Newslinks for Tuesday 24th April 2012

9.15pm Updated ROLLING BLOG ON TODAY'S LEVESON ALLEGATIONS.  The Culture Secretary fights back.

5.15pm Local Government: Shapps complains to BBC over Newham coverage

5pm ToryDiary: ROLLING BLOG ON TODAY'S LEVESON ALLEGATIONS

1pm Oliver Heald MP on Comment: A reformed House of Lords should be indirectly elected

11.45am ConHomeUSA: Romney and Rubio campaign together in sign of things to come?

10.15am Local Government: Sir Robin Wales does have a choice

ToryDiary: Bernard Jenkin and the Public Administration Committee say the Government is failing to think strategically

Mark Reckless MP: Prime Minister - Yes, you can legally deport Qatada

Local Government: Huge interest in right to buy - but why is the Government not promoting it?

WATCH: Dutch PM quits over budget crisis

Cameron waters down claim on ECHR Qatada deadline

"The Prime Minister claimed that the European Court of Human Rights ‘told’ the Home Office that the time limit for the radical Islamist to appeal against deportation would expire last Monday at midnight. His claims were met with surprise in the Home Office and sparked accusations from Labour that he lied - forcing Mr Cameron to back track." - Daily Mail

• Conservatives eight points adrift in new Guardian/ICM poll - The Guardian
• YouGov finds Boris and Livingstone neck and neck - The Guardian

> Yesterday:

• ToryDiary - Conservative vote share at lowest with ICM since the election. Labour's at highest since before the Iraq War
• ToryDiary: "The British people know I'll get some things right and some things wrong - the key thing is my average doesn't fall too low"
• Columnist Bruce Anderson: The attacks on David Cameron's Downing Street operation are a thinly-disguised attack on him
• Local Government: Boris lead down to 2%
• LISTEN: Cameron - "It's been a difficult few months"

Nadine Dories assails the Prime Minister and the Chancellor as "two arrogant posh boys"

"The MP for Mid Bedfordshire said: “There is a very tight, narrow clique of a certain group of people and what they do is act as a barrier and prevent Cameron and Osborne and others from actually really understanding or knowing what is happening in the rest of the country. “I think that not only are Cameron and Osborne two posh boys who don't know the price of milk, but they are two arrogant posh boys who show no remorse, no contrition, and no passion to want to understand the lives of others - and that is their real crime.” - Daily Telegraph

> Yesterday WATCH: Nadine Dorries tells the BBC that Cameron and Osborne are "two arrogant posh boys who don't know the price of milk - who show no remorse, no contrition and no passion to want to understand the lives of others".

Select Committee attack 1) There is a lack of strategy being set by Number 10

"The string of controversies and embarrassments that have recently beset the government is due in part to a lack of strategy being set by Number 10, according to a damning report by a committee of MPs. The report, by the public administration select committee, concludes that nobody is in charge of setting the government’s strategic objectives, and this is damaging its ability to achieve its aims. Bernard Jenkin, the Conservative MP who chairs the committee, said: “There is a failure in this government to think strategically.” - Financial Times (£)

Select Committee Attack 2) Ministers "got £2.6bn savings bid wrong"

"Ministers have been accused of over-estimating how much cash will be saved by axing quangos. The Government has vowed to get rid of at least 262 of the semi-public bodies by the next election. But just 72 have been closed in the past two years. Now Westminster’s public accounts committee has cast doubt on how much the Government says it will save the taxpayer. According to the Cabinet Office, £2.6billion will be cut from staff and admin costs." - The Sun

• The Coalition needs a big hitter to knock out bad news - George Parker, Financial Times (£)
• David Cameron may be a posh boy, but he's the best the Conservatives can do - Tim Bale, The Guardian
• What do you want to do with all that power, Mr Cameron? - Philip Stephens, Financial Times (£)
• When our rulers are so out of touch, no wonder voters fall for extremists' snake-oil solutions - Ian Birrell, Daily Mail

Osborne defends new IMF loan...

