Teatime newslinks for Friday 23rd December 2011

DAVID CAMERON'S CHRISTMAS MESSAGE TO THE FALKLANDS

• "In his message, Mr Cameron declared: ''Whatever challenges we face in the UK, the British Government's commitment to the security and prosperity of the overseas territories, including the Falklands, remains undiminished. So let me be absolutely clear. We will always maintain our commitment to you on any question of sovereignty. Your right to self-determination is the cornerstone of our policy. We will never negotiate on the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands unless you, the Falkland Islanders, so wish. No democracy could ever do otherwise.''" - Daily Telegraph
• Full text of the message - Daily Mail

NICK CLEGG'S EUROPEAN ANTICS

• "Nick Clegg will step up a Liberal Democrat fightback over Europe in the new year and may even join David Cameron at the next EU summit... the Deputy Prime Minister, who was dismayed when Mr Cameron used the British veto at the last summit, aims to "set the agenda" at the next EU gathering at the end of next month. He will start by hosting a meeting of liberal-minded ministers from other European states in London on January 9 to build common ground." - Evening Standard

Teatime newslinks for Thursday 22nd December 2011

DAVID CAMERON'S NEW YEAR MESSAGE TO TORY MPS

Key points:

• "We are delivering for Conservatives in government"
• "The big decisions taken show "Conservative values and beliefs shining through": aspiration (many will be delighted to hear him use that word), belief in low taxes, discipline in schools, the importance of small business, and in particular his 'no' to the EU.""
• "We came together in the national interest, and we must stay together in the national interest."
• "The eyes of the world will be upon us, and we must ensure they see a country that is open, strong, confident and moving forward to a better future"

More at Benedict Brogan's blog.

Teatime newslinks for Monday 19th December 2011

EUROPE

• German Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle, who met with William Hague today, tells the UK not to give up on Europe - Telegraph
• "There is no hidden agenda against the City of London" - BBC
• Glenn Oglaza: 'Do mention the war' - Sky News
• Phillip Inman: 'Get ready for massive tax cuts for corporations across Europe' - Guardian
• Mats Persson: 'Rudd's straw man argument about our EU membership' - Spectator
• Daniel Knowles: "One unelected dictator may be dead, threatening us all with Armageddon, but another remains very much alive: this morning, the FT has an interview with Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank" - Telegraph

PUBLIC SECTOR PENSIONS

• 'Breakthrough in public sector pension dispute' - Times (£)
• Unison says it has come to an agreement with NHS employers and the Government over pension reforms - Guardian
• 'Deal' on health scheme - BBC
• Downing Street is confident of a public sector pensions deal being reached with the unions - ToryDiary

Teatime newslinks for Friday 16th December

DAVID CAMERON'S KING JAMES BIBLE SPEECH

• "David Cameron today attacked a "slow-motion moral collapse" in Britain and called for a revival of traditional Christian values. In a keynote speech, he condemned a growing "do as you please" culture in which people, including political leaders, increasingly feared criticising the bad choices of others. "Whether you look at the riots last summer, the financial crash and the expenses scandal or the on-going terrorist threat from Islamist extremists around the world, one thing is clear," said the Prime Minister. "Moral neutrality or passive tolerance just isn't going to cut it any more."" - Evening Standard

FELTHAM AND HESTON REACTION

• ToryDiary: The nothing-in-it-for-anyone by-election
• Lord Ashcroft on Comment: The Conservative leadership knows better than to push Europe up the campaigning agenda
• "This byelection result was little more than an unsurprising Labour victory in a Labour area. The opinion polls, as we know, show more comprehensively what people think of the ‘progress’ that Labour is making under Ed Miliband's leadership. And it's far from a vote of confidence." - The Spectator's Peter Hoskin
• "Politically, this result is meaningless. Labour didn't do well enough for this to count as a vote of confidence in Ed Miliband's leadership and the Conservative candidate didn't do poorly enough to cause David Cameron any sleepless nights." - Toby Young
• WATCH: Baroness Warsi: "Labour were always expected to do well, this was a seat they'd held for many, many years"
• WATCH: Ed Miliband: "This by-election offers a verdict on the Government's failed economic plan"

Teatime newslinks for Thursday 15th December

DAVID CAMERON'S TROUBLED FAMILIES SPEECH

• WATCH: David Cameron's full speech on troubled families
• ToryDiary: Britain's problem families meet Cameron's Big Society - in which his faith is unshaken
• ToryDiary: Prime Minister finds £448 million to counter the £9 billion problem of 120,000 highly dysfunctional families
• "The Prime Minister's message today is, basically, that he hasn't forgotten about the riots." - The Spectator's Peter Hoskin
• "The party that traditionally fought the state's intrusion into private lives, now pushes Big Brother into our face, with parenting classes and now "troubleshooters"." - Cristina Odone
• "Why does Britain have more children in workless households than anywhere else in Europe? And what family policy should we have?" - Policy Exchange's Neil O'Brien

