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21 May 2013 08:30:28

Newslinks for Tuesday 21st May 2013

8.30pm MPsETC: 127 Tory MPs oppose the same sex marriage bill, but it still passes the Commons

7.30pm WATCH: Martin Callanan MEP wants concrete results from tomorrow's EU summit on energy and tax evasion

6.30pm WATCH: Today's scrap over Scottish independence...

3.30pm ToryDiary: The Tory leadership is betting the house on house prices – it might not end well

1.30pm Dr Lee Rotherham on Comment: Why we should pull out of the EU Defence Agency

10.30am Two posts related to the "swivel-eyed" story:

Emma Pidding on Comment: The Party's Board has full confidence in Lord Feldman
ToryDiary: "I am proud of what you do" – David Cameron's message to party activists

ToryDiary: The same-sex marriage bill. Bad when it started. Just as bad now. It should be opposed today.

Also on ToryDiary, the second post in our special series on UKIP: How do UKIP campaign?

Shazia Ovaisi writes this week's Foreign Policy column: Pakistan's election – Freedom or Fragmentation?

Andrew Haldenby on Comment: Michael Gove and the teaching unions – allies in preserving ring-fencing, which should go

John Bald on Local Government: Our eyes are perfectly stable

The Deep End: The rise and fall and rise again of North Sea oil (to be followed by another fall)

David Cameron writes to reassure party activists after the "swivel-eyed" furore...

"The Prime Minister did not refer explicitly to the remark, but insisted that he admired and respected his party’s activists. ... 'I am proud to lead this party. I am proud of what you do,' he said. 'I would never have around me those who sneered or thought otherwise. We are a team, from the parish council to the local association to Parliament, and I never forget it.'" - Daily Telegraph

"Whether those on the Right will be mollified remains to be seen, but at least the Prime Minister has started to focus on uniting his party, rather than dividing it." - Daily Telegraph editorial
"Mr Cameron must demonstrate personally that he feels a bond with the party he leads." - Times editorial (£)
"If the Tories do not pull themselves together very soon the party will have forfeited its case for re-election" - Guardian editorial

> Yesterday:

ToryDiary: A precondition for victory is unity – but unity requires boldness and generosity from Cameron
Lord Ashcroft on Comment: Enough! Time to behave like the governing Party we all want to be

...as he comes under further pressure in the polls and from his party, with talk of a no confidence vote resurfacing...

"David Cameron issued a love letter to Tory activists last night as UKIP closed to within two points in the opinion polls. ... The dire poll ratings will fuel the discontent of Tory MPs who warned yesterday the number prepared to force a leadership election has risen in recent days.’" - Daily Mail

"But senior figures indicated that the chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 committee, Graham Brady, was expected to receive further letters calling for a confidence vote. ... One senior figure said: "This is worse than John Major. There was quite a lot of sympathy for him because of the Maastricht rebels. He also listened, though he probably listened too much. With Cameron it feels like this could be terminal – and will be so before the election." - The Guardian

"More than twice as many people believe UKIP leader Nigel Farage is closer to Conservative activists than David Cameron, a poll reveals today." - The Sun

"...who can doubt the main thrust of Mr Farage’s attack – that Mr Cameron’s circle looks down on the party’s natural supporters?" - Daily Mail editorial
"...there is now a serious chance that Mr Farage will smash the existing party system and usher in a very different structure at Westminster." - Iain Martin, Daily Telegraph
"Politics needs mavericks, not just the same old chumocracy and groupthink" - Jenni Russell, The Guardian

> Yesterday on ToryDiary: Who are UKIP?

...and gets a kicking from The Sun...

"...the root of his undoing has been his own dithering, U-turns and endless broken pledges. Since long before the 2010 election, Cameron has over-promised and under-achieved. ... Only a man of Cameron’s Etonian arrogance would imagine he could reinvent Britain’s oldest political party without haemorrhaging support. But just to send defectors even faster into Nigel Farage’s warm embrace, he hurled a few playground insults UKIP’s way too. ... What is lost in this orgy of self-destruction is that Cameron’s position is so often RIGHT." - Sun editorial

...and from a sweary Norman Tebbit...

"The former Conservative chairman said that the alienation of some traditional Tory voters showed how ministers had 'f***ed things up'. ... The peer made the observation during an interview with The Big Issue, in which he said UKIP would be the main beneficiaries of bad Tory proposals." - The Times (£)

...and from Rachel Sylvester's Tory sources...