"The Chancellor rejected attacks from some of his Tory colleagues who said he was wrong to offer another £10 billion to help steady the eurozone. The Government said last week that it was prepared to increase exposure to the IMF to £40 billion as part of a wider international effort to enlarge the fund. Some Tory MPs have said British taxpayers should not be asked to help support the single European currency." - Daily Telegraph

...but is accused of "state-sponsored money laundering" from the Tory backbenches

"A string of Conservative MPs queued up to warn that the money – which raises Britain’s exposure to the IMF to £40billion – would be used to fund a backdoor bailout of the euro. During angry exchanges, Tory backbencher Stewart Jackson said the decision amounted to ‘state-sponsored money laundering’. Mr Jackson said the cash would be used to ‘prop up the doomed project of the euro’, and asked: ‘Why is the Chancellor throwing good money after bad?’ - Daily Mail

• Yesterday: WATCH - Osborne explains IMF decision to the Commons

The Coalition's debt reduction strategy is too timid - Daily Telegraph Editorial

Warsi targets ethnic minority voters with 'core Tory values'

"The Prime Minister will today launch a major campaign to target ‘aspirational’ ethnic minority voters in the suburbs after warnings that he can’t win at the next election without them. Tory Chairman Baroness Warsi has revealed the party aims to woo female and older Asian voters who share the party’s views but who have traditionally voted Labour." - Daily Mail

Gaia theory scientist James Lovelock admits he was 'alarmist' about the impact of climate change - Daily Mail

Lords reform on the ropes as committee slams Clegg’s ‘mess’

"The Deputy Prime Minister’s central claim about an elected senate — that it would not change the balance of power with the Commons — was demolished by a committee of peers and MPs. Even though the committee gave its backing to proposals for a 450-strong chamber, 80 per cent of it elected by proportional representation, it was split down the middle on a series of pivotal issues around the effect on the Commons." - The Times (£)

• Kick this shambolic reform into the jungle - Rachel Sylvester, The Times (£)
• Lords buffoonery has to end. So why not abolish them? - Polly Toynbee, The Guardian
• If we must reform the Lords, here's how - Philip Johnston, Daily Telegraph

> Yesterday:

• ToryDiary: If a referendum on the Lords, why not one on the EU?
• Columnist Andrew Lilico: It's not stubborn oppositionalism to oppose fundamentally anti-Conservative long-lasting constitutional changes

Chris Huhne’s lover Carina Trimingham sold tale of Nick Clegg dalliances - Daily Telegraph

Markets take fright at Hollande’s election lead as Dutch government steps down over budget impasse

"Europe’s economy took another dramatic lurch downwards yesterday as investors found fresh reason to doubt whether the Continent’s politicians will be capable of resolving the sovereign debt crisis that continues to plague the single currency bloc. Stock markets reacted badly to a deluge of disappointing economic data, the victory of the Socialist candidate François Hollande in the first round of the French presidential election and the collapse of the Dutch government." - The Independent

• EU prepares Greece for the return of the drachma - Daily Express
• The stresses of monetary integration have now spread to the eurozone’s core - The Times Editorial (£)
• France votes to throw down the gauntlet to Europe - Gideon Rachman, Financial Times (£)

Cameron denies snubbing Hollande as Whitehall looks to build bridges - The Independent

"I'm no fan of a nanny state, but how much more evidence do we need before we start protecting children from depraved imagery?"

"How much more evidence do we need that it is time to take action to protect the nation’s children?…I am no fan of a nanny state, and as pro-freedom as the next person. But we don’t accept that argument with any other kind of media, where a combination of industry and government and consumer bodies work together for the benefit of all." - Claire Perry MP, Daily Mail

Security/liberty issue 1) Theresa May faces questioning on "snooper's charter" - Sky News

Security/liberty issue 2) Government revives plan for greater data-sharing between agencies - The Guardian

Security/libery issue 3) Former GCHQ head calls for greater surveillance of Facebook and Twitter - The Independent