Newslinks for Wednesday 30th March 2011

6pm WATCH: Ed Miliband and his fiancée Justine Thornton set a date for their wedding

5pm Andrew Haldenby of Reform in ThinkTankCentral: Businesses need clarity from the Government about the future shape of public services

4.30pm Bill Cash MP in Comment: Neither Coalition or Labour Governments opposed the existing eurozone bailout agreement

3.45pm WATCH: David Cameron brands Ed Balls "the most annoying person in modern poltiics"

3.30pm Adam Afriyie MP on Comment: How will the Prime Minister deliver on his promise for MPs’ expenses?

3.00pm Local government: Labour councillor unconcerned by "second rate education"

1pm ToryDiary: Are the Government's green credentials in doubt after the apparent U-turn on the labelling of cloned meat?

12.45pm ToryDiary: Miliband challenges Cameron about arming Libyan rebels, tuition fees and police cuts at PMQs

11.30am ThinkTankCentral: The IEA calls for an end to state funding of the arts

10.30am WATCH: William Hague says there are no plans to arm Libyan rebels to defend themselves "at the moment"

ToryDiary: Boris as Churchill - Meet Sir Winston Johnson

Also on ToryDiary: Is inflation a bigger problem than cuts? Should the Coalition press ahead with the NHS reforms? Should we cut taxes on income and raise them on pollution? Take part in our monthly survey

Ruth Porter on Comment: The public increasingly understands that the cuts are necessary - and the Government should not be timid about going further

Also on Comment, Mark Reckless MP is delighted that At last, democracy is coming to policing

Parliament: Conservative MPs pay tribute to Lord Tebbit on his 80th birthday

Local Government:

• James Cleverly elected leader of London Assembly Conservatives
• Westminster Council faces bill of over £50,000 to clear up demo mess
• Local Elections 2011: The battle for East Staffordshire 

Leftwatch: Peter Hain summarises how Labour headed towards an electoral nadir in 2011, thirteen years after its historic 1997 victory

WATCH: Douglas Carswell calls for MPs and select committees to have more power of scrutiny over public spending

Hague and Clinton raise prospect of arming Libyan rebels

"At the end of a conference on Libya in London, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said for the first time that she believed arming rebel groups was legal under UN security council resolution 1973, passed two weeks ago, which also provided the legal justification for air strikes. The British foreign secretary, William Hague, agreed that the resolution made it legal "to give people aid in order to defend themselves in particular circumstances". - The Guardian

"The conference, the Contact Group, the international resolve - sends a clear message to Colonel Qadhafi: we will not allow you to continue to brutalise your own people. And it sends a message of hope to the Libyan people too: we are on your side. We will continue to protect their lives, defend their rights and support their aspirations - and we will continue to support them on the path that they choose to take." - Joint statement from David Cameron and the Qatari Prime Minister

• West's fears over spectre of al-Qaeda among rebels - Daily Telegraph

> Videos from yesterday:

• David Cameron emphasises the need to plan for the rebuilding of post-Gaddafi Libya
• William Hague reiterates the need for Gaddafi to commit to a ceasefire in Libya

Sayeeda Warsi: Why a vote for AV is a vote for the BNP

"AV flies in the face of a fundamental British principle - one that has been the cornerstone of our democracy and a beacon to the rest of the world - the principle of one person, one vote... But for me personally, there is an even bigger problem with AV: It gives more power to extremists. Why? The whole system is so complicated the problem is all too easily obscured. But the fact is that under AV, some people have more votes counted than others. Too often, those people tend to be the ones who vote for extremist parties." - Baroness Warsi writing in The Sun

• The 'hypocrisy' of the AV backers who have changed their tune - Daily Mail
• Independent devotes front-page editorial to backing the Yes campaign - Independent

Northern Tory MPs line up behind High Speed Rail...

"High-speed rail will reduce the North-South divide and help the Government to rebalance the economy. With reduced journey times between Leeds and London, the local economy could benefit to the tune of billions. By improving access to Heathrow and mainland Europe, the Government will help companies in the North to do business with international partners." - Letter in the Daily Telegraph from MPs Simon Reevell, Andrew Jones, John Stevenson, David Mowat, Stephen Mosley, Stuart Andrew, Jason McCartney and Eric Ollerenshaw

> Neil Stephenson on Comment on Monday: If the Conservative Party is serious about northern England it will build High Speed Rail

