Newslinks for Monday 29th July 2013

5.15pm WATCH: Daniel Hannan MEP - ‪How the EU pays to keep Africa in poverty‬

1.30pm Sir Andrew Green on Comment: "This is the first government in many decades to take a serious approach to controlling immigration and certainly the first to make any significant impact on it. It is unfortunate that the waters should have been mudded in this way." Immigration and control. The Public Administration Committee criticism of the Government is unfair.

12.30pm Local Government: Tory councillors attack ad van message for illegal immigrants

10.30am ToryDiary: "May was projecting the message that having Type 1 diabetes doesn't necessarily stop one from reaching the top - in sport or in politics.  One can have it, and still be an effective Home Secretary...or even Prime Minister." Bad news but tabloid praise for Thesea May. The lady in the leopard print heels is now a Big Beast

On ToryDiary, we report that Almost two-thirds of Tory members now believe Cameron will be Prime Minister after 2015 - up from about half...

...And on LeftWatch, we open a weekly series asking what Labour must now do to revive. Christian Guy says that The Right represents change. The Left, the status quo. Miliband must turn this round if he's to win

Columnist Priti Patel: "In the build up to the next general election and the formation of our manifesto, as a Party we should not be afraid to continue to debate Europe." The Conservative Party needs to go much, much further than the EU Balance of Competences review

Lord Flight on Comment: Why help to buy will end in tears

Patryk Malinski on Local Government: How can Conservatives reach out to those in the £15,000-£40,000 income bracket? Cut their Council Tax

The Deep End: The twisted roots of ‘care in the community’

Cable denounces the Tories for “obsessing” about immigration

“Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, described a government campaign telling illegal immigrants to ‘go home or face arrest’ as ‘stupid and offensive’. He spoke out about his wider concerns over Conservative immigration policy ahead of the launch of his new initiative to attract tens of thousands more foreign students to this country…He claimed that the Conservatives were ‘obsessing’ about the total level of immigration, which was leading them to make poor policy decisions” – Daily Telegraph

• Home Office plans to clamp down on private investigators who hack - The Independent

Immigration comment 1) Unplug Cable

“Vince Cable does a fantastic job – at proving how out of touch he is with voters. Opinion polls show immigration is second only to the economy among issues the public rates as important. Yet the Lib Dem Cabinet Minister mocks his Tory Coalition partners for being ‘obsessed’ with the subject. What arrogant nonsense. This Government’s problem is it took far too long to wake up and start addressing people’s concerns on immigration — for fear of upsetting the touchy-feely Lib Dems” – The Sun Says

Immigration comment 2) The Government must try to enforce the law

“One way or another illegals need to regularise their position, and preferably to pay taxes like everyone else. This poster campaign is unlikely, in itself, to solve the problem that expanded so massively under the last Labour government. But you surely can’t blame the Coalition for trying to enforce the law” – Boris Johnson, Daily Telegraph

Immigration comment 3) Tories as desperate as Labour to hide the real truth about numbers

“Fear of being labelled ‘racist’ has paralysed the entire political class — leaving the way clear for Labour ideologues to use mass immigration to remake British identity, all but collapsing public services under the weight of numbers and driving down wages to undercut British workers…whereas Labour concealed what it was doing to dupe its core vote, the Tories have concealed what they are not doing in order to dupe their core vote” – Melanie Phillips, Daily Mail

Immigration comment 4) Mass influx is plunging our nation into crisis

“The remorseless influx of foreigners, officially running at more than 500,000 new arrivals every year, is weakening our economy, wrecking our social cohesion and obliterating our national identity.
Yet the architects of this revolution still refuse to recognise the scale of the damage they have inflicted on Britain. Fixated by the fashionable ideology of multi-cultural diversity, they try to bully and brainwash the public into accepting their suicidal policy” – Leo McKinstry, Daily Express

Immigration comment 5) Boris treads a fine line between loyalty and independence

"For most hard-working and otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants there is virtually no chance that they will be deported — and yet they cannot pay tax, cannot take part in the legal economy, and certainly cannot run for their country...This poster campaign is unlikely, in itself, to solve the problem that expanded so massively under the last Labour government. But you surely can’t blame the Coalition for trying to enforce the law." - Daily Telegraph

Help to Buy risks new house price “bubble”, warns Cable

“Vince Cable said that the help-to-buy scheme unveiled in the Budget earlier this year could simply ‘inflate’ the housing market as occurred in the last decade…The £130 billion scheme has been heralded as a flagship measure…However, some economists and business leaders have voiced warnings about the scheme and Mr Cable – who previously warned about the dangerous levels of debt before the financial crisis - has now indicated he shares their concerns. ‘I am worried about the dangers of getting into another house price bubble,’ the senior Liberal Democrat said” – Daily Telegraph

Iain Duncan-Smith: I’m proud of our welfare reforms

“Our reforms will put an end to people being left on sickness benefits year after year; they will eradicate the trap that has left so many better off on benefits than in work; and they will ensure the benefits bill is sustainable over the longer term…I am proud of this record. But my main concern about the delivery of our reforms is that we bring them in safely” - Guardian

