Sunday 6th July 2008

5pm Seats and candidates: Caroline Dineage will take the place of Rebecca Harris in final for Bournemouth West

3pm Seats and candidates: David Cameron hopes that Glasgow East will give local people a voice

TV ALERT: David Davis debates civil liberties with Tony McNulty on Sky News at 11am.

10am ToryDiary: George Osborne promises lower fuel duty when price of oil is high, higher duty when oil price falls

Leslie Clark on Platform advocates "The bright blue sky of independence" for Scotland

Seats and Candidates: Rebecca Harris selected for Castle Point

Philip Hammond slams 'something for nothing' civil service bonuses

"The Conservatives have accused the Government of running a "something for nothing" culture after it was revealed that civil servants banked more than £128 million in bonuses during the last financial year." - ITN

IFS: Tories may have to raise taxes as economic situation deteriorates

"Cameron and Osborne have spent much time and effort reconciling their party to the fact that they do not think it will be possible to promise significant tax cuts in the run-up to the general election. They say instead that they will make room for tax cuts gradually by ensuring that public spending grows less quickly than the economy... But the outlook for the public finances suggests that the first Budget of an incoming Tory government might have to increase taxes rather than (aspire to) reduce them." - Robert Chote of the Institute for Fiscal Studies in The Sunday Telegraph

"If anything, the Tories suffer from too stark a division of labour: Osborne leads on the economy and Cameron on social policy... Brown needs to find his footing and Cameron needs to find a voice on the economy. That’s the contest that will now largely decide the next election." - Martin Ivens in The Sunday Times

Sunday newspapers identify new questions about Ray Lewis

Boris Johnson's deputy 'knew Church had barred him' - Sunday Telegraph

"Senior aides to Johnson and David Cameron, the Tory leader, lambasted bishops for “sitting on” a file of damaging accusations made against Lewis when he was a vicar." - The Sunday Times

"Boris's deputy Ray Lewis 'raided fund for the poor'" - Mail on Sunday

"The former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith rode to Lewis's defence last night, attacking what he called a 'disgusting' media campaign against a good man.  'I think you are going to crush a good man who has done some fantastic work, who has rescued more kids than anyone who writes stories will ever do in their lives,' he said. 'I am disgusted with the manhunt that's gone on. He is not a politician; he came in because Boris asked him to sort out street gangs. Everybody has a past.'" - Iain Duncan Smith quoted in The Observer

Not entirely implausible to think of Tories as 'the party of the poor' - Matthew d'Ancona in The Sunday Telegraph

Annabel Goldie slams Labour's struggle to find candidate in Glasgow East

"Labour is rudderless at Westminster, leaderless at Holyrood and treating the people of Glasgow with contempt. Labour's selection process has been a sham with one candidate walking away, two others ignored, a fourth, Stephen Purcell, apparently turning it down.  And now rumours that Margaret Curran has been press-ganged into standing as Labour's reluctant and accidental candidate. You couldn't make it up." - The Scottish Tory leader quoted by the BBC

Andrew Rawnsley agrees that a "Glasgow kiss" could prove fatal to Gordon Brown - The Observer

> ConservativeHome's coverage of Glasgow East

Ken Clarke would like to be David Cameron's Leader of the Commons - Mail on Sunday

Freedom of information and MPs

Julian Lewis attacks Sunday Telegraph in expenses row - The Sunday Telegraph

Tories accused of arrogance for making silver-plated Number Ten badges for donors - Mail on Sunday 

Two very hyped 'sleazy Tories' stories

Cameron accused over free jet flights from businessman - Mail on Sunday

The Sunday Mirror lists "five top Tories in sleaze claims".

Young and old now more likely to be Conservative than 35 to 55s - UK Polling Report

Jack Straw wants directly-elected peers to be subject to "recall" - Sunday Times

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary and visit PoliticsHome.com for breaking political news and views throughout the day.

Comments

[Sally Roberts]

DD came across well in the Sky News debate against Tony McNulty who looked uncomfortable throughout and made a cheap jibe against IDS at the end claiming that the phrase "the broken society" was a cheap sales gimmick!
DD 1 Labour Government Nil!

[David Belchamber]

DD was certainly very positive in debate but (i) why did he not question the need for Brown to revisit the matter only a year or so since it was last debated and (ii) why did he not personalise the problem: "how would you feel if a member of your family were to be arrested and detained for up to 6 weeks without having been told the reason?".

[Patsy Sergeant]

An article in the Telegraph yesterday SEEMED to be relevant to the comment that I made on yesterday's main thread on the subject of religion in this country nowadays, in which I referred to two articles in Friday's Mail.

Yesterday's Telegraph article was entitled: 'Pupils punished for refusing to pray to Allah, claim parents'.

