« June 2013 | Main | August 2013 »
7pm ToryDiary: Wow! Conservative support surges by seven points with ICM. The Party draws level with Labour. But is the poll a rogue?
6.30pm WATCH: A triple-bill of Conservative videos:
3pm Local Government: Labour councillor loses selection battle - despite being the only candidate
1pm ToryDiary: A hearty welcome for Renewal, the new campaign group designed to extend the Tories’ electoral appeal
11.15am ToryDiary: The benefits cap goes nationwide today – another reminder that welfare will feature heavily in 2015
Two Europe-related items lead ConservativeHome today:
Mark Field MP on Comment: Will hugging close to Coalition spending plans really help make Labour more electable?
MPsETC: Demon Eyes singe Bluebirds amidst the fires of hell
Steve O'Connell on Local Government: Don't let "affordable housing" rules stifle the new homes that London needs
The Deep End: What’s the difference between a high street banker and a back street fraudster?
Cameron has ditched his plan to arm the Syrian rebels...
"David Cameron has ditched plans to arm the Syrian rebels after being warned by military chiefs that there is little point sending weapons unless he is prepared for all-out war with the Assad regime. ... Instead, senior ministers and Whitehall officials have revealed that the Coalition is drawing up plans to help train and advise moderate elements of the opposition forces battling Bashar al-Assad’s forces." - Daily Mail
...or has he? The Times says that Samantha Cameron is pushing him to act...
"David Cameron is being pushed to do more to intervene in Syria’s civil war by his wife, Samantha, according to senior government figures. Mrs Cameron is the 'biggest explanation' for the Prime Minister’s hawkish posture on the conflict which has already cost almost 100,000 lives, a Cabinet minister said." - The Times (£)
...while Tim Montgomerie argues that Mrs Cameron is No.10's "real moderniser"
"The Downing Street operation is understandably protective of the PM's wife. Any discussion of her role and her politics is met with a closing of the drawbridge. Nonetheless, I'm told that one of her most important roles is to keep her husband grounded and in touch with what voters are thinking." - Tim Montgomerie, The Times (£)
Lynton Crosby, Tories and tobacco
"Nine Tory MPs have accepted free tickets to the opera and the Chelsea Flower Show from a giant tobacco company. ... David Cameron has been accused of dropping [plain] packaging proposals following lobbying from his Australian elections guru Lynton Crosby, whose firm works for global tobacco giant Philip Morris." - Daily Mail
"David Cameron's top political adviser will be forced to disclose the clients who use his lobbying consultancy under legislation to clean up the industry to be published tomorrow." - The Times (£)
"David Cameron came under renewed pressure to sack his party’s elections adviser Lynton Crosby on Sunday night as environmental activists expressed concern about his links to the fracking industry." - The Independent
Amid Tory anger about the European Arrest Warrant, Theresa May says 'No' to a European Police Force
"The Home Secretary said the UK will not participate in a proposal to create a prosecutor with jurisdiction to pursue cases across the European Union. ... And she said Britain would oppose any move to expand the Europol system of co-operation into a Europe-wide police force. ... Her intervention comes as ministers brace themselves for a Tory rebellion tonight over plans to keep Britain in the controversial EU arrest warrant system." - Daily Mail
> Today:
Gove changes the wording of the school admissions code; parents fear for full-time education
"Four-year-olds had been given an automatic right to a whole day of classes. ... But the Education Secretary removed a reference to providing them with 'full-time' education in last year's school admissions code. ... The U-turn will cause chaos for thousands of working parents left paying for childcare or looking for shift work if schools insist on educating their children part-time." - Daily Mail
Anna Soubry tells supermarkets to stop tempting shoppers with sweets near checkout
"Supermarkets and newsagents are to be told to abolish checkout ‘guilt lanes’ that tempt shoppers with sweets and treats. ... Public health minister Anna Soubry told the Mail cynical store layouts were creating problems for the parents of young children. ... The Department of Health is drawing up an industry code of practice on the marketing of products high in fat, sugar and salt." - Daily Mail
David Skelton's campaign group to extend Tory appeal will launch today
"Tory MPs will today launch a new drive to re-style themselves as the party of the workers, not the rich. ... The new group, called Renewal, will be led by David Skelton, a former Tory candidate for North Durham. It will be launched by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles." - The Sun
"Members of the Forty Group are frustrated by what they see as the self-indulgent behaviour of some Tory MPs representing safe seats, whom they accuse of pursuing campaigns which repel voters in the centre ground. ... The Forty Group will counterattack on Monday by publishing a moderate manifesto setting out 40 policy ideas that address a range of social and business issues, but which barely mentions the EU – a central party flashpoint." - Financial Times
And a cross-party, pro-EU group (chaired by Ken Clarke) will concede the need for reform
"The British Influence group will make the economic case for the EU, arguing that UK industry would be unable to compete in the global market place outside the EU when it launches a manifesto. ... However, the document will concede the need for major reform." - The Times (£)
> Yesterday, by Ashley Fox MEP on Comment: Where now for Britain’s relationship with Europe?
