Newslinks for Saturday 19th May 2012

7.30pm ToryDiary: Only 51% of Tories support withdrawal from the European Union - and 26% would consider voting UKIP

2.30pm Andrew Smith on Comment: Labour’s reshuffle is a swing to the left, but it will put more pressure on our areas of weakness

2pm LISTEN: Chuka Umunna: Apart from Italy, Britain is the only G8 member to have entered a double dip recession

12.30pm MPsETC: The People's Pledge announce three Greater Manchester constituencies will be next to hold a vote on an EU referendum

ToryDiary: Tory members lose faith in the Chancellor and Jeremy Hunt - but two Osborne-ites, Hammond and Greening, continue to impress

Lord Flight on Comment: The Treasury must prepare for the fact that it is only a matter of when and how the €uro breaks up

Alistair Renshaw on Comment: Retrospective taxation that forces people into bankruptcy is morally repugnant

Local government: Councils cutting subsidies for teaching unions by up to 50%

WATCH: David Cameron: It's in our interests as a society to help people to bring up their children

David Cameron at G8: warns Hollande that Britain will not accept a tax on the City, but Hollande tells Cameron French troops will withdraw from Afghanistan

• "Mr Cameron found an unlikely ally in Mr Hollande with his calls for the European Central Bank (ECB) to become a lender of last resort and guarantor of eurozone government economies and banks exposed to southern European debt." - Scotsman
• ""Decisive action is needed by the eurozone. They cannot go on kicking the can down the road," the PM said. Mr Cameron also warned French President Francois Hollande that Britain will not accept a tax on financial transactions." - BBC
• "François Hollande has told David Cameron he will not reverse his pre-election commitment... [to] withdraw French combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year." - FT (£)
• "Downing Street yesterday dismissed suggestions of a personal and political rift, insisting their two phone conversations since Mr Hollande’s election were constructive and polite." - Daily Express
• Merkel 'suggests Greek referendum on euro membership' - BBC

"Veterans of Britain's tortuous relationship with the EU say Cameron and Osborne are giving a masterclass in how to annoy France and Germany" - Guardian

The Euro crisis means "It's a rotten time to be Prime Minister" 

""It's a rotten time to be Prime Minister," David Cameron is said to remark privately as he contemplates what he described publicly this week as "living in perilous economic times". ... Blaming it all on the eurozone may not help Mr Cameron and George Osborne, and they know it. Ten governments in Europe have been thrown out in the past year. The message is: incumbents take the rap, even if it is not entirely their fault. So Mr Cameron is straining every sinew, as he puts it, to secure UK growth" - Andrew Grice for the Independent

• "European shares hit their lowest level since December, depressed by the prospect of a Greek euro exit spreading a wave of contagion in the currency bloc, which could engulf larger economies such as Spain." - Scotsman
• British economy may 'never quite recover' from a severe Euro collapse, says OBR head Robert Chote - Daily Telegraph
• When it comes to ideas for saving the economy, our leaders are as bankrupt as Greece - Simon Heffer for the Daily Mail

> From yesterday - Mark Field MP on Comment: Politicians still haven't told voters that we aren't nearly as prosperous as we thought we were

Tories have held meetings with Google every month since the election

"Tory ministers have held meetings with Google an average of once a month since the General Election. The revelation of the extraordinarily close relationship increases concerns that the internet giant has the ear of the Government on a host of sensitive topics. Official records show that David Cameron has met Google executives three times and Chancellor George Osborne four times." - Daily Mail

Hunt's adviser and Murdoch lobbyist to face Leveson - Independent

Theresa May takes powers to strip Met of counter-terrorism role

"The home secretary, Theresa May, has quietly taken powers to strip Scotland Yard of its national counter-terrorism role in the aftermath of the Olympics. The move, which could lead to counter-terrorism policing being assigned to the new national crime agency (NCA) after it is set up next April, is contained in an enabling clause in the crime and courts bill, which is to be given a second reading in the House of Lords on Monday 28 May." - Guardian

• Hate preacher Qatada could be walking streets in a month - The Sun

How the Prime Minister "chillaxes"