"Despair and frustration are growing on the government benches. 'It's a vacuum filled by anarchy,' says one Tory minister. 'There is no leadership, direction or character at the top. You can't govern with gimmicks – you need gumption and guts. All the rows are a proxy for 'What the hell is going on?' and 'Where are you going?'" - Rachel Sylvester, The Times (£)

"Mr Cameron has never openly addressed the question of why he fell short in 2010. Yet the battle to interpret that result is shaping his present and will influence the party’s choice of an eventual successor." - Janan Ganesh, Financial Times

...but he avoids a Commons defeat over gay marriage by joining up with Labour

"David Cameron enraged Tory rebels last night by striking a late deal with Labour to prevent his own MPs wrecking gay marriage legislation. ... The Prime Minister backed Labour’s calls for an immediate consultation on the future of civil partnerships once gay marriages are legalised. ... This could either lead to them being extended to heterosexual couples or scrapped totally." - Daily Mail

"A surprising aspect of last night’s vote is that Cameron took his (in many ways commendable) stand after a week of concessions to his dissenters on the arguably more crucial issue of Europe." - Donald Macintyre, Independent
"We need to rescue marriage, not replace it" - Christian Guy, The Times (£)

> Yesterday:

Don't mention the tax avoidance! Mr Cameron meets with Google boss

"David Cameron held talks with the billionaire head of Google yesterday but failed to tackle him over allegations the giant corporation has dodged hundreds of millions of pounds in tax. ... Eric Schmidt attended the meeting in Downing Street as a member of the Prime Minister’s elite Business Advisory Group." - Daily Mail

"The backlash against corporate tax avoidance could end up costing the country jobs and investment, [the] Treasury minister [David Gauke] has warned." - Financial Times

> Yesterday, by Charlie Elphicke MP on Comment: Labour is responsible for tax avoidance culture

William Hague's latest warning to Bashar al Assad

"William Hague issued an ultimatum to Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad yesterday, warning Britain will arm the rebels seeking to oust him unless he comes to the negotiating table. ... The Foreign Secretary said there’s a ‘compelling case’ for changing the European Union arms embargo on Syria next week to allow weapons to go to moderate rebel groups." - Daily Mail

Jeremy Hunt attacks out-of-hours GP services

"Millions of patients are being failed by GP clinics that have become 'mini A&E departments', says Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt. ... He blasted surgeries where it is 'impossible' to get a next-day appointment — and out-of-hours services are provided by doctors 'who do not know you from Adam.'" - The Sun

"England's 34,000 family doctors will face Ofsted-style inspections overseen by a new chief inspector of general practice to secure 'safe and responsive care', the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, is to announce." - The Guardian

"The Government's chief medical officer will warn today that resistance to antibiotics is one of the greatest threats to modern health." - Daily Mail

Owen Paterson bans one tree to save another

"Ministers are set to ban imports of sweet chestnut trees to prevent a repeat of the ash dieback crisis threatening to devastate Britain’s countryside. ... The announcement by Environment Secretary Owen Paterson was made following the recommendations of an independent task force set up to look at tree and plant health." - Daily Mail

The 35 Tory MPs who face fracking in their constituencies

"Drilling for gas could take place across the south of England in the constituencies of 35 Tory MPs. ... A new analysis of the areas where shale - a type of rock rich in natural gas - is plentiful and drilling licences have been handed out, covers the constituencies of several cabinet ministers." - Daily Mail

Ed Davey fears that the rise of UKIP will fuel climate change scepticism – but backs George Osborne

"The rise of Ukip risks fuelling climate change scepticism as Conservative politicians embrace the populist 'saloon bar' politics of Nigel Farage’s party, the Energy Secretary, Ed Davey, has warned. ... Asked if he thought Chancellor George Osborne was among the climate sceptics, Mr Davey told The Independent: 'I’ve never seen evidence to that effect.'" - Independent

Labour wants vocational teachers to spend time in industry

"All teachers involved in vocational education would have to spend a period of each year in industry, under Labour plans to integrate further education with emerging skills gaps identified by businesses. ... The strategy is based on recommendations from the Institute of Education, aimed at addressing the low levels of employer involvement in the skills system, the lack of high quality apprenticeships and the poor quality advice available to pupils." - Financial Times

Spending on schools cuts be cut by a fifth without harming results, claims think-tank

"Spending on schools could be cut by almost a fifth without harming results, a think-tank claims. ... Reform, a right-of-centre group, published an analysis suggesting that there were weak links between school budgets and the quality of teaching and pupils' progress." - The Times (£)

"We trust this research will stiffen the resolve of Michael Gove, as he wrestles with the education establishment’s resistance to his reforms." - Daily Telegraph editorial

> Today on Comment, Reform's director Andrew Haldenby writes: Michael Gove and the teaching unions – allies in preserving ring-fencing, which should go

Leveson Inquiry caught up in gagging row

"The Leveson Inquiry was under fire tonight after claims Scotland Yard gagged it over extraordinary allegations against a senior officer. ... Fresh questions emerged about its effectiveness as it emerged a report detailing suspicions that the officer was leaking to the News of the World was withheld." - Daily Mail

"Police officers must declare if they are friends with journalists under draconian new guidelines published yesterday." - Daily Mail

Dominic Sandbrook: It's insulting that MPs want a pay rise

"In its way, this story tells you everything you need to know about British politics in 2013. Never in living memory has our political elite seemed so disconnected from the pressures faced by ordinary people. Never has the gap between the rulers and the ruled yawned quite so wide." - Dominic Sandbrook, Daily Mail

> Yesterday, by Marina Kim on Comment: If MPs are to be paid more, voters need a right of recall

Benedict Brogan on political reporting in the age of social media

"Where Alastair Campbell complained about the drumbeat of the 24-hour news channels, Mr Cameron must contend with the minute-by-minute verdict of social media, where his performances and policies are scrutinised, judged and discarded instantly. Where journalists used to meet in the bar, they now exchange gags and gossip on Twitter. It is a political accelerant." - Benedict Brogan, Daily Telegraph

