Newslinks for Monday 8th July 2013

6.45pm WATCH: Anyone for tennis? Andy Murray drops into Downing Street

5.15pm Richard Wyn Jones on ThinkTankCentral: If our political class continues to ignore the English Question, UKIP could prosper

5pm Local Government: Labour councillors forced to be union members

4pm Andrew Bridgen MP on Comment: Could Labour shoot the Government's fox - or rather, its white elephant: HS2?

1.15pm Tim Knox of the Centre for Policy Studies on ThinkTankCentral: "The increase in capacity would also be a significant boost to economic growth in the UK which at the moment is being held back by the shortage of airport capacity in the South East (Heathrow itself is operating at 99 per cent capacity)." How to double up on Heathrow - without a penny of public money.

1pm WATCH:  Cameron on Andy Murray and a knighthood - "I can't think of anyone who deserves one more."

11.15am Local Government: Council by-election results from Thursday

11am ToryDiary: Just when Cameron thought it was safe to get back into the water...

Tory Diary: "What do they do all day?" Theresa May's struggle to make the Home Office fit for purpose

It's Unite Week on Local Government: Unite union official chosen as Labour candidate for Deptford

Columnist Jesse Norman: This extraordinary fortnight has marked a sea-change in British politics

Laura Perrins on Comment: The war against marriage is a war against social mobility and social justice

David Skelton unveils his new campaign on Majority Conservatism: Now is the time to set out how to win more support outside our south-eastern heartland

The Deep End: From one side of the world to the other, the middle class is revolting

It's Golden Monday: Murray wins...

"When Murray finally clinched the set 7-5, the Prime Minister was on his feet faster than the man behind him, Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond…On he fought, pulling back from 2-4 down to 5-4 up. Three championship points came and went. By the fourth, David Cameron had one arm clasping the other, as if checking his own blood pressure." - Daily Mail

• The politics of Murray's victory - Financial Times
• Salmond raises giant Saltire behind David Cameron's head in Royal Box on Centre Court - Daily Mail
• "An A-List roster of carpetbagging VIPs" - The Guardian
• We are the champions: Britain basks in a golden age of sport - The Independent
• Spirit of the Olympics revived - Daily Telegraph
• The economics and culture of Murray's win - Allister Heath, City A.M
• Champion almost forgets his mother - The Times (£)
• The temperature soared to 122F - Daily Mail
• Kim Sears is Queen of the Court - The Sun
• And finally...Did the magic power of seven kill off the Curse of Cameron? Murray's win came on 7/7, 77 years after Fred Perry (and he broke Djokovic's serve in seventh game of each set) - Daily Mail

...and May triumphs

"The Home Secretary, who led the efforts to deport Qatada, told BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show the Immigration Bill due later this year would include limits on appeals, as well as dealing with issues like migrant welfare rights. It could also include measures to stop people using their ECHR right to a family life to block deportation proceedings. Mrs May added that “banning orders” against extremist groups would be considered, as well as a broadcasting ban." - Daily Express

• Tories to fight next election on wholesale human rights reform, says Chris Grayling - Daily Telegraph
• Qatada applies for bail in Jordan - The Times (£)

Cameron: Our human rights laws need reform

"This man was radicalising people in our country. He was a threat to national security and he had no right to be here. We said we would get him out. And we have. We cannot have a system that takes so long to deport someone who is a threat to our country. We have a proud tradition of human rights. But years of wrangling in the name of human rights must not provide an excuse for allowing security to be compromised. I will do whatever is necessary to stop it happening again." - The Sun

• May wins plaudits - The Guardian
• Home Secretary should enjoy her good luck while it lasts - Andy Grice, The Independent
• The Home Secretary is a force to be reckoned with - Patrick O'Flynn, Daily Express

Editorials:

• Job well done, Mrs May - Daily Express
• "Abu Qatada’s scrupulously legal expulsion shows the vitality of democratic values" - Times Editorial (£)
• Well done, Mrs May ... now for the others - Daily Mail Editorial
• The best Home Secretary in years - Sun Editorial

May's EU Justice Plan. Opt out of over 130 powers. Opt back into 30 of them. And stay in the European Arrest Warrant

"Tory MPs will be pleased that Britain is exercising a one-off chance in 2014 – allowed by the EU’s Lisbon treaty – to pull out of a block of 133 EU justice measures, in the first stage of what they hope is a wider renegotiation of powers.  But they will be less pleased that the government will then immediately try to opt back in to about 30 of those measures it feels are vital to national security – including the European arrest warrant." - Financial Times

• Damian Green expected to tell chief constables to investigate amid Stephen Lawrence family smear allegations - The Guardian
• Labour to call for tougher scrutiny of intelligence and security services - The Guardian

> Today: Tory Diary - "What do they do all day?" Theresa May's struggle to make the Home Office fit for purpose

> Yesterday:

• ToryDiary: Theresa May, Strong Woman
• MPsETC: "Delighted"..."Well done, Theresa"..."Very good news"..."Now for the ECHR". Tory MPS queue to praise May over Qatada deportation
• ToryDiary: The many virtues of the Home Secretary's statement on Abu Qatada