"David Cameron’s secrets of how to switch off from the pressures of work are revealed today: karaoke, snooker, tennis against a machine dubbed “the Clegger” and three or four glasses of wine at Sunday lunch. ... On the relationship with Mr Hilton, the book reports that the Prime Minister’s policy guru chafed at Mr Cameron’s apparent readiness to compromise his early ambitions with the demands of coalition and Whitehall" - The Times (£)

• World in crisis and what’s the PM up to? Frantically denying he’s hooked on Fruit Ninja iPad game - Daily Mail

Afghan war will leave taxpayers with £20bn bill as government reveal true cost of conflict - Daily Mail

• British officers could be deployed to Syria to increase pressure on Assad regime - Daily Telegraph

Charles Moore: Britain has a friend in Mitt Romney, so David Cameron should get to know him

"He does not scintillate, but he is respectable, well-funded and experienced. He does value alliances, especially the US/British relationship; he does maintain the simple belief, often mocked but always true, that America needs a bridge to Europe (and vice versa) and gets it best from Britain. His foreign policy is classic conservative – more Henry Kissinger than George W Bush. At present, the links between the Romney camp and Mr Cameron hardly exist. Someone should arrange a non-governmental invitation to him to visit this country soon." - Charles Moore for the Daily Telegraph

Gold medal Olympians will no longer get automatic honours, says David Cameron

"Under a new approach which will apply from next month’s Birthday honours, there will no longer be “automatic” honours for successful athletes. Instead they will be judged against other criteria including their age, whether they are “giving back” to the community, the “level of competition” and “participation numbers” in their sport." - Daily Telegraph

• Met Police Torch Security Team tasked with protecting the Games flame on torch relay - Daily Telegraph

Cuts? What cuts? Ignore the BBC and the Left, public spending is HIGHER than under Labour - Stephen Glover for the Daily Mail

Nick Clegg signals possible pasty tax u-turn

"Clegg insisted last night that he was listening to concerns over Pasty Tax “very closely”. His support came as the consultation on Chancellor George Osborne’s hated 20 per cent VAT grab closed last night. On a visit to Cornwall Mr Clegg said: “We’re listening very carefully. I know how strongly people feel about this.”" - The Sun

> From yesterday - Columnist Bruce Anderson: Even Fred Goodwin is a far more sensible chap than Clegg, Heseltine and the other €uro-fanatics

Ed Miliband: It's time to end ‘Camerkozy’ economics

"The focus of world leaders at Camp David this weekend and in Europe in the days ahead should be to agree on a programme of collective action, a shared agenda for growth and the abandonment of outdated mantras that nothing can be done – a final rejection of the Cameron-Merkel-Sarkozy approach. Only that will put the recovery back on track and start to restore the reputation of our politics." - Ed Miliband for the FT (£)

• Miliband is not making enough progress to win - Patrick O'Flynn for the Daily Express

Labour MP John Mann's wife sent dead bird in post - Independent

What we've seen so far is just the phoney war, but the SNP is ready to start its fight to break up Britain in earnest next week - Alan Cochrane for the Daily Telegraph

Schools Commissioner calls for lotteries to give places to a wider variety of children - The Times (£)

• UK aid for education in east Africa is failing - Guardian

> Yesterday in The Deep End: 21% of British children have been labelled with ‘Special Educational Needs’ when only 8% really deserve the label and extra help

Civil servants get extra three days holiday if they work over 36 hours a week - Daily Telegraph

High-earning council tenants will face paying full market rate for homes - Daily Telegraph

• "It’s madness that taxpayers subsidise the roof over union bully Bob Crow’s head when he’s on a package worth £140,000. So Government moves to make tenants on over £60,000 pay full rent or quit deserve support." - The Sun Says

Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi to address parliament on June visit - Guardian

Seven due in court on terrorism charges in Northern Ireland - ITV

We are living in the Second Elizabethan Age

"Like the Queen, who has known 12 prime ministers and found them all “wonderful fun”, we should take a longer view. If modern Britain is beset by a faddish pessimism, it is also much richer, fairer, more tolerant and more welcoming than it was 60 years ago." - Times (£) editorial

• Queen’s invitations come under fire - Scotsman

> 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.