News in brief

"Private companies who win government contracts to help the jobless find work are 'parking' some of the most disadvantaged people on benefits, MPs warn today" - Independent
Police have searched the Commons office of Nigel Evans - Daily Mail
"The public does have a right to know about Boris Johnson’s philandering past, the Appeal Court confirmed." - Daily Mail
"More than a third of Brits taking out payday loans earn less than £15,000 a year" - The Sun
Three million parents over 50 have their grown-up children living at home with them - Daily Mail
Survey finds two in three people oppose legal aid cuts - Independent
Abu Qatada wants a bigger taxpayer-funded house - Daily Mail
FTSE hits a 13-year high - Daily Mail

> Please use the thread below to provide links to news topics likely to be of interest to ConservativeHome readers and to comment on political topics that haven't been given their own blog. Read our comments policy here.

21 May 2013 in May 2013 newslinks | Permalink | Comments

20 May 2013 08:48:13

Newslinks for Monday 20th May 2013

6.45pm WATCH: "It's not about wrecking the Bill" – Tim Loughton defends his amendment to the gay marriage bill

4.15pm Oliver Cooper on Comment: Backing same-sex marriage won’t decide the next election – but it will decide elections decades from now

3pm On Comment, Matthew Elliott writes that, for jobs and growth, Britain's relationship with the EU must change: "Britain’s relationship with the EU is broken. This doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed, but that fixing will be difficult and it is crucial that groups representing Britain’s businesses are honest about what that change will entail – namely treaty change and fundamental reform."

2.30pm Local Government:

12.30pm Charlie Elphicke MP on Comment: Labour is responsible for tax avoidance culture

10.15am Local Government: Stephen Greenhalgh on Putting bobbies before buildings

9.45am ToryDiary: A precondition for victory is unity – but unity requires boldness and generosity from Cameron

On ToryDiary, we begin our series on Getting to Know U-KIP: Who are UKIP?

Also on ToryDiary: The Cabinet Office is the seat of this Government’s radicalism – but it’s stuck in several ruts

Lord Ashcroft on Comment: Enough! Time to behave like the governing Party we all want to be

Marina Kim on Comment: If MPs are to be paid more, voters need a right of recall

Local Government: Pickles attacks Labour's housing record in Wales

The Deep End: Robert Halfon and Jesse Norman are the future of the Conservative Party

Loons vs Roons 1) Lord Feldman under continuing pressure...

"The peer, one of David Cameron’s closest friends in politics, has angrily denied making the comments and hinted that he may sue over newspaper reports. ... But some senior Tories last night cast doubt on his denials, and he is expected to face close interrogation over the affair when the Conservative Party board holds its monthly meeting in London this afternoon. ... Tory MP Brian Binley, a member of the party board, said: ‘I simply do not believe that senior journalists would make up such a remark.'" - Daily Mail

"The Bow Group think-tank said Tories risked doom over gay marriage, the EU and claims that a Cameron aide called party activists 'loons'." - The Sun

"The first thing to point out is that the Tory grassroots are rather more variegated than the stereotypes suggest." - Tim Bale, Daily Telegraph
"That quote is indicative of more than a split between the core of a political party and its fringes. Rather, it highlights an attitude at the heart of government that is neither pleasant nor wise." - Times editorial (£)
"Cameron had the chance to defy the 'swivel-eyed loons' and remake his party. He failed." - Steve Richards, Guardian

> Today, by Lord Ashcroft on Comment: Enough! Time to behave like the governing Party we all want to be

> Yesterday on ToryDiary: Lord Feldman should ring each Conservative Association Chairman to thank local activists for their work

Loons vs Roons 2) ...as both the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail warn the Tories against excessive bickering

"...the danger is that, by looking in on itself, the Tory party will fail to notice that the wider narrative might just be starting to go its way, and that it had better summon the energy – and unity – to make the most of it." - Daily Telegraph editorial
"...the most frustrating thing is that the Tories have an increasingly good narrative to tell, if they could stop bickering long enough to tell it." - Daily Mail editorial
"Not only is the Conservative Party splitting itself in two – it is leaving the electorate far behind." - Independent editorial

Loons vs Roons 3) How the swivel-eyed story (allegedly) came about

"Some time around 10pm, the bespectacled figure of Lord Feldman was spotted passing the table of reporters at the Blue Boar. He was apparently on his way to the washroom. What happened next is now the talk of Westminster. ... One of the reporters couldn’t resist engaging Lord Feldman in conversation with a throwaway comment. ... ‘Oh, that went well then, didn’t it?’ – a sarcastic reference to events a couple of hours earlier when 114 Tory MPs had voted against the Queen’s Speech in protest over the EU referendum." - Daily Mail

"Cameron's chums DO despise the grass roots" - Melissa Kite, Daily Mail

Loons vs Roons 4) David Cameron now expects UKIP to win next year's European elections, according to reports

