Newslinks for Monday 25th June 2012
5.15pm Columnist Andrew Lilico: Avoiding taxes isn't immoral but lying, fraud and hypocrisy are
4.30pm Tim Leunig on Comment: The real losers of Cameron's housing benefit plans are the middle aged
4.15pm Local Government: Unite the Union's strategy to shift Labour councils to the Left
3.00pm WATCH:
- Harriet Baldwin MP says reforming welfare is compassionate
- Alan Duncan's prohibition on Whitehall waffle
12.30pm ToryDiary: Is the real clash of interests in British politics between older and younger voters?
10.45am Richard Harrington MP on Comment: Giving overseas aid is in Britain's interests
Columnist Bruce Anderson: There is an unmet consumer demand for a lot more right-wing populism
Lord Ashcroft on Comment: Too many children don't know enough about the sacrifices made by the WWII generation
MPsETC: Martin Callanan MEP's monthly report - Planet European Parliament, billions of miles from reality
Think Tanks: David Laws battles for classical liberalism in the Lib Dems
Local Government: Brixton Observer on Lambeth's urban clearance
The Deep End: Germany would if it could, but it can’t so it won’t
WATCH: First video of the "Keep Scotland in the UK" campaign
Cameron outlines tougher approach on welfare...
"David Cameron will float the idea that workshy couples could be penalised by having their income support slashed and additional child benefit stopped if they have more than three children. He will also suggest that Britain adopts America’s tough benefits rules which see the unemployed forced to work and even automatically stripped of payments after two years out of work." - Daily Mail
- "David Cameron will signal today the end of "compassionate
Conservatism" with plans for a crackdown on welfare spending for the young, the jobless and those with large families." - The Independent - "As Cameron will not attempt to put any of these welfare reforms on to the statute book before 2015, the Liberal Democrats can afford a relatively relaxed attitude." Patrick Wintour, The Guardian
- "Halfway through the life of a struggling administration, with storm clouds ahead, it's no longer possible to ignore the ideological struggle in the party – except that it's barely a struggle now, just a rush to the right. We can't say we're not being warned." - Jackie Ashley The Guardian
- "In order to raise his own political game, Mr Cameron therefore needs to show by deeds rather than words that he really means to reform welfare and education, and quash the now widespread perception that he is more about spin than spine." - Melanie Phillips, Daily Mail
- "If this comes to anything (alas, a big ‘if’ under this Coalition of paralysis), it will mean couples will have to stop producing babies without a thought to who will support them. It will also end the scandal of leaving hundreds of thousands of able-bodied Britons to stew in hopeless dependency, when benefits pay better than work." - Daily Mail Editorial
- "Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander told BBC One's Sunday Politics that Mr Cameron was free to set out his own thinking but that the coalition had already brought in radical welfare reform, which should be allowed to "bed-in"." - BBC
....but Labour reject it...
"Labour said the move would penalise young people who want to move from home to look for work. Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Liam Byrne said: "This is a hazy and half-baked plan when we need a serious back to work programme for young families. Many young families with their first foot on the career ladder will be knocked off if help with their rent is taken away." - Daily Telegraph
..as do some Lib Dems
"Simon Hughes, the deputy leader of the Lib Dems, said that cutting housing benefit to young adults was not a priority. “Liberal Democrats are clear that the target of our political interests over the remaining three years of this Parliament should be making sure people with high incomes pay their dues to the State, not trying to make life more difficult for those struggling to get a job or to find a home at the bottom end of the income scale,” he said." - The Times(£)
William Hague "outraged" at Syria shooting down Turkish jet
"Foreign Secretary William Hague today condemned Syria for shooting down of a Turkish fighter jet. Mr Hague said the "outrageous" act underlined the need for Bashar Assad's regime to go." - Independent
Ann Widdecombe's tribute to former Conservative MP Ken Hargreaves, who has died
" Fellow Conservative ex-MP Ann Widdecombe said he would be remembered "with huge affection"."He was a tireless campaigner for God and the unborn," she said. "No constituent was ever neglected no matter how trivial the problem." - BBC
>Yesterday: Tory MPsETC: A tribute to former Conservative MP Ken Hargreaves, who has died
Alistair Darling launches "Better Together" campaign against Scottish independence
"Launching the cross-party Better Together campaign in Edinburgh - which involves Labour, the Lib Dems and the Conservatives - Mr Darling will say that Scotland, through family, economic and cultural friendship, is stronger in the UK." - BBC
- "The tech-savvy geeks who transformed Barack Obama's presidential bid in 2008 by using social media are now hoping to weave the same digital magic for Scotland's anti-independence campaign."- The Independent
Justine Greening says that she will not stop rise in fuel tax
"In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Miss Greening indicated that she was not prepared to lobby the Treasury to delay or abandon the 3p increase in fuel duty this August. She disclosed that her focus was instead on “challenging” petrol firms to cut the cost of fuel at the pumps to reflect the falling cost of oil globally." - Daily Telegraph
Government stresses Commons supremacy in bid to quell Tory rebels on Lords reform...