Robert Halfon leads demands for a proper probe into petrol price fixing
"MPs will today demand a major probe into claims of petrol price fixing. ... Tory Rob Halfon will present a 30,000-name petition to the Office of Fair Trading calling for a full UK inquiry into soaring road fuel costs." - The Sun
"Letting developers vandalise the countryside won't solve the housing crisis," says Nick Herbert
"The vandalism of rural Britain isn't happening with ordered precision. Each year, an area of countryside the size of Southampton is covered with concrete. But we aren't building inspiring new towns or green cities. ... No, this loss is horribly random. Dismal, identikit developments disfigure historic market towns. Precious green spaces between villages are thoughtlessly destroyed." - Nick Herbert, The Guardian
> Today, by Steve O'Connell on Local Government: Don't let "affordable housing" rules stifle the new homes that London needs
Differentiation-a-go-go: Hammond criticises Lib Dem plans for Trident
"In a strongly-worded article for the Daily Mail, Mr Hammond accuses Nick Clegg of taking a ‘reckless’ gamble with national security by pushing for the trusted Trident system to be replaced by a cut-down deterrent. ... His intervention comes as leaked documents reveal an extraordinary Lib Dem plan to halve the number of Trident submarines from four to two and send them to sea unarmed." - Daily Mail
Norman Lamb calls on Neighbourhood Watch to help "lonely and miserable" pensioners
"Norman Lamb argues that more than a million pensioners could be cared for by the anti-crime groups. ... He also described the country’s attitude to the elderly as ‘uncivilised’ and urged the public to acknowledge that pensioners living nearby need their help." - Daily Mail
> Yesterday, by Phillip Blond on Comment: Why the Government needs to let the Church of England deliver more public services
Ed Davey versus the Taxpayers' Alliance
"The Energy Secretary Ed Davey has attacked the Taxpayers’ Alliance – accusing the campaign group of making 'dodgy, back-of-fag-packet claims' about energy bills. ... The Liberal Democrat minister hit out after the low-tax pressure group published figures claiming that household energy bills could reach £2,000 per household by the end of the decade" - The Independent
> Yesterday's video to WATCH: "The vast majority of climate change scientists believe that man-made activity is causing climate change," says Davey
Labour caught up in the row over NHS standards
"In a devastating intervention, Professor Sir Brian Jarman said previous health ministers had presided over a ‘denial machine’ designed to prevent criticism of the NHS. ... A report by the NHS’s medical director, Sir Bruce Keogh, tomorrow will detail a shocking catalogue of failure at 14 hospital trusts held responsible for up to 13,000 ‘excess deaths’ since 2005." - Daily Mail
"Health chiefs will face the sack if they fail to carry out major changes after a report revealed up to 13,000 hospital patients died needlessly under their care." - The Sun
Further NHS news:
And comment:
> Yesterday on Tory Diary: The roots of the NHS scandal are in a culture that grants human life no absolute value
Will Labour enshrine a human right to claim benefits?
"Labour is drawing up plans to make claiming benefits a ‘human right’ despite fresh evidence of overwhelming public support for the Government’s welfare crackdown. ... Shadow minister Willie Bain revealed that senior members of Labour leader Ed Miliband’s team have asked him to examine the issue, despite fears it would be dubbed a ‘scroungers’ charter’." - Daily Mail
The benefits cap is being rolled out across the country today - The Sun
David Miliband warns against Labour complacency
"David Miliband took a parting shot at his brother yesterday, warning that Labour complacency risks allowing the Tories to win an outright majority at the next election. ... The former Foreign Secretary said senior Labour figures were ‘wrong’ to assume the next election would result in a hung Parliament which would allow Ed Miliband to become Prime Minister in a Lib/Lab coalition." - Daily Mail
> Yesterday's video to WATCH: David Miliband on his future - "If you over-calculate, you miscalculate"
News in brief
And finally... Brown on stage at the Labour conference (but not like that)
"...the low-profile Brown is set for a starring role during the Labour Party conference in Brighton, despite the best efforts of the Labour leadership not to let anyone know. A new play — The Confessions Of Gordon Brown — is being staged outside the conference zone at The Old Courtroom. ... It is a hilarious expose of the betrayals and backstabbing that propelled Brown to No 10, and the subsequent collapse of his premiership." - Andrew Pierce, Daily Mail
> 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.
