Newslinks for Sunday 29th April 2012
8pm ToryDiary: Boris, "the Heineken Tory" who reaches parts of the electorate that other Conservatives don't
5.30pm WATCH: "Not-Again-Ken" video to tune of "In The Navy"
5pm ToryDiary: Clark, Davis, Fallon, Grayling, Laws, Shapps and Redwood are top hopes for Cabinet
4pm WATCH: It is now clear that Jeremy Hunt wasn't acting impartially, claims Harriet Harman
Noon WATCH: Cameron should give more up-close-and-personal TV interviews and fewer speeches
10.15am ToryDiary: The Coalition is strong and focused on delivering over five years, says Cameron in confident Marr Show interview
Paul Goodman on Majority Conservatism: "For the rich. Selfish. Rubbish." Lord Ashcroft's new study shows what ethnic and religious minorities think of the Conservative Party. (But it's not all bad news, especially among Hindus and Sikhs...)
Columnist Nadine Dorries MP: The Tory leadership should listen to the activists and councillors who work so hard for the party
Kevin Andrews MP on International: Australian Labor is on the ropes
Jillian Lilico on Comment: 'Local procurement' could help maximise the effectiveness of UK aid spending
Ben Locker on Local government reports that Lib Dem MP for Colchester Sir Bob Russell seems to think that those with jobs should not be councillors
WATCH: Michael Fallon MP tells Channel 4 News that we don't need another inquiry into Jeremy Hunt
Jeremy Hunt is the firewall between Cameron and the Murdoch crisis - Independent on Sunday
"David Cameron has issued a devastating private warning that the crisis over Ministers’ links with Rupert Murdoch is ‘going to get worse before it gets better’ – amid fears at No 10 that George Osborne is being drawn into the heart of the row." - Mail on Sunday
"Rebekah Brooks, the former News International chief executive who is under investigation by Scotland Yard over her role in the hacking affair, is understood to be ready to disclose any text messages and emails between herself and David Cameron if required." - The Sunday Times (£)
- Sir Michael Lyons, former BBC Trust chairman, says Jeremy Hunt was 'far too close' to News Corporation - Observer
- "Jeremy Hunt’s crucial role in planning the Olympic Games makes him too important to be sacked , a Tory MP said last night." - Sunday Express
- If Hunt misled the House, it's all over for him - John Rentoul in the Independent on Sunday
- "The Murdoch affair has exposed the shadowy figures paid to influence ministers, and the advisers who deal with them. Iain Martin shines a light into a dark corner of politics." - Iain Martin in The Sunday Telegraph
- Labour calls for inquiry into Alex Salmond adviser's relationship with Rupert Murdoch - BBC
Sunday newspaper polling
- "According to the YouGov poll for The Sunday Times (£), Ed Miliband’s party is on 40%, the Tories are on 29% and the Liberal Democrats are on 11%, with UKIP hot on their heels at 10%. The popularity gap between Cameron and Miliband has narrowed from 23 points to seven points in a week."
- Cameron is being deserted in droves — with four in ten supporters saying they won’t vote for him again - Sun on Sunday
- 82% think Government is "out-of-touch" - Sunday Express
Lack of appeal to minorities costing Tories seats - The Sunday Telegraph
"The Tories' reputation among ethnic-minority voters will not change overnight. First, the party must understand the anxieties and aspirations of people from these backgrounds – and that many do not believe Tory principles extend to the concern for others that are an essential part of their own religious and cultural identity. Otherwise, it will continue to be seen as a party of middle-class white people which talks only to other middle-class white people." - Lord Ashcroft in The Sunday Telegraph
Matt Chorley records the last 39 days of terrible headlines since the Budget - Independent on Sunday
- A summary of another terrible weekend for the Conservative Party - Spectator
- "It is not a paradox that a fixation on spin should produce appalling headlines. Unless a government appeals to its natural supporters and delivers concrete improvements in living standards it is doomed. So long as Cameron continues to obsess over liberal-metropolitan shibboleths while ignoring the concerns of real people, he will remain in a spin himself. Until spun out of No 10 at the next election, that is." - Neil Hamilton in the Sunday Express
Boris Johnson: We need more tax cuts - The Sunday Telegraph
> Yesterday evening's ToryDiary: Boris tries to shore up his core support, calling himself a "tax-cutting Conservative"
A Boris victory is the only thing that can save the Tories now - James Forsyth in the Mail on Sunday
Tim Montgomerie in the Mail on Sunday: "Cameron will also be aware that a re-elected Boris will become a huge new force in Conservative politics. Boris would have twice done what Cameron has failed to do – win an election outright. Moreover he would have won in a city where it’s very hard for Conservatives to win. Boris is ‘the Heineken Tory’ – reaching parts of the electorate that other Conservatives, notably Cameron, cannot seem to reach."