Poll of polls: Labour's lead down

"The Independent’s weighted average of the June polls by ComRes, ICM, Ipsos MORI and YouGov confirms that Labour’s lead has narrowed after Tory attacks over the economy, welfare and Europe. Labour is on 37 per cent, the Tories 31 per cent, the UK Independence Party 13 per cent, the Liberal Democrats 11 per cent and others eight per cent. Although that would still give Labour an overall majority at a general election, many Labour MPs believe the party needs a bigger cushion." - The Independent

• One in five Tory members "seriously considering" voting UKIP - James Lansdale, BBC

Miliband thrashes around for ideas to ease Unite crisis

"Open selection primaries, direct access to trade union levy payers by the party, and caps on spending by candidates seeking Labour nominations. These are among the changes Ed Miliband is considering in an attempt to mend, rather than end, the union-party link following alleged malpractice by the Unite union. Miliband will be canvassing party opinion before a speech this week setting out how the relationship can be reformed following alleged abuse of party rules by Unite supporters in Falkirk." - The Guardian

• Union battles could send us into oblivion says Lord Reid - The Sun
• Who wants a PM who has no fight in him? - Tim Montgomerie, The Times (£)
• Falkirk has revealed the rotten state of all our political parties - John Harris, The Guardian

> Today: Local Government - Unite union official chosen as Labour candidate for Deptford

> Yesterday: Nick de Bois MP on Comment - Why shouldn't union members choose who gets their political levy?

Tyrie plans to be backed by Osborne

"The chancellor will endorse the overwhelming majority of the panel’s proposals – including introducing criminal penalties for “reckless” bankers and tighter control of pay and bonuses – in his formal response to its 571-page report. Mr Osborne will echo the view of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, chaired by Tory MP Andrew Tyrie, which said high standards in banking “should not be a substitute for global success – on the contrary, they can be a stimulus to it”." - Financial Times

• Balls vows to jail bankers - The Sun
• Labour pushes for taxpayer safety net in bank selloffs - The Guardian
• Business confidence hits 13-month high - Daily Telegraph

Gove unveils new national curriculum

"Five-year-olds will have to learn fractions in a return to rigour that will see traditional science subjects brought back into the classroom. A new national curriculum unveiled today will also see nine-year-olds having to learn the 12-times table, a tougher regime than today’s expectation that pupils aged 11 only have to know up to their ten-times table." - Daily Mail

David Gauke: The cost of a mansion tax

"A Tory minister quietly disclosed that the Treasury had been carrying out research on the mansion tax last week. The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke, said “the finest minds in the Treasury” had calculated that 55,000 homes in Britain breached the £2 million threshold. Both Labour and the Lib Dems had suggested the figure could be about 70,000. Last night, Lib Dem sources welcomed the indication that the Treasury was taking the policy seriously. However, they said it was not yet possible to come up with a reliable figure for the number of houses affected." - The Times (£)

Pickles offers vouchers for ideas that save money

"Whitehall workers will be given shopping vouchers for thinking up ‘innovative, thrifty’ ideas to cut costs. The move will be used by Eric Pickles for staff in his Department for Communities and Local Government. Mr Pickles said: ‘I want to hear from the bright sparks in the Department who, in the years of spend, spend spend, may have felt that their ideas to save, save, save fell on deaf ears." - Daily Mail

Boris: Why on earth will HS2 cost so much?

"It is obvious that both London and other cities would benefit from better and faster connections. The problem, as Peter Mandelson has indicated, is cost. This thing isn’t going to cost £42 billion, my friends. The real cost is going to be way north of that (keep going till you reach £70 billion, and then keep going). That is why the Treasury is starting to panic, and the word around the campfire is that Lord Mandelson is actually doing the bidding of some fainthearts in Whitehall who want to stop it now – not the first or second Lords of the Treasury, clearly, but the bean-counters." - Daily Telegraph

• Lidington attacks HS2 - Daily Mail
• Boris the new Disraeli? Pull the other one! - Quentin Letts, Daily Mail

MPs to lose resettlement grants

"Golden goodbyes as big as £33,000 for MPs who quit or get booted out by voters will be axed as part of the review of politicians’ pay. They also face losing their bumper final salary pensions in the shake-up to be announced on Thursday. But the changes would see them given a rise of up to £10,000 a year. So-called “resettlement grants” can be worth up to £33,000 for an MP leaving the Commons. But Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority boss Sir Ian Kennedy said the system was “a reminder of the old, cushioned world of privilege”." - The Sun

News in Brief

• Egypt clashes continue amid faltering efforts to forge new government - The Guardian
• Five dead, 40 missing at Canadian train blast site - The Independent
• The drive for Scottish independence is turning the English more Euro-sceptic - The Times (£)
• Free trade talks could boost the economy - Daily Telegraph
• Farage takes UKIP message to Belfast - Financial Times
• Man held after Archbishops witness fight at York Minster - Daily Express
• Nigella holed up after Saatchi divorce statement - The Sun
• Millions cool off in 86F heatwave - Daily Mail

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