Tories rally round Theresa May after she reveals diabetes

“Senior Tories rallied round Theresa May last night after she revealed she has been diagnosed with a form of diabetes that will require daily injections for the rest of her life...Tory colleagues praised her courage for speaking out on the issue, and said it would make no difference to her work – or her rumoured ambition to stand for the Tory leadership one day. Former Tory treasurer Lord Ashcroft said the illness ‘will not hold her back’ and revealed that he is also a sufferer” – Daily Mail

• My son’s ordeal reveals the battle May faces – Daily Mail
• Theresa May is an inspiration – Daily Express Comment

Hague turns up heat on Spain over Gibraltar border jams

"The foreign secretary telephoned his Spanish counterpart, José García-Margallo, to raise "serious concerns" after a weekend of heightened tensions when officials carried out intensive vehicle searches in searing heat causing long hold-ups. Thousands of cars leaving the British territory were stopped for checks causing six-hour traffic jams." - The Guardian

Grayling's "clampdown on right to oppose new legislation"

“Ministers are planning a new assault on what they condemn as the ‘growth industry’ of time-wasting judicial reviews in the courts. They say that pressure groups, campaigners and lobbyists are abusing the procedure for public relations purposes, clogging up the courts and delaying the implementation of policy. The Ministry of Justice plans to tighten the test that needs to be passed before a judicial review can be brought to challenge decisions by the Government and public bodies” – The Times (£)

Run the NHS like PC World, says top doctor

“The NHS must adopt the ‘more-for-less’ mentality of businesses such as PC World or Dixons if it is to survive in its current form, Britain’s top doctor has warned. Speaking to The Independent, Sir Bruce Keogh said that the ‘inbuilt mindset that better quality costs more’ had to change as the health service enters a new era of austerity. The Medical Director of the NHS said hospital bosses must learn from retailers that manage to drive prices down while offering ever-more sophisticated products” - Independent

• NHS 111 helpline is unsafe, say managers – Daily Mail
• Stafford's A&E set for closure as anger grows at 'crucifixion of a good hospital' - The Guardian
• Almost everyone who gets testicular cancer now survives – Daily Mail

Tim Montgomerie proposes five ways to widen the Tory appeal and win

“This pledge list communicates a Toryism that’s different from the right-wing narrowness of, say, the 2001 and 2005 campaigns but is also much earthier than the campaign of 2010. It communicates some key Tory messages on tax, consumer bills, pensions, welfare, home ownership, earnings, and trusting people. Most importantly — in an age when voters worry about the believability of politicians’ promises — it’s deliverable” – The Times (£)

Farage: UKIP will follow in LibDems local footsteps

"In a Guardian interview, the Ukip leader said people would vote for the "real thing" on Europe and immigration rather than support David Cameron who is occupying "our turf" under the influence of the Tory strategist Lynton Crosby...But the Ukip leader has ambitions that go way beyond England's town halls as he said he hopes to follow in the footsteps of Ashdown, who steadily built up the Lib Dem parliamentary presence after grassroots success in local elections." - The Guardian

Take winter fuel payment from rich and give to poor, MPs say

“Winter fuel payments should be taken from rich pensioners and the cash used to tackle fuel poverty, MPs say. A report by the Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee criticises ministers for failing to do enough to help millions struggling with soaring energy bills and reopens the debate on benefits for wealthy older people. Members call on the Government to explore the possibility of means-testing pensioners and to reinvest any savings into insulation and other measures to help the poor to bring down the cost of heating their homes” – The Times (£)

Left shamed by Lady Thatcher’s one million pound funeral bill

“Lady Thatcher’s funeral cost just £1,205,809 – a tenth of the amount claimed by Lefties. It works out at 1.9p per person when divided by the UK’s total population of 62 million. Critics of our first female PM — including Labour MPs — insisted it would cost around £10million. One of the former Tory leader’s close friends, MP Conor Burns, said: ‘Lady T would have been delighted that, even in death, she has proved the Left wrong’” - Sun

Minister condemns pressure on Duchess of Cambridge to lose weight

“Jo Swinson, minister for women and equalities, said yesterday that observers were expecting Kate to meet ‘impossible standards’ to reduce her weight…The Liberal Democrat minister said it was wrong to believe that Kate and other women who have just given birth were ‘failing’ if they did not work instantly to regain their pre-pregnancy figure. ‘Publications like OK! Magazine need to get some perspective,’ she said. ‘Fitting back into pre-pregnancy jeans is not the priority after childbirth’” – Daily Mail

News in brief

• Three million celebrate Pope’s farewell mass on Copacabana beach – The Times (£)
• Middle East peace talks resume in Washington – Financial Times
• At least 37 dead in Italian coach crash – Daily Mail
• Spanish train driver charged with negligent homicide – Daily Mail
• Lib Dem donor denied peerage after care home neglect claims – Daily Telegraph
• Twitter rape threat deluge leads to arrest – The Times (£)
• World’s first stem-cell burger will be eaten in London – Daily Telegraph

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