Newslinks for Tuesday 29th January 2013
6.45pm ToryDiary: Strong backing for Liz Truss's childcare reforms
5.45pm Andrew Lilico on Comment: Two kinds of recession, and why neither fiscal nor monetary stimulus always works
4.30pm ToryDiary: Boundary reform defeated by 334 to 292
2.15pm WATCH: Liz Truss announces childcare plans
2pm Greg Clark MP on Comment: EU renegotiation can be achieved
12.45pm Local government: Trafford freezes Council Tax
12.30pm MPsETC: Am hearing that a handful of Tory MPs will vote with Labour and the LibDems AGAINST boundary fairness...
11.45pm Bernard Jenkin MP on Comment: Clegg's hypocrisy on boundary changes
10.30am ToryDiary: An encouraging report on childcare for Elizabeth Truss
10am WATCH: Lord Sudeley standing in the hereditary peers byelection
ToryDiary: How can the Conservatives win over more ethnic minority voters?
Garvan Walshe: We may not be interested in ungoverned spaces, but they are interested in us
Jonathan Isaby on Comment: This Conservative-led Government has raised tax more than twice as often as it has cut it
Majority Conservatism: Nick Boles MP and affordable housing. The latest in our Little Guy Conservatism series
Local government: Leeds Council owns 11,904 paintings
The Deep End: Insourcing - at last a positive economic trend
Tories to urge companies to publish ethnic make-up
"Big companies would be urged to publish the ethnic breakdown of their workforce under Conservative plans to help to repair the party’s image with Black and Asian voters. David Cameron has told the Cabinet to come up with policies to appeal to ethnic communities amid fears that without them the party will struggle to win an outright majority." - The Times (£)
- "Tony Blair only took his party back into power when he overcame a historic “gender gap” and persuaded as many women as men to vote Labour. Now David Cameron has been warned that he will struggle to win an overall majority at the next election unless he can deal with an “ethnicity effect” that is becoming increasingly damaging to the Conservatives." - Rachel Sylvester The Times (£)
Bercow warns Cameron not to block large pay rise for MPs
"Mr Bercow said that MPs “resent” moves by independently wealthy party leaders like the Prime Minister to prevent increases in their pay, currently £65,738. Trying to block rise would not be “terribly clever or brave”, he said." - Daily Telegraph
Liz Truss raises nursery ratios to cut cost of child care
"Nurseries and childminders in England are to be allowed to look after more children per adult in an attempt to cut childcare costs. Children's Minister Liz Truss will say the ratio of children to child carers can be raised but only if the carers' qualifications meet new standards." - BBC
- "The Childcare Minister has said she would be happy to entrust her own children to nursery teachers looking after six toddlers each." - The Times (£)
- "I recently visited France to look at their provision for young children. Even in the cab on the way to the nursery I was struck by the stories of the interpreter and the embassy staff about how simple it is to receive support and access childcare." Liz Truss The Independent
Vote on boundary changes today
"MPs are to vote on changes to their constituency boundaries and whether a planned shake-up should be introduced in time for the next general election." - BBC
- "The return to the Commons of the electoral registration and administration bill will be marked by a government attempt – or more precisely a Conservative party attempt – to keep the proposed new constituency boundaries alive. Commons arithmetic suggests that they will probably fail. The Tories will vote one way. Most of the other parties – the Democratic Unionists are playing their cards close to their chests – look likely to vote the other." - The Guardian
- "David Davis, Mr Cameron’s former rival for the leadership, said he was likely to vote against the government while five other Conservatives are also expected to rebel." - Daily Telegraph
- "Former Tory Defence Secretary Liam Fox branded Lib Dem MPs “deeply dishonourable” for rowing back on an earlier pledge to back the plan which would also slash the number of MPs from 650 to 600. He added: “Who will trust them again?” " - The Sun
HS2 route published
"Towns and cities across the country were promised the benefit of an extended high-speed rail network as the government on Monday unveiled a proposed route carefully designed to win over a sceptical nation to HS2." - The Guardian
