Newslinks for Saturday 30th April 2011
10pm ToryDiary: Is Britain a centre left country? No.
6.15pm WATCH: Official Royal Wedding photos released
5pm Local Government: The battle for South Gloucestershire
2.45pm ToryDiary: Final No2AV leaflet seeks to exploit Nick Clegg's unpopularity
1pm Andrew Lilico on Comment: Ten reasons to vote No to AV
ToryDiary: Is the AV referendum all over bar the shouting?
Andrew Boff on Comment: Our electoral system is broke - fix it #Yes2AV
Local Government: The battle for Middlesbrough
Britain basks in Royal Wedding afterglow
"David Cameron today gushed over the 'incredibly romantic and moving' wedding service at Westminster Abbey. He said the Royal Wedding represents 'the best of Britain', as he spoke of his pride at seeing William overcome the death of his mother to become a fine prince. He arrived at Westminster Abbey with his wife Samantha, who broke with tradition by forgoing a hat or fascinator for a jewelled head piece." - Daily Mail
"Prime Minister David Cameron led the national day of celebration by hosting his very own Royal Wedding street party in Downing Street. Mr Cameron and his wife Samantha invited 90 guests to Number 10 to celebrate Prince William and Kate Middleton's marriage. Guests included children from local schools and representatives of Age UK and Contact the Elderly, as well as young charity fundraisers." - Daily Mail
Most politicians rose to the occasion...
"Only a few minutes earlier Sally Bercow, wife of the Speaker of the Commons, had gone clacking past with a Stone Age cleavage. The sight of Sally the Alley in her glad rags would have been enough to weaken even Dizzy Gillespie’s embouchure." - Quentin Letts, Daily Mail
"The Home Secretary arrived with her husband. It is the first time that the person ultimately responsible for security on such a day was hidden under a hat that looked as if a pink leopard had been in a fight with a pink vulture." - Simon Hoggart, The Guardian
...Although Peter Hain did not
"Peter Hain, the Shadow Welsh secretary, complained that the BBC coverage of Westminster Abbey ignored Ed Miliband. Loads of TV coverage of Cameron and Clegg but none of Ed. BBC airbrushing Labour like the Palace?” he posted on Twitter. His comments referred to anger at the Palace’s failure to invite Tony Blair or Gordon Brown, despite asking former Prime Ministers Sir John Major and Lady Thatcher." - The Times (£)
ITV trounces BBC in the TV battle - Daily Telegraph
Royal Wedding comment
"There are other royal weddings – in Spain, or Sweden, or Swaziland – and I am sure they are very nice. But they do not stand for anything much in the eyes of the world….Nor could anything comparable take place in a republic…The Catholic Church, when installing (though sadly, no longer crowning) a new pope, offers a ceremony which brings home the power, the loneliness and the humility of that extraordinary position. But nothing else anywhere has the archetypal quality of what was shown in Westminster Abbey, the same closeness between what is unspeakably grand and what is ordinarily human." - Charles Moore in the Daily Telegraph
- In the monarchy game, only the bland survive - Matthew Parris, The Times (£)
- Dynastic lessons from the familiar Windsor flourish - Simon Schama, Financial Times (£)
- Britain at its best - Fraser Nelson, Coffee House
- Yesterday's show of British institutions at their best hides years of political vandalism that wrecked our constitution - Iain Martin, Daily Mail
Yesterday's ConservativeHome coverage -
- ToryDiary: Boris Johnson's gift to William and Kate
- ToryDiary: Twelve Tory quotes in support of our monarchy
- LeftWatch: Peter Hain complains about lack of coverage of Ed Miliband at Royal Wedding
- WATCH: Cameron and Clegg arrive at Westminster Abbey
- WATCH: David Cameron on the Royal Wedding
Labour accuse of Government of using day to bury bad news on the NHS - Daily Telegraph
The final stretch of the AV referendum campaign begins
"Yet in the verdant constituency of Sheffield Hallam, which went Mr Clegg's way in 2005 after almost a century as a Tory seat, there appears a glimmer of hope for the embattled Deputy Prime Minister. Here the city forgets the social deprivation of its inner core and lost steel mills. Hallam is richer than Twickenham, 60 per cent hold a degree and the professional classes' large detached homes give way to the rolling Peak District." - The Independent
"This Liberal Democrat heartland in Fife is in danger of breaking" - The Times (£)
"The Cameron-Clegg relationship will change. "Nick has had a reminder of just how ruthless the Tory machine and the Tory press can be," one close ally said. Mr Clegg has no intention of being the sole "Coalition unity figure" while colleagues such as Chris Huhne and Mr Cable kick lumps out of the Tories; that would leave him in a weakened and dangerous place inside his own party. The ruthless Mr Cameron may find that his Deputy Prime Minister develops a ruthless streak too." - Andrew Grice, The Independent
Poll officers ordered to hire more staff
"The Electoral Commission has issued new rules to avoid the chaos of the last general election when thousands were left queueing at polling stations unable to vote at 10pm. Under the new statutory guidelines election officers will be expected to set up more polling stations, recruit more staff and print more ballot papers to ensure they do not run out, like last year. If they fail to do so the commission will withhold fees." - The Times (£)
Purnell urges Labour to rethink welfare
James Purnell, the former work and pensions secretary, is to call on Labour to rethink its approach to welfare, relying less on cash transfers and instead offering guarantees of jobs and access to housing. He also proposes a revival of the contributory principle whereby a claimant's benefits are linked more closely to the amount they have put into the system. Describing "Blue Labour" as the most interesting element of the current debate within the party, he says it is central to understanding why the party lost so many voters." - The Guardian
Salaries criticised at state-owned CDC
"Ministers have attacked “inflated remuneration” at CDC group, the state-owned investor in emerging markets, after it emerged that senior managers are almost four times better paid than counterparts at development finance institutions. An independent report commissioned by Andrew Mitchell, international development secretary, found that the £366,000 pay for CDC managing directors was 281 per cent higher than the mean at similar state-backed development groups." - Financial Times (£)
Coalition and Political News in Brief
- Northern Ireland faces another bomb alert - The Guardian
- Economy hit by flights tax - Daily Express
- Almost every school to shut as heads join strike - Daily Telegraph
- EU set for Syria arms embargo - The Independent
- SNP divided at heart over independence, claims former MSP - The Times (£)
- Body of Pope John Paul II exhumed ahead of his beatification in the Vatican - Daily Mail
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