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Newslinks for Friday 30th August 2013

5.45pm WATCH: Nadhim Zahawi says Parliament has "let down the innocent people of Syria"

2.15pm Anatole Pang on Comment: "China is very receptive to Britain – more so than we might realize. Since the conclusion of the tensions over the Hong Kong handover in 1997, Britain has had the benefit of a clean slate and no little warmth in terms of sentiment on the ground." At long last, there are signs Britain is developing a China policy

11.30am Local Government: Council by-election result from yesterday

11.15am ToryDiary: An inner Cabinet. More status for Whips. Changes in his circle - and at the Foreign Office. What the Prime Minister should do next.

9.45am MPsETC: Who's to blame? Cameron, the Whips, or both?

ToryDiary: "It took until the Falklands to shake off the affects of Suez Syndrome on Britain's political will. While the onset has taken longer, and the symptoms are more complex, Iraq Syndrome has undoubtedly set in. The new affliction is more pernicious than a simple lack of confidence - not only has it made MPs sceptical of UK military capabilities, it has shattered Parliamentary and public faith in the intelligence services." Cameron suffers the worst foreign policy defeat in modern times - here are eight observations on what it means

MPsETC: Full list of the 30 Conservative rebel MPs who sank the Government's Syria motion

ToryDiary: "How does one attain authenticity? One cannot go around saying “I am authentic”, any more than in former times one could go around saying “I am honourable” or “I am a gentleman”." How David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg could become more authentic

DaleIain Dale's Friday Diary: If I were a TB-riddled badger, I'd rather be shot in a cull

David Allen Green on Comment: The Lobbying Bill threatens new, illiberal regulation for blogs like ConservativeHome

Lord Ashcroft on Comment: We owe it to the fallen to commemorate the centenary of the First World War

Local Government: Cutting the spare room subsidy is working in Hartlepool

The Deep End: "No one doubts the fact that most of the world’s oil remains in the ground. But the question that matters is whether we can continue to extract it at a reasonable price. The true limiting factor in the most credible peak oil scenario is not so much our capacity to produce oil as our capacity to pay for it." Heresy of the week: The spectre of peak oil still looms over us

Syria
Shock defeat for the Government over Syria

"David Cameron’s authority in Parliament and on the world stage was dealt an unprecedented blow last night as he faced a breathtaking Commons defeat  over plans for missile strikes on Syria. In an extraordinary assault on the Prime Minister’s authority, 50 coalition MPs joined Labour in voting against a watered-down Government motion supporting the ‘principle’ of military action. There were shouts of ‘resign’ from the Labour benches as the result – 285 votes to 272 – was announced to a shocked House of Commons." - Daily Mail  

  • Gove rages at "disgrace" rebels - Daily Mail 
  • Ineptitude and blunders undermined Government whipping effort - The Times (£) 
  • Weapons inspectors will take weeks to report - The Times (£) 
  • US prepares to act alone - FT 
  • Memory of Iraq colours the debate - FT 
  • "Strain on the special relationship" - The Sun (£) 

Editorials: it's bad for Cameron... 

…but bad for everyone else, too 

Meanwhile, in Syria…

>Today:

>Yesterday: 

Net migration rises after five quarterly falls

Theresa May"The Government's attempt to slash net migration has suffered a serious setback today after official figures revealed the first increase in more than a year because too few people left Britain. Home Secretary Theresa May and Prime Minister David Cameron want to reduce the difference between those leaving and entering the UK from non-EU countries to less than 100,000 before 2015. But the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed a net flow of 176,000 migrants came to the UK in the year to December 2012, up from 153,000 in the year to September 2012, ending five consecutive quarters of decline." - Daily Mail 

  • Thousands flee Eurozone crisis and come to Britain - Daily Mail 
  • One Irish person emigrates every six minutes - FT 

Carney pledges to fight house price bubble

Bubble"The new Bank of England governor says he is ‘personally’ ready to head off the risks of a housing bubble caused by low interest rates and the Government’s Help to Buy scheme. In his first national newspaper interview since taking charge, Mark Carney tells the Daily Mail that he is alert to the ‘damage’ that could be caused by uncontrolled mortgage lending and surging house prices." - Daily Mail 

Firefighters vote for strike action

"Members of the FBU backed industrial action by 18,277 votes to 5,166, a majority of 78 per cent. The union said planned changes to pensions were 'unaffordable and unworkable'…Minister Brandon Lewis said: 'This Government does not believe that industrial action is necessary. The pension on offer to firefighters is one of the most generous in the public sector." - Daily Mail 

Yes to HS2
Osborne to launch HS2 fightback 

"George Osborne will lead a fightback for the case to build a high-speed rail link between London and the north by warning that abandoning the project now would leave commuters around the country suffering from intolerable overcrowding. The chancellor is expected to kick off a campaign this weekend that will see cabinet ministers rally around the scheme, known as High Speed 2." - FT 

Vince's leadership plans undermined by economic recovery

Vince"Cable’s hopes of becoming Lib Dem leader have been scuppered by the economic recovery, allies of Nick Clegg have declared. The Business Secretary has made no secret of his wish to succeed Mr Clegg, despite turning 70 in May. But he was left “humiliated” after fellow ministers backed Government spending limits at a recent Lib Dem away day, sources have told The Sun. A source close to Mr Clegg said: “The good doctor has been well and truly put back in his box.”" - The Sun (£) 

  • Britain needs a more positive Business Secretary - The Sun Says (£) 

>Today: In Iain Dale's Friday Diary - ‘Bomber’ Clegg. Has a certain ring to it, don’t you think?

Today's protesters are no match for Martin Luther King

"We are rightly suspicious about many of those who so readily resort to direct action today. There's something phoney about the new middle-class warriors with their cod philosophies and casual dismissal of democratic channels. The Occupy protesters outside St Paul's Cathedral in London named their camp "Tahrir Square" while they sat cross-legged, sang songs and consumed Marks & Spencer sandwiches, oblivious to the obscenity of a comparison with freedom fighters who risked their lives in Egypt." - Nick Herbert, The Guardian 

Developing countries' combined wealth overtakes rich nations

"The world's developing economies are now larger than those of developed countries for the first time ever, it has emerged. As poorer countries' economies continue to grow, they have between them overtaken richer economies which are held back by sluggish growth. The total size of emerging economies this year is projected to be $44.4trillion, compared to $42.8trillion for the rich world." - Daily Mail 

Inquiry into police failures over grooming gangs

Police"A series of reviews will investigate the police handling of sex-grooming crimes in a town where groups of men were left free to pimp and traffic children with virtual impunity, it was announced yesterday. Three inquiries will examine South Yorkshire Police’s management of past and current investigations into all suspected cases of child sexual exploitation." - The Times (£) 

  • Institutional failure needs individual failure first - The Times Leader (£) 

News in brief

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30 August 2013 in August 2013, August 2013 newslinks |

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