Newslinks for Friday 18th May 2012

4.45pm ToryDiary: A small minority of Pakistani men, warns Sayeeda Warsi, see women as "second class citizens" and white women as "third class citizens"

2.30pm J P Floru on Comment: Expansionary government spending "needs to be paid for through taxes, money printing, or debt (deficit-spending). The first destroys private sector jobs; the second creates inflation which is a silent tax and therefore destroys private sector jobs; and the third pushes the bucket to the next generation which will therefore achieve lower growth."

1pm WATCH: Cameron talks about supporting new parents in ITV Daybreak interview

11.30am ToryDiary: Learning from the '22 elections, Cameron should use his reshuffle to rebuild big tent Conservatism

10am MPsETC: Could you live on just £1-a-day for five days? Baroness (Anne) Jenkin accepted the challenge...

ToryDiary: Cameron launches advice service to new parents covering everything from "teething to tantrums"

Columnist Bruce Anderson: Even Fred Goodwin is a far more sensible chap than Clegg, Heseltine and the other €uro-fanatics

Mark Field MP on Comment: Politicians still haven't told voters that we aren't nearly as prosperous as we thought we were

Mike Craven on Comment: Do we need an industrial strategy - and if so what would it look like?

The Deep End: 21% of British children have been labelled with ‘Special Educational Needs’ when only 8% really deserve the label and extra help

Local government: Slow-worms and the thwarting of job creation

WATCH:

• Nadine Dorries MP admits to being more "Ukippy" than "touchy-feely Cameroon" on Have I Got News For You
• David Cameron tells IoD conference that he won't retreat from austerity

Cameron to offer £100 parenting vouchers in three trial areas - Guardian

"Parents will receive text message and email advice on how to bring up their children after David Cameron said it was ‘ludicrous’ that people get more training in driving a car. A £3.4million website launched today gives tips on every aspect of child rearing, from picking children’s names to changing nappies and bathing babies." - Daily Mail | Sun

David Cameron says parenting classes are not 'nanny state' - Independent

• Health minister Anne Milton talks to ITV News about the initiative.

Cameron aides and Francis Maude at war with Civil Service in battle of Downing Street - Independent

• Politically inspired civil service bashing is naive, and counterproductive to the process of reform - Peter Riddell in The Guardian

Osborne's churches, pasty and caravan taxes still stoking controversy

• George Osborne last night unveiled a £30million Budget U-turn on plans to hit churches with VAT on improvements and alterations - Daily Mail | Express
• Osborne is "considering a Plan B put forward by MPs and bakery bosses that would leave some hot pies VAT free. Under the proposal, only pastry snacks kept in hot cabinets would be taxed. Those taken out of the oven and left to cool would escape... even if they are bought while still warm." - The Sun
• Stop the Caravan Tax write Tory MP Andrew Percy and Labour MP Diana Johnson in Guardian article

The National Audit Office estimates that the taxpayer could lose about £2bn once the assets of collapsed bank Northern Rock are wound down - BBC

• "Lloyds and RBS – which, based on current share values, are worth £45billion less than the sum spent by taxpayers on bailing them out" - (Within Daily Mail leader)

The Prime Minister writes exclusively for PoliticsHome about his priorities at the G8

"From our commitments to support the reform movements of the Arab Spring and help the poorest to lift themselves out of poverty, to the resolve to return our own economies to strong and sustainable growth, I am convinced that a focused, results-oriented G8 can be a powerful force for good in an ever more complex and challenging world." - David Cameron for PoliticsHome

PM will urge German Chancellor to use her country's wealth to shore up single currency - Independent

"In an intervention unlikely to be welcomed by Mrs Merkel, he added that German taxpayers needed to stump up money to defend the euro and Berlin had to water down the Bundesbank’s inflexible approach to central banking by being ready to print electronic money." - Times (£)

• Recovery could be helped by more QE, says Cameron - City AM

Cameron seeks to forge unlikely pro-growth alliance with François Hollande

David Cameron has come out in support of the new French socialist president's controversial idea for a euro growth pact, the Prime Minister indicated his support for the centrepiece of Francois Hollande's growth pact – so-called "project bonds" - Sky News