4.30pm WATCH:
1.30pm Ashley Fox MEP on Comment: Where now for Britain’s relationship with Europe?
Tory Diary: The roots of the NHS scandal are in a culture that grants human life no absolute value
Phillip Blond on Comment: Why the Government needs to let the Church of England deliver more public services
May picks row with EU over public prosecutor as vote on European Arrest Warrant looms
"Her
comments, likely to trigger a fresh row between Britain and Brussels,
come ahead of a Commons debate on Monday in which MPs will vote on
coalition plans to scrap 98 EU laws relating to criminal justice and
home affairs by next spring. The government will exercise a mass “opt
out” of 133 measures but will then seek to opt back in 35 moves which
are seen to be in the national interest. Among the 35 are the
controversial European Arrest Warrant, although ministers are pushing
for it to be reformed. Some Tory Eurosceptics will vote against Mrs
May’s strategy - but MPs were not predicting a mass backbench rebellion
this weekend." - Sunday Telegraph
Hunt: Up to 3,400 patients died needlessly last year at the 21 major hospitals run by the 14 NHS trusts
"A major review of patient safety will find that as many as 21 hospitals are still failing the most critically ill people – especially the elderly and emergency cases – four years after the Mid Staffs scandal claimed hundreds of lives. On Tuesday Mr Hunt will tell Parliament that up to ten of 14 hospital trusts investigated over high death rates require urgent action." - Mail on Sunday
Camilla Cavendish: What the NHS needs is a dose of kindness
"It has saddened me that in the past four months I have heard almost no one use the word “kindness”. Only two people who were not patients used this word. One was the chief nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, who has done more than almost anyone to make her healthcare assistants a respected part of the clinical team and says bluntly that her staff need to be “kind and competent”." - Sunday Times (£)
Promotion speculation and leadership hysteria over Liz Truss...
"Senior sources predict Liz Truss will be given a job ‘just outside the Cabinet’ as a staging post on her path to the top. Bookmakers have slashed the odds on her joining the Cabinet within the next 12 months from 4/1 to 2/1 – and even quote her at 50/1 to become the next Tory leader. It is a remarkably rapid rise for the 37-year-old Childcare Minister, who has impressed David Cameron since joining Michael Gove’s team last September." - Mail on Sunday
…As Matthew D'Ancona says: Don't sack Willetts...
"Of all the rumours swirling round Westminster about the forthcoming mini-reshuffle, the most disquieting concerns the possible pensioning off to the backbenches of David Willetts. For the sake of the Government, I hope this gossip is unfounded. If it has a basis in fact, I urge the Prime Minister, George Osborne and Ed Llewellyn – Cameron’s chief of staff and the man with the Post-it notes in any reshuffle – to think again." - Sunday Telegraph
...It's claimed that Davey got Hayes sacked...
"Climate change sceptic Mr Hayes had
asked the head of power giants E.on to warn of blackouts unless the
Coalition watered down its green crusade and made a U-turn on the
closure of coal-fired generators. But Mr Hayes’s boss, Energy Secretary
Ed Davey, hit the roof when he found out about the ‘treachery’ – and
demanded he was sacked. Two weeks later, Mr Hayes was dismissed and
given a minor backroom role in No 10, advising David Cameron on links
with Tory MPs." - Mail on Sunday
...And a former LibDem Minister says: Sack Crosby...