"David Cameron expects the UK Independence Party to win next year’s European Parliament elections despite his pledge to hold an in/out referendum on Europe. ... A senior Conservative source said it was now taken as a ‘reasonable assumption’ in Downing Street that UKIP would top the poll next May – sparking a fresh round of Tory bloodletting on Europe just 12 months before the General Election." - Daily Mail

Richard Branson and Martin Sorrell among signatories to a letter to The Independent that takes aim at Eurosceptics - Independent

"David Cameron must rapidly choose which side to be on. Right now, he looks like a man swept along by forces beyond his control." - Trevor Kavanagh, The Sun

> Yesterday's videos to WATCH:

Jeremy Hunt: The Conservatives are united on Europe
John Redwood: We need a new relationship with Europe
Lord Mandelson: We mustn't let the UK Isolation Party push us around on Europe

Loons vs Roons 5) ...as Nigel Farage makes a big pitch for Tory votes

"Mr Farage uses an advertisement in Monday's Telegraph to urge Conservative voters to back Ukip. The “loons” description, he says, is “'the ultimate insult' from a party leadership that has betrayed the trust of its own supporters. ... He writes in the advertisement: 'Only an administration run by a bunch of college kids, none of whom have ever had a proper job in their lives, could so arrogantly write off their own supporters.'" - Daily Telegraph

> Today on ToryDiary: Who are UKIP?

Loons vs Roons 6) They called me a swivel-eyed loon (for wanting a new bus for London), says Boris

"I remember what the doubters said when we first announced a new bus for London – a replacement for the beloved Routemaster. They said I was mad. The Labour Party said I was deranged. My opponents said I was a swivel-eyed loon, or words to that effect. ... So it gives me unbridled joy to inform you that the new bus will shortly arrive en masse." - Boris Johnson, Daily Telegraph

And there's more bad news for Mr Cameron: he faces defeat in gay marriage vote

"David Cameron is facing a Commons defeat tonight on gay marriage that could cost the Exchequer £4billion. ... At least 100 Tory MPs are expected to join forces with Labour and the Lib Dems to back an amendment allowing heterosexual couples to have civil partnerships too. ... Sources say the Prime Minister is ‘very concerned’ about losing the vote, which he believes would undermine the institution of marriage." - Daily Mail

"At least two cabinet ministers – the environment secretary Owen Paterson and the Wales secretary David Jones – are prepared to vote for a series of amendments that would grant exemptions to teachers and registrars. ... Chris Grayling, the justice secretary, and John Hayes, the prime minister's unofficial envoy to the Tory right, may also side with opponents of the bill during a series of votes..." - Guardian

"My brother Charles, who was gay, died from Aids in 1993. Society was a far less accepting place for gay men such as him. I think how much better his life would have been had there been greater acceptance of publicly acknowledged stable same-sex relationships." - Francis Maude, Daily Telegraph
"The churches do not own marriage. We do." - Libby Purves, The Times (£)

> Yesteday, by Councillor Miles Windsor and Ben Harris-Quinney on Comment: The same-sex marriage bill is a symptom of a wider malaise at the top of the Party

Tim Montgomerie: Here's the speech Cameron should give now

"If I were in David Cameron's shows, I'd offer contrition on Europe, a big peace offering to party members and then, from those two launchpads, a big outreach to the voters who still see the Tories as the party of the rich. If I were his speechwriter, this is what I would suggest..." - Tim Montgomerie, The Times (£)

David Cameron writes to Britain's tax havens, calling for transparency - Guardian

There's bad news for George Osborne, too: Mervyn King has questioned his house-buying plan

"Sir Mervyn King has sounded the alarm over the Chancellor’s home-buying plan, suggesting it could trigger a US-style economic crash. ... The outgoing Bank of England governor said George Osborne’s Help to Buy scheme was ‘too close for comfort’ and could damage the mortgage market if allowed to continue for too long." - Daily Mail

House prices reach record highs in London, the South East and Anglia - Daily Mail

"Hats off to Mervyn King. By voicing his doubts about the government's £130bn gamble on the housing market, the outgoing Bank of England governor has restarted a vital debate." - Guardian editorial
"As the Chancellor’s spending continues to spiral, he has no hope of balancing the books" - Jeff Randall, Daily Telegraph

Michael Gove attacks "defeatist" head teachers

"Michael Gove has launched a fierce attack on primary school leaders, labelling them 'defeatists' who are resisting higher standards. ... Writing in The Times today, the Education Secretary singles out the president of Britain’s biggest head teachers’ union, accusing her of opposing higher expectations for children." - The Times (£)

"Apologise for expecting the best? No chance" - Michael Gove, The Times (£)
"The more abuse Mr Gove gets from the teachers, the more you know he's right" - Melanie Phillips, Daily Mail

Peter Mandelson urges Ed Milband to actually set out some policies

"Labour leader Ed Miliband needs to 'put the contents in the tin' and spell out some policies, party veteran Lord Mandelson said yesterday. ... He praised Mr Miliband’s “One Nation” mantra but warned it was not enough." - The Sun

MPs could pocket a £10,000 pay-rise

"MPs are set for a huge £10,000 pay rise — while hard-up families suffer pay freezes and layoffs. ... Their taxpayer-funded salaries will rocket from £65,738 to more than £75,000 under plans drawn up by the Commons expenses watchdog." - The Sun