"David Cameron will on Friday attempt to forge an unlikely economic alliance with François Hollande, the French president, as he tries to align himself with the “pro-growth” mood sweeping Europe." - FT (£)

• In contrast, the Daily Mail lists seven policy differences between Cameron and Hollande

David Cameron to hold talks with Barack Obama about tapping into emergency oil reserves - Telegraph

• John Redwood blogs that cheap energy can be energising for the economy

Fraser Nelson: David Cameron talks about fiscal sanity but is borrowing like a drunken Keynesian

"For all the talk of cuts, state spending has come down just 0.9 per cent from Brown’s peak. The British strategy has been not so much sado-austerity as thesp-austerity: minimal cuts imposed with maximal dramatics. Mr Cameron is giving the best speeches on fiscal sanity on the world stage at the moment, while his ministers are borrowing like drunken Keynesians." - Fraser Nelson in The Telegraph

The Prime Minister must adopt a Plan B focused on capital expenditure - Philip Collins in The Times (£)

Martin Wolf in the FT (£) agrees, quoting Jonathan Portes: “With long-term government borrowing as cheap as in living memory, with unemployed workers and plenty of spare capacity, and with the UK suffering from both creaking infrastructure and a chronic lack of housing supply, now is the time for government to borrow and invest. This is not just basic macro-economics, it is common sense.”

Trimming welfare

"If the Tories really were serious about ever-smaller government then they would stop the prosperous from receiving benefits such as free bus passes, the winter fuel allowance and child benefits" - Anushka Asthana in The Times (£)

The FT leader-writers meanwhile welcome IDS' reforms to disability benefits: "Mr Duncan Smith’s attempt to replace the allowance with an alternative, better-designed benefit – the Personal Independence Payment – is expected to save the Treasury more than £2bn. But the gains for society will be even greater. Payments will be more generous for those who have the most severe disabilities – including the mentally ill. Those who are no longer entitled to disability benefit and do not already have a job may have a stronger financial incentive to re-enter the labour market."

• Britain’s problems are not a bad dream from which voters can wake - Economist

Communications green paper on internet piracy, public service broadcasting and spectrum delayed while Jeremy Hunt deals with Leveson - Guardian

Mark Harper insists that the government is "determined" to introduce a register of lobbyists before 2015 - BBC

The success of the talented 2010 intake in the 1922 elections points the way to a Tory future that combines comfort with the modern world with the best of the Thatcherite inheritance - Telegraph leader

Scots Tories told PM to press for early referendum date - Herald

Liberal Democrats still pushing for slimmed down Trident deterrent - FT (£)

• Ming Campbell makes the case for a slimmed down deterrent in the FT (£)

Boris and Beckham go to Greece to collect Olympic flame - Daily Mail

• Boris Johnson says Thames Pageant will be 'like Dunkirk but more cheerful' - Telegraph
• Boris lines himself up for Tory leadership - Sonia Purnell for the Daily Mail

Alan Johnson may run for London Mayor in 2016 - BBC

John Sentamu: Redefining marriage to include same-sex couples would benefit nobody - Guardian

• The Archbishop of York is also in The Independent, urging world leaders to do more about 170 million hungry children.

Cameron's letter to parents reflects on the loss of his own son

Quoted in the Daily Mail: "'I am so sorry to hear of your loss. I miss my Ive every day, but at least I do sometimes now feel happy and not sad when I think of him. The point that you make about causes and medicines is a really powerful one. I will check myself that the research programmes are properly directed.'"

What on earth is wrong with David Cameron taking his wife out to dinner? - Iain Martin in The Telegraph

> 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.

Newslinks for Thursday 17th May 2012

6.30pm ToryDiary: Alan Duncan launches push for UN treaty on the arms trade

5.15pm MPsETC: Peter Bone and Philip Hollobone can be proud of their work on the BackBench Business Committee --- but it may never be as powerful/ awkward for the govt again if the new members get their way...

