Cameron’s runway U-turn
Senior Conservatives led by George Osborne are pressing David Cameron into allowing the development of a third runway at Heathrow airport. The controversial move would infuriate green campaigners and face opposition from some in the Conservative party, including Boris Johnson, who opposes a third runway and is committed to blocking one if he is re-elected as London mayor. It would mark a major U-turn by David Cameron, who won the Tory leadership and campaigned for Number Ten partly on the back of his green credentials. One obstacle, however, is Justine Greening, the transport secretary. Greening is MP for Putney, where there is huge local opposition to Heathrow’s expansion. She has said she will allow the U-turn to go through “over my dead body.” Now, however, Prospect has been told that Greening is set for “promotion” in the reshuffle due later this year. “She is a high flyer, doing a brilliant job and deserves promotion,” says a senior Tory official, who happens to be at the treasury where Osborne is said to be lobbying for the policy change.
Gould unites the parties
David Cameron’s strategist Steve Hilton and Number Ten pollster Andrew Cooper rubbed shoulders with Tony Blair and Gordon Brown at the interment of Philip Gould’s ashes in Highgate cemetery. Alastair Campbell played a bagpipe lament at the ceremony for Gould, who died of cancer in November last year. The party, which also included Tessa Jowell and Alan Milburn, retired for lunch afterwards at the north London house of Gould and Gail Rebuck, the publisher.
Chris Patten’s outsider
John Berry, the artistic director of the English National Opera, is in the running for the hotly contested job of director general of the BBC, Prospect has learned. Chris Patten, the Corporation’s chair, is said to want an “outsider” and the official advertisement for the post makes it clear that the successful candidate does not have to be a journalist. Patten knows Berry and is said to have been impressed by his overhaul of the National Opera.
Betting on a bishop
When Prospect first tipped Graham James, the Bishop of Norwich, to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury in February, he was regarded as an outsider with no hope against the likes of John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, and Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London. After several items in this diary naming James, he is now the bookies’ favourite at 7/4.
Cameron’s new challenger
Sticking with betting odds, the Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens, who wrote of his fear of being arrested on these pages last month, has revealed that he is planning to stand for parliament as an independent following George Galloway’s shock landslide in Bradford West. “I’m thinking of standing in David Cameron’s Witney constituency—close to my Oxford home,” he tells Prospect. “I can get around it by bike, losing weight while winning votes.”
West Bank Olympics bash
Olympic fever has reached the West Bank. The British consul general for Jerusalem, Sir Vincent Fean, chose Ramallah’s trendiest venue, the "Snowbar," with poolside drinks, to hold a party on 18th April celebrating 100 days to go before London 2012.
Greekonomics
Vicky Pryce, the economist and estranged wife of Chris Huhne, is writing Greekonomics: the Euro Crisis and Why Politicians Don’t Get It, out in September. Pryce, who is Greek, will reflect on “how Europe has responded to the crisis... and what needs to happen if the euro is to survive in its current form,” according to the publisher, Biteback. Pryce is said to be planning a career in politics.
Awards
Prospect has been shortlisted for consumer magazine of the year in the Professional Publishers Association awards 2012. Also, Prospect associate editor Edward Docx has been longlisted for the prestigious Orwell prize.
Senior Conservatives led by George Osborne are pressing David Cameron into allowing the development of a third runway at Heathrow airport. The controversial move would infuriate green campaigners and face opposition from some in the Conservative party, including Boris Johnson, who opposes a third runway and is committed to blocking one if he is re-elected as London mayor. It would mark a major U-turn by David Cameron, who won the Tory leadership and campaigned for Number Ten partly on the back of his green credentials. One obstacle, however, is Justine Greening, the transport secretary. Greening is MP for Putney, where there is huge local opposition to Heathrow’s expansion. She has said she will allow the U-turn to go through “over my dead body.” Now, however, Prospect has been told that Greening is set for “promotion” in the reshuffle due later this year. “She is a high flyer, doing a brilliant job and deserves promotion,” says a senior Tory official, who happens to be at the treasury where Osborne is said to be lobbying for the policy change.
Gould unites the parties
David Cameron’s strategist Steve Hilton and Number Ten pollster Andrew Cooper rubbed shoulders with Tony Blair and Gordon Brown at the interment of Philip Gould’s ashes in Highgate cemetery. Alastair Campbell played a bagpipe lament at the ceremony for Gould, who died of cancer in November last year. The party, which also included Tessa Jowell and Alan Milburn, retired for lunch afterwards at the north London house of Gould and Gail Rebuck, the publisher.
Chris Patten’s outsider
John Berry, the artistic director of the English National Opera, is in the running for the hotly contested job of director general of the BBC, Prospect has learned. Chris Patten, the Corporation’s chair, is said to want an “outsider” and the official advertisement for the post makes it clear that the successful candidate does not have to be a journalist. Patten knows Berry and is said to have been impressed by his overhaul of the National Opera.
Betting on a bishop
When Prospect first tipped Graham James, the Bishop of Norwich, to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury in February, he was regarded as an outsider with no hope against the likes of John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, and Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London. After several items in this diary naming James, he is now the bookies’ favourite at 7/4.
Cameron’s new challenger
Sticking with betting odds, the Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens, who wrote of his fear of being arrested on these pages last month, has revealed that he is planning to stand for parliament as an independent following George Galloway’s shock landslide in Bradford West. “I’m thinking of standing in David Cameron’s Witney constituency—close to my Oxford home,” he tells Prospect. “I can get around it by bike, losing weight while winning votes.”
West Bank Olympics bash
Olympic fever has reached the West Bank. The British consul general for Jerusalem, Sir Vincent Fean, chose Ramallah’s trendiest venue, the "Snowbar," with poolside drinks, to hold a party on 18th April celebrating 100 days to go before London 2012.
Greekonomics
Vicky Pryce, the economist and estranged wife of Chris Huhne, is writing Greekonomics: the Euro Crisis and Why Politicians Don’t Get It, out in September. Pryce, who is Greek, will reflect on “how Europe has responded to the crisis... and what needs to happen if the euro is to survive in its current form,” according to the publisher, Biteback. Pryce is said to be planning a career in politics.
Awards
Prospect has been shortlisted for consumer magazine of the year in the Professional Publishers Association awards 2012. Also, Prospect associate editor Edward Docx has been longlisted for the prestigious Orwell prize.
