The New Statesman’s rolling politics blog


Five of the Best

The top five comment pieces from today's papers and the web

In the Daily Telegraph Irwin Stelzer argues that David Cameron's plan to cut ministerial salaries will not lead to a lack of high-quality candidates.

If anyone believes such a move would so reduce the number of members as to leave ministerial posts unpersoned, he has never smelled the leather of a red box, or spent time in the back of a government-provided car.

The Guardian's Tom Clark calls on Gordon Brown to make his philosophy comprehensible to the electorate.

Binding it together . . . is a simple enough two-part programme attempt to run a market economy with ruthless efficiency; then funnel as much of the proceeds as feasible to the very poor. Together with the strategic conviction that the state is vital in both parts, that is Brownism in a nutshell.

Salon's Mike Madden explores why Senate Democrats have kowtowed to the right on health care.

[The New Mexico senator Jeff] Bingaman may be the prime example of the way some Senate Democrats seem to have approached the health-care debate this summer: count votes first, figure out what should be in the bill later. And while you're counting, take the most pessimistic view possible.

Daniel Finkelstein argues in the Times that the debate pitting the US and UK health systems against each other ignores the funding crisis that both models face.

The only meeting point is that we face a common crisis. Available treatments now outstrip our ability (never mind our willingness) to pay for them. In the US this is experienced as a crisis of cost, with health inflation rampant. In the UK it is experienced as a crisis of provision, with the State refusing to finance life-saving procedures.

Channel 4 News's Faisal Islam argues that the Bank of England's quantitative easing programme means that, pace David Cameron, there is no chance of the UK defaulting on its debt.

Remarkably we are heading towards £200bn worth of government debt being bought by the Bank of England. So what is the total issuance of UK gilts 2009-2010? £220bn.

So Cameron should not be worrying about us going bankrupt any time soon. We have a ready buyer for our government debt right now.