Politics

That was the rebuttal issued by Peter Mandelson on the Andrew Marr show this morning in response to allegations in the new-look Observer.

The paper is serialising a book by its chief political commentator Andrew Rawnsley - The End of the Party - which charts the fortunes of the Labour party under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Chief among the allegations is that Sir Gus O'Donnell, the cabinet secretary, became so concerned by reports of Brown's explosive temper that he looked into the matter and told the PM: 'This is no way to get things done'.

Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg will debate with each other in three live television debates during Election 2010. After years of pressure from broadcasters, Britain's party leaders have agreed to participate in a process that is common in most other developed democracies. So, how significant is their agreement? Will the debates, to be hosted on Sky, BBC and ITV, enhance democracy, promote engagement and increase voter turnout? The Guardian asked for my thoughts. Here they are.   

Do you want to play a key part in the General Election coverage for Sky News? Do you think you’re up to the job – and do you think you can be fastest and best? Sky News is looking for energetic, reliable and accurate student journalists willing to contribute to the General Election results service for the 24-hour multi-platform news organisation. You’ll be paid a fee. And we’ll DOUBLE the fee if you get the results to the Sky News Centre first, beating all the opposition.

Neswnight Scotland dedicated an entire edition to discussion of the relationship between politicians and the media last night. The hook was, of course, the Sun's decision to back the Conservatives (except in Scotland where, so far, it is only opposing Labour) 

Is it appropriate that the decision to release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was made by the Scottish government? Was devolution supposed to give a Scottish minister, with no broader UK mandate, the power to influence British relations with the USA? I think not.  The Independent invited me to explain why this decision can be regarded as an alarming example of devolution's increasingly plentiful unintended consequences.  

Daniel Hannan MEP's vitriolic comments about the NHS on Fox TV have provoked a torrent of newspaper analysis and commentary. Among the most acute contributions is Peter Wilby's column in the Guardian identifying the vast power of corporate lobbyists to influence the US policy debate. Lobbying is beginning to corrupt British politics in a similar way and Wilby's objections are eloquent. This is a valuable lesson in how politics really works. Such lobbying by unaccountable corporate interests threatens our democracy as much as it undermines the principles enshrined in the US constitution.  

The coverage of the MPs expenses scandal is an example of old and new media co-existing, according to Jon Bernstein, the former multimedia editor of Channel 4 News.

My first reaction to the election of British National Party MEPs was to feel profoundly angry and ashamed. Angry because mainstream politics has to fail badly for men such as Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons to win votes. Ashamed because innocent people will be frightened and this country's reputation as a tolerant, liberal democracy tarnished by their election.  

Much play was made on the Today Programme, and elsewhere, about the significance of a great 'Labour supporting' newspaper demanding the departure of a Labour Prime Minister. Leave aside the long established truth that the Guardian is a Liberal/Progressive newspaper, not a socialist one.

Anyone who is interested in further debate on constitutional matters might like to go and hear Robert Hazell - head of the Constitution Unit (and featured on the politics reading list.) He is giving the Anthony Sampson lecture at Queen Mary. See below for details and for RSVP.  

As I mentioned I will shortly put some draft essay questions on the module notes  for discussion early next term. It is important to look over some of the main books and articles on the reading lists during the holiday- as well as all the NCTJ revision.