4.15pm WATCH: Graham Brady MP: Elections have produced "good spectrum" of opinion on 1922 Committee

2.30pm WATCH: Charles Hendry accidentally sits on Ed Davey in House of Commons

1pm WATCH: A collection of political attacks from Blair, Cable, Watson, Trumpington and Farage

11.45am Damian Hinds MP on Comment: Credit unions are a real alternative to the door-step lenders

ToryDiary: David Cameron will give his "No Turning Back" speech today

ToryDiary: The reasonable Right as well as the 301 Group won yesterday's 1922 elections

Columnist Andrew Lilico: Greek €uro membership - It's about time to put Frank Sinatra on the record player

Grant Shapps MP on Comment: The vital phase III of this Government is now underway --- turning legislation into action

Local government: Pickles replaces "one in, one out" regulation rule with "one in, two out"

The Deep End: The trouble with Keynesianism

WATCH: Theresa May gets rough reception at Police Federation conference, but explains her reforms to the BBC's James Landale (SHE ALSO GETS THE BACKING OF SUN, TELEGRAPH AND EXPRESS)

David Cameron is to insist it is his job to "keep Britain safe" whatever the fate of the eurozone - BBC

"Reinforcing his "make up or break up" message to MPs on Wednesday, the Prime Minister will say: "The eurozone is at a crossroad. It either has to make up or it is looking at a potential break up. Either Europe has a committed, stable, successful eurozone with an effective firewall, well capitalised and regulated banks, a system of fiscal burden sharing, and supportive monetary policy across the eurozone. Or we are in unchartered territory which carries huge risks for everybody." - Sky News

• Ed Miliband is peddling the line that government can steer a pain-free course back to prosperity. It is a lie says The Telegraph

Cost of Greek exit from euro put at $1 TRILLION - Guardian

• Withdrawal from the single currency would cause short-term pain, but long-term gain - Dan Hannan in the Daily Mail
• What on earth is Britain doing trying to save the euro? - Peter Oborne in The Daily Telegraph
• "The cost of euro break-up will range from 2 to 5 per cent of Eurozone GDP, the CEBR estimates, and could even reach $1 trillion at worst, depending on whether it is orderly and on how many countries leave. But whatever the cost, growth will be faster afterwards than it would be under the current set of policies. Intense disruption could be imminent – it’s time to fasten your seatbelts." - Allister Heath for City AM

Can this crisis change Europe for the better? - Daily Mail leader

• Labour could make EU referendum promise BEFORE Cameron - Andrew Pierce in the Daily Mail
• More than half of voters (54 per cent) think we should now quit the EU, while barely a third (34 per cent) want to stay in - Express
• Cameron would be a hero if he led Britain out of EU - Express leader

Modernisers gain ground but fail to take key posts in Tory party's 12-strong executive - Guardian

"The one setback for the 301 Group was that loyalist Charlie Elphicke failed to secure a post. The result amounted to a generational shift in Tory politics, with 11 of the 12 members of the committee executive from the 2010 intake. Only arch-eurosceptic Bernard Jenkin survived from the older generation. In another key win for the Prime Minister, two of his harshest critics – Peter Bone and Philip Hollobone – were voted off the cross-party Commons Backbench Business Committee." - Daily Mail

"Among the few victories for the committee’s old guard was the failure of core 301 candidate Charlie Elphicke to win a secretary position with the election of Nick de Bois, a non-301 candidate to the post instead. Senior backbencher Bernard Jenkin was also re-elected to the executive, in defiance of moves by modernisers eject him." - FT (£)

James Forsyth at Coffee House: "This election, which had 93.8% turnout, makes the ’22 a far more powerful body than it was before. No one can now claim that it is not representative of the parliamentary party."

Steve Richards: The Conservative Party has lost its secret weapon called unity - Independent

> Yesterday evening on ConHome:

• It's a change of generation at the '22: "The results don't break comfortably down into party left or right.  The 301 was a mixed ticket. I would not myself place George Eustice, say, left-of-party centre.  Priti Patel, and out-and-ought right-winger, was on both slates.  Douglas Carswell points out that 11 of the 18 members of the new '22 voted for an EU referendum last year - against the Whip."
• MPsETC: Full 1922 results

Alan Duncan says arms trade 'has become the greatest threat to development, beyond disease and disaster' - Guardian

"Teachers’ pay should be completely deregulated, with salaries negotiated and set within each school, Michael Gove suggested yesterday" - Times (£)