> Today, by Marina Kim on Comment: If MPs are to be paid more, voters need a right of recall

News in brief

Nine in ten parents want online porn automatically blocked by the Government - Daily Mail
Fifty hospital beds have been axed every week since the last election - Daily Mail
"As many as 6.8million people and 1.8million children have been trapped into long-term poverty, the Centre for Social Justice says in a report." - Daily Mail
"Foreigners living in London are set to outnumber Brits within 20 years, new research signalled yesterday." - The Sun
Police expect New IRA plot during G8 summit - The Times (£)
"Tony Blair has agreed to advise the next government of Albania in a deal which could be worth millions of pounds." - Daily Mail
Legal watchdog warns budget cuts will damage justice - Guardian

20 May 2013 in May 2013 newslinks | Permalink | Comments

19 May 2013 09:01:23

Newslinks for Sunday 19th May 2013

5pm WATCH

Jeremy Hunt: The Conservatives are united on Europe
John Redwood: We need a new relationship with Europe
Lord Mandelson: We mustn't let the UK Isolation Party push us around on Europe

4.45pm Councillor Miles Windsor and Ben Harris-Quinney on Comment: The same-sex marriage bill is a symptom of a wider malaise at the top of the Party

12.45pm Aaron Ellis on Comment: Why we mustn't arm the Syrian opposition

ToryDiary: Lord Feldman should ring each Conservative Association Chairman to thank local activists for their work

Adam Afriyie on Comment: Why I'm optimistic about the future of our country and our Party

Swivel-eyed loons 1) Are they Cameron's own words?

"A report in the Financial Times at the time said Mr Cameron 'tells colleagues that anyone who wants to talk to him about the EU is 'swivel-eyed'.' The comment came in a major profile of the Prime Minister by the paper's respected political editor George Parker. Mr Parker last night declined to say who told him the PM uses the term. The FT profile was compiled with substantial help from Lord Feldman, among others." - Mail on Sunday

Swivel-eyed loons 2) Feldman denies using the term

In a statement Feldman, who was a friend of David Cameron at Oxford University, said: "There is speculation on the internet and on Twitter that the senior Conservative party figure claimed to have made derogatory comments by the Times and the Telegraph is me. "This is completely untrue. I would like to make it quite clear that I did not nor have ever described our associations in this way or in any similar manner." - The Guardian

Lord Feldman, Cameron's tennis partner, whose relationship with him "stretches back 30 years to the manicured lawns of Oxford" - Sunday Telegraph
When off the record goes on the agenda - Independent on Sunday
Why Tories won't pay follow my leader - Sunday Times Editorial (£)
Ignoring the foot soldiers is a grave mistake - Sunday Telegraph Editorial

Swivel-eyed loons 3) Senior Conservatives believe Party Chairman's account, writes James Forsyth...

"Feldman has contacted senior figures outside the Cameron set to emphasise that he didn’t say what’s been alleged and, interestingly, they believe him. The leadership has also contacted the top figures in the party to reiterate the denials. This furore is so damaging because Feldman is Cameron’s creature, with the assumption their views are shared. He and Cameron go back to Oxford, where they served on a May Ball Committee together." - Mail on Sunday

Swivel-eyed loons 4) ...But MPs rage. Dorries, Bone...

"The Conservative MP Nadine Dorries, who sparked fury when she complained that the party was being run by "posh boys", said that any senior Tory denouncing activists in such dismissive terms should be punished. "If I had made that comment I would have been disciplined," she said. "My activists are decent, hard-working people and they are very far from 'swivel-eyed loons'…The Tory MP Peter Bone said: "Clearly, anyone who takes these views could not possibly want to remain a member of the Conservative Party, even less still want to advise the Prime Minister." - Mail on Sunday

...Lewis, Baker...

"Julian Lewis, Conservative MP for New Forest East, said: “These views are all too reminiscent of the faction of the party that has managed to gain control ... this person is undoubtedly speaking with the unwise candour of all too many people at the top of the party.” Steve Baker, MP for Wycombe, added: “It is intolerable to insult our members in such a casual and contemptuous manner. I really think David Cameron ought to fire whoever said it.” The MEP Daniel Hannan said: “We are talking about generous, patriotic people who give up their time to work for no thanks.” - Sunday Times (£)

...Rossindell, Brady

"Andrew Rosindell, Conservative MP for Romford, said: “This makes us long for the type of leadership we had with Mrs Thatcher. She would never have been disrespectful to activists. She spent time with them and treated them as equals…Graham Brady, MP for Altrincham and chairman of the 1922 committee of Conservative backbenchers, said: “I’m shocked if anybody at a senior level in the party holds that attitude and has yet to learn that whatever disagreements there are within the party, we should treat others with respect, recognising the deeply held views and convictions that members and parliamentary colleagues have.” - Sunday Times (£)

> Today: ToryDiary - Lord Feldman should ring each Conservative Association Chairman to thank local activists for their work

> Yesterday:

ToryDiary: Lord Feldman says he didn't say it. But the Telegraph stands by its story.
Tory Diary: If the Conservative Party is in decline, whose fault is that?

Paul Goodman: The problem is that grassroots Tories - and some very senior ones - think that it's what Downing Street really thinks...

