Top right-winger - I wonder who

You'll never guess who Iain Dale, a man vying for the parliamentary seat under the Tories at Bracknell, has pronounced the most influential right-winger of the day.
That's right, it's his boss-to-be David Cameron.
Extraordinary stuff. In The Daily Telegraph of all places.

Pull the other one George

The Tories, shadow chancellor George Osborne that is, say that the voluntary scheme would be self-financing as only 20% of those paying in would get ill enough to have to draw on the scheme, and that no public money would be needed to operate it.
It sounds too good to be true. Particularly when you realise they are talking about care home charges.
They are preying on middle class fears about lost equity - if the country could afford it we may have fallen for it but not in the current climate.
Don't insult our intelligence.

TV election debate - get off the fence Gordon

It seems so typically Gordon Brown to say that he has decided whether or not he will participate in a TV debate with other party leaders and then not let on what he has decided.
Could he be less decisive?
He must only have one pair of pants or he would never be able to get dressed.

Evening Standard spin

In the great history of postive spin this surely has to be up there.
Evening Standard editor Geordie Greig has described the paper's move from paid-for to giveaway as an "historic moment and great opportunity".
He gushes on: "The Standard has an exciting and secure future with this new, pioneering strategy of more than doubling our distribution."
So let me get this straight. You can improve circulation by giving the paper away. Why didn't I think of that, it's brilliant.
But, hold on, what about the revenue lost from sales?
The credibility?
Reputation?
Perceived worth?
There's only one way this is going to go.

House prices recover - but for how long?

That's the thing about uncertainty - it means that you can't predict what's going to happen next. It's, well, uncertain.
House prices have always been a pretty good indicator of economic good health but is this return to 2008 levels a false dawn or a real sign that 'things' are back on track. Not that 2008 levels were that great anyway.
Is this the seasonal rise/recovery due to the fact that people have to move - new job, equity release, down/upshifting - or something bigger.
Only time will tell.
But people I know who want to buy are struggling to find much on the market and that's not a sign of confidence returning.

BAE bribe charges: Why now?

Aren't kickbacks and bribes the way they do business in the arms trade?
Surely this has been happening for years.
The question is why have the government, judiciary et al, chosen now to kick up a fuss about it?
Has BAE upset somebody?
As Robert Peston says in his blog: 'Whether you love or hate that BAE is a world leader in defence, it is the biggest manufacturer in the UK and is a significant part of the British economy.'
We have to choose whether we want to do this sort of business or not.
From the political expediency exercised in the release of Al-Megrahi it seems that yes we do, sometimes.

Why is Portus so important?

Sorry, but how can the discovery of a 'private amphitheatre' at Portus near Rome be bracketed in the same category as 'such wonders as Stonehenge and Angkor Wat in Cambodia'.
Yes, that's what head of the dig Prof Simon Keay (pictured right in The Times) told the Daily Telegraph and others.
Maybe it is, but why?
On what we've read so far there's nothing to suggest why that should be so.
What more is there about this that we haven't been told to justify that extraordinary comparison?
And why didn't any of the journalists ask him?