"In its submission to the teachers' pay review body, the Department for Education argued that it was easier to recruit staff in some areas than others – fuelling fears that teachers in regions where there is less trouble recruiting staff will face a pay cut or years of pay freezes." - Independent

The Public Accounts Committee said that a fifth of Apprenticeship schemes last six months or less and are of "no real benefit" - BBC

The Committee called for more research into the £451m programme – particularly into whether “employers would have paid for training anyway” and “whether it is subsidising some apprenticeships more than others” - FT (£)

Ministers unveil first results of £156 million National Service for 16 year-olds - Independent

Sir Bob Kerslake, head of the civil service, has publicly rejected suggestions by ministers that civil servants are ‘lazy’ - Daily Mail

• "One of the most senior civil servants stunned Whitehall by resigning yesterday amid signs of deteriorating relations between ministers and officials. Ian Watmore, 53, who was in charge of cutting costs across government departments, quit six months after he was appointed as a permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office." - Times (£)
• "Instead of blaming civil servants, the Coalition needs to employ political advisers who are media savvy and who will prevent ministers from taking bad policy decisions." - Sue Cameron in The Telegraph

Guardian writers on the future of the Conservative Party

• "The Cameron effort to remake the Tory party in a modern liberal conservative mould was initially effective but remains superficial. Now it has stalled. Cameron remains a stronger leader than the rightwing commentators like to think, but his failure to win in 2010 persuades too many Conservatives that his liberalism went too far, rather than not far enough." - Martin Kettle in The Guardian
• "No Tory backbencher is (yet) publicly questioning the austerity strategy... The question that really divides the party is whether in the face of austerity it returns to an enhanced core-vote strategy of shoring up the right flank from Ukip by focusing on the traditional crime, immigration and Europe agenda, or whether to keep faith, despite the vastly altered circumstances, in Cameron's modernising programme and anchor the party to the centre-right." - Guardian leader

Cameron is quite conservative enough, thank you - Hugo Rifkind in The Spectator

Scots Tories' anger over Cameron's U-turn on date for independence referendum

"Despairing MSPs accused Mr Cameron of hanging Scots leader Ruth Davidson "out to dry". The angry comments came after the Prime Minister told a reception at the Scotland Office in London on Tuesday night he was not "too fussy" about the timing of the referendum – effectively conceding to the Nationalists' wish for a vote on separation in the autumn of 2014. He made his comments even though Ms Davidson has fought to hold the public line that delaying the referendum date for more than two years is unacceptable." - The Herald

• "Scottish independence could see the UK kicked out of the European Union and forced to surrender its £3 billion annual rebate if it wanted to rejoin, a senior constitutional lawyer has told MPs" - Telegraph

Once it was the unemployed who felt the lash of the Tory tongue, now it is the boss class - Robert Shrimsley in the FT

Government receiving tip-offs about illegal immigration every six minutes - Daily Mail

And finally... Greg Barker MP uses office miscrowave to warm up his dog's cushion - Daily Mail

And finally 2... The Daily Mail seems to think it incompatible for David Cameron to work hard and take Samantha to French restaurant

> 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.

Newslinks for Wednesday 16th May 2012

8.45pm ToryDiary: It's a change of generation at the '22

7.45pm MPsETC: Nick de Bois, Karen Bradley elected. Big win for 301 slate - but personal popularity came first

7.15pm Robert Halfon MP on Comment: The British Government should formally recognise historic atrocities against the Iraqi Kurds

3pm Cameron Penny on Comment: A truly Conservative approach to marriage would be to end the state's involvement in it

1.30pm John Moss on Comment: Our message on debt and deficit isn’t getting through because we are using the wrong language

1pm ToryDiary: PMQs - Cameron is equal to Miliband's economy attacks, as he hints at Eurozone "break up"

12.30pm Local government: Scottish Tory councillors have more power despite fewer seats

11am EVENT INVITATION: Matthew Elliott, Chris Grayling and Stephan Shakespeare discuss How The Conservatives Can Win The Next Election

11am ToryDiary: Grant Shapps, sounding like a Party Chairman, says David Cameron should be judged only after a full term of office

10.30am ToryDiary: Unemployment is down, exports are booming but Paterson, Hague and Fox all urge Chancellor to do more

ToryDiary: Osborne and Cameron accused of interfering in '22 elections - and seeking to control Parliamentary Party

Columnist Jill Kirby: A lesson in how not to abolish a quango

Garvan Walshe on Comment: How to revive the party in the north

Local Government: Guardian's misleading attack on academies over school lunches

The Deep End: The trouble with liberalism

WATCH: Damian Green: Heathrow queues "are not acceptable" and the Government will take measures to combat them

David Cameron considers extra £25bn of welfare cuts...

