Click here to have your say on these and other issues in ConHome's monthly survey. ToryDiary: George Osborne's expert bank-lancing act Also on ToryDiary: Have your say on forestry privatisation, votes for prisoners and lots more in ConHome's latest monthly survey ToryDiary: David Davis - an apology Also on Comment: James Arbuthnot MP: Egypt, Israel and the Middle East Merry-Go-Round Also in Local Government: Parliament: Baroness Warsi defines the Big Society in 51 words Seats and Candidates: Barnsley Central by-election to take place on March 3rd Gazette: Tracey Crouch elected to the Executive of the 1922 Committee The Right-wing press call on MPs to take a stand on votes for prisoners "If the Commons votes to retain the ban, its decision must stand. If necessary, Parliament could pass a law instructing the courts to deny compensation to prisoners who sue on human rights grounds... The time has come for Parliament to make a stand. If it fails this test, its impotence will be confirmed." - Daily Telegraph editorial "Today Parliament has a rare chance to tell Europe's human rights court to get lost. The Sun urges every MP who has this nation's interests at heart to seize the opportunity." - The Sun Says > Yesterday on ConHome: Universities that fail to admit more disadvantaged students could be fined Government suffers fourth Lords defeat on AV bill "The government has suffered a fourth Lords defeat over its bill setting up a referendum on the UK voting system. Peers backed plans for a compromise aimed at ending a row over the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill... Ministers wanted the number of voters in each constituency to be within 5% of around 76,000 - peers backed moves to make that 7.5% in "exceptional" cases." - BBC ID cards go up in flames in first step to tackle 'database state' "Identity cards will be consigned to history today as the database recording the biometric details of thousands of people goes up in flames. Hard disk drives from the national identity register, which underpinned the ID card scheme, will be shredded and incinerated in a symbolic demonstration of efforts to rein back the "database state" and restore civil liberties." - The Independent The latest from William Hague's tour of the Middle East Andy Coulson takes the rap in the big society blame game "In the first meeting of the government's special advisers this year the then head of communications, Andy Coulson, gave a presentation in which he talked about the three words that would be important in 2011 – enterprise, aspiration and jobs. "What?" said the policy panjandrum James O'Shaughnessy to whoever was within muttershot. "No big society?" We knew Coulson was not big on the "big society"... Francis Maude appeared to allow himself to blame the newly departed Coulson for the communications problems that have accompanied the idea. Chairing the weekly big society meeting, he criticised No 10's press operation for failing to spread the message." - The Guardian Nick Clegg to clarify extent of public services reform "Nick Clegg will try to draw lines in the sand over the government's public services reform programme by insisting that he will not allow private providers to run schools for profit, or skew the health market in favour of the private sector. In a speech to the Guardian public services summit in St Albans, the deputy prime minister will promise to take a hard line against blanket privatisation." - The Guardian Lord Ashcroft says he can disclose more "embarrassing morsels" about Labour aide Bruce Anderson: Cameron’s ‘little platoons’ get lost in the woods "The prime minister has made two related errors. He has been too reasonable and he has been guilty of political naivety. He seems to believe that the facts will speak for themselves. It is easy to understand all this. Mr Cameron has embarked on the most radical domestic programme since Attlee. If it is seen to be working, the Tories will surely receive electoral reward. If it appears to be failing, the tongues of men and angels will not save them." - FT (£) Other Coalition and political news in brief Highlights from yesterday on ConHome ToryDiary: Patrick Nolan on Comment: Project Merlin – Have we forgotten what got us into this mess? Comment: Andrew Lilico joins the debate about conservatism and morality Local Government:
Comment: David Davis MP: Today's vote on prisoners' rights is an historic opportunity to draw a line in the sand on European power
Local Government: Lib Dem council leaders attack Pickles over spending cuts"Today, if MPs have the courage to grasp their destiny, could be of great significance in the history of this sovereign nation. Indeed, it could see Britain taking the first step towards regaining control of its own laws and stopping the remorseless undermining of our Parliament and judicial system by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)." - Daily Mail editorial
"Universities will be threatened today with large fines and cuts to their tuition fees if they fail to make dramatic progress in admitting more disadvantaged students. Institutions that fail to meet tougher targets for recruiting poorer students could be fined up to £500,000 and be banned from charging fees above £6,000 a year. The sanctions for the Office for Fair Access (Offa), which will police admissions targets set by each university, will be confirmed in a letter from ministers." - The Times ( £)
"The foreign secretary is visiting the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on the last day of his tour of Arab nations... He is expected to reiterate calls made in Tunisia, Jordan and Yemen for political reform and greater respect for human rights. But he will also focus on the growing importance of trade and investment links between the UAE and the UK." - BBC
"Lord Ashcroft, the millionaire Conservative peer, has threatened to reveal embarrassing “morsels” about one of Ed Miliband’s senior aides. The peer, a former Conservative deputy chairman, suggested he could disclose fresh information about Tom Baldwin, the Labour director of strategy. In a long-standing feud, Lord Ashcroft has previously alleged that Mr Baldwin was a regular user of cocaine. Mr Baldwin is a former Times political journalist who joined Mr Miliband’s team last year. He has never commented on Lord Ashcroft’s claims of cocaine use. Writing in The Sp ectator, Lord Ashcroft suggested he had more information about Mr Baldwin he could reveal." - Daily Telegraph
Thursday, 10 February 2011
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