ToryDiary: A thumbs-up from the Telegraph, but the Mail is scathing: a mixed response from Fleet Street to the new Tory European policy
Roger Helmer MEP uses this morning's Platform article to become the second MEP to resign from the frontbench in the European Parliament in 24 hours: Our new European policy is confused and essentially cosmetic - and I cannot defend it from the frontbench
Seats and Candidates: An open letter to South West Norfolk Conservatives - "Please keep Liz Truss as your candidate"
Local Government: Recession boosts Blackpool
CentreRight posts:
- Melanchthon: Yesterday marked the triumph of Euroscepticism
- Ben Rogers: Inside the North Korean Gulag
WATCH: Sir Christopher Kelly announces the details of his report into MPs' expenses
David Cameron announces the party's new policy on Europe...
"David Cameron defied his party’s Eurosceptics yesterday by insisting that he would avoid confrontation with Brussels and by giving himself as long as five years to win back powers from the EU. The Conservative leader confirmed that he was dropping his pledge to give voters a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon and dismissed calls for another vote on Britain’s relationship with the EU as “phoney”. Spelling out his new Europe policy after the treaty’s ratification, he made clear that renegotiating the return of powers from Brussels was not a priority. In his only concession to Eurosceptic MPs he said that he would seek to pass a UK sovereignty Bill “to make it clear that ultimate authority stays in this country, in our Parliament”. - The Times
...and explains himself to Sun readers...
"I never got the chance to give Britain the referendum we all desperately wanted. But here is my promise to you today: If the Conservatives are in government, this country will never be a bit-part player in some European superstate. Britain must remain a sovereign and independent nation, free to act not in the interests of the Euro bureaucrats, but in the interests of our people." - David Cameron writing in The Sun
...as the French Europe minister describes the policy as "pathetic" and "autistic"
"Speaking to the Guardian, Pierre Lellouche, France's Europe minister, described as "pathetic" the Tories' EU plans announced today, warning they would not succeed "for a minute". Giving vent to frustration across the EU, which has so far only been expressed in private, Lellouche – who said he was reflecting Nicolas Sarkozy's "sadness and regret" – accused William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, of a "bizarre autism" in their discussions. He said: "They have one line and they just repeat one line. It is a very bizarre sense of autism." - Guardian
Daniel Hannan was the first MEP to resign from the frontbench over the new policy
"Daniel Hannan, the Conservative MEP, has resigned as European legal spokesman only two months after taking up the post in protest at his party's stance on the Lisbon Treaty... But last night on his Telegraph blog, Mr Hannan, the Conservative MEP for South East England, said he would be returning to the back benches in order to campaign for direct democracy that will see power in the hands of individual citizens." - Daily Telegraph
> Read Daniel Hannan explaining his resignation on his blog
> Yesterday's posts on the new Europe policy:
- David Cameron sets out rhe Conservative Party's new Europe policy
- David Davis urges Cameron to hold referendum on Europe within three months of coming to power
- Davis, Redwood and Howard more trusted than any frontbencher to spearhead European renegotiations
- Tim Montgomerie: There are very good reasons to vote Conservative (but Europe isn't such a good one anymore)
- WATCH: David Cameron says Tories will change law so that the British people have to give their consent in a referendum to any future transfer of power
- WATCH: Behind-the-scenes with David Cameron and William Hague, before and after the announcement of new Tory Europe policy
Sir Christopher Kelly delivers his report on MPs' expenses
"The report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life made clear that the next generation of MPs must atone for the sins of some current members. Those who have been using the expenses system to pay for mortgages on second homes in upmarket locations close to Westminster will be expected to rent small flats in areas such as Camberwell. Although MPs with mortgages have up to five years to sell their houses, any future capital gains will have to be handed back to the taxpayer — while those who bought at the top of the market must bear the cost of negative equity themselves... There will also be a ban on employment of spouses, and second homes for those within commuting distance of London." - The Times
"Grasping MPs demanded a huge pay rise last night after a crackdown on their expenses brought the Westminster gravy train to a halt. In an astonishing show of contempt for voters, ministers and backbenchers complained that their £65,000-a-year salaries will not be enough to live on." - Daily Mail
"An academic lawyer and former TV host has been nominated as the chairman of the body responsible for implementing the shake-up of MPs’ expenses. Sir Ian Kennedy was selected by a committee chaired by Commons Speaker John Bercow to lead the new Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA)... He will receive a salary of up to £100,000 a year in the new post – more than £30,000 in excess of a backbench MP’s basic pay. Mr Bercow’s announcement of his pay package caused some uproar." - The Herald
> Yesterday's posts on the Kelly Report:
- At PMQs David Cameron said the Kelly reforms must be accepted in full
- Tory MPs' wives consult lawyers after Kelly recommends ending their Commons employment
- Mark Field MP on CentreRight: Kelly’s proposals should now be accepted without delay or reservation
Liam Fox signals doubts about Afghan police training programme after killing of five British soldiers
"The murder of five British soldiers by a rogue member of the Afghan police force has intensified the debate over the future of the British mission in Afghanistan. Three Grenadier Guards and two members of the Royal Military Police were shot dead by a police officer who entered their secure compound in Helmand province. Six others were seriously wounded alongside two Afghans... The Tories still backed the mission, but also signalled that they would seek a clear exit strategy if they were in power. Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary, gave warning that the whole plan for training and deploying Afghan police officers was in dou bt. “The model itself may be fundamentally flawed,” he said." - Daily Telegraph
David Cameron pulls together threads on health policy
"Conservative leader David Cameron has set out the legislative changes to healthcare the party plans to implement if it wins the next election. Speaking at the Royal College of Pathologists in London on Monday, Mr Cameron announced a series of bills and white papers on health that a Conservative government would introduce." - Health Service Journal
> Monday's ToryDiary: David Cameron sets out the next Conservative Government's five priorities for health policy
Boris Johnson unveils statue of Sir Keith Park on fourth plinth at Trafalgar Square
"Yesterday, this unassuming hero received the public recognition he deserves as a statue of him was unveiled on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. The 15ft glass-fibre statue, which will stay there for six months, is a fitting memorial to the man whose crucial role has been too often overlooked. London Mayor Boris Johnson unveiled the statue and praised the efforts of campaigners who have fought to have the memorial installed." - Daily Mail
Why David Cameron should keep off public transport
"Politicians think travelling on the tube makes them appear like ordinary members of the public. Instead, they just look silly" - Lucy Mangan in The Guardian
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