"As the latest row over the role of big money in politics hit Downing Street, Paul Burstow, who was a health minister until September last year, said Crosby should either quit or be sacked by Cameron after it emerged that his lobbying firm works for global tobacco giant Philip Morris. Other Liberal Democrats also made clear they were furious and would fight to ensure Crosby was removed from any role in which he could influence health or any other coalition policy." - Observer
…Who, earlier this week, told leading Tories how to nail Miliband
"Crosby emphasised that there were to be two attacks on Labour: that the leader is weak and that it is still the same old Labour party with all its flaws. He drove home to the room that it is not enough to just say Miliband is weak, you have to show that ‘his weaknesses have consequences’. Crosby ran through a series of potential hits on Miliband. In a sign of how hard the Tories will go, one of them was that Miliband is too weak to ‘look after our interests abroad’." - Mail on Sunday
Gove blocks flagship Islamic free school following links to extremism
"The Education Secretary pulled the plug on the Muslim-inspired Northern Lights primary school in Halifax, Yorkshire, following a three-month investigation. Ministers ordered the inquiry after complaints that a local Islamic centre had circulated a leaflet suggesting that Muslim parents who failed to support the free school would be condemned." - Mail on Sunday
Grayling summit over compensation calls and texts
"British Bankers’ Association (BBA) chief executive Anthony Browne is to meet with Justice Secretary Chris Grayling and MOJ officials over the conduct of the “aggressive” firms amid fears they prey on the less welloff and that their fees are opaque. It says that there needs to be a clampdown on firms that constantly bombard people with text messages and phone calls that promise to get them compensation." - Sunday Express
From Boris Island to the Isle of Grain
"The new transport hub was going to be built in the Thames estuary on an artificial island. Now Mr Johnson is more strongly backing a giant airport on the Isle of Grain in Kent, partly built on reclaimed land. However, Mr Johnson now says that the Isle of Grain plan has the 'greatest single potential for regeneration'. The blueprint involves an opening scheduled for 2029, requiring infrastructure improvements such as extending Crossrail and widening the M25 an extra lane in each direction for 36 miles." - Mail on Sunday
Will Douglas Hogg win hereditary peers by-election?
"Insiders suggest a two-horse race is taking place between Hogg, also known as Viscount Hailsham, and Lord Borwick, a businessman, for Tuesday's byelection to fill one of the few places reserved for hereditary peers in the upper house. The position becomes vacant only after the death of an incumbent, in this case that of Lord Reay, a Conservative, in May. The position is normally filled by a hereditary peer from the same party as that of the deceased, a process known as the Carter convention. However, this is not always obeyed." - Observer
Liberal Democrat MP Greg Mulholland: I support an In-Out referendum by 2017
"I agree with Nick when he says it is not a case of if, but when, we have a referendum; but that means that the Liberal Democrats need to be seen to be committed to that ‘when’; and it must be in the next four years – by 2017 – to have any credibility. My own view is that we are better off in the European Union, but that it needs reform and so we should seek to influence things from within." - Mail on Sunday
Unions 1) Shapps mulls Halfon plan to recruit millions of union members
"Tory chairman Grant Shapps is considering proposals drawn up by campaigning backbench MP Robert Halfon to help promote the Tories as the “true workers’ party”. It comes ahead of the launch of a new Tory campaign group tomorrow designed to broaden the party’s appeal to all sections of society. It wants the Conservatives to campaign for hard-working low and middle income workers, particularly in northern towns and cities, by championing improved wages and cutting the cost of living." - Sunday Express
Unions 2) Unite plots more control over Labour
"[The document] reveals how Unite is to spend £10,000 on up to 100 Labour target seats, focusing on union- backed candidates – with the campaigns run by Unite ‘constituency captains’ – to try to gain more influence over Labour policies after the next Election. The document, seen by The Mail on Sunday, was written by Steve Hart, who has close links with the Labour leadership and was Unite’s political director until he left last month after a power struggle." - Mail on Sunday
Miliband: I’ll take the gamble to give politics back to people with my funding reforms to Labour
"I’ve said members of trades unions should now make a more active choice if they want to be linked as individuals to our party. And when they do so, they should be given a real say in how we make change happen in communities and across the country. But the change we need in our politics doesn’t end there. You don’t get invited round for cosy “kitchen suppers” to discuss policy changes with David Cameron in Downing Street. But wealthy donors paying hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Tories do — and this Government is making decisions in their interests." - Sun on Sunday
News in Brief
> 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.
7pm WATCH: Bob Crow calls for a new left-wing alternative to the Labour Party
4pm Daniel Hamilton on Comment: Cameron’s referendum pledge has already strengthened the Conservatives’ hand in Europe
1pm Benedict Rogers on Comment: What Cameron and Hague should tell Burma's President tomorrow
10.30am MPsETC Ultimate political grudge match today: Bluebirds v Demon Eyes
ToryDiary: Osborne has set off another round of differentiation – who will gain from it?
