So James Chapman has been recruited by the Chancellor as his Director of Communications. It’s a big loss for the Daily Mail, where he has been an excellent political editor. It will trigger quite a substantial reshuffle in the lobby, which is always amusing to watch. If I was Paul Dacre I’d be moving heaven and earth to tempt Tim Shipman back from the Sunday Times. A keen cricketer, Shippers might like his Saturdays back…
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I’ve been thinking a lot about the reasons why David Cameron pulled off the political win of the century so far, and I’ve come to the conclusion that there was one key decision which was probably more important than any other – and that was Lynton Crosby’s decision to prevent the PM taking part in more than one debate, and to insist that it was a 7 way debate. This decision allowed Nicola Sturgeon to gain a much higher profile than she otherwise would have, and it allowed her to shine. It meant the SNP and Scotland came to the fore and as a consequence the Conservatives were able to constantly warn of the threat of a Labour government backed by the SNP. It worked even when Ed Miliband ruled it out. I’m not sure Lynton could have really planned the sequence of events, but he certainly made the most of it. If there had been three three-way debates Sturgeon wouldn’t have got a look-in and I suspect we’d now be in the middle of a big constitutional crisis with no-one able to form a government. All praise Lynton Crosby!
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So the budget is on 8 July. That seems quite a long way away, until you realise that government departments have only a month to come up with ideas for where the cuts are to fall. And fall they need to. In 2010 the government made the mistake of only cutting by a paltry £6 billion in the first year. The lesson is to do all the unpopular things in your first year. I wonder whether the Chancellor will also take the bull by the horns and reduce the top rate of tax back to 40p. I suspect not, but he should. There is no economic case for it to remain at 45p. At all. Be brave Chancellor.
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Breitbart looks as if it is about to go through a slightly difficult time as some of its writers hint at a rebellion over the sudden return of the ebullient Raheem Kassam from his stint as gofer/press officer/chief of staff/ to Nigel Farage. Kassam was Breitbart’s start-up editor and he assembled an eclectic and talented group of writers for the site, which has become essential reading for many on the right. But several of them think they have managed quite well without him and have not taken his glorious return well. At all. I’m hearing that two of their bigger name columnists are seriously thinking of abandoning ship, and I’m assuming that means James Delingpole and Milo Yiannopoulos, who have injected a rather lighter touch to the site. Both are talented polemical writers and would be difficult to replace. Asked to comment, Kassam told me “I don’t profess to be a unifying figure.” Peace talks, anyone?