Opening up politics
‘More ministers should be drafted in from outside politics, former work and pensions secretary James Purnell says today.
Writing in the special Labour party edition of Progress magazine, Purnell says that a wider range of candidates needs to be encouraged to enter politics, and suggests ministers not previously elected – known as “goats”, as a reference to Gordon Brown’s “government of all the talents” – should play a bigger part.’ – Allegra Stratton, The Guardian
Lib Dem conference ends
‘The task before the third party is to capture the imagination. This week the Liberal Democrats asked the nation to be inspired by the resounding slogan of “A Fresh Start For Britain, Choosing A Different, Better Future” (rather than a different, worse future) in front of a backdrop of a straggly bird that looked incapable of flight. It was a toss-up whether it was the bird or Nick Clegg playing beach cricket in a suit that was the better visual representation of the week.’ – Leader, The Times
‘Away from Bournemouth, few people will have noticed the consequences of Vince Cable’s erratic independence, or the lack of preparation that went into the week’s big policy announcements: a tax on all houses worth more than £1m (or perhaps not all of them), a public sector pay freeze (of sorts), and the delay (or perhaps abandonment) of a promise to end student tuition fees. But confusion over such things was unsettling from a party that wants to talk tough — dismissing the Tories as inexperienced fakes and Labour as finished.’ – Editorial, The Guardian
World leaders gather at UN
‘Gordon Brown today warned that the world is entering a critical six-month period that is likely to test the resolve of global leaders even more than the banking crisis of the past year did.’ – Patrick Wintour, The Guardian
‘The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, faced a series of walkouts at the United Nations general assembly last night after launching a renewed attack on Israel, which he accused of genocide, barbarism and racism.’ – Ewen MacAskill, The Guardian
‘Within minutes of Mr Obama’s departure from the building, the assembly reverted to type, with walkouts and calls for the boycott of the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s speech. Yesterday’s lofty words and low antics illustrated the gap between Mr Obama’s vision and the realities of debates at the UN. A genuinely new world order needs world leaders with a vision that transcends national interest. And this breed of international statesman or woman is thin on the ground .’ – Editorial, The Guardian
World statesman of the year
‘Gordon Brown may be trailing in the polls at home, but in the US last night he was hailed as a hero for “stabilising” the world economy and showing “compassionate leadership”.’ – Helen Pidd, The Guardian
‘Issues that include the fallout from the financial crisis and the recovery from global recession. He meets us at the start of a week in which “British statesman” Brown becomes “world statesman” Brown. He is flying to the United States to attend a UN summit on climate change in New York and the G20 meeting of global leaders in Pittsburgh. In the next six months, he tells us, he has a gruelling “series of conferences” in which he will be seeking to reach agreements on what he calls the five “massive global challenges”: climate change, global prosperity, world poverty, international terrorism and nuclear disarmament.’ – Mehdi Hasan and James Macintyre, New Statesman