Wednesday, 7 July 2010

Today's newslinks

Nick Gibb to tell teachers to get tough in drive for better school discipline

GIBB NICK "Teachers will be encouraged to restrain unruly pupils as part of a drive to improve discipline in schools, ministers are to announce. Staff will also be able to search children for a wide range of items and punish those misbehaving with immediate detentions, the proposals will say. Teachers who are the subject of complaints from pupils will not be identified and will be able to continue working until criminal charges are brought. The plans will be announced by Nick Gibb, the schools minister." - Daily Telegraph

British troops to withdraw from Sangin in Afghanistan

"British forces are to be pulled out of Sangin, the remote district of Helmand that has become the most deadly place in Afghanistan for Nato soldiers. The government will announce that British troops are to be replaced by some of the 20,000 US soldiers already in Helmand. Out of the 312 British service personnel to have died in Afghanistan, more than 100 were killed in Sangin, the scene of some of the most intense fighting against the Taliban." - The Guardian

"Defence Secretary Liam Fox is expected to tell MPs the move could happen by the end of the year. The military insists the move is a redeployment now there are more US troops on the ground, but the Taliban are certain to portray it as a defeat." - BBC

'Soviet' plan for 3 million new homes by 2020 scrapped by Coalition

"Labour's "Soviet style" style plans to build three million new homes by 2020, threatening the protected Green Belt, have been scrapped. Eric Pickles, the Communities secretary, said he was scrapping both the controversial target and "regional strategies" which were meant to help ensure the goal was reached." - Daily Telegraph

Britain's dirty torture secrets to be laid bare

Picture 6 "Britain faces paying out millions to detainees who claim they were tortured with the complicity of the security services. Compensation settlements may be made with up to a dozen former terror suspects ahead of an independent inquiry announced yesterday by David Cameron to help ‘restore Britain’s moral leadership in the world’." - Daily Mail

David Cameron moves to allay US fears on intelligence sharing - The Guardian

> Yesterday in Parliament: David Cameron announces independent inquiry into security services' treatment of detainees, and appointment of Sir Malcolm Rifkind to chair the Commons Intelligence and Security Committee

Don't let the NHS escape pain of cuts, say Tory backbenchers

"George Osborne is resisting pressure from Conservative MPs to end the special immunity from spending cuts he has given to the £104.1bn-a-year budget of the National Health Service... One Tory backbench leader said yesterday: "MPs are getting a reaction in their constituencies about the cuts to the school-building programme. They are wondering why the NHS should be protected when the future of our children is apparently not." - The Independent

"Thousands of NHS jobs are being cut despite Government promises to protect frontline services, a union has warned.  The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is aware of almost 10,000 posts that have been lost through recruitment freezes, redundancies and people not replaced when they retire, or which face cuts in the future." - Press Association

Sir Alan Budd quits as Office for Budget Responsibility boss

"The independence and credibility of George Osborne’s new fiscal watchdog was further questioned yesterday after the chairman announced his intention to quit, just eight weeks into the job. Sir Alan Budd surprised MPs yesterday by revealing that he will leave his post as head of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) in early August." - The Times (£)

Tea Party time across the pond - Marc Thiessen in the Washington Post

Speaker Bercow wants PMQs to be less roudy

Speaker Bercow 2 "If we are serious about enhancing the standing of the House in the eyes of those whom we serve then we cannot ignore the seriously impaired impression which PMQ's has been and is leaving on the electorate," he said in a speech to the Centre of Parliamentary Studies. Mr Bercow denied that voters and viewers love the "splendid theatre" of rows at the dispatch box and rubbished the idea it is "therapeutic for parliamentarians to let their lungs loose". - Sky News

"As Speaker, it is his job and his alone to keep order in the Chamber. His call for a "review" of the rules of engagement looks suspiciously like an admission that he is not up to it." - Daily Telegraph editorial

Five peers opt to quit House of Lords to retain non-dom status

"Lord Laidlaw, a businessman based in Monaco who has given £4 million to the Tory party; Lord McAlpine, a former Tory treasurer; and Lord Bagri, a former chairman of the London Metal Exchange, have all stepped down. The fourth to leave is Baroness Dunn, former deputy chair of HSBC... The other peer stepping down is the architect Norman Foster, who was elevated to the peerage in 1999 and sits as a crossbencher" - The Times (£)

MPs to rule on new expenses watchdog's budget - BBC

Simon Heffer: Electoral reform is fantasy, and Conservatives should fight it

"The first element of the fantasy is the belief that the electorate wants electoral reform and constitutional change. I wonder in how many saloon bars the talk is of little else?" - Simon Heffer in the Daily Telegraph

Tory revolt threatens to delay electoral reform poll - The Independent

Voting reform plan 'is poison' says Prescott - Daily Mail

Iain Martin: Cameron's honeymoon won't last for ever

"The relatively easy part of the life of the coalition is coming to an end soon. Storm clouds are gathering. The coalition earned plaudits for being brave about tackling the U.K.'s deficit in its recent budget, but although the big cuts have been advertised the crunch is still some way off. The pain of 20% plus cuts in unprotected departments will be immense when it arrives." - Iain Martin in the Wall Street Journal

Ex-candidate Philip Lardner hits out at Scottish Tories

LARDNER PHILIP "Members and activists are sick of being taken for granted by an arrogant leadership which treats their small "c" conservative opinions with open contempt. The shambolic "dismissal" of my own candidacy in North Ayrshire and Arran in April (for expressing respectful, mildly conservative and Christian views on homosexuality) was the last straw for many members, and many across Scotland have either resigned or are intending to allow their membership to lapse as a result." - Philip Lardner letter in The Scotsman

Michael White: Is Nick Clegg shrinking before our eyes?

"It is all a far cry from that moment in the Downing Street garden on May 11 when Cameron and Clegg – two sleek Alpha males of near-identical height – announced their coalition deal. That phase could not last. But as Cameron grew, Clegg shrank." - Michael White in The Guardian

Liberal Democrats slump to 15% in new YouGov poll - Last night's ToryDiary

Kensington and Chelsea councillors resign

"Two Tory councillors have resigned after it emerged inappropriate emails had been sent using the council's email system" - Kensington and Chelsea Chronicle

> ConHome broke this story yesterday

Ministers to press ahead with FM switch-off - Daily Mail

Britain's austerity plans win praise from the EU - Daily Telegraph

New breed of activist fuelling surge in Labour numbers, claims Harriet Harman - The Guardian

And finally... Snap happy ex-Labour minister John Denham spent nearly £3,000 of our money on official photographs

Picture 9 "Vain Labour ministers splashed out nearly £2,700 of taxpayers' money on official photos. Ex-Communities Secretary John Denham and his six ministers ran up the bill over four years. Last year alone, they spent just under £1,000 on "official ministerial photographs". The bill was uncovered when new Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and his team had their photos taken. He insisted they pay the £600 bill. An insider said: "It looks like vanity got the better of John Denham. He was too busy looking in the mirror to keep a grip on spending by his department." - The Sun

Posted by Britannia Radio at 18:06