Two-Faced Clegg Shows True Colours

Dreams of a well-hung parliament has left lacklustre LibDem leader, 'Kingmaker' Clegg, strutting around feeling important, milking it for all it's worth, revealing Two-Faced Clegg's true colours - red and blue.

The more Wonderboy Clegg opens his mouth, the more his true colours are revealed. Take your pick - red and yellow and green and blue.

Just where is Wonderboy coming from? In the muddled, confused world of LibDems, the answer is as clear as mud. But the little Party for the little people has finally woken up, smelt the Fairtrade coffee and realised a general election is just around the corner.

Waffle-on-a-stick has more heirs than the Hairy Bikers. Clegg the heir-to-Thatcher, in The Spectator. Cutting deeper than Tories, mesmerised by Maggie and with Stormin' Norman his new best friend. Clegg in the Independent. Wannabe heir-to-Blair with 'education, education, education', screw the rich with higher taxes, all washed down with greenwash.

In the confused world of the LibDem leader, the only certainties are an obsession with the EU and the dream of a voting system which will never see the light of day.

After ruling out immediate swingeing post-election cuts, now there's a cunning plan to make a £10 billion pound 'repayment' to cut the whopping £178 billion public debt with £200 billion of funny money swirling around.

A paltry £10 billion, eh? That will sure wipe the sweat off the brows of the moneymen. Everything's hunky dory in La-La-Land. Kinda puts Cleggy at odds with Saint Vince who reckons pussyfooting around is the best economic policy.

And where will the £15 billion of spending 'cuts' come from? Voters have to wait for Windbag Clegg to run that one past the Oracle. What a tease.

Once again the clapped-out band, the Cleggies, has re-released an old single in a forlorn fight-back. This time hoping Dancing With The Fairies will top the political hit parade.

The Orange Party is in no doubt LibDems made a big mistake plumping for a telegenic Blair lookalike as leader and fully paid up member of the political class. True to form, Euroboy has turned out shallow, untrustworthy and unpopular.

Confusing and disgraceful support over the undemocratic farce of the new EU Constitution/Treaty lost him any respect. Afghanistan? Don't go there. No one listens to Euro-boy Clegg, except his fan-club in the BBC and Guardian.

The Orange Party remembers the little lad accusing Dave of being a ‘conman’ who will "promise whatever they think it takes to get elected".

How we laughed.

Conman Cameron? That's a bit rich coming from a leader who's sunk to new depths as a New Labour clone of all style, no substance and a bad haircut.

Two-Faced Clegg is clutching at straws. Kingmaker Clegg is living on Fantasy Island with a hung parliament narrative driven by fishy push polls with dodgy weightings. Could Wonderboy ever bring himself to get into bed with a 'conman' in a hung parliament or grisly has-been Porkie Brown lying through his teeth at the Chilcot whitewash?

In poll after poll, LibDems are going nowhere with Nowhere Man in charge and only themselves to blame. But it's too late for the men and women in grey sandals to come for Clumsy Clegg. The LibDems made their Cleggy bed and they'll have to sleep in it with a windbag leader.

And that's a shame because there are a few good eggs in the basket-case Party.

Mid graphic: The Spectator

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Will Cameron Come Back All Statesman-Like?

Cameron is set to return to Westminster tomorrow a New Man. First blue turned into green then Mr Angry. But now the rebranded Tory leader is set to be the new statesman, positioning himself for the prize of the premiership. No wonder New Labour is running scared. 

For Cameron's Conservatives it has been a game of two halves but the trick has always been whether he could pull it off with the voters. 

The uphill task was to first turn round the Tories into a Party that could be 'elected' . And that was no mean feat as taunts that he was just another heir-to-Blair and a Thatcher's boy haunted him. 

After the 2005 election defeat, the Orange Party, believed it would take a decade and a couple of general elections for the Tories to begin to gain ground. 

But even with no general election on the horizon, Cameron had it easy, as he rebranded the Party in the eyes of the electorate. 

