Newsletter 12th July 2009

Hello

Carolyn is away this week so Mark D¿Arcy will be presenting. He¿ll be looking ahead to the week's political events and discussing some of the big issues at Westminster with our panel of politicians.

THE PANEL

This week we've got the former Labour minister Parmjit Dhanda, the Conservatives' shadow Culture vulture Ed Vaizey and Norman Baker who speaks for the Lib Dems on Transport. Hard to say at the moment what we'll be talking about but the growing number of fatalities amongst our troops in Afghanistan is certainly raising questions at Westminster about whether we are asking too much of our armed forces.

The big political story in recent days has been the allegations of phone hacking of celebrities and others by investigators hired by the News Of The World. I say political story because Andy Coulson, who was forced to resign as editor of the paper when it was revealed messages left for aides of Prince Charles had been hacked into, is now the Conservative Party's public relations chief. Mr Cameron is standing by Mr Coulson while the Culture, Media and Sport Committee has announced it is re opening an inquiry into hacking by the NOTW. Mr Coulson may be called. I should stress that there is currently no evidence that Mr Coulson was responsible for the latest alleged wrongdoing.

PARLIAMENTARY REFORM

The Parliamentary Standards Bill, introduced at very short notice following the expenses scandal at Westminster, is currently with the House of Lords. MPs and peers are in a difficult position. There's a lot they don't like about the bill mainly because they feel it could undermine their ability to perform their role as MPs. But complain too much and they risk being accused of not taking seriously the public's concerns about their expenses and allowances.

WHAT ARE MPS FOR?

What makes for a good MP? Last week we looked at how they're trying to make a better job of fulfilling one of their most important roles, scrutinising legislation. But do voters really notice? Some MPs feel that what the public care about most is the work that elected politicians do in their constituencies. The Conservative Mark Field is a bit concerned about this. He argues that holding the Government to account in Parliament matters far more and he's worried this role is being undermined by the amount of time many MPs spend on constituency matters. We have a report.

CLASH OF AMBITIONS

Political journalists love nothing more than a good rivalry. It's because the story of a political rivalry is very human. Yes, politicians can become embittered with each other because of genuine policy differences but emotions count too. Alistair Darling and George Osborne spend a lot of their time arguing with each other about the economy but it's not much of a rivalry mainly because Mr Darling comes across as far too calm and detached. Whereas the rivalry between Pitt and Fox more than two hundred years ago had it all; bitter differences over policy and a wide gap in temperament.

Then there are the rivalries within parties. The most commented on in recent times has been the Blair/Brown relationship. For many years Edward Heath's feelings of anger towards Margaret Thatcher were a source of much comment and entertainment. Sometimes these rivalries can get out of hand, look what happened to the Liberal Party when Asquith was pushed out of Number Ten to make way for Lloyd George in the First World War.

The political historian John Campbell has written a book about political rivalries called "Pistols At Dawn." We talk to him on Sunday.

RUDE AWAKENING

When they're not battling with their rivals, there's nothing a political leader likes more than a peaceful night's sleep. But Prime Ministers and Presidents have to grow used to being woken by their aides to be told of unwelcome news - as we'll be hearing over the next two weeks in a new series of the Sunday Supplement. It's presented by Tony Blair's former Chief of Staff Jonathan Powell. That's Part One of "The Call In The Middle Of The Night," this Sunday.

I hope you¿ll be able to join us at 10pm.

All the best

Terry Dignan Editor TWH