Gary Gibbon
The Sun is insisting they are not running Jacqui Janes as part of a campaign and that the recording made of Gordon Brown’s phone call to the bereaved mother was done spontaneously by a friend – though No 10 will need some convincing.
Jon Snow
The mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan attacks Gordon Brown for equipment shortages. Jon Snow blogs on the messy business of war for politicians.
Gary Gibbon
As the polls suggest a public opinion surge towards withdrawal from Afghanistan (73 per cent in the YouGov poll for Channel 4 News, up from 62 per cent only two weeks ago), you may be wondering which political parties support that view. PRO-WITHDRAWAL: Plaid Cymru, Green Party, the BNP, Respect and UKIP (UKIP specify there…
Gary Gibbon
Gordon Brown has cleared his diary to give a speech on Afghanistan, as a new poll shows opposition to the war has risen sharply in the past fortnight.
Sarah Smith blogs from America on a most revealing Obama documentary.
Jon Snow
Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow says he is not surprised to read the Bank of England governor Mervyn King and Gordon Brown have different views about breaking up the mega-banks.
Jon Snow
Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow asks why there was such a strong reaction to the idea the Tony Blair could become president of the EU.
Gary Gibbon
Gordon Brown has pressed the button and changed British electioneering forever. In a statement on the Labour website he’s given the go-ahead for head-to-head debates between the party leaders to start before the campaign proper, to be in a series – maybe three, maybe more and to take place round the country.
Gary Gibbon
The Sun’s declcaration of support for David Cameron will have really hurt Gordon Brown, who has invested a lot over the years in cultivating the Murdoch empire.
Gary Gibbon
You know things aren’t tickety boo when a leader’s speech opens and closes with a plea not to give up. Think big and fight hard, Gordon Brown said.
Gary Gibbon
Gordon Brown is trying to show us the chasm between Labour and the Conservatives by showing a bit of ankle on the Pre-Budget Report.
Gary Gibbon
Peter Mandelson’s speech was all the talk of the fringe last night. l interviewed him at a fringe meeting this morning and he insisted he didn’t do “pantomime”. I resisted the inclination to say “OH YES YOU DO!” One Cabinet minister last night said the speech was a “Gaddafi-like” indulgence. A couple of others I’ve…
Jon Snow
Few of us thought we’d live to see the day when a Labour party conference would rise as one to their feet in a standing ovation for Peter Mandelson. But today they did. Of course, we have seen it before – when Michael Heseltine did the same for the improbable electoral prospects of John Major.
Jon Snow
Oh I do like to be beside the sea…well normally anyway and this Labour Party Conference is very far from “normal”. For a start it is flat, flat as yer hat. Secondly all those luvvies, or most of them, have evaporated back whence they came. We are down to the formidable rump of Trades Unionists…
Gary Gibbon
Gordon Brown is going to say a few introductory words to conference at 4.30 before taking questions from a bunch of newly selected parliamentary candidates. Probably not the toughest audience you might think. Labour will be hoping it distracts attention from an unexpected question thrown at the PM by Andrew Marr this morning. He asked…