Misguided PR stunts made Cameron look a fool but Brown made his fatal mistake, bottling a general election in 2007. Cameron would have been out on his ears. But Brown didn't and the rest will be history. 

To Cameron's credit and relief of the Tory big guns, what emerged was a 'government-in-waiting'. And after half-time the second half could now begin.

A new Tory Cameron came out fighting but time and again opinion polls and local election results showed a vote against New Labour rather than a vote for the Tories. A true Labour revolt was no match for the powerful New Labour elite.  

It was a collapse of New Labour rather any great new enthusiasm for Cameron's new kids on the block.

Peter Oborne writing in yesterday's Mail believes this second stage of Cameron's leadership has now run its course:  

"The truth is that Cameron was always destined to reinvigorate his job - his family tragedy coincidentally placing a sad punctuation mark at the end of the second phase of his leadership. 

"The other Cameron was simply leader of the Opposition. But the new Cameron will present himself as a prospective prime minister - a more mature, sombre and tough individual than the plausible charmer of the past few years."

The Orange Party will miss Mr Angry coming over all hot and bothered as he squared up to Brown and the mess of a festering New Labour government. 

But Cameron, the new statesman, capable of dealing with a monumental economic crisis, will require a change of substance as well as style. 

Backing Brown's disastrous economic bullshit that the economy was in good shape, despite the warnings, wasn't fatal for the Tories but it did teach Cameron some harsh lessons. Being honest with voters is always the best policy in the long-run, as long that captures public mood. 

Even now, the Tories seem to be backing the government, matching spending on health, welfare, education and defence, when the economy is so bad some of these grand commitments will have to go by the board. Voters need to know where they stand.

Brown's government is set for another pre-election spending spree in next month's delayed budget on the back of reckless borrowing and the short-term 'printing money' fix. 

Cameron cannot ignore the fact that he will, very soon, take over a country on its beam ends. 

The deluded prime minister and his hapless chancellor remain in denial about the severity of the situation. That would force them to own up to their part in the downfall, as they carrying on spending like there's no tomorrow. For them, there is no tomorrow. 

But Cameron is on the horns of a dilemma. Does he come clean and admit the true devastating scale of the crisis and risk being  accused of talking down the sorry state of the economy and the country to make political capital?

A different kind of country will no doubt emerge once the recession depression finally lifts and voters have a right to know exactly what kind of public services and lavish overseas spending commitments will have to go.

Brown is passing on a disaster waiting to happen but Cameron still has to give voters a strong and positive reason to vote Conservative. 

Cameron cannot just wander into office, do a Brown and Darling and  bury his head in the sand, pretending that he will not have to carry out brutal cuts to state spending. 

He has to spell out  the sheer magnitude of the problem without appearing to gloat in all the misery. 

But it is essential that he does spell out the stark truth. Voters are wised up to the economy and can see through the lies, spin and deceit which has built up over the years. 

The brutal fact for the dying New Labour brand is that the Tories really don't have to do all that much at all.

Clegg's fine words to conference reveal the Blair-boy he really is underneath and, for the LibDems, only the economic oracle Cable is propping up the Party and saving it from oblivion. 

The Bearded One reported in today's Sunday Times has once again delivered a sermon from the pulpit, slating Brown and the government. Attacking New Labour rather than individual greed, the Archbishop of Canterbury blamed the financial crisis on a "spectacular failure of responsibility by the government." 

When even God deserts New Labour you know it's time to call it a day. 

And Cameron may not have much time to convince voters, with ITN's Tom Bradbury blowing the gaffe on Brown's air-rage, revealing a man who has lost the plot.

The men in grey cloth-caps may have to finally force Brown to make that call for the good of his health, their seats and country. 

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Sats Whitewash Lets Balls Off Hook

Ministers have been let off the hook over the Sats shambles with a widely-leaked whitewash which laid the blame squarely on the shoulders of the government quangos and contractor. Nowhere did the report answer a simple question - what was Ed Balls doing while the Sats fiasco was falling around his ears? 

