This morning Ken Livingstone launched a new hard-hitting video about reality of crime in London. You can view the video here. In the last year Ken has visited every London borough, spending a full day meeting residents and listening to their concerns. The video reflects the concerns of the Londoners we have have met on high streets and in community meetings about crime and Ken's commitment to...

This morning, the chief executive of RBS Stephen Hester appeared on Radio 4's Today programme to discuss the recent furore over his bonus. Hester revealed he nearly resigned over the crisis and agreed that bankers have been making too much. Here's the full transcript for CoffeeHousers. James Naughtie: Banker without a bonus? You might say he’s a lonely figure in his business; he...

This is how a pragmatist understands US foreign policy in conjunction with the Iranian nuclear weapons crisis! Yesterday morning I wrote a short commentary on the Obama administration's lack of understanding about Iran and that country's quest to obtain nuclear weapons. The writing was in response to reports of new sanctions being placed on Iran by Washington that were ostensibly designe...

If there are ‘no votes in skills’, as the old dictum goes, there seem to be some in apprenticeships. Hence David Cameron's call this morning for apprenticeships to become a ‘gold standard’ qualification ranking alongside degrees from the best universities. His goal is to rectify Britain's shockingly poor performance on mid-level skills compared to world leaders su...

It seems most of the public agrees with the need to improve our schools. A YouGov poll out this morning shows that 53 per cent think education standards have deteriorated over the past 10 years, while only 12 per cent think they've got better. 48 per cent think exams are too easy; just 28 per cent say they’re ‘about right’ and a mere 3 per cent think they're too hard. A...

         Yesterday I rang the Leader of Wokingham Borough Council to check they had all they needed from central government and were able to keep the main roads gritted and open. I was happy to learn that they planned a couple of gritting runs on the main roads.         I got up early this morning

This Saturday morning humor centered around the Obama administration will make you laugh, then cry, then extremely mad and then incredibly refocused on the 2012 presidential election! Cartoons courtesy of Theo Spark Top picture source “Like” TPC on Facebook here. Follow TPC on Twitter here.

EU Treaty: Cameron pulled the trigger this morning, but there is work left to do

There was chaos at Buckingham Palace this morning after the Queen was informed that all her bank accounts at Coutts & Co, a wholly owned subsidary of the Royal Bank of Scotland, have been frozen in retaliation for the divestiture of Fred Goodwin. In a tersely worded letter posted on the railings at Buckingham Palace, the bank informed Her Majesty that due to a complete breakdown of trust i...

Am I dicing with death every morning and evening? The Times would say so. I cycle to work, and, for the past two days, the Times has given over its front page to a campaign on cycling safety. The campaign is in most respects commendable — I like the specific proposals — but it emphasises the urgency of the issue by giving a very grim impression of the risks that cyclists face. ‘B...