"The plans include a new crackdown on housing benefit and a “mark two” system of universal credit to help push people off benefits back into full-time, rather than part-time, work. There are also understood to be a range of measures to encourage more women, particularly single mothers, to return to work." - Daily Telegraph

• Welfare firm A4e loses contract over weak internal controls - The Times(£)
• Government departments urged to join fraud-busting scheme - Guardian

...as 500,000 are to lose disability benefit, Iain Duncan Smith reveals

"Officials estimate that a total of 500,000 people will lose disability benefits under Mr Duncan Smith’s plan for a “more focused” allowance called the Personal Independence Payment available only to those in “genuine need” of support." - Daily Telegraph

• Fury as blind people hit by benefit reform - Independent
• 'Injured servicemen could lose support under reforms' - Daily Telegraph

Theresa May to scrap Harriet Harman's public sector equality laws

"The Home Secretary is planning to get rid of powers that allow companies to be sued if their staff are harassed by customers or clients. This currently leaves businesses open to lawsuits if they have not stopped members of the public making racist, sexist or “ageist” remarks to their employees." - Daily Telegraph

• Equality and Human Rights Commission faces closure - The Times (£)
• "Truly, cases brought under Section 5 of the Public Order Act, which outlaws ‘insulting words or behaviour’, range from the farcical and fatuous to the sinister. This is why the Mail supports the broad coalition of MPs and religious, secularist and free-speech campaigners calling on the Home Secretary to amend the law." - Daily Mail editorial
• Theresa May is 'destroying police service' , say officers - Independent

Minister blames wrong type of wind for chaos at Heathrow

"Emergency plans to hire 70 more staff at troubled Heathrow were announced by the Immigration Minister yesterday as he acknowledged that the huge queues at the airport may be damaging Britain's reputation abroad. Damian Green also risked ridicule when he told MPs that the length of time non-European passengers waited to have their passports checked could depend on the direction in which the wind was blowing at the time." - Independent

• Star Joan Collins raps Theresa May on Heathrow chaos - The Sun

David Davis says case for secret courts based on a 'falsehood'

"The government's central argument for the creation of new generation of secret courts has been "blown out of the water" by the leak of highly sensitive British intelligence in the US, according to former shadow home secretary David Davis." - Guardian

• Secret courts would be a licence to cover up - David Davis for the Guardian
• Closed door confusion: Minister’s U-turn on a U-turn on secret justice - Daily Mail
• Free speech 'strangled by law that bans insults' and is abused by over-zealous police and prosecutors - Daily Mail

Grant Shapps: David Cameron's interrogation ensures Ministers get the job done

"In an article for the Daily Telegraph, the minister defends Mr Cameron against accusations that the Government is not doing enough to boost economic growth... He says: “David Cameron knows delivery means everything. As one of those ministers hauled into Number 10 to have my feet held to the fire, I’ve born witness to the PM’s sheer determination to get the job done….The Prime Ministerial interrogation presses ministers into detail that might surprise some.”" - Daily Telegraph

William Hague tells ministers to help green industries boost economy

"The government should do more to help green industries boost economic growth, stop the UK falling behind international rivals, and avoid losing its global leadership on the environment, William Hague has told cabinet colleagues... The foreign secretary also warns in his letter to ministers that unless Britain takes stronger leadership on the green economy there is no hope of securing an international agreement on climate change." - Guardian

• "François Hollande's reported plans to close France's nuclear plants could have a shocking impact on Britain, highlighting dangerous flaws in our national energy policy" - Independent
• Life’s got tougher. We all have to work harder - William Hague for the Times (£)

