Teatime newslinks for Tuesday 1st November 2011

GDP GREW BY 0.5%

• WATCH: George Osborne: GDP figures are "a positive step forward for the economy"
• ToryDiary: GDP growth figures better than expected - although the Chancellor cannot afford any complacency
• "The UK economy grew by 0.5% in the third quarter of 2011, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The growth in the July-to-September period compared with a 0.1% expansion in gross domestic product (GDP) in the previous quarter. But analysts said growth in the second quarter of the year had been dampened by one-off factors. As a result, the third-quarter figures should not be interpreted as a big economic rebound, they added." - BBC
• Andrew Lilico tweets: "0.5% merely recovers what was lost from Bank Holidays in Q2. If underlying growth had been same as Q2, we'd have had 1.1%"
• City AM's Allister Heath tweets: "Don't listen to those saying 0.5pc growth in Q3 GDP is bad. It isn't. What is bad is today's manufacturing PMI, collapse to 47.4. Tough Q4"

EUROZONE CRISIS/GREEK BAILOUT TALKS

• "Six leading members of Greece's governing Pasok party have called on Prime Minister George Papandreou to resign, the day after he called a referendum on the proposed EU bailout. One MP has defected from Pasok, cutting Mr Papandreou's parliamentary majority to two seats - 152 out of 300 - ahead of a confidence vote on Friday. The opposition has called for early elections, saying the referendum jeopardises Greece's EU membership." - BBC
• Ed Balls thinks the Greeks should vote against the European bailout: "I have to say I think the Greek PM is fully within his rights to say 'I want public support for carrying on with this path'. Because what's the truth about Greece? Unemployment is up, the economy's flatlined there too, they're not getting their deficits down either."
• George Osborne is against the referendum: "The decision of the Greek prime minister has added to the instability and uncertainty in the euro zone. What we’re trying to do is introduce stability and certainty in the euro zone." - Bloomberg
• Douglas Carswell blogs: "Greece heading for political and economic meltdown. Italy bond yields shooting upward. Good credit ratings dragged down by the bad. Debt piling ever faster upon debt. At every stage in this crisis, official Treasury thinking has been behind events. ... Calling for fiscal fusion of the Eurozone 17 is about to look quaint, if not kooky. We should be pressing for orderly default and decouple. Ministers need clarity of thought. Not merely to recycle the Treasury's failed thinking."

THERESA MAY'S ANTI-GANG STRATEGY

• "Only £1.2m of new money is to be made available over the next three years to fund the government's refreshed anti-gang strategy to be detailed on Tuesday by the home secretary, Theresa May ...A further £10m is to be "redirected" from other as-yet unspecified areas of Home Office work into a cross-government package" - Guardian

ST. PAUL'S PROTESTS

• "St Paul’s Cathedral and the City of London Corporation have agreed to suspend their current legal action against the anti-capitalist protest camp outside the church. Earlier today, the Corporation announced plans to issue eviction letters to demonstrators, threatening them with High Court action if the site was not cleared in 48 hours. However, after meetings with the Bishop of London, Dr Richard Chartres, the cathedral’s authorities have said they will suspend legal action against Occupy London Stock Exchange." - Daily Mirror

OTHER POLITICAL NEWS  

• WATCH: Dominic Raab MP: Our extradition treaties need to be re-balanced. At present,"we've got rough justice"
• David Burrowes MP on Comment: "Enfield's law" will ensure youths carrying knives go to prison. It is the least Parliament can do.
• MPsETC: Eric Pickles and his Local Government team battle questions on housing, RDAs and council tax for second homes
• ToryDiary: IDS, Gove and Eric Pickles top Cabinet league table; Chief Whip and Clarke plunge into negative territory
• Neil Hamilton has been elected to UKIP's national executive committee - BBC
• Ireland is able to get rid of 2.3% of its debt due to a technical error: "The general Government debt is to be written down by 2.3 per cent, or €3.6 billion, following the detection of an accounting error. The Department of Finance said the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) had notified it of a double count brought about a change in its relationship with the Housing Finance Authority." - The Irish Times