Tuesday 24th January 2006

BLOGS

ToryDiary: More tax anxiety plus Tories maintain 1% lead in ICM poll

CAN CON'S WIN THE ELECTION

The Conservatives won 124 seats, the Liberals 103, the Bloc Quebecois 51 and the New Democratic Party 29.

BBC / CBC 

GROWING CONCERN ON TAX POLICY

Telegraph Leader: "Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne should not accept the socialist analysis that "responsibility" is incompatible with lower taxes. Instead, as Mr Cameron put it during the leadership race, they should work to "educate our citizens about the facts of economic life…[and] win the intellectual battle for open markets"."

Times Leader: " It may be true that tax cuts have been portrayed as a euphemism for greed in certain quarters, yet those quarters tend to be economically illiterate. It cannot, by contrast, be credible for the Conservatives to contend that: (1) high taxes are hurting the country; and (2) they do not intend to do much about the problem for fear of imperilling stability."

'RIGHT TO KNOW' ABORTION CASE LOSES

A mother who challenged the Government in the High Court over a parent's right to know about an abortion, lost. The judge's ruling ensures 16 yr old girls can get abortions secretly - Telegraph

BLAIR TO TOUGHEN BENEFITS SYSTEM

BBCi: "The Welfare Reform Green Paper, published on Tuesday, is expected to recommend payment cuts for those who refuse to return to employment. Currently about 2.7 million people claim incapacity benefit, resulting in an annual bill of £12.5bn. GPs could be offered cash incentives to encourage patients back into employment, ministers say."

SKILLS FOR LIFE SCHEME FAILING

Guardian: "Up to 16 million adults - nearly half the workforce - are holding down jobs despite having the reading and writing skills expected of children leaving primary school, a new report reveals today."

CONSERVATIVE COMMENTARY

Telegraph - In a typically interesting piece on demographics, Mark Steyn believes Scotland is "the canary in the UK's coal mine". "Indeed, the remarkable feature of contemporary Scottish nationalism is that it has achieved all the features of a failed nation state without achieving the status of a nation state." SteynOnline had an interesting live blog during Canada's election results last night.

OTHER NEWS

Conservative 37% Labour 36% Liberal Democrat 19% - ICM in the Guardian (MORI had Lib Dems on 15%)

Government adviser wants to end school selection by faith - Times

Trade Secretary Alan Johnson says it's decision time on nuclear power (note poll!) - BBCi

Security services to get plane passenger details before flights - Guardian

Have we missed any important stories?
Please use the 'Comments' to tell other visitors about interesting links...