Kwasi Kwarteng MP on Comment: Democracy lacks roots in Egypt – and it's time we got real about it
Lyton Crosby caught up in the row over cigarette packaging
"Ministers effectively abandoned yesterday efforts to introduce plain packaging for tobacco products. But hours later it emerged that Lynton Crosby’s company, CTF, had been advising Philip Morris Ltd in Britain since November. ... A Tory MP drew attention to the perceived influence of Mr Crosby because of his previous links to lobbying by tobacco businesses in Australia." - The Times (£)
May tries to stem backbench disgruntlement over EU arrest warrants
"The Home Secretary infuriated Eurosceptic MPs this week by giving them less than a week to digest her proposals before voting on Monday. ... She wants to opt out of 130 EU measures on justice and home affairs and retain 35, including the arrest warrants. ... But in a major shift yesterday Mrs May said MPs would now be given until October to examine the plans. ... Tory Eurosceptic Peter Bone, welcomed the climbdown but said it did not go far enough." - Daily Mail
Her decision to scrap the UK Border Agency is further vindicated
"It will take 37 years to clear a new backlog of half a million immigration cases, MPs reveal today. ... The Home Affairs Select Committee said it is “staggering” that 502,462 applications are still outstanding. ... The devastating verdict comes in an inquiry into the failed UK Border Agency, which has now been scrapped and broken up." - The Sun
As Quentin Letts wonders, could the Home Secretary become Tory leader?
"Mrs May has let it be known she is not hoping to oust Mr Cameron: she is simply determined that Boris Johnson should not stroll into high office. ... I am told she finds his shallowness childish and his repeated adultery deplorable. It affronts her both as a child of the vicarage and as a woman. She has no time for Boris’s fnarr-fnarr celebrity politics." - Quentin Letts, Daily Mail
Gove wants to extend Free School Meals to more pupils, but is wary of the cost
"The education secretary, Michael Gove, supports extending free school lunches to the 3 million primary school pupils in England who currently do not receive them. But the price tag of £900m a year puts the policy out of reach until 2016 at the very earliest, Department for Education (DfE) sources suggested." - The Guardian
G4S does battle with Grayling
"Security firm G4S has hit back at allegations of contract overcharging, accusing court and prison services of failing to pass on vital information to prevent bills on electronic tagging contracts stacking up. ... Pointing the finger back at justice secretary Chris Grayling, who has called on the Serious Fraud Office to launch a criminal investigation, G4S told the Guardian: 'We have not overcharged the Ministry of Justice, but have always billed in line with the contract.'" - The Guardian
Liverpool Care Pathway to be scrapped
"The controversial Liverpool Care Pathway used to 'manage' the death of terminally ill NHS patients is to be scrapped following an official review, ministers will announce next week. ... Doctors are expected to be told that, rather than an inflexible national system, each patient in the final days or weeks of their lives should have a personalised treatment plan agreed with their families." - Daily Telegraph
Ministers accused over the deaths of people with learning disabilities
"Ministers have been accused of not caring about the deaths of people with learning disabilities in their response to a report finding widespread discrimination in the NHS. ... In a formal response yesterday the Department of Health admitted “unacceptable inequalities” and said that it would look at making a series of improvements around co-ordination, record-keeping and best practice." - The Times (£)
Maria Miller to boycott golf's Open Championship
"The Culture, Media and Sport Secretary will boycott the Open Championship in Muirfield next week because it is taking place at a male-only members' club. ... Maria Miller, who is also the Minister for Women and Equalities, accused the R&A, golf's governing body, of 'turning a blind eye to sexism.'" - The Times (£)
The Times and Daily Mail respond to Osborne's no-tax-rises pledge
> Today on ToryDiary: Osborne has set off another round of differentiation – who will gain from it?
> Yesterday on ToryDiary: Osborne's tax pledge heralds a class war, 2015 General Election
Could parliamentary delays derail HS2?