"But wherever the truth lies, the significance of the incident isn’t so much whether or not he described his own party activists in this contemptuous way. It lies in the fact that so many Tories, both inside Parliament and out, simply assumed that a senior member of David Cameron’s circle had indeed made such a remark. I spoke yesterday to three senior Ministers and one very senior backbencher. They held different views on what Lord Feldman may have said to whom, but all agreed that members of Cameron’s No 10 team and some of his senior Ministers have a very low view indeed of Conservative activists." - Mail on Sunday

...And the timing of the row could scarcely be worse. The same-sex marriage bill returns to the Commons this week. Over 30 Chairmen lay into Cameron over his "refusal to listen"...

"The letter comes as more than 100 Tory MPs threaten to vote against same-sex marriage in a Commons revolt tomorrow. It says: “Your refusal to listen to reason and grassroots opinion is causing many previously loyal Conservatives to leave the party. “Some are lost forever and many will not contemplate rejoining unless the Bill is abandoned or the party leadership changed.” Grassroots Tories claim the gay marriage row could cost the party 1.3million votes. One of the signatories, Robert Woollard, of Wycombe Conservative Association, said: “It has made winning the next election virtually impossible.” - Sun on Sunday

...Meanwhile, Cabinet Members are unhappy. Grayling will vote for religious freedom amendments. Paterson and Jones will oppose the Bill outright.

"Cabinet ministers are expected to be among the “rebels”. Chris Grayling, the Justice Secretary, indicated that he would support amendments to protect people who spoke up for traditional marriage, while David Jones, the Welsh Secretary, and Owen Paterson, the Environment Secretary, will both vote against the Bill at its third reading in the Commons…Both Mr Gove and Mr Hammond are suspected by MPs of being “on manoeuvres” to position themselves as future party leaders — and to have backed a “Brexit” from the EU to court the Tory Right." - Daily Telegraph

Say it loud: we’re proud of gay marriage - Nick Herbert MP, Sunday Times (£)
Let's all welcome this bill - Yvette Cooper, Independent on Sunday
France has become the 14th country to legalise gay weddings - Sunday Express

Will the pressures on Cameron crack the Coalition altogether? He hints that it may break up

"The Prime Minister said he is prepared to run the country without his Deputy PM unless Tory-Lib Dem feuding that has paralysed his administration ends. Mr Cameron added he hopes to cling on to his ailing alliance with Mr Clegg as they tackle the economic crisis and other vital issues together. But in a move that could trigger an early General Election, he said: ‘The best way to do that is to continue with the Coalition, but if that wasn’t the case then we’d have to face the new circumstances in whatever way we should.’" - Mail on Sunday

Cameron PoliticsHome interview in full
Prime Minister: oil company charges won't apply retrospectively - Sunday Telegraph
Clegg officials ordered to hand over emails following pressure over his role in obtaining funding for charity linked to his wife - Mail on Sunday
Jo Swinson MP interview - The Observer
Why Cameron should ditch the LibDems - Mail on Sunday Editorial

Lord Howe outburst: Euro-sceptism is infecting the Conservative Party's soul

"The Tory grandee says David Cameron has opened a Pandora's box by opposing the current terms of the UK's membership of the European Union and now appears to be losing control of his party. The prime minister's actions, Howe writes in the Observer, have turned an internal Tory problem into a national one. In a highly significant intervention over Britain's future, Howe laments the "new, almost farcical" level of debate over Europe in the Tory party, and says that Labour and the Liberal Democrats may need to bear the burden of retrieving the situation." - Observer

Cameron is losing control - Lord Howe, The Observer
Richard Ottoway jeered. John Baron rampant. Margot James doubtful - The Observer
Hollobone is top rebel, ignoring party orders 129 times, followed by David Nuttall on 88, Philip Davies on 85 and Peter Bone on 68 - Sun on Sunday
Two-thirds of voters say that Prime Minister should listen more to his backbenchers - Observer

Andrew Rawnsley: The Conservative Party could split

"Many have drawn a parallel between what is happening to David Cameron and what became of John Major in the belief that there is no more wounding insult to a Tory prime minister than to compare him with the man who tucked his shirt into his underpants. Yet I am not sure that is quite right. However badly the Tories were convulsed in the past, they just about held together. I think it is no longer impossible to imagine that ultimately the Conservative party will formally split over Europe – an outcome a referendum could actually make more likely." - Observer

David Cameron is so relaxed I want to slap him - Janet Daley, Sunday Telegraph

UKIP hits record ComRes poll high

"Two weeks after Nigel Farage's party achieved its best-ever result in the local elections in England and Wales, a ComRes survey shows almost one in five people plan to vote for Ukip at the next general election. Labour has dipped to its lowest levels since Ed Miliband became leader, down three points to 35 per cent, the Tories are down one point on 29 per cent, while the Lib Dems remain stuck in single figures, at 8 per cent." - Independent on Sunday

More support for Cameron than you might think - John Rentoul, Independent on Sunday
46% of voters want to leave the EU, 30% to stay - Sunday Telegraph

> Yesterday: ToryDiary - UKIP surges to a record 20% in an opinion poll as Cameron languishes

