Newslinks for Sunday 30th June 2013

7.45pm WATCH: Cameron - "The friends of Pakistan are friends of Britain."

1pm LeftWatch: Bad polling news for Labour is as important as the good news for the Conservatives

11am Chris Gatenby on International: In Australia, Labor face meltdown after vengeful Rudd returns as PM

10am As David Cameron visits Pakistan, Michael Wade on Comment says that the Party can and must do better than scraping a mere 13 per cent of the British Pakistani vote. The two-way street towards better integration.

ToryDiary: Owen Paterson more than meets the two criteria for a good Cabinet minister

"It is in Britain’s interests to help countries that see low levels of religious freedom and high levels of religious violence to build stable and free societies. Only such societies can engage healthily with the rest of the world. Only such societies will be able to solve issues of militancy, radicalisation and religiously motivated violence." - Baroness Berridge on Comment: Religious freedom should be at the heart of this Government's foreign policy

Paterson goes into battle to support shale gas

"Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said: ‘The gas volumes in the survey are astounding: this is a natural bonanza which we must grasp. Rather than be persuaded by scare tactics, we need to look at  the facts. Do we really want to deny the British public a clean, affordable, home-grown energy supply which could free us from dependency on unstable regimes and which would give a huge boost to our industry?'" - Mail on Sunday  

• Frack, slash and build - Sunday Times (£) 
• Frack, baby, frack - Sunday Times Leader (£) 
• The future is shale and nuclear, not wind power - Sunday Telegraph Leader
• DEFRA report to include benefits of climate change - Sunday Times (£) 

>Today: ToryDiary - Owen Paterson more than meets the two criteria for a good Cabinet minister

Good news for the Chancellor

"So why does Osborne’s statement mark an historic moment? He’s abandoning the key flaw in democracy: that it sets politicians in competition with each other to promise too much. They’re then forced to borrow, passing the bill on to the future. That’s how we have a massive debt, and how a generation that had free university tuition, were home-owners and who could expect a comfortable pension, has given way to one that owes money for its fees, pays rent and has no savings.  Osborne promises to spend less, not more. He offers only tears, sweat and blood. Realistically, that’s our future. But you heard it from him first." - Michael Portillo, Mail on Sunday 

• Overwhelming public support for welfare crackdown - Sunday Telegraph
• Welcome to the welfare election - John Rentoul, Independent on Sunday
• The public are ahead of the parties on shrinking the state - Janet Daley, Sunday Telegraph
• Will Generation Y stay conservative, or buy the high tax fantasy? - Adam Boulton, Sunday Times (£) 
• Pensioners threaten cuts revolt - Sunday Express
• Mandela taught the Tories the value of trust - Matthew d'Ancona, Sunday Telegraph

Standing ovation as Daniel Kawczynski MP becomes the first openly bisexual MP

"Mr Kawczynski, 41, who was born in Poland, has made history as the first MP to make it known that he is bisexual. Shrewsbury Tory chairman Robert Osborne, who was at the meeting, said last night: ‘It was a very brave thing for Daniel to do and he did it with great aplomb.  He received huge support from members of the association and there was never a shadow of doubt that he would." - Mail on Sunday 

Gove issues civil servants with Golden Rules for writing good English

"Gove is not the only one to be infuriated by the quality of the letters drafted in his name. One colleague was horrified to find that a reply he was meant to send to the Prime Minister began: ‘Good to here from you.’ Another found his name was being spelt incorrectly. But Gove is surely the only Minister who would urge his staff to read ‘George Orwell and Evelyn Waugh, Jane Austen and George Eliot, Matthew Parris and Christopher Hitchens’ to improve their prose." - James Forsyth, Mail on Sunday 

Cameron says soldiers could stay in Afghan support roles until 2020

"The prime minister spoke out after military sources raised the alarm about security in Afghanistan after 2014. Sources said they have concluded that Afghan forces will need highly technical military advice on providing close air support, the distribution of food and fuel, and on medevac facilities. There were concerns recently in Sangin when an Afghan brigade had to call off a mission after running out of fuel. British military commanders have been able to make their assessments after Nato handed control of security for the whole of the country to Afghan forces this month." - The Observer 