Cameron accused of trying to 'nobble' 1922 Tory MP committee elections

"Some traditionalist MPs are outraged about what they say is an attempt by Downing Street to stack the 1922 group with loyalist, modernising MPs who do not want to anger the party's leadership. Last night Mr Osborne, the Chancellor, held a special briefing of the modernising 301 group of Conservative MPs in Westminster. That came after Mr Cameron hosted a drink for specially-chosen Conservative MPs at his flat in Downing Street on Monday night." - Daily Telegraph

• "The battle is now focusing on the two secretary posts among the six officers of the 1922." - Guardian

> Yesterday's 1922 Committee coverage:

• MPsETC Tomorrow's 1922 Committee Elections - nominations in full
• ToryDiary: The man who will decide tomorrow's backbench poll
• ToryDiary: Soames and Crouch's departure is the '22's loss

Beijing furious after Cameron meets the Dalai Lama on his visit to Britain - Daily Mail

Greg Clark and Labour's Mayor of Liverpool: We fight together for Liverpool - Guardian

A doctors’ strike would betray their patients - Dr Sarah Wollaston MP for the Daily Telegraph

Think-tanks will take over civil service policy role

"Under the scheme, to start this autumn, departments would commission consultants or think-tanks to draw up policy, develop it and “torture test” it instead of using civil servants. Officials said that the policies could range from revising business regulations to cutting billions from welfare payments or wider public sector reform." - The Times (£)

• "Ministers say it’s easier dealing with union bosses than permanent secretaries. The Civil Service love affair is over" - Alice Thomson for the Times (£)
• There’s a vital ingredient missing in Downing Street – pure hatred - Benedict Brogan for the Daily Telegraph

Leveson Inquiry: Hunt adviser to give evidence - Daily Telegraph

Emboldened Miliband turns to Cruddas to draw up radical plan for general election

"Ed Miliband has sprung a surprise by appointing the free-thinking Labour MP, Jon Cruddas, as his policy chief with a brief to draw up a radical programme for the next general election. Liam Byrne, a Blairite, lost his attempt to hang on to the policy brief but retained his post as shadow Work and Pensions Secretary." - Independent

• Ed Miliband's new policy chief backs a vote on Europe - Daily Telegraph

> Yesterday on LeftWatch: As Tory MPs move apart for the '22 elections, Labour's leaders draw closer over an EU referendum

Alistair Darling says stripping Fred Goodwin of knighthood had 'a bit of the lynch mob' about it - Independent

• Be bold, Ed – bring Alistair Darling back into the fold - Matthew Norman for the Independent

Eurocrisis latest

• "Newly inaugurated French President Francois Hollande has pledged to work with Germany to resolve the EU's economic crisis. He was speaking in Berlin following talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, hours after being sworn in. Both leaders said they wanted to keep debt-stricken Greece in the euro." - BBC
• Trust in Tories slides as Osborne blames Europe for Britain's double dip - Independent
• "In or out of the euro, another default on Greek debt now looks inevitable. This, now held mainly by European banks which would lose a significant part of their capital stock, threatens another banking crisis." - Scotsman editorial
• How Keynes would solve the eurozone crisis - Marcus Miller and Robert Skidelsky for the FT (£)
• Government’s job is to shield UK taxpayers from Euro chaos - Allister Heath for City AM
• Greeks forced back to polls - City AM

> From yesterday:

• John Baron MP on Comment: A prize awaits the Prime Minister if he seizes the moment over the Eurozone Crisis
• WATCH: What if Greece exits the Eurozone?

Public sector workers take 60 per cent more sick leave than private sector workers - The Sun

The cult of personality has run rampant. It is time to return to more old-fashioned values - Anthony Seldon for the Daily Telegraph

Prostate cancer drug that can extend patients' lives by three months should be available on the NHS, says health watchdog - Daily Mail

• Cheap NHS prescription medicine is being sold to Europe for profit, putting British patients at risk, MPs warn - Daily Mail

And finally 1... A little too Keane? George Osborne mocked for 'attempts to look cool' as he listens to band on Andrew Marr show - Daily Mail

And finally 2... Boris Johnson receives a congratulatory email from Sir Mick Jagger after winning the London mayoral race - Daily Telegraph

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