"Ministers are bracing for a potential coalition clash with the announcement of fresh safeguards on an elected second chamber, designed to mollify an imminent Conservative rebellion." - Guardian
- "Labour is plotting to join forces with Tory rebels in an attempt to sabotage the Government's plans for House of Lords reform before the proposals are even debated. ...Labour will use a Commons procedural motion in an attempt to derail the bill at its first hurdle." - Independent
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Michael Fallon says "huge safeguards" on Lords reform should satisfy most Conservative MPs
....but Boris throws his weight against the plan. He says it is "crazy": another front is opened in his struggle with Cameron and for the support of Tory MPs.
"It is all completely unnecessary. Somehow, time and custom has produced a House of Lords that works. Their lordships are a vast, gentle and liver-spotted repository of wisdom. When you listen to their debates, it is transparent that they are not sharp-elbowed creatures. They betray no particular anxiety to make their name or to suck up to the whips. They may take the odd power nap and they may not all be in the first flush of youth. But they seem, on the whole, to have the interests of the country at heart." - Boris Johnson, Daily Telegraph
The Sun welcomes Andrew Mitchell's decision to mark aid supplies with the British flag
"Britain should be proud of the sacks of aid it sends to help the needy abroad. And at last, that pride will be demonstrated again — by having the Union Flag large and clear on overseas consignments. For four years, packages have gone out with barely any mention they are from us — thanks to a ludicrous Labour decision to remove our flag because it looked “too colonial”." - The Sun Says
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Andrew Mitchell unveils new logo so all DfID projects will carry the reminder that aid is "from the British people"
Tory MP Mark Pritchard "assaulted in pub lavatory" - Daily Telegraph
MPs Public Accounts Committee to investigate tax avoidance - The Times(£)
Former Scotsman editor becomes new Director of Communications for Scottish Conservatives - Scotsman
Leveson to break silence on Gove enquiry phone call to Number 10 - Press Association
David Laws rebuked by Danny Alexander over call to cut state spending further - Daily Express
Turkey to convene emergency Nato meeting over Syria - Daily Telegraph
Islamist leader wins Egyptian presidency - Financial Times (£)
Gerry Adams spin on Queen-McGuinness handshake is that it will help to persuade Unionists to live in a United Ireland - Belfast Telegraph
>Yesterday: ToryDiary - The Government needs David Laws back round the Cabinet table
Blair suggests the UK could still join the Euro - BBC
>Yesterday: WATCH - Tony Blair: Britain may have a "very interesting choice" to make over joining the €uro in the future
And finally...Jimmy Carr hits back at David Cameron
" Mr Carr also mocked the premier for digressing from talks aimed at sorting out the Eurozone crisis to criticise him. He said: ‘You know you’re a dick when the prime minister breaks off from the G20 Summit. He’s having a meeting with Obama, says “excuse me, Obama, there’s something I need to deal with, Jimmy Carr’s a f***ing dick”.’ " - Metro
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