Britannia Radio

Today's major ConHome features Paul

Goodman begins a new series on ToryDiary: How blue is the coalition? Part one, the economy Neil O'Brien on Platform: How to make housing more affordable for everyone LeftWatch: With Labour planning to protect middle class welfare payments like the Winter Fuel Allowance with higher taxes on banks and 'the rich', the issue of universal benefits could become a defining political issue of this parliament Local government: Local councils are to be allowed to get rid of outdated by-laws without having to gain specific consent from Whitehall Donal Blaney on CentreRight: Reflections on Glenn Beck's rally In answering ConservativeHome's Twenty Questions John Glen, MP for Salisbury, says that Daily Mail headlines are a good predictor of the postbag he will receive... WATCH: Boris celebrates the Notting Hill Carnival Today's newslinks George Osborne to cut Treasury staff numbers from 1,350 to 1,000 - Telegraph Jeremy Hunt and Caroline Spelman get top marks from Treasury "Caroline Spelman, environment secretary, may operate below the political radar most of the time, but the Treasury has marked her out as one of the stars of the public spending review, writes Jim Pickard. Officials have given glowing reports of Ms Spelman’s spending plans for being “bold and imaginative”, raising the prospect that she could be one of the first ministers to settle her four-year departmental budget. She has identified up to 30 Defra quangos for downsizing or the axe, including the Sustainable Development Commission and the Royal Commission on Environme ntal Pollution." - FT (£) "Jeremy Hunt, culture secretary, may control only a £2bn budget, but the Treasury is hugely impressed with what he plans to do with it, writes George Parker. Mr Hunt, a former management consultant who set up his educational publishing business, has outlined cuts of 50 per cent in the run-ning of his department in an attempt to protect frontline funding of arts and sport. The proposed administra-tive cuts include a reduction in headcount of 400 staff and a further 100 once the 2012 Olympics are over. Mr Hunt’s aides say he was one of the first ministers to scrap official cars and end first-class travel. The Treasury is also impressed by his plans to move his department out of offices near Trafalgar Square with a view to sharing space with another Whitehall department, reducing an annual £10m rent bill." - FT (£) Will the middle class taxpayers ever get relief? "I am under no illusions that the Government is in a severe budgetary crisis which requires deep cuts and temporary tax rises. But Mr Alexander’s words have planted a horrible thought in me: that the Coalition is going to try to use the deficit as cover for a permanent shift of the tax burden onto middle income-earners. He is effectively telling those who earn more than £20,000 a year: it doesn’t matter how many cuts the public accept over the next five years nor how well the economy recovers – we won’t cut a penny off your tax bill." - Ross Clark in The Express > Yesterday's ToryDiary: Coalition must offer "light at the end of the tunnel" to taxpayers Britain and France may share aircraft carriers "Britain and France are preparing to reveal unprecedented plans to share the use of their aircraft carriers in a controversial step to maintain military power in an era of cost-cutting... David Cameron and President Sarkozy are expected to outline the proposal in a November summit, which will lead to British and French flagships working together and protecting the interests of both countries." - Times (£) Eric Pickles is 'the Tory hippo' in a hurry "Whether it is abolishing the Audit Commission, sweeping away Labour’s regional housing targets, regional development agencies and home improvement packs, announcing the end of bin taxes (thus provoking a turf war with Caroline Spelman, environment secretary), or ordering his department and local councils to publish online details of spending over £500, few have taken to office with such relish as the communities and local government secretary. Last week he was at it again, urging councils to reduce street sign clutter and cutting red tape for street parties and fetes." - FT (£) William Hague says Coalition foreign policy has a conscience "Foreign Office Ministers have been energetic in meeting human rights groups and NGOs, and in raising human rights. We have, among other things, spoken up for fair elections in Burma, pressed for access for humanitarian aid to Gaza, campaigned against forced marriage and lobbied the Government of Iran over death penalty cases, women's rights and religious freedom." - William Hague in The Telegraph Denis MacShane condemns UK 'opt out' from EU directive against sex trafficking - Guardian David Miliband disowns Mandelson's intervention "David Miliband moved last night to avoid the grave threat of being portrayed as the heir to Tony Blair when he slapped down Lord Mandelson hours after the former business secretary endorsed his campaign for the Labour leadership... In a pointed statement, he said: "Party members, including me, are sick and tired of the old battles of the past being rerun. It's time to move on."" - Guardian > Yesterday's LeftWatch: Mandelson, Campbell and Blair all warn Labour against 'Red Ed' Blair prepares to trash Brown in first major TV interview since he quit as PM - Daily Mail "Tony Blair will re-ignite his feud with Gordon Brown by blaming him for Labour losing the election... Sources have revealed Mr Blair's autobiography, published tomorrow, is expected to include a vicious attack on Mr Brown's record as PM." - The Sun Ed Balls calls for £6bn from deficit reduction to be diverted into construction of 100,000 affordable homes - Guardian Matt Ridley: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) must be purged Express story accompanying front page. "IPCC reports are supposed to be the gold standard account of what is — and is not — known about global warming. The panel boasts that it uses only peer-reviewed scientific literature. But its claims about mountain ice turned out to be anecdotes from a climbing magazine, its claims on the Amazon’s vulnerability to drought from a Brazilian pressure group’s website and 42 per cent of the references in one chapter proved to be to reports by Greenpeace, WWF and other “grey” literature." - Matt Ridley in The Times (£) "UN climate change experts have been accused of making 'imprecise and vague' statements and over-egging the evidence. A scathing report into the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change called for it to avoid politics and stick instead to predictions based on solid science." - Daily Mail Bjørn Lomborg, the self-styled "sceptical environmentalist, recommends $100m technology fund to address climate change - Guardian Highlights from the bank holiday weekend WATCH: First glimpses of Florence Rose Endellion Cameron ToryDiary: 'Scotifying' the Scottish Tories Ten observations about Boris' re-election hopes Jeremy Hunt - the BBC "has to live on the same planet as everyone else". Paul Goodman on LeftWatch: I can't stand the sight or sound of John Prescott but which retired Conservative minister, post-1997, showed a tenth of his willingness to be up-and-at the Government? Local government blog: Grant Shapps is ready to give local people priority when it comes to the allocation of local housing ThinkTankCentral: Civitas casts doubt on the benefits of replacing prison sentences with community punishments Gazette: Former Attorney General Nicholas Lyell has died