As expected and highlighted by the Orange Party here, the Sutherland report, out today, blamed the exam watchdog QCA and private contractor ETS Europe, under a tight remit drawn up by the school's secretary, Ed Balls, craftily crafted to get him off the hook. 

As Balls apologised to schools and families for "all their inconvenience, stress and frustration", questions still need to be asked over how on earth ministers could sit back and let this all happen, when teachers and markers were shouting from the rooftops that something was amiss. 

The 178 page Sutherland report is full of strong criticism of government quangos. 

The QCA watchdog "failed its remit". Pupils, parents, schools and markers were "badly let down". The impact had been "massive". There had been a culture within the QCA and its National Assessment Agency (NAA) that "it'll be all right on the night". It has not delivered and there have been "massive failures."

And the report blames ETS Europe and its "insufficient" capacity to deliver the tests with a "lack of comprehensive planning and testing" of the systems used for the tests.

Not a word about the government. Setting up government quangos and then watching them implode at arms length is irresponsible. But ministers have found a neat device to hide behind, saying they know nothing and it's all down to their own complacent quangos. 

Teachers were telling the secretary of state there were problems long before the marking stage. 

The Tories want answers: “Ken Boston has pointed out that ministers were closely involved at every stage of the process. They cannot escape their role in the fiasco by claiming, as Ed Balls has done, that they were at 'arms length' from this disaster."

The LibDems also called for ministers to accept responsibility: "Ministers themselves should also accept some blame for their complacent attitude to the delivery of the tests. It is clear that they were asleep at the wheel."

But Downing Street spinners have managed to work their warped magic and control the fall out from the summer Sats fiasco, shifting the blame away from the school's secretary. 

Most ministers are elected MPs and that makes them both accountable and responsible to parliament and the electorate. 

Political voices from both ends of the spectrum speak with one voice but in vain if they expect Brown's trusty lieutenant to hold up his hands over this latest cock-up. As with the Baby P scandal, saying sorry isn't good enough.

6pm UPDATE: Balls has said he's sorry again, telling the commons he blames ETS and QCA and, er, that's it. 

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United In Utter Condemnation

Politicians have united in utter condemnation of political police tactics over the arrest of a senior opposition MP, while government ministers stick their heads in the sand, denying all knowledge of this outrageous affair. 

The Orange Party made its views quite clear as the heavy-handed police tactics became clear last night. The shameful arrest of shadow immigration minister Damian Green makes a mockery of the liberal facade of this government and to suggest no government minister was consulted is ridiculous.

Today Brown is still in denial, telling Sky News: "I had no prior knowledge, the home secretary had no prior knowledge, I know of no other minister who had any prior knowledge ... I knew about it only after it had happened."

Yes prime minister but Conservative leader David Cameron was officially told in advance, so was the London Mayor and so too the House of Commons Speaker - but no government ministers? 

What's even worse is that this was all played out while parliament is in recess, so no awkward questions would be raised today in the House. 

The MP was arrested by anti-terrorism police over alleged home office leaks but eventually bailed not under anti-terror laws but under common law. 

That all allows No 10, the prime minister and home secretary to deny any knowledge of this shameful charade. And only denial, no hint of outrage or even condemnation.

Earlier today the Orange Party joined many who expressed outrage and believes Green is paying the political price of public interest. Faced with a serious challenge to its power and authority, the government has responded by using the police as a political tool and using the law against its elected members. 

Now the issue raises not only serious questions for MPs but also the part played by the Speaker, Michael Martin, and why police were allowed to search the MP's offices in the House of Commons.

The LibDems called the arrest a "mayday warning" for democracy, akin to a "tin-pot dictatorship", said leader Nick Clegg. Tory leader, David Cameron, called the police operation "alarming" and the government had questions to answer.

Former Labour minister Denis MacShane said: "To send a squad of counter terrorist officers to arrest an MP shows the growing police contempt for Parliament and democratic politics."