The reported incident arose apparently from an RE teacher, one Alison Phillips, instigating a 'role play' - according to sources at the school, 'but not properly briefing the pupils about what she was doing.' As a consequence, two boys allegedly refused to take part in the exercise requiring the children to get prayer mats, put on Islamic headdresses, and go through a simulation of Muslim praying. The two boys were given detention, apparently.

We now have dozens of different and unfamiliar religions being practised in this country nowadays. If a school has a religious education lesson, I think it is entirely appropriate if demonstrations and information is given to the pupils on ALL the more populous religious beliefs practised in this country. By that I mean that DEFINITELY there should be information, perhaps given by a representative from each church/temple/mosque, on religions such as the Hindu, Buddhist, and Greek Orthodox and even other smaller religious groups if there is time. It goes without saying that I DO include Islam in the group.

Maybe this teacher WAS/IS pursuing a policy of informing the children of other religions as well as Islam, and maybe the parents of the children at the centre of the affair, wanted or were persuaded to get publicly involved.

The Established church of this country - the Church of England - was, as the church of Rome, practised in this country long before any of the other religions arrived here, but now in this heavily multi-cultural society with LOTS of different faiths being practised, surely it would lead to greater awareness and therefore greater tolerance, to learn about a greater number of the faiths observed in this country?

[Sally Roberts]

Patsy thank you for raising the incident of the boys disciplined in school for refusing to pray "as Muslims"!
Although I took my father's Jewish faith later in life I was brought up as a Christian and remember a "scripture" (as RE lessons were called in those far-off days!) lesson where someone brought in a set of tefillin (sometimes known as phylacteries) which orthodox Jewish men strap to their arm and their forehead when praying in accordance with our prayer the Shema (Hear o Israel). Everyone was very interested I remember but at no time were we told that we had to "daven" (pray) as Religious Jews would do! The boys at that school could certainly have been shown Muslim religious articles and encouraged to learn as much as they could about Islam (as with any other faith they happened to be learning about) but in no way should they have been forced to pray as though they WERE members of that faith! It was just plain wrong.

[NAME OVERWRITTEN - PLEASE CHOOSE SOMETHING DIFFERENT IN FUTURE!]

"Philip Hammond slams 'something for nothing' civil service bonuses" - Don't make me laugh!!! Philip Hammond couldn't slam a car door - possibly the most ineffectual front bencher we have at the mo.....

[Perdix]

I can't see anything on Sky News site about the DD debate. Anyone know if they will put it up?

[Rod Sellers]

When are we going to wake up to the Muslim threat facing everything that has bound 'England' together as a leading Nation and bedrock of Britain. We are mad to put up with the insidious erosion of our conventions and norms just because 'they' find them offensive.

Of course there are moderates but they all in the end subscribe to the eventual domination of Islam in areas they control and will never integrate. Give them an inch and they will take the country !

[Jack Stone]

Personally I find the last post totally offensive. Of course Muslims want all people to follow there religion but I don`t think they are after forcing them or believe its likely that there religion will ever be practiced by anything but a minority of the population.
I think Mr Sellers wants to learn the meaning of the word tolerance.

[Patsy Sergeant]

I agree with you Sally. It seems to me a missed opportunity, because if the RE teacher/s could be persuaded of just how much they COULD achieve, by encouraging children to become a bit more familiar with the diverse religions that now exist in this country, and not just the obvious ones, the knowledge gained COULD help towards more harmony in the community!

Of course quite a few religions are not that interested in proselytising or the curious, unless the person expresses a real interest. But on the other hand there are the Jehovah's Witnesses, and Born Again Christians and the various somewhat peculiar 'religions' which definitely do proselytise. But just imagine how even learning a little about these different beliefs that engage people, could help to broaden the childs mind - mind you the teachers themselves would need more than a 'A'level qualification to have the background knowledge themselves!

[jailhouselawyer]

"George Osborne announced Tory plan to give relief at the petrol pump".

Hasn't this already been tried in the States?

You mean like this George?

[Rod Sellers]

"I think Mr Sellers wants to learn the meaning of the word tolerance".

And just look where unquestioning 'tolerance' has got us. Church Leaders and High Court Judges are seriously debating abandoning the concept of 'everyone equal under the Law' and treating alien cultures as a special case.

To display tolerance to others requires that a Society retains ultimate supremacy - we are rapidly losing that.

Tolerance in Britain has become a vice.

[Editor]

Perdix: I emailed Sky during the broadcast and requested an extended video of the 'debate'.

[perdix]

Thanks Editor - I've watched a short clip on Sky site.

[John]

Now that the credit-led ten year boom is coming to an end and billions have been wasted, it would be useful to compare the main economic statistics for 1997 with to-days. Does anybody have easy access to these figures?

[comstock]

COMMENT OVERRIDDEN - UNSUBSTANTIATED RUMOUR

[comstock]

Can't find anything to back this up- could be a lone mischief maker?

[Deputy Editor]

We've confirmed it's not true Comstock

[comstock]

Thanks Dep Editor- the internet is full of this stuff but this particular guy sounded very convincing.