"Parliament may defer legislation giving the go-ahead to the new railway between London and Birmingham until after the general election, said Alison Munro of HS2 Ltd. It is an admission that critics view as another nail in the coffin of the beleaguered project." - The Times (£)
White Van voters will decide the next PM, says Robert Halfon
"My campaign for White Van Britain started when I fought to stop the relentless increase in fuel duty ... Now it's time for a wider movement to build 'White Van Conservatism' – a conservatism that reaches out to those who work hard, save hard, and hold high hopes for themselves and their children." - Robert Halfon, The Times (£)
> Yesterday:
Boris: voters aren't bothered about my love life
"BoJo was surprised when he was challenged in a Radio 3 interview about at least two flings as well as fathering a love child. ... Boris, 49, said: 'My genuine experience is that it doesn’t really make any difference to what the public think you are doing.'" - The Sun
Cable goes on the attack, accuses Tories of relishing the prospect of more cuts
"Vince Cable will today accuse George Osborne of enjoying the prospect of even more spending cuts. ... In a clear attack on the Chancellor, the Liberal Democrat Business Secretary will warn that ‘Tory dogma’ is holding back Britain’s recovery. ... Mr Cable will also call for local authorities to be allowed to borrow £2.8billion more to build up to 25,000 new council houses." - Daily Mail
And Teather goes on the attack, too, over immigration reform
"A former coalition minister has launched a wide-ranging attack on the government's proposals to reform immigrants' access to housing, healthcare and other essential services, condemning the plans as 'unworkable, unjust, and nakedly political'." - Guardian
Labour's union scandal is far more extensive than Miliband has admitted, writes Andrew Pierce
"Ms Webb’s concerns are echoed by John Knowles, a Peterborough councillor who joined Labour in 1967. He says at least two defeated candidates were bullied. ... Even more worrying, he claims some party members were told that if they withdrew complaints about bullying they would be given financial support by the union to help them run for public office." - Andrew Pierce, Daily Mail
> Yesterday:
Other writers consider Ed Miliband's speech on the unions, and what it means for party funding
Bob Crow wants a new "working class party" to replace Labour
"Bob Crow, the RMT general secretary, will seek to exploit Labour’s wranglings with trade unions by urging the movement to break ties with Ed Miliband and create a party' to take on the 'anti-worker' agenda of the three main Westminster political parties at the Durham Miners’ Gala." - The Independent
Yep, there's going to be another round of strikes affecting schools
"Thousands of schools will close for a day after unions confirmed plans for a national strike next term. ... The National Union of Teachers and NASUWT are staging the walkout in protest at Michael Gove’s planned reforms which they describe as a ‘relentless attack’ on the profession." - Daily Mail
"A Labour MP splashed out £1,000 of taxpayers’ cash hiring a flunky to fill out expenses claims — because he cannot use a computer" - The Sun
Riots break out in Belfast, leaving an MP injured
"A Belfast MP has been hit in the head with a brick at a Unionist march in the city after celebrations to mark the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne turned violent. ... Democratic Unionist Party MP Nigel Dodds was believed to be knocked unconscious and was hospitalised after trouble broke out in the north of the city." - Daily Mail
Charles Moore interviews the Archbishop of Canterbury
"I am amazed. I first saw this man 40 years ago, when we were both pupils at Eton. Later, I was with him at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was the shyest, most unhappy-looking boy you could imagine. Now he is 105th in the line that began with St Augustine. He seems to be loving it. I remark on the change, and he agrees. 'That’s something to do with the Christian faith,' he says." - Charles Moore, Daily Telegraph
"The Office for National Statistics predicts that most children in 2016 will be born out of wedlock - but that doesn't mean they will be raised in single parent households" - Graeme Archer, Daily Telegraph
News in brief
And finally... Ed Miliband, ladies' man
"As for Ed Miliband, whose romance with Ms Flanders was much shorter than her affair with Balls, ‘he was a bit of a ladies’ man’. ... ‘He had a nice line in looking as though he needed comforting from girls, and had considerable success with quite a lot of them.’" - Daily Mail
> 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.
5.30pm Ali Renison on Comment: To win in the north, the Conservatives must deploy their northern MPs
5pm Local Government: Council by-election results from yesterday
4.45pm MPsETC: "Lord Ampthill has issued a candidate's statement saying his "likes" include , understatement, rain, Hornblower, the law, Georgette Heyer, tax incentives, and oak furniture." Hereditary peers' byelection
3.30pm ToryDiary: "The Prime Minister has an aspiration of making a third of Tory Ministers women. There are 48 Conservative women MPs out of 304 Conservative MPs in total. Cameron's aspiration therefore raises that hoary old debate about promotion on merit." The reshuffle: A little local difficulty with male Conservative MPs
3.15pm LeftWatch: Why should Labour oppose a private school joining the state system?
2pm Justin Tomlinson MP and Robin Walker MP on Comment: How to protect vulnerable people who turn to payday lenders
Noon: Lord Lexden on Comment reviews Douglas Hurd and Edward Young's new biography of Disraeli. "Though unfounded in fact, what has
come to be believed about Disraeli over 130 years constitutes a story of its
own, one of the two lives which form the subtitle of this book. The other life,
as extraordinary in its way as the tenacious collection of myths that surround
it, is the one that he actually led." Disraeli. No, not a "One Nation Tory". But a tenacious believer in imagination and courage.
