Newslinks for Sunday 5th May 2013

5.45pm ToryDiary: The Queen's Speech and the language of priorities

12.15pm Local government: Hard work and sound Conservative policies kept UKIP at bay in Shropshire

Noon WATCH: Lord Tebbit says UKIP are offering "politics of the common ground"

10.30am ToryDiary: Nigel Evans denies "completely false" rape allegations

ToryDiary: Redwood wants an EU poll bill. So does Baron. Both raise the question: How long should the coalition last?

John Redwood MP on Comment: Why we need a referendum now – to give Mr Cameron the authority to create a new relationship with the EU

Also on Comment: Adam Afriyie MP, in his second ConservativeHome column, says that My own life story has led me to prize British citizenship - which must be rationed more carefully  

Growing calls for earlier EU referendum...

"The MPs demanding an urgent response, including David Davis, the former leadership challenger, called on David Cameron to give the public absolute certainty about his intentions over Europe by legislating soon for an initial "mandate" referendum, to take place next year, ahead of or at the same time as the European elections in May." - The Observer

• "The Sunday Telegraph has spoken to MPs from across the party who today disclose that they back the plan. They include John Whittingdale, the chairman of the Commons Culture Select Committee; Dr Julian Lewis, a former senior Central Office official; and prominent members of the 2010 intake including Dominic Raab, Henry Smith, Richard Drax and Priti Patel." - Sunday Telegraph

> Today:

•  ToryDiary: Redwood wants an EU poll bill. So does Baron. Both raise the question: How long should the coalition last?
• John Redwood MP on Comment: Why we need a referendum now – to give Mr Cameron the authority to create a new relationship with the EU

....But William Hague says no change

"If doing the right thing means sacrifices, tough decisions, a spell of unpopularity – so be it. Other politicians can promise easy ways out of the mess if they wish; the Conservative Party will keep working in Britain’s national interest, however long and grinding and painstaking that work may be." - William Hague Sunday Telegraph

• "Foreign Secretary William Hague says the Conservative Party does not need a "drastic change of course" despite its poor showing in local election results last week." - BBC

Local elections: Nigel Farage urges Conservatives to ditch Cameron as leader..

"UKIP leader Nigel Farage has made a dramatic offer to form an election pact with the Tories – but only if they dump David Cameron as leader. Buoyed by big gains in Thursday’s town hall elections, Farage last night said he is ready to join forces with the Conservatives to keep Ed Miliband out of power." - Interview in Mail on Sunday

>Yesterday:

• Tory Diary: "David Cameron, having labelled the former "fruitcakes, nutters and closet racists", first stuck to the jibe, then took refuge in trying to ignore UKIP altogether, and has finally climbed down.  His retreat is an admission of eight years of strategic failure."  How the Conservatives and UKIP can kiss and make up
• Local Government: What should Conservatives offer UKIP to be council coalition partners?
• Jackie Doyle-Price MP on Comment: "On polling day, an Essex newspaper carried a letter from the MP for Billericay which was critical of the Prime Minister and as good as invited Conservatives to vote UKIP." The way to fight Farage's party is to knock on doors - not knock each other.

...Stuart Wheeler says UKIP could do a deal with Boris...

"The UKIP treasurer says its leadership would rather deal with Boris Johnson than with David Cameron in the run-up to the next election. Stuart Wheeler, the multimillionaire former Tory donor, said it was “much more likely” that his party could work with the mayor of London than the prime minister on a potential pact in certain constituencies in the 2015 general election." - Sunday Times(£)

• "A “non-aggression pact” between Tory candidates and UKIP has been backed by a number of Conservative MPs. Stewart Jackson, MP for Peterborough, said: “We should explore some kind of electoral agreement.” Philip Davies, MP for Shipley, said he supported local pacts for Ukip not to stand against Eurosceptic Tories." - Sunday Times(£)

..But Ed Miliband is under more pressure from within his Party

"Labour leader Ed Miliband was last night warned by backbenchers to ‘wake up’ to the threat from UKIP and sack underperforming members of his Shadow Cabinet, or face the consequences at the General Election...Labour MP Graham Stringer condemned the results as ‘not good enough’...Fellow backbencher, Bassetlaw MP John Mann, said new policies should be drawn up to meet the UKIP threat." - Mail on Sunday

• "Farage's common touch has an impact on Ed Miliband too. He has embarked on a brave and much needed enterprise – to build a fairer social contract that responds to concerns about immigration and delivers growth and prosperity for all. The mechanics of how such a contract is constructed and costed is one issue; another is Miliband's need to develop a more populist touch." - Leader The Observer
• Only 31% on an Opinium poll can envisage Ed Milband becoming PM - Observer
• On YouGov the Labour lead is back up to 10% - but only 30% think it "likely" Miliband will ever be PM - YouGov

Bernard Jenkin backs calls for Mandate Referendum

"The prime minister should ask Parliament to approve a “mandate” referendum for next year, setting out his terms for the “new relationship” he wants the UK to have with our European partners. All the polls show voters...want our Parliament once again to control our own laws and courts– the sovereignty which David Cameron rightly described as our precious democratic heritage. If Labour or the Lib Dems try to stop this referendum… well, just let them try!" - Bernard Jenkin Sunday Telegraph

Why did Lincolnshire turn purple?