It is the views of respected Labour grandee, Tony Benn, which the Orange Party particularly takes to heart. 

Speaking on the BBC's World At One, Benn condemned the arrest saying: "It is a total breach of what accord the privileges of parliament and therefore, the electors.  His computers have been searched, his e-mail has been frozen."

Benn said that it was tantamount to a Contempt of Parliament.  "Once police can interfere in parliament, then we're into a police state."

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The Evil MPs Do Will Live After Them

Government supporting MPs should be wrestling with their conscience as they are set to saddle the country with massive debt for years to come. Today's commons debate had to be prised out of the government after Monday's shambles of an election Budget exposed a shameful record of reckless borrowing and irresponsible spending. 



Today's PBR debate was a chance for MPs to see sense, do the right thing for the country or face a Shakespearean tragedy: "The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones."



As the smokescreen cleared, the message was loud and clear. The PBR showed up a decade of incompetence and mismanagement with more to come.

Labour MP, Frank Field, was in no doubt about the shambles of the pre-budget report and how it had been leaked and spun around, proclaiming: "The package therefore raised some fundamental questions about the Government’s competence in running a crisis economy."



A dire warning the economic crisis could drag on for a decade was delivered by one of the commons Captain Sensibles, the LibDems Vince Cable. He warned that tougher action is needed, though the Orange Party would beg to differ on his borrowing solutions. 



For the Tories, Cameron and his side-kick Osborne, are in no doubt this budget is a reckless gamble which is going to bankrupt the country. A borrowing binge and a tax bombshell.


Today Woolies and MFI went bust, while politicians wasted valuable commons time pratting around with a leaked treasury memo showing the government thought about a future increase in VAT. 


Left-wing Labour MP, Jon Cruddas, said it just left the Tories splashing around in the shallow end. 



Brown has his eye on votes, not the well-being of the economy. His deputy Lord Mandelson is behind every cunning political move. 


Today's debate on that Budget showed some MPs only bothered about clinging onto their seats, as they decided to take the country down with them.



On Monday, the government has very kindly condescended to a vote on the Christmas VAT election giveaway, to try to wrong-foot the Tories once again. 



Playing party politics with people's lives and livelihoods is not the way to run the economy or the country.

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Cable Needs Fire In His Belly

A dire warning the economic crisis could drag on for a decade has been delivered by the LibDems Vince Cable, warning tougher action is needed. But his borrowing solution has glaring omissions - government waste and squandered billions. His economics need political bite.

The gentleman of economics delivered a well-reasoned way out of the economic mess in today's Independent. But his grounding is still in New Labour, politically steered by Blair-boy Clegg. 

Dancing around the political dancefloor, Cable wrestles with the politician's dilemma – "Do we try to be positive and risk misleading people through complacency; or do we tell it like it is and risk adding to the fear and financial panic?"

Put simply should we be taken in by the government and the BBC"s 'Downturn' spin or ITV News 'UK Recession'. 

The Orange Party is in no doubt. Come clean and shout it from the rooftops. And as Cable says: "On balance, it is better to be straight."

Straight is not something that springs to mind after Monday's farcical Budget. That's led Labour MP, Frank Field, to conclude: "The package therefore raised some fundamental questions about the government competence in running a crisis economy."

The liberal economist, JK Galbraith, does spring to mind as Cable suggests precedents can be found in history for a way out of the crisis. 

Current interest rate cuts are not nearly enough to kick-start the economy. They must come down further and indeed they will. 

Tax cuts must be seen as fair. Cut taxes for the low paid funded by removing tax relief, allowances, tax loop holes and tax breaks which fund the lavish lifestyles of the wealthy, rather than the government's "tokenistic higher rate".

But it is on the issue of borrowing, which Cable reckons is necessary to prevent a further downward spiral, where the Orange Party would take serious issue. 

There's no need to borrow a penny more. Cut back on government waste, ridiculous schemes which squander billions and you have all the savings you need. Here the LibDems need to inject serious politics into economics. 

