of just 125).

Well, after weeks of behind-the-scenes discussions, today the Commons Administration Committee - a cross-party group of MPs - today announced their historic decision.

No change. The status quo.

Some MPs are furious, saying it sends out completely the wrong message. At a time when we are all being told to reduce our carbon footprint, they are going to continue knocking back bottled water.

It's very good news for Hildon though. Over the past five years MPs have got through 850,000 litres of their still and sparkling.

Oh, and they've clocked up 77,000 miles driving it from Broughton to Westminster.

Cheers, everyone!

Has the Olympics been tarnished by politics?

For weeks now Meridian and Thames Valley have been following local athletes as they train hard for the Beijing Olympics. We have seen synchronised swimming in Hampshire, hockey in Berkshire, judo in Surrey and much, much more. It’s always very exciting to see what talent we have in the region – there seems to be an Olympic athlete around every corner!

However as the protests continue to follow the Olympic torch as it travels the globe you have to fight hard to remember what the Olympic meaning actually is. Is it just another sporting event encouraging tourism and development? Is it designed to make money? Is it reserved for sporting superiors alone? Or does it unite people in a worldwide event?

Politics aside it’s still important to remember the remarkable people throughout our region and the world that make the event possible. Whether you are for or against the 2008 Olympics you can’t deny that running the 100m in about 10 seconds is no easy feat. Hard determination, skill and dedication are driving the best of our athletes to the games this year. We wish them all the luck in the world and look forward to sharing the celebrations when they return.

Meet the region’s Olympic athletes in our special Beijing channel.