Walaa's Weekly Wrap-Up ~ January 18, 2014

The past seven days were very interesting. Despite the media’s secret desire for a crisis there were none, at least not for the government and the coalition partners.

On Romanians and Bulgarians flooding the UK, reports so far indicate only 24 arrived since travel restrictions were lifted on January 1st. It’s still early days, but I always thought all that immigration talk before Christmas will and might put decent people off coming to the Kingdom.

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I seriously think Ed Miliband’s speeches on all matters of the economy should come with the equivalent of economic ‘health warning’. First, was his energy price fixing which sent energy prices soaring then yesterday he promised to split large banks, and the market instantly reacted, shares in the predominantly public owned RBS and Lloyd plunged.

His ideas and plans for the British public, in his head, probably sound and mean well but once outside they don’t translate well at all.

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This week saw the UK’s first Press Dinner, reports reviled it was a success and David Cameron was in good form. It seems he joked about everything including himself and that bold. Read them here

A good week for the PM, he was also on fire on Wednesday at PMQs. If you missed it try and catch it on iPlayer, it’s worth a watch for vibrant PMQs fans.

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A very good friend of mine who stood as a Conservative PPC in the 2010 general election was outed last week as an independent candidate.

Will not say who or where until I clear it with them first. But hearing that got me wondering. With the public now more and more disillusioned and disconnected from politics and our current politicians, will 2015 see a rise in the number of independent MPs?

I would bet more on that than a Lib Lab coalition.

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Also this week (for the second time by the way) saw Labour’s lead shrink to 3 points and the LibDems on 14% – 5 points ahead of UKIP.

I know it’s very early days, but unlike most Conservatives I’m neither unhappy nor see it as being dishonest for Clegg and LibDems reaffirming (prefer reaffirming to distancing) themselves.

And here’s why – although UKIP is a threat to the Conservatives, its danger is not in taking votes from the Tories but allowing Labour a larger lead. Libs restating themselves allow them to pick more votes and maintain their position as the third party. Particularly picking votes from the centre left. That is very important for the Conservatives if we are to win outright or become the party with the largest share of the votes in 2015.

Do I want another coalition? No, of course not! But what I most don’t want is a Labour government in any shape or form.

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But the best coup of the week is George Osborne’s bold and brilliant gutsiness. By announcing he likes to see the minimum wage rise to £7/hour – which by way is an above inflation rise and will take it back to its 2004 value – he knocked three birds with one stone.

1) He stole Ed Miliband’s thunder the night before his big banks speech. 2) he nicked a policy from the LibDems – that will infuriates Vince Cable and 3) the left can no longer claim they are the ‘only’ champions of the low paid and the guardians of the cost of living!

It was cut throat politics at its best!
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