Make a start. Pull all troops out of the hugely expensive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, scrap the despised ID cards, scrap Trident, the failed NHS computer system and meaningless government quangos. Do the maths, add up the savings. There would be money to spare.

There is no need for a squeeze on the public sector if the cash is spent wisely and sensibly. And those savings will allow public spending for where it really matters. Spending on schools, hospitals, social housing and public transport. 

Though ignoring the massive £33 billion off-balance sheet PFI debt, Cable does put his finger on the key to a way out of the current economic mess. The banks or rather the way money is lent. 

The present £37 billion bank bail-out was sold as part-nationalisation, when it was nothing of the sort. As Tony Benn said, you cannot have it both ways. True nationalisation is the answer, bringing full state control, responsibility and accountability. 

The government cannot walk away from direct responsibility, warned Cable. "It must take seats on the boards of leading banks, not to micromanage them, but set strategy." 

At the moment, as Galbraith said, government bail-outs with taxpayer's cash just allows the banks and financial institutions to "sail into the wild blue yonder".

The pain of deep recession will be most obviously felt by those facing house repossession and loss of jobs, Cable points out. Easing that pain should be top priority. 

The LibDems are moving in the right direction economically, thanks to Cable. Politically, they still have a long way to go, if Cable economics are to be turned into political votes. 

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Haringey Heads Support Smacks Of Politics

Haringey head teachers swift support for beleaguered child services head Sharon Shoesmith smacks of political skulduggery. What were teachers doing sticking up for a social services boss who faces harsh criticism over the Baby P case? 

The Orange Party smells party politics at work at this Labour-run council, something Brown was quick to criticise during his robotic commons performance.  

Haringey is a political battleround. New Labour and the LibDems slug it out both on the local council and between its two politically astute MPs, New Labour's David Lammy in Tottenham and the LibDems Lynne Featherstone a former Haringey councillor over in Wood Green and Hornsey, a fierce critic of both the council and Shoesmith. 

The letter of support from the heads was released through the Press Association news agency. The identical story was taken on face value and quickly did the rounds of the news and media world wide. Few if any further checks were made on where and how the story originated.

The letter says Shoemith is an "outstanding public servant," despite calls for her to resign over the death of Baby P. Both the council and government are at the centre of this storm.

This comes after schools secretary Ed Balls was forced to say he's sorry and ordered an independent investigation into child protection at the council. And the government faces searching questions after being warned about Haringey months before the toddler's death.

There's no indication as to whether the heads are speaking independently, as a Haringey Headteacher's Federation or as members of the education group, Common Purpose.  Nor any indication who wrote the news release, who instigated it and how was it was distributed.

BBC News was one of the few to quote one of the heads, Alex Atherton, of Park View Academy in Haringey. The excellent Newssniffer tracks the BBC version as it changed in content.

A look at Haringey schools shows the extend to which they are embedded in the New Labour obsession with academies, school targets and spin. 

In 2006, Tottenham MP David Lammy, heaped praise on Haringey schools and pupils including Atherton.

Only last year Haringey was at centre of a row over paying a headteacher a whacking £40,000 golden hello to attract the right candidate. Aydin Onac, head of Fortismere school, was forced to defended his pay package. 

With more than 60 head teachers from Haringey coming out in support of Shoesmith, that begged the question, just what has the whole question of child protection got to to do with a bunch of teachers? 

LibDem Norfolk blogger described this as "an ill- thought out letter of support from head teachers in Haringey". TES community bloggers asked if Haringey heads should be involving themselves in the Baby P affair.

The fact that more than 60 heads can organise and be orchestrated in this way in a north London borough riddled with party political infighting, shows more political damage limitaton than genuine concern. 

If this was a simply a case of party political squabbles, it wouldn't merit national attention but the shocking case of Baby P and its consequences caused outrage.

As national journalists got their teeth into this whole case and dug underneath Haringey, the whole issue uncovered a can of worms which is only now beginning to unravel, with further shocking revelations in today's Times, Mail, Telegraph and many others. 

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