My plan is working, says Osborne

"Yes, it’s been hard and the road ahead is not easy. I’m not going to pretend otherwise. But we’re making progress. The economy is healing slowly, the tough decisions we have taken together as a country are beginning to pay off – and in me, you have a Chancellor who is going to stick to the course we have set out…I’m proud to live in a country that doesn’t run away from its problems. I don’t believe we should do the cowardly thing some politicians would prefer, leaving behind huge debts for my kids’ generation to pay off." - Mail on Sunday

Mervyn King criticises Chancellor's plan to boost housing market - Mail on Sunday
Beware of a second credit crunch - Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times (£)
Matthew D'Ancona: What on earth's going on? Why aren't Tory backbenchers making more of the good economic news - Sunday Telegraph

Hunt wants senior civil servants to empty bedpans

"From next month, 200 senior officials will have to perform tasks such as mopping floors, emptying bedpans and serving meals to care home residents as the Government responds to the Francis Report into patient neglect at the Mid Staffordshire Trust. The plans, to be unveiled on Monday by Jeremy Hunt, will require top Whitehall officials to perform roles such as GP receptionist and hospital porter for a total of four weeks a year for six years." - Mail on Sunday

NHS Direct staff cuts lead to patient overload in A&E - The Observer

Gove heckled at head teachers' conference

"In a robust defence, Mr Gove went on to say: 'What I have heard is repeated statements that the profession faces stress, and insufficient evidence about what can be done about it.' He added: 'What I haven't heard over the last hour is a determination to be constructive, critical yes, but not constructive.' Delegates suggested he was the cause of headteachers' stress and groaned when he responded: 'If people find it stressful that I'm demanding higher standards, then I'm not going to stop demanding higher standards.'" - Mail on Sunday

Miliband targets corporate tax avoidance

"In an interview with the Observer, the Labour leader urged David Cameron to find agreement at the G8 summit of leaders next month around an ambitious agenda forcing corporate giants to pay their fair share. He said that, if Cameron fails, he himself as prime minister would unilaterally act to make multinationals operating in the UK more transparent about the money they make here, the movement of cash around their corporate structures, and the justifications for the tax they pay." - Observer

Miliband's woes - Dan Hodges, Mail on Sunday
Brooks Newmark MP invests in Cherie Blair health project - Mail on Sunday

News in Brief

Third alleged victim claims he was assaulted by Nigel Evans - Mail on Sunday
UK funds poll in Pakistan on US drone attacks - The Observer
Skiing accident MP Graham Stuart a victim of power politics as officials reject expenses claim for electric wheelchair - Mail on Sunday
Top judge warns Government's legal aid reforms could bring meltdown - Sunday Express
Sir Peregrine Worsthorne calls his brother-in-law 'cruel and selfish' for not sharing inheritance with his sisters - Mail on Sunday
MPs call for Met chief to quit over Plebgate leak - Sunday Times (£)
Beckham's last game - Independent on Sunday
MPs may get £10k pay rise - Mail on Sunday
Bercow increases his salary to £142,000 - Sun on Sunday

19 May 2013 in May 2013 newslinks | Permalink | Comments

18 May 2013 09:12:23

Newslinks for Saturday 18th May 2013

9.30pm ToryDiary: UKIP surges to a record 20% in an opinion poll as Cameron languishes

5pm MPsETC: Tory MEPs' Leader Richard Ashworth and ex-UKIP defector Marta Andreasen deselected

4.30pm ToryDiary: Update Lord Feldman says he didn't say it. But the Telegraph stands by its story.

4pm ToryDiary: Party Chairman Lord Feldman denies calling Party members “mad, swivel-eyed loons”

2.15pm Steve Barclay MP on Comment: The action on derelict buildings that would drive local growth

Tory Diary: If the Conservative Party is in decline, whose fault is that?

Energy Minister Greg Barker MP on Comment: How this Government is cutting energy bills

Bad news: Prime Minister’s ally - our party activists are “mad, swivel-eyed loons”

“Tory activists are 'mad, swivel-eyed loons', according to one of David Cameron’s closest allies. The incendiary comment made at a private dinner this week is likely to plunge relations between the Prime Minister and his party to a new low. It offers a rare insight into the disregard and irritation felt by the Prime Minister’s inner circle towards Conservative Party members up and down the country. The senior figure, who has strong social connections to the Prime Minister and close links to the party machine, blamed grassroots members for the rebellion by MPs on Europe this week. Asked about Wednesday’s vote in which 116 Conservative MPs voted against the Queen’s Speech, the figure said: 'It’s fine. There’s really no problem. The MPs just have to do it because the associations tell them to, and the associations are all mad, swivel-eyed loons.' The remarks will worsen the rift between Mr Cameron and his party amid pressure from the Tory Right, who bounced the Prime Minister into publishing a draft referendum Bill on EU membership last week." The Times (£)

Tories must not self-destruct – Macer Hall, Daily Express

> Today: Tory Diary - If the Conservative Party is in decline, whose fault is that?

> Yesterday:

ToryDiary: When it comes to Europe, 17% of voters think Cameron is driven by beliefs, but 64% think he's driven by tactical calculations
Nick Thornsby on Comment: As a Liberal Democrat, I ask - What are you, our Coalition partners, playing at?