10.15am ToryDiary: Osborne's tax pledge heralds a class war, 2015 General Election
On ToryDiary, Peter Hoskin reports an impression that emerged from yesterday's Lord Ashcroft Polls event: People don’t believe politicians when it comes to immigration
Iain Dale's Friday Diary: It's time to let Gavin Barwell take charge of Conservative revival
MajorityConservatism: In the final piece in our series on broadening the appeal of the Party, Stephen Crabb MP explains Why it is making progress in Wales
Alex Morton on Comment: Striking the right balance in the social housing sector
Local Government ends its Unite Week: Save Ed - scrap Unite's taxpayer funding for union official
The Deep End: Heresy of the week - Education reform should be about new teaching methods not traditional ones
No more tax rises promises Osborne...
"George Osborne fired the first salvo in one of the next election’s key battles yesterday by vowing to avoid further tax rises to plug the deficit. In a move designed to steal a march on both the Liberal Democrats and Labour, the Chancellor said that he would eliminate the £23 billion hole in the public finances after the election by cutting spending. “I’m clear that tax increases are not required to achieve this,” he told the Treasury Select Committee. “This can be achieved through spending reductions. I don’t think we have reached the end-point in reforming welfare.” - The Times (£)
...while Married Couples tax break to be announced in the Autumn Statement
"The Chancellor said he was “absolutely committed” to the measure, worth up to £150 for every couple.In a move that is likely to please many backbench Tory MPs, Mr Osborne said yesterday that he will announce the plans in his Autumn Statement....Yesterday Mr Osborne said: “I’ve always committed to introducing a married couples tax break. David Cameron campaigned to be the leader of the party on that promise. I was his campaign manager." - Daily Express
Cameron "trying to oust" head of civil service
"David Cameron is trying to force the head of Britain’s civil service out of his job because of his frustration at the slow pace of Whitehall reform, The Independent has learnt. Sir Bob Kerslake is understood to have been told that the Prime Minister would like to replace him in the role he has held for less than two years, after failing to successfully implement the Government’s civil service reforms...It is believed that the Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood has been asked by Mr Cameron to draw up a shortlist of possible successors. In a significant break with tradition, the successful candidate could come from outside the civil service." - The Independent
MPs pay rise? IPSA can stick it says Gove...
"Education Secretary Michael Gove has told Parliament's spending watchdog to "stick" a planned £6,000 MPs' pay rise. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) says salaries should increase to £74,000 by 2015, but that perks should be cut and pensions made less generous. Party leaders have criticised the rise but Ipsa's boss argues it will bring MPs into line with other professionals. Mr Gove called Ipsa "silly" and said parliamentarians were 'well paid'." - BBC
..but will Cameron take the money?...
"The Prime Minister has refused to rule out personally accepting a rise while the rest of the country struggles to cope with rising living costs and Government cuts. Both Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister and Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, have said they would not accept a pay hike which would see their salaries rise to £74,000." - Daily Telegraph
.....while IPSA's boss defends the plans
"We are recommending a package of reforms. Getting rid of the “golden parachutes”, bringing pensions into line with the rest of the public sector, further tightening of the expenses regime and, yes, a pay rise of about £6,300. Not now, I hear you say. But the time is never good to tackle this question. Look at the experience of the last 30 years, which teaches us that this issue will never be politically convenient – or popular. And so we are addressing the question now, but doing so in a way which is mindful of the economic context and mindful of the pressures on taxpayers. Taken together, the changes we’ve introduced to MPs’ costs and expenses and to their pay and pensions will save the taxpayer some £7m a year." - Andrew Macdonald The Independent
Hunt drops plans for plain packaging of cigarettes
"A proposed law to force firms to sell cigarettes in plain packets will be scrapped today. Ministers have spent over a year considering the idea, which campaigners say is backed by a majority of MPs and the public. But Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt will tell Parliament there is not enough evidence it would have a significant impact." - Daily Mail
Tories try to shed "party of the rich" image
"A drive to shed the Conservatives’ image as the “party of the rich” will be launched by Tory MPs next week as they try to reposition the party as a champion of the low paid. The campaign will target working class and ethnic minority voters outside the Tories’ South East heartlands as part of the party’s effort to win crucial marginal seats in the North and Midlands. It will need to do so to win an overall majority at the 2015 election." - The Independent