- "The route will also pass through part of the Tatton constituency of George Osborne, the Chancellor, who today insisted the project will be an “engine for growth” in the north of the country. MPs immediately criticised the Government over the route and warned that Mr Osbrone will now "see the strength of public opinion" over the issue for himself." - Daily Telegraph
- "It was appropriate for the Coalition to choose a Cabinet awayday in Leeds yesterday to announce the extension of the HS2 high-speed railway. For this ambitious project is all about straddling the North-South divide and making this country a more integrated economy. The ability to travel from the north of England to the capital in little more than an hour can transform the business map of Britain." - Daily Telegraph leader
- HS2 costs rise £2 billion in 12 months - Financial Times
- "The government needs to be the enabler: it must allow the construction of railways, roads, airports and utilities that the private sector believes it can profitably provide. The economic costs of HS2 would always be greater than its benefits so it fails that test." - Allister Heath City AM
Brandon Lewis rejects calls for new local taxes
"Councils should be able to raise their own revenues, such as a "tourist tax", to supplement central funding if backed by residents, a Commons committee said....But ministers said there was "little appetite" for multiple local taxes." - BBC
MPs challenge Osborne on budget sums"George Osborne has been criticised for relying on the sale of the 4G mobile spectrum and Swiss tax repatriation to fund big giveaways such as fuel duty freezes, given that both windfalls are “far from
certain”." - Financial Times
119 Coalition tax cuts - 299 tax rises
"The new taxes will mean that taxpayers will shell out £671billion a year by 2015/16 – a 15 per cent increase on the £513billion in the final year of the Labour government. Research from the centre-right think-tank, the TaxPayers’ Alliance, lays bare the extent of taxes that have been introduced." - Daily Mail
- "The Government remains addicted to raising taxes, increasing pain on families...Most financial pain is among low and middle earners. The Government must get the taxman off their backs and give them a chance. Cutting the scandalous rate of fuel tax would be a start." - The Sun Says
Lord Baker says universities should go private to escape fees cap
"Leading English universities should be encouraged to go private and set unlimited fees, a former Education Secretary has said. Lord Baker of Dorking who, as Kenneth Baker, introduced the National
Curriculum during Margaret Thatcher’s third term in office, said that the current fee, which is capped at £9,000, wasn’t enough to keep top British universities among the world’s best." - The Times (£)
EU migrants "won't get NHS care"
"Migrants from Romania and Bulgaria who travel to Britain without a job are to be told they must have private medical insurance to prevent the NHS becoming an ‘international health service’. Immigration minister Mark Harper told the Daily Mail that limiting access to free healthcare is seen as key to preventing a fresh influx of migrants when controls are lifted at the end of this year." - Daily Mail
Hammond denies comparing gay marriage to incest - The Times (£)
Andrew Gimson says despite Adam Afriyie's denial there is still talk of mutiny
"For while I am prepared to bet that the multimillionaire MP for Windsor will never become Tory leader, the fact that this generally uninspiring figure, who has never made the slightest impression as a debater, could even be dreamed of as a challenger is indicative of the state of near mutiny that exists in the parliamentary Conservative party." Andrew Gimson The Guardian
> Yesterday
Lib Dem MP who attacked "the Jews" given yellow card
"A Lib-Dem MP who accused "the Jews" in Israel of "inflicting atrocities on Palestinians" has received a letter of censure by the party. Bradford East MP David Ward later apologised and said he had been "trying to make clear that everybody needs to learn the lessons of the Holocaust"." - BBC
UK to send troops to Mail - BBC
Chris Huhne's speed trial date set for Monday - BBC
Charity Commission tells the RSPCA to review prosecution policies - Daily Telegraph
Poll finds three voters in 10 more likely to back Conservatives after EU referendum pledge - The Independent
Byelection shocks more likely as Party membership declines - The Independent
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