Better News 1) Boost for Osborne as FTSE hits highest level since start of financial crisis

“The stock market last night rose to its highest level since the financial crisis, providing a timely boost for Chancellor George Osborne. The FTSE 100 index of Britain’s biggest blue chip companies ended the day above 6,700 points for the first time since October 2007 – the month after the run on Northern Rock. It comes after Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King on Wednesday predicted a ‘modest but sustained’ recovery but warned inflation will remain ‘stubbornly high’” – Daily Mail

EU bonus cap to catch more bankers – Financial Times

Better News 2) Green shoots for the Tories?

“Wallowing in the mid-term doldrums, bickering over Europe, lacking any sense of vision or direction… by all the normal rules of politics, this should be a time of deep unpopularity for the Tories. Yet remarkably, a poll this week shows the party up two points – lagging only three behind Labour, which has slumped from 38 to 34 per cent” – Daily Mail Comment

Downing Street rebukes Philip Hammond amid leadership bid concern

“Philip Hammond was rebuked by Downing Street on Friday over his criticism of gay marriage, amid concern that the defence secretary could be positioning for a leadership bid. A senior government official said Number 10 was ‘dismayed’ by Mr Hammond’s performance on the BBC’s Question Time, when he suggested that David Cameron was wasting parliamentary time and causing public anger by backing same sex marriages” – Financial Times

> Yesterday:

Nick Herbert MP on Comment: No-one will be forced to enter a gay marriage. No church will be forced to conduct a gay marriage. The case for the same-sex marriage bill.
Tim Loughton MP on Comment: If you're gay, you can have a civil partnership. But if you're straight, you can't. What's equal about that?
The Deep End: Heresy of the Week - Never mind UKIP, it’s young voters Conservatives should watch out for

Hammond: "The grey man who could be David Cameron’s nemesis"

“You may not have heard of Philip Hammond — there’s little reason why you should. After all, the Defence Secretary is not the most charismatic politician…However, behind Mr Hammond’s bank-manager-style exterior lies a man of considerable accomplishment…Some of his friends say that, keenly aware of his own abilities, he harbours a quiet determination to lead his party — which is reason enough to pay particular attention to his public pronouncements at a time when the Tories are facing something close to civil war over Europe. His announcement last weekend that he would vote to leave the EU were a referendum held now was remarkable” – Simon Heffer, Daily Mail

Charles Moore leans one way: "David Cameron isn’t a disaster, yet I long for a radical new leader..."

“I find myself in the odd position of longing for a new leader (I don’t much mind from which party) who can propose – à la Thatcher, Roosevelt, de Gaulle – a quite different way ahead, and yet also feeling that Mr Cameron is not at all a disaster. If only he would bring…clarity to the subject of Europe…He seems to regard the issue as a migraine-inducing matter of party opinion-management rather than for what it is – the main constitutional, strategic and economic question which this country faces. On the subject of Europe, Cameron the great moderniser is painfully 20th century” – Charles Moore, Daily Telegraph

...And Matthew Parris the other: "If Dave cuts a deal with UKIP I’m outta here"

“Along with millions (I believe) of liberal Tory supporters, and millions more still undecided, I will never vote for any Conservative candidates who pay UKIP protection money by signing up to their policies in return for being given a clear run. We must expose any such deals and punish at the ballot box those who connive in them. It’s simple. A vote for a Tory- UKIP collaborator is a vote for UKIP…This week it began to appear that to cut any ice in Tory politics, you have to cut up rough and treat your party like a bar-room brawl. Well, here it is in bar-room language: cut a deal with UKIP, and I’m outta here. And (the Tories would find) outta here too would be millions more” – Matthew Parris, The Times (£)

UKIP, Britain’s newest political tribe – John Harris, the Guardian
Women who wear trousers “deliberately making themselves unattractive” says UKIP donor – Daily Mail

Salmond and Farage clash over anti-UKIP protest

“Alex Salmond, Scottish first minister, has mocked complaints from Nigel Farage over his barracking by protesters at an Edinburgh pub, saying Scotland does not need the UK Independence party. In a testy BBC Scotland radio interview, Mr Farage condemned the protesters who surrounded him at a press event on Thursday as ‘fascist scum’ showing an ‘ugly face’ of Scottish nationalism.” – Financial Times

Conservatives float two-tier benefits system in private survey in Labour marginals

“The proposal for a two-tier benefits system is one of a number of Conservative policy ideas in a survey sent to members of the public in marginal seats held by Labour. The five page survey, obtained by Tribune magazine, contains 35 questions grouped under headings such as ‘helping with the cost of living’ and ‘making our welfare and benefits system fair’” – Daily Telegraph

“Bedroom tax” causes huge leap in hardship payments

“The extent of the suffering inflicted by the “bedroom tax” can be revealed for the first time today as figures show a 338 per cent leap in the number of people applying for emergency handouts in the month since it was imposed. In April, more than 25,000 people resorted to applying for discretionary housing payments (DHP) to help cover their rent, according to an analysis of 51 councils by the Independent. There were only 5,700 such claimants in the same month last year” - Independent