Adam Afriyie: Allow patients to pay for NHS care

"The NHS must always remain free at the point of delivery for British citizens. This is a fundamental principle. However, the sensible, pragmatic way forward to save the NHS is to enable people to choose where they have treatment and choose whether to pay for that treatment. I’m not advocating that everyone must make a choice. I don’t believe in disrupting the NHS as it stands simply to enable it. In any new system the default position must remain: people must be able simply to go to the GP and follow the NHS route to treatment. But I think that we can make it easier for people in all walks of life, from the busy mother to the time-poor small-business owner, to access and pay for health services at a time and location that suits them." - Sunday Times (£) 

• NHS whistleblower warned about the CQC two years ago - Sunday Times (£) 
• Hunt orders investigation into Great Ormond Street Baby P "cover-up" - Sunday Times (£) 
• New crackdown on £24m health tourists - Mail on Sunday
• Cameron asked police to help Stafford whistleblower - Sunday Times (£) 
• We need more social mobility in medicine - Dr Dan Poulter MP, Independent on Sunday 

Safety campaigners want every parent's house inspected by social workers

"Social workers will routinely go into new parents’ homes to check for dangers such as staircases and sharp table edges, under ‘intrusive’ plans drawn up by safety campaigners. They argue that the hour-long visits could prevent thousands of serious injuries every year – but critics believe they would be an invasion of privacy." - Mail on Sunday  

Phlip Hammond prepares for cyberwarfare

"Hammond described cyberwarfare as a “game changer” and argued that such activity must be incorporated into “mainstream military thinking”. “It’s a new tool of warfare, essentially, just as the flying machine was in 1915.” Speaking about the potential for Britain to launch its own cyberattacks, he said: “It’s a new capability. We should explore the boundaries of it.” Chancellor George Osborne last week announced that total spending on intelligence would go up from £1.9bn to £2bn, with cybersecurity a key priority." - Sunday Times (£) 

YouGov points to a hung Parliament for the first time this year

"Labour has entered the danger zone. For the first time this year YouGov’s figures point to a hung parliament rather than an outright victory for Ed Miliband. Until now our surveys have indicated modest overall majorities when votes are translated into seats. Judged against past oppositions that have gone on to gain power, such as Labour before 1997 and the Conservatives before 2010, Labour’s performance has been below par." - Peter Kellner, Sunday Times (£) 

• Labour has a credibility problem - Andrew Rawnsley, The Observer

>Yesterday: ToryDiary - UKIP's share of the vote soared in May. The Conservatives' fell. Labour's fell more. What does that tell us?

Shock as Douglas Hurd opposes a referendum and supports Euro membership

"Lord Hurd, the former foreign secretary, has become the latest Tory grandee to warn against his party's growing Eurosceptic tendencies. In a wide-ranging interview with the Observer, the peer attacked the views of Michael Gove, a Eurosceptic cabinet minister, as "backward-looking", predicted that Britain will consider joining the euro within the decade, and said he was opposed in principle to holding a referendum on the UK's relationship with the European Union while "reluctantly" accepting it was now inevitable." - The Observer 

Unite union accused of using Militant Tendency tactics and widespread infiltration

"The allegation came amid a row over claims Unite broke party rules to try to get its nominee picked as Labour’s candidate in Falkirk, Scotland. Labour leader Ed Miliband was forced to suspend the local party last week, days after The Mail on Sunday revealed how a Labour Party inquiry upheld claims of foul play by Unite. The union was accused of recruiting ‘rent-a-mob’ supporters in Falkirk to rig the selection process." - Mail on Sunday

• Union fat cats are raking it in - Sun on Sunday Says
• Shapps: Miliband is sticking two fingers up to public opinion - Sunday Express
• Opposition splits over EU referendum - Sunday Times (£) 
• Labour plan rail renationalisation - Sunday Times (£) 

>Yesterday: ToryDiary - James Wharton's Referendum Bill puts pressure on Miliband to rise above dithering tempered by opportunism

News in brief

• Party leaders agree to block MPs' pay rise - The Observer
• DfT approved the HS2 report it is now attacking - The Observer 
• The Queen teases Cameron over stage portrayal - Mail on Sunday 
• Leveson gagged police whistleblower - Mail on Sunday
• Devon and Cornwall PCC attacked over expenses - Mail on Sunday 

> Please use the thread below to provide links to news topics likely to be of interest to ConservativeHome readers and to comment on political topics that haven't been given their own blog. Read our comments policy here.