...as Philip Hammond defends the Government on aviation

"It is complete nonsense to suggest that the Government does not have a strategy to help UK aviation grow and prosper. We have already announced proposals to reform the economic regulation of our major airports — providing a regime in which the passenger comes first. We have listened to concerns on Air Passenger Duty and are consulting on reforms to make aviation taxation fairer." - Letter in The Times (£) from Transport Secretary Philip Hammond

Ken Clarke explains the reasoning behind the new Bribery Act

"The ultimate aim of this legislation is to make life difficult for the minority of organisations responsible for corruption, not to burden the vast majority of decent and law-abiding businesses. Britain has a reputation for believing in fair play. But lately our halo has begun to tarnish, with the UK failing to show the zero tolerance lead it should have. In implementing this act, the UK government and British business is striking a blow for the rule of law and the operation of free markets." - Justice Secretary Ken Clarke writing in the FT (£)

UK contribution to EU reaches £9bn a year - The Independent

Oil companies go to war with George Osborne over North Sea tax

"The industry revolt over George Osborne’s North Sea tax raid intensified yesterday as a leading oil company warned that £6.25 billion of investment in two fields was now under threat... Mr Osborne and officials came under sustained questioning about the tax raid in the Commons, as members of the Treasury Select Committee warned that it was putting at risk spending in a vital British industry." - The Times (£)

• Labour MP challenges Osborne over tax take on a litre of fuel - Daily Mirror

Lansley to propose "mutuals" for NHS staff

"Health secretary Andrew Lansley will invite doctors, nurses and other healthcare staff to take what will be seen as another step towards privatisation, by forming "mutuals" which will contract with the NHS to provide care for patients. Lansley will announce a "right to provide" for staff right across the NHS. Healthcare professionals in specialised areas, such as eating disorders, alcohol and drug detox, mental health and sexual health, could set up their own organisations with mutual ownership." - The Guardian

The Daily Mail accuses Caroline Spelman of "betrayal" over sales of cloned meat

"A campaign to put controls on cloned meat and milk was killed off yesterday by the UK Government and Brussels... Shoppers will be left in the dark because products from the offspring of cloned animals will not require special labels... Caroline Spelman, Tory food and farming secretary, led the moves in Brussels to sabotage attempts to regulate or mark food from clones and their descendants." - Daily Mail

Clegg suggests new nuclear plants may not be built

"The next generation of nuclear power stations may never be built because they will be too expensive following the Japanese tsunami, Nick Clegg has suggested. The Deputy Prime Minister cast doubt on the future for nuclear power by predicting that a review into existing plants – ordered after the explosion at the Fukushima power station — would recommend higher and more costly safety standards." - Daily Telegraph

Tim Bale: Why international evidence suggests it's nonsense to assume the Coalition will last five years

"There are two main reasons why coalitions end early. The first is something that comes out of the blue, like a domestic scandal or an international crisis that drives the partners apart... The other reason why coalition governments commonly break up is less dramatic but more serious. It’s the economy, stupid – and in particular low growth combined with persistent unemployment or (especially when the political balance of the coalition is tilted towards the Right rather than the Left) inflation. This, of course, is exactly the scenario the coalition Government is facing." - Professor Tim Bale in the Yorkshire Post

Daniel Finkelstein: Mandela and Miliband - Spot the difference

"On Saturday, just after lunch, Ed Miliband addressed the TUC march against the cuts... He compared his “struggle” (yes, I promise you, he really did call it that) to those embarked upon by the suffragettes, the civil rights movement in America’s deep South and Mandela’s African National Congress (he left out Gandhi, who is, I’m told, furious at the snub). In the process he managed to be absurd, offensive and, unintentionally, highly revealing." - Daniel Finkelstein in The Times (£)

> Sunday's LeftWatch: Gallery celebrating Ed Miliband's "I, Too, Am A Giant of History" speech

News in brief

• Ed Miliband to marry on May 27th - Doncaster Free Press
• Fraud squad raids Tory donor’s bank - The Times (£)
• Chief Inspector of Constabulary warns on police cuts - BBC
• Troops on standby for illegal prison guards' strike - Daily Telegraph

And finally... Tory MP David Burrowes turns crimefighter

"An MP has called for more community respect after catching two thieves stealing plants out of a public garden. David Burrowes caught the two women, believed to be mother and daughter, digging up plants from a taxpayer-funded bed in The Ridgeway last Sunday. The Enfield Southgate MP and his son chased the floral raiders and apprehended them, threatening to call the police if they did not return to the scene of the crime and replant what they had stolen." - Enfield Independent