> Today:
Civil servants £1 billion credit bill
"Civil servants put £1.1billion on taxpayer-funded credit cards last year despite David Cameron’s pledge to curb their use. More than 137,000 Whitehall officials, quangocrats and town hall chiefs used the cards to splash out on plush hotels, gourmet meals and fine wines. The bill for 2012-2013 was four times that of 2002. It was also no lower than in Labour’s last year in power – even though the number of civil servants has fallen." - Daily Mail
BBC chiefs "misled MPs" over pay off
"The BBC’s former director general Mark Thompson yesterday accused its governing body of misleading MPs over a £949,000 severance payoff to one of its top executives. A war of words – described by MPs as a ‘soap opera’ – exploded between Mr Thompson and the BBC Trust as emails emerged that cast doubt on the evidence given by its chairman Chris Patten to a Commons inquiry." - Daily Mail
Andrea Leadsom says it must be made easier to switch bank
"This week saw the biggest step forward yet in the campaign to allow bank customers to move current accounts as easily as they switch mobile phone providers. Under account number portability (ANP), customers could keep their account number and sort code when switching, and standing orders or direct debits would not need to be moved. Switching would be hassle-free and almost instantaneous. There is already a plan to introduce seven day account switching this September. This is positive, but it won’t deal with the administrative burden of moving accounts, remove barriers to entry, or tackle the oligopoly of the big banks and their crumbling legacy systems. Only ANP will be a game-changer for standards of customer service." Andrea Leadsom MP City AM
Clegg "open to deal with Miliband"
"After a poisonous start, the Miliband relationship has improved. It is unlikely ever to be warm. Mr Clegg struggles to contain his annoyance at Labour’s ganging up with the Tories to scupper electoral reform and
elections to the Lords. Matters improved marginally thanks to the illiberal, and hopefully now dormant, plans to impose statutory oversight on the press — an irony that Mr Clegg choses not to dwell on." - John Kampfner The Times (£)
> Yesterday: Profile: Danny Alexander, by Andrew Gimson: The Coalition pillar who might yet succeed Nick Clegg
MacShane charged over expenses fraud
"Former MP Denis MacShane is to be charged with false accounting over parliamentary expenses claims, the Crown Prosecution Service has said. Malcolm McHaffie, deputy head of the CPS special crime division said: "Having thoroughly reviewed the evidence gathered by the police, I have decided there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to bring a criminal charge. This charge relates to fraudulent claims with a total value of £12,900." - BBC
Don't nationalise politics says Allister Heath...
"State financing would nationalise politics, guaranteeing income sources based on past election results, reinforce the existing cartel in Westminster, reduce competition for voters and make it almost impossible for new parties – such as the SNP, Ukip or the Greens – from ever breaking through. State support will come with strings attached. Parties will become even more consensual and less appealing to an alienated electorate. MPs increasingly belong to a new class whose views are distinct from that of large swathes of the public; this worrying trend will intensify." - Allister Heath City AM
> Yesterday:ToryDiary: We, the voters, have chosen taxpayer-subsidised parties and politicians. So we must make the most of it
...Frederick Forsyth agrees
"There are only three choices: the taxpayer, private individuals from personal cash, or corporate/syndicalist institutions. Both the second and third have been widely criticised but actually the first, the taxpayer, is the worst option. There is no great danger in the latter two, provided no party becomes excessively dependent on one source, for he who pays the piper still definitely calls the tune. But Labour is now 90 per cent financially dependent on the unions. So who is the master, who the servant?" Frederick Forsyth Daily Express
Men need to achieve equality says Fraser Nelson
"Among poor families, boys are falling further and further behind – and are 30 per cent less likely to apply for university than girls. The Labour MP Frank Field has long pointed out how deindustrialisation (which happened even faster under Blair than under Thatcher) has robbed these young men of life options. Yes, office jobs may replace factory jobs, so the economy ticks over. But what about teenagers not cut out for university, who used to go straight into a trade? They struggle to find a role in society." - Fraser Nelson Daily Telegraph
Welby must back real social justice not welfare dependency
"Archbishop Welby’s comments this week about quantitative easing show he has a much better understanding of the effects of government on the poor than some of his colleagues’ benefits’ll-fix-it attitude. Perhaps this polite political operator can wean his Church off its addiction to the state and into a maturity where it campaigns for real social justice, not just benefit payments that cover lazy politicians’ backs." - Isabel Hardman Daily Telegraph
News in Brief
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