Political Prospects Blog

Political Prospects Blog

Political Prospects Blog

Exclusive: James Macintyre interviews Tom Watson

James Macintyre
/ May 23, 2012 / 1 Comment

The hacking scandal is not over yet and new revelations on computer hacking are set to “dwarf what we have seen so far,” Tom Watson believes. Talking exclusively to Prospect, the MP who has spearheaded the parliamentary probe into phone-hacking declares: “We are not through this scandal yet. Computer hacking...
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What matters to Rowan

James Macintyre
/ May 1, 2012 / 1 Comment

When Rowan Williams publicly confirmed in March what some insiders had for months expected, that he would be standing down as Archbishop of Canterbury in the coming months, he was diplomatic about the reasons behind a move he didn’t have to make until 2020. During a round of interviews, a...
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Exclusive: Heseltine says removing 50p tax rate “wrong politics”

James Macintyre
/ February 28, 2012 / 1 Comment

Michael Heseltine has defied the Conservative right by saying that removing the 50p top rate of income tax would be “the wrong politics” while people are “suffering” in the recession and predicted it will not happen in the forthcoming Budget. Lord Heseltine, the former cabinet minister and confidant of David...
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Exclusive: David Davis on “crony capitalism”

James Macintyre
/ February 22, 2012 / 1 Comment

David Davis, the senior Conservative MP and former shadow home secretary, has launched a scathing attack on what he calls “crony capitalism” of the current government, accusing it of being “far too close” to big business and “shamelessly courting” Rupert Murdoch. Davis, who narrowly lost the leadership to David Cameron...
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Ed’s safe

James Macintyre
/ February 6, 2012 / 1 Comment

Faced with characteristically impatient questioning by John Humphrys this morning, David Miliband said of his brother Ed: “I am happy to say he is the best man to lead Labour into the next election.” The comments, on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, may have been forced by Humphrys’s grilling. But...
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PMQs: teething troubles for Labour’s new fiscal policy

James Macintyre
/ January 18, 2012 / Leave a comment

Confusion over Ed Miliband’s new fiscal position was exploited by David Cameron at prime minister’s questions today. The Labour leader last week relaunched his leadership with a shift on the Government’s cuts, all of which Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, now says the Opposition accepts as a “starting point.” After...
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In praise of Paul Dacre

James Macintyre
/ January 5, 2012 / 1 Comment

Returning last night by plane from a trip with a self-imposed news blackout, I was pleased to learn through a small-ish piece in the inside pages of the International Herald Tribune that Gary Dobson and David Norris had been found guilty of the murder, 18 years ago, of Stephen Lawrence—one...
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Tories and the EU: it’s complicated

James Macintyre
/ October 24, 2011 / 1 Comment

There was a moment in the 2005 Conservative party leadership contest when it looked like Liam Fox might pose a serious threat to David Cameron’s bid. In order to see off his rival, and thrill the Eurosceptic right, Cameron made an unprecedented pledge: he would withdraw his party from the...
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Cameron: not “betraying Toryism”

James Macintyre
/ October 5, 2011 / 1 Comment

. . . Of the three party conferences, the Conservatives’ provided the most fodder for that inevitable litmus test of a political story: splits. This year, they were primarily on the nature and existence of EU membership, and the Human Rights Act. But news stories do not always reflect the...
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