"Martin Hill, the Conservative leader of Lincolnshire county council, pointed out that most of the Tory losses were in the east of the county, which has a heavy presence of eastern European migrants....He also criticises ministers for repeating the Prime Minister’s claim that Ukip is a bunch of “fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists”...“It was a silly mistake to insult people who are Ukip or thinking of voting Ukip,” Mr Hill said. “That was really shooting ourselves in the foot.” - Sunday Telegraph

The Sun warns UKIP voters against letting in Miliband

"Nothing much is certain after Thursday’s vote. But it IS certain Nigel Farage will not be elected PM in 2015. If Cameron isn’t either, Ed Miliband will be. And UKIP voters won’t hear one word from him they’re going to like." - The Sun Says

 Treasury to name and shame wasteful Ministers..

"The Treasury is compiling a “dossier of shame” showing unnecessary and profligate spending by government departments as it demands that unprotected ministries cut 10% from their budgets. The examples of wasteful spending are to be produced as part of a fraught review in which the Treasury is demanding cuts of up to £14bn across all government budgets apart from health, schools and international development." - Sunday Times (£)

...but Osborne told he is "wasting money" on new roads

"George Osborne is pushing ahead with a massive nationwide road-building programme despite high-level concerns from ministers and Department for Transport (DfT) officials that there is little evidence it will boost the economy." - Independent on Sunday

Increased Overseas Aid "won't be enshrined in law"

"David Cameron is risking a major fracture in the coalition after deciding to renege on his promise to enshrine foreign aid spending in law as he attempts to pacify the right wing of his party. The Observer can reveal that the flagship policy – promised in the 2010 coalition agreement between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats – will not be in Wednesday's Queen's speech and will not now come to pass under this government."  - The Observer

Adam Afriyie calls for Immigrants Tax

"I propose non-British citizens working in the UK pay a tax supplement of, say, two per cent on top of their base-rate income tax. That would guarantee foreign workers are contributing to the upkeep of the UK – contributing to strong British courts, UK defence and vital national services. But if these measures are to be effective, they must also apply to EU immigrants." - Adam Afriyie Mail on Sunday

>Today: Comment - Adam Afriyie MP says My own life story has led me to prize British citizenship - which must be rationed more carefully  

• David Cameron won't prosper by trying to outkip the kippers - Andrew Rawnsley The Observer

Heseltine says growth is returning but productivity is the key issue

"The latest GDP figures, showing 0.3pc growth in the economy in the first quarter of this year, were interpreted by some observers, including Lord Heseltine’s Conservative colleague Kenneth Clarke, as showing that Britain is bumping along the bottom. Lord Heseltine disagrees, seeing the statistic as the first sign of genuine post-recession growth. “I think it’s changing,” he says. “0.3pc of quarterly growth is 1.2pc of annual growth..." Interview Sunday Telegraph

Lord Ashcroft: Why I'm giving half my money away

"During the Eighties when I started investing in the United States, I discovered that one of the most appealing traits of American life is the tendency of many wealthy individuals to see it as part of their civic duty to support charities. Over the years, I became a convert to philanthropy and I started donating to deserving and innovative causes. I saw that some of the best ideas to emerge in the US had their roots in charities and the freedom to innovate that they provided." - Lord Ashcroft Sunday Telegraph

Nigel Evans MP arrested over allegations of gay rape. A colleague describes him as 'Caring, compassionate and in no way violent':

"Nigel Evans was taken to a police station in Lancashire, where he is Conservative MP for Ribble Valley, and questioned over offences dating from 2009 to March this year." - Mail on Sunday

• "The MP revealed in December 2010 that he was homosexual, saying that he was “tired of living a lie”. In an interview at the time he said: “With my background in south Wales it was hard enough being a Tory, let alone being gay. “It wasn’t so much ‘the only gay in the village’ as the ‘only Tory in Swansea’.” Other MPs said they were shocked by the arrest. Tory Mark Field said: “I am absolutely stunned. Nigel is a universally popular guy. He’s quite a private guy. It will stun every- one at the Commons.” - Sunday Times (£)
• Nigel Evans has a healthy Parliamentary majority in Ribble Valley of over 14,700 – but should his arrest trigger a by-election, it could still present a huge headache for David Cameron. Even before Nigel Farage’s UKIP emerged as the ‘fourth force’ in British politics last week, the constituency had a history of causing difficulty for Conservative Prime Ministers. - Mail on Sunday
• 'Caring, compassionate and in no way violent': MPs come out in support of good-humoured and popular Deputy Speaker Nigel Evans. - Mail on Sunday

What to expect from the Queen's Speech - Independent on Sunday

Israeli rockets hit Damascus - BBC

Government plans to privatise Student Loans - Sunday Times

Doctors "threaten" to remove Health Minister Earl Howe from a committee

"A health minister is facing the humiliation of being ousted from a prestigious role within the Royal College of Physicians over claims that he falsely reassured doctors who feared the coalition would
privatise of the NHS." - The Observer

And finally...Michael Gove takes up the ukulele

"Michael Gove, the education secretary, is to have lessons in playing the ukulele to take his mind off the pressures of his high-profile cabinet job. Gove’s wife, Sarah Vine, a journalist on The Times, has signed him up for a course to learn how to play the guitar-like instrument at the Idler Academy near the family home in west London" - Sunday Times (£)

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