Teatime newslinks for Wednesday 14th December

TODAY'S PMQS

• 'Cameron gets the upper hand over Miliband, as the Labour party leader fails to reap the rewards of Coalition division' - ToryDiary
• Cameron: 'no apology' for EU treaty veto - Telegraph
• Miliband attacks Cameron over Europe and unemployment at PMQs - Guardian
• Clegg attends PMQs as Cameron plays down €uro row - Independent
• Cameron acknowledged that “any increase in unemployment is bad news”, but insisted that the figures would have been worse under a Labour government as unemployment reaches a 17yr high - Times (£)
• "We need private sector employment to grow even faster" to help unemployment, says Cameron' - PlayPolitical
• 'The sulk's back! Clegg joins Cameron for final and boisterous session of PMQs in Commons (and it looks like he'd rather be elsewhere)' - Daily Mail
• 'Cameron on his relationship with Clegg: "It's not like we're brothers or anything" - PlayPolitical
• Cameron must get a better deal for the UK in Europe, says Miliband - BBC
• James Forsyth: 'Cameron pummels Miliband in PMQs' - "The Labour leader and his team urgently need to find an answer to Cameron’s favourite punch. Until they do, Cameron is going to have a way out of nearly every PMQs jam he gets himself into." - Spectator
• Benedict Brogan: 'PMQs disaster leaves Labour wondering about Ed Miliband's future' - Telegraph
• Nicholas Watt: 'Has Ed Miliband suffered his Westland moment as David Cameron wins?' - Guardian
• James Kirkup: 'Miliband gets his MPs laughing. In a bad way' - Telegraph
• Dan Hodges: 'Ed Miliband is in a death spiral – can David Miliband or Yvette Cooper wrestle the controls from him?' - Telegraph
• Tory MP Keith Simpson lashes out at the Speaker - Guido Fawkes

Teatime newslinks for Tuesday 13th December 2011

THE COALITION & EUROPE

• Clegg launched a fightback in Cabinet today - Evening Standard
• 'Clearly there are differences ...': Coalition discusses EU veto for an hour after Clegg snubbed PM's appearance in Commons' - Daily Mail
• Chris Huhne reportedly complains about the lack of consultation at today's Cabinet Meeting - Telegraph
• Huhne "frustrated" - Huffington Post
• Business as usual at this morning's Cabinet meeting after yesterday's EU debate - BBC
• Vince Cable describes today's meeting as a "good business like discussion" between coalition partners - PlayPolitical
• Nick Wood: 'After tuition fees, the AV fiasco and now the euro sulk, can anyone take Clegg seriously any more?' - Daily Mail

Teatime newslinks for Monday 12th December 2011

PARLIAMENT DEBATE THE EU TREATY VETO

• No sign of Clegg as Cameron makes his Commons statement - Daily Mail
• Live blogs from the Parliamentary debate - Telegraph I BBC I Guardian
• Cameron's statement in full - MPsETC
• Cameron wins plaudits from his backbenchers, but where was Clegg? - ToryDiary
• Martin Bright: 'Cameron proves he is a politician of the eurosceptic right, but he still seems like a reasonable guy' - Spectator
• Daniel Knowles: 'Cameron makes his case well, Clegg doesn't turn up, but when the euro collapses none of this will matter' - Telegraph
• Cameron defends €uro veto decision - Channel4 News

Teatime newslinks for Friday 9th December 2011

DAVID CAMERON'S EU VETO

• What the PM really asked for: "Let’s be clear about this: what David Cameron tried to do in Brussels wasn’t merely to try to safeguard Britain’s financial services. He just attempted to repatriate powers which have already legally been transferred to Europe ...The issue is that for some time Brussels has been allowed, legally, to impose regulations on and supervise the City through qualified majority voting (QMV) ... Brussels has tended, in practice, to steer clear of imposing new rules on countries’ key industries by QMV. ... The fear, however, is that Europe was increasingly looking as if it was going to ignore these long-standing conventions" - Sky News' Ed Conway
• EU suffers worst split in history as David Cameron blocks treaty change - Daily Telegraph
• Right now, 'isolated' is a damn good thing for Britain to be - Charles Crawford
• "The leaders of France and Germany have more or less bulldozed Britain out of the European Union for the sake of a treaty that offers absolutely no solution to the crisis at hand, or indeed any future crisis." - Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
• Anthony Browne: The creation of a 26-member Fiscal Union will make it much harder for Britain to stay in the European Union
• Andrew Lilico: A few questions about our new European arrangements
• Bernard Jenkin MP on Comment: The EU was free to try to resolve the Euro crisis without clobbering the City of London

Teatime newslinks for Thursday 8th December 2011

DAVID CAMERON'S EUROPEAN SUMMIT

• "David Cameron has said he would have "no hesitation" in vetoing a proposed new European Union treaty if it did not offer a "good deal" for the UK. Speaking before leaving for a crucial summit in Brussels, the prime minister said he would "stand up for the country" in talks on Europe's future." - BBC
• "What he can and would do, we're told, is fight to stop the officials and the resources of the EU from being used to help this new club which might, incidentally, have more than 17 members if those countries hoping one day to join the euro sign up as well." - Nick Robinson's blog
• "Despite the brickbats that have rained down on him since PMQs, Mr Cameron remains unmoved. He is going to Brussels to concentrate on two priorities: saving the euro from disaster, and protecting the City. To that end he is prepared to defer all other considerations, including satisfying his own side. Statesman or sell-out? We'll only know when we see the detail of the deal." - Benedict Brogan