James Turgoose, Head of Parliamentary Affairs, reviews the winners and losers after a year of combat in Westminster that did not always follow the Marquess of Queensbury Rules. The London Olympics will host the traditional boxing competition next summer but 2011 has been a thumping year for British politics. Knock out blows have been launched, ...
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David Waterhouse, head of local government affairs, considers the impact of the DCLG Select Committee report on the much criticised NPPF
“Unhelpfully vague” So, at the eleventh hour, the DCLG Select Committee has published its long awaited report into the Government’s draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). At the heart of this debate, which has been played out in the pages of the Daily Telegraph over the summer, is the “presumption in favour of sustainable development”. There ...
James Turgoose examines the impact of the Autumn Statement
When he came into office George Osborne was keen to differentiate himself from his Labour predecessors. One small change was to scrap the 'Pre-Budget Report' a Gordon Brown invention which gave the Chancellor an extra opportunity to gain the political limelight. Instead Mr Osborne returned to the more traditional and low key Autumn Statement. Well, if a week is a long time in ...
Full Speed Ahead?
The “political” problem for the Government is simple – HS2, if built, would slice through traditional Conservative heartlands in the Home Counties and Warwickshire.