Free Republic

Waking up 18 months ago to discover Donald Trump had been elected US president filled me with despair. What on earth had happened to politics? How could a reality TV star with no experience of government – and multiple character flaws to boot – have been chosen by American voters to be their leader? My 13-year-old daughter was also deeply troubled. “How could America vote for a man who said these things about women?” I didn’t know what to say. She went off to school. And I went off to a dance studio to practise a Gangnam Style salsa for...

Forget Vince Cable. Forget, if you can, Ed Balls (and I know that’s hard, because what a joyous result that was). Expel from your mind the image of Nick Clegg crying into his cornflakes this morning while texting his old pals in the Euro-oligarchy to see if they will give him a new plush job that involves no contact with pesky plebs. For last night there was an even bigger loser than those guys. Russell Brand. Or ‘Rusty Rockets’, as his politics-packed Twitterfeed has it. Rusty being the operative word, for now we know that the much-hyped ability of slebs...

Amid growing calls from Tory MPs for David Cameron to respond to the Ukip threat by bringing forward legislation on an EU referendum, Farage warned that his party would not go away even if No 10 "starts singing the same song". William Hague, who famously suffered a major defeat in the 2001 election after tacking to the right, called for a cautious response to Ukip as he warned of the dangers of "quick fixes". Philip Hammond, the defence secretary, said many Ukip voters were "frustrated Conservatives". As the Tories work out their response to Ukip, which won nearly a quarter...

BLUNDERING Ed Miliband yesterday said Britain’s problems are so bad NO ONE can solve them. The Labour chief made the gaffe as he drummed up support for Thursday’s council elections. In a Radio 4 interview in which he repeatedly lost his temper, he said: “Are our problems so deep nobody can actually make a difference to them? My emphatic answer to that is yes.” Mr Miliband also refused to admit Labour would increase borrowing if they were in power — even though Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls had already said as much.

Prince Charles was at odds with ministers today over plans to abolish history and geography lessons in schools. The Prince of Wales is said to be 'passionate' about protecting traditional lessons in British history and English literature in the classroom. Bernice McCabe, a leading headteacher and one of the Prince's closest advisers, has criticised education reforms which she says will leave schools as 'globalised theme

Downturn worst for 100 years, says Ed Balls Ed Balls is a former Chief Secretary to the Treasury and was even tipped as a possible Chancellor Elizabeth Judge The economic downturn is so severe that it would surpass even the Great Depression of the 1930s, Ed Balls said yesterday. In an extradorinary admission about the extent of the financial crisis, the Schools Secretary and a close ally of the Prime Minister, declared that the downturn was the most serious global recession for "over 100 years". He said: "The reality is that this is becoming the most serious global recession for,...

LONDON, January 30, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Government guidelines for training school officials to be more sensitive to homosexuality, instruct teachers not to use the terms "mum and dad" when referring to students' parents, and to treat "even casual" use of terms like "gay" as equal to racism. The guidedance was commissioned by the Labour government directly from the homosexual lobby group Stonewall. The document was launched today at a Stonewall conference by Schools Secretary Ed Balls. Ed Balls said, "Homophobic insults should be viewed as seriously as racism.""Even casual use of homophobic language in schools can create an atmosphere...

LONDON (Reuters) - The government will conduct a feasibility study into issuing Islamic bonds in a bid to bolster London's standing as a centre for Islamic finance, Treasury minister Ed Balls will say in a speech on Monday. In a step towards issuing the first sharia-compliant UK government bond, the Treasury and the Debt Management Office will look into the cost and potential benefits of the government issuing Islamic financial instruments in the sterling market, Balls will tell a Financial Services Authority conference. The results of the study will be published in the Autumn of this year. "I believe there...