HomeViews & BlogsColumnistsRob Merrick

Regional rights

Regional rights

ANOTHER one-year anniversary is reached today , but with rather less fanfare than the “celebration” of Gordon Brown’s arrival in No.10. Read

Gordon Brown’s happy daze

ONE year on from the June day when he kissed the Queen’s hand and entered No.10, Gordon Brown sipped a celebratory Scotch whisky as he toasted his greatest triumph. Read

Rob Merrick: A different practice

THE Government has taken away your post office, your local shop and your local police station – and now it’s gunning for your family doctor. Read

Detention laws

LABOUR MPs who swing behind 42-day detention for terror suspects tonight will be trying to save Gordon Brown's bacon – not cheering the draconian plan itself. Read

Gordon Brown - Best when boldest

GORDON BROWN is like a football manager whose team is 2-0 down with 20 minutes to go – but who still leaves his star strikers on the bench. Read

Gordon Brown - staying or going?

TO PANIC or not to panic. That is the question for Labour MPs, as they contemplate their by- election disaster and decide whether a coup should follow Crewe. Read

Rob Merrick: New tax timebomb

WITH the 10p tax fiasco finally dealt with, relieved Labour MPs consoled themselves that Gordon Brown would never repeat such a blunder. Read

Rob Merrick: The baby battle

CASE closed – the two words that sprang to mind on reading the latest research on survival rates for babies born before 24 weeks, ahead of next week’s crunch abortion vote. Read

Rob Merrick: Prime Minister still not listening

THE next few weeks will – almost as much as last week’s local election thrashing – show us just how badly Gordon Brown is going wrong. Read

Rob Merrick: Days to disaster for Gordon Brown

THE blazing Labour row over the scrapping of the 10p tax rate is a tale of Gordon Brown’s scheming to succeed Tony Blair coming back to haunt him. Read

Rob Merrick: Labour cutting corners on unemployment

IT IS bad enough that a rush to privatise welfare-to-work schemes will deprive Merseyside of a multi-million pound reward for cutting benefit bills – something I revealed earlier this year. Read

Rob Merrick: A moral dilemma

WHEN Robin Cook’s conscience would not allow him to vote for the invasion of Iraq, he was forced to resign from the Cabinet and end his political career on the backbenches. Read

Rob Merrick: Darling's Budget climbdown

MY Budget Day story read: “Drinkers and drivers of gas-guzzling cars pay to rescue poverty pledges” – which was undoubtedly true. Read

Rob Merrick: Ain’t it the tooth?

I STEELED myself, last week, for perhaps the third most financially crippling experience in life after buying a house and having kids – a trip to the dentist. Read

Darling on the rocks?

ALISTAIR DARLING is clearly on the Rocks after his bungling over that troublesome bank – but I doubt Gordon Brown is preparing to scuttle him. Read

Rob Merrick: A taxing issue

WHEN Alistair Darling delivers his first Budget next month, there will be the usual stern warnings about the need to cap the pay of public sector workers. Read

Rob Merrick: Paying the price

REPORTS condemning the Government for shackling power-starved local authorities arrive with a depressing frequency in this job. Read

Paying the police

OUR MPs should pack away their hairshirts and vote themselves a proper pay rise tomorrow – ignoring the inevitable bad headlines. Read

Donation dilemma

A LOOMING revolution in organ donation appears to show that memories of the Alder Hey scandal are fading – in Downing Street, at least. Read

An easy target

WHITEHALL targets are normally placed just behind dirty hospitals and greedy GPs in any list of alleged evils dragging down the NHS. Read