The Sunday Telegraph also examines the secrets of Boris' success: "What Mr Johnson does not say is as important as what he does. He does not spend his time trumpeting the virtues of wind farms, or increasing overseas aid, or promoting single-sex marriage".
- Lord Sugar: I’m at a total loss as to why the Labour Party has decided to back Ken Livingstone in the mayoral election - Sun on Sunday
Cardinal O'Brien, Leader of Scotland's Catholics, accuses David Cameron of 'immoral' tax stance - BBC
"In a BBC Scotland interview, he said: "My message to David Cameron, as the head of our government, is to seriously think again about this Robin Hood tax, the tax to help the poor by taking a little bit from the rich. "The poor have suffered tremendously from the financial disasters of recent years and nothing, really, has been done by the very rich people to help them."" - BBC
"Britain's wealthiest people are richer than they have ever been with a combined fortune of £414 billion, even though the rest of the country is mired in its worst recession since the 1930s. The Sunday Times Rich List 2012 (£), published today, reveals that the 1,000 richest men and women in the country have increased their wealth by 4.7% on last year’s total of £395.8 billion, surpassing the previous high of £412.8 billion recorded before the 2008 financial crash."
Robert Halfon MP says party needs more gritty spokespeople like Esther McVey - Mail on Sunday
- Under Cameron and Osborne the Conservatives have become a club - Janet Daley in The Sunday Telegraph
- ""Arrogant posh boys" will be glued to Messrs Cameron and Osborne as indelibly as "something of the night" was to Michael Howard" - Andrew Rawnsley in The Observer
- The proles don’t mind the posh that much, but they’re not necessarily ultra-keen on super-sophisticated intellectual elites that pretend to be just like them - India Knight in The Sunday Times (£)
- "Have you ever tried to look at David Cameron’s face? I mean, really look at it? I find it almost impossible. His skin has a sort of eerie sheen that means one’s eyes glide right off. And Nick Clegg (when you actually catch a glimpse of him) is scarcely better. He’s remarkably unremarkable. Meanwhile Miliband Jnr and his cohorts on the opposite benches hardly provide an alternative to get excited about." - Clare Heal in The Sunday Express
Chief Whip Patrick McLoughlin has privately assured anxious Tory backbenchers that the gay marriage issue will never come to a vote and will be kicked into the long grass
"The pressure on Mr Cameron has been increased by warnings that a Tory rebellion in the Commons would eclipse last year's EU referendum revolt, when 81 Conservatives defied the Prime Minister. Backbenchers are reporting an 'avalanche' of protests from Conservative supporters over the gay marriage initiative championed by Mr Cameron." - Mail on Sunday
- Within a story headlined about Boris, The Sunday Telegraph reports: "A survey by pollsters ComRes suggested Mr Cameron’s strong support for same-sex marriage could cost his party up to 30 seats in a general election."
New measures will allow ministers to bar entry of non-EU citizens accused of serious charges such as torture or murder - Observer
The Sun on Sunday joins the Daily Mail in calling for a internet service providers to block porn as the default setting on their service - Sun on Sunday
If freedom means seeing our kids defiled by porn, I opt out - Minette Marrin in The Sunday Times (£)
> Friday's Deep End made the case for Claire Perry MP's bid to protect kids from online adult content
STILL THE BEST
"More people would like Mrs Thatcher to be in charge than the current prime minister or his predecessors, a poll reveals. The Iron Lady scored 4.5 out of 10 in a YouGov poll — pipping David Cameron into second, with 4.2 out of 10. Nick Clegg was the least favourite of all party chiefs, scraping 2.9." - Sun on Sunday
The Mail on Sunday gives Ed Miliband its main editorial page to attack David Cameron
"Any government is bound to make its share of mistakes, but from the Budget to the cash-for-access scandal and from the recession to Murdoch, the events of the last few weeks show this Government’s true colours. They are a direct consequence of being out of touch with the many and in touch with only a privileged few." - Ed Miliband in the Mail on Sunday
Ed Balls warns of a decade of Japanese-style stagnation without a plan for jobs and growth - The Observer
The BBC has launched an inquiry which could lead to a ban on MPs being paid to appear as guests on programmes - The Sunday Telegraph
All of the latest opinion polls look bleak for Sarkozy - Electionista
And finally... David Cameron's heartbroken former lover becomes a nun called Sister John Mary - Mail on Sunday
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