Peter Riddell is a leading political commentator. He writes mainly about British politics and has published several books on the subject en-uk Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:37:29 GMT Copyright 2007 Times Newspapers Ltd. custserv@timesonline.co.uk http://www.timesonline.co.uk Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:45:36 GMT Newspapers 144 21 http://www.timesonline.co.uk http://images.thetimes.co.uk/TGD/picture/0,,116979,00.gif Peter Riddell: Political Briefing Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT 2009-06-29T08:12:50Z Lord Mandelson has become the guarantor of the Brown Government’s new Labour credentials. This is as important as his other, more familiar roles as indispensable adviser, suave and unflappable spokesman and, of course, Business Secretary. Peter Riddell: Political Briefing Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT 2009-06-23T10:30:08Z Now for the hard part. After the apologies, it is time to translate promises of reform into workable proposals. The danger is of rushing into tough-looking legislation with cross-party support that is inadequately scrutinised and flawed. Peter Riddell: Political Briefing Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT 2009-06-22T10:05:02Z John Bercow can make a difference as Speaker of the Commons but he cannot change Parliament all on his own. That depends on the attitudes of MPs themselves. Peter Ridell: Political Briefing Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT 2009-06-18T07:14:12Z Rough justice is no justice. The flood of disclosures about MPs’ expenses has led to a haphazard mess in which there is no obvious reason why one MP should be forced out but another survives. Peter Riddell:Political Briefing Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT 2009-06-16T10:16:49Z It doesn’t matter a damn who the Prime Minister’s official spokesman is now. It is already far, far too late for that. Simon Lewis has a reputation as a smooth operator with good contacts. But however good he may be, he will have no more than a marginal impact on the fate of Gordon Brown.