ConHomeUSA: It's time to move beyond Sarah Palin
ToryDiary: Media speculation about a double dip recession must not become a self-fulfilling prophecy
Paul Goodman in LeftWatch: Ed Balls - My part in his rise
Comment:
- Steve Baker MP: We must robustly and resolutely condemn fraud and error in the EU budget
- JP Floru: Scary Tories in the forests! (Why let the truth stand in the way of a Scary Tory Story?)
Local Government:
- Every councillor in UK gets email encouraging them to campaign for EU spending freeze
- Nottingham City Council holds out against spending transparency
Parliament: 20 Tory backbenchers back Peter Bone's amendment calling for a trigger on an in/out EU referendum
Tory MPs get go-ahead to defy Strasbourg over prisoner votes
"Tory MPs are to be given the green light to assert the supremacy of Parliament in a defining battle with the European courts. David Cameron has accepted he has no chance of persuading Parliament to back demands from Strasbourg to give thousands of prisoners the vote for the first time in 140 years. In an extraordinary move, the Prime Minister has decided to give his MPs a free vote on the issue – effectively encouraging them to refuse to bow to the European Court of Human Rights." - Daily Mail
"Their defiance comes despite a warning yesterday from legal experts that the UK will face a deluge of compensation claims if prisoners do not get the right to vote. Barrister Aidan O’Neill QC told MPs that the Government was open to legal challenge from prisoners if it did not allow them to vote in May 5 elections for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly." - Daily Express
> Yesterday's ToryDiary on votes for prisoners
Tories fear 'betrayal' by Cameron over electoral reform
"Senior Conservative MPs fear that David Cameron is diluting their party's opposition to electoral reform in an attempt to boost Nick Clegg's chances of winning a Yes vote in the referendum due in May. They are worried that the Tories will run a "softly, softly" campaign against a switch to the alternative vote (AV) system, even though Mr Cameron promised his MPs that the party would fight hard to retain the present first-past-the-post system. The Independent has learned that the Conservatives have so far earmarked only £250,000 for the No campaign – a small proportion of the £5m both sides in the referendum battle will be allowed to spend in the 10 weeks before the public vote." - The Independent
Theresa May pledges new funding to tackle knife crime
"Ministers will today pledge £18million to tackle knife crime – as Brooke Kinsella reports on ways to end the blade epidemic. The ex-EastEnders star – whose brother Ben was stabbed to death – will call for closer links between cops and schools... Home Secretary Theresa May will respond by pledging new funding. She will hand £3.75million to cops in London, Manchester and the West Midlands – three areas where more than half the country's knife crimes are recorded. Another £10million will be spent on schemes to stop youngsters being sucked into gang, gun and knife violence. Local charities and voluntary groups working with teens involved in blade and gang attacks will get £4million." - The Sun
Big society tsar Lord Wei 'doesn't have enough time to perform role'
"The man appointed by the prime minister to kickstart a revolution in citizen activism is to scale back his hours after discovering that working for free three days a week is incompatible with "having a life". Lord Wei of Shoreditch, who was given a Tory peerage last year and a desk in the Cabinet Office as the "big society tsar", is to reduce his hours on the project from three days a week to two, to allow him to see his family more and to take on other jobs to pay the bills." - The Guardian
Hospitals wasting £500m a year overpaying for supplies, says NAO
"Hospitals are wasting at least £500 million a year by overpaying for supplies of everything from paper to hip joints, the spending watchdog has found. Different NHS organisations are paying hugely different prices for basic equipment, with many paying 50 per cent more than others for the same supplies." - The Times (£)
Damian Green announces crackdown on abuse of student visas
"Tougher limits on how long foreign students can stay in Britain after their courses end were promised yesterday. Immigration minister Damian Green said the current system was “too generous”, particularly at a time of high unemployment among British graduates... In a speech in London, Mr Green spelled out his determination to crack down on abuse of the student visa system." - Daily Express
Osborne's tax plans "hit Middle England hardest"
"The upper middle classes will be the biggest losers from the tax and benefits reforms expected to be confirmed by George Osborne in his Budget next month – with families on about £50,000, often characterised as "Middle England", among the hardest hit. The typical loss for such households will be about £270 a month." - The Independent
- Osborne eyes US banks for start-up aid - FT (£)
Harriet Sergeant: Hooray for a website we really DO want
"Three cheers for Policing Minister Nick Herbert and his new Home Office website. At the touch of a button millions can now see how much crime goes on in their street – or any street in the country. Well, yes, it did crash on its first day of use. No one can deny that is a bit of a dampener. But the fact that four million people tried to log on by mid morning just goes to prove that this is £300,000 well spent." - Harriet Sergeant in the Daily Mail
> Yesterday's ToryDiary: Ministers hail new crime-mapping website as a huge step forward for transparency and police accountability
British Government urges 'comprehensive' change in Egypt
"The government Tuesday repeated its call for the Egyptian government to bring about "real, visible and comprehensive change" after President Hosni Mubarak announced he would not seek re-election. "We have been clear... with President Mubarak and his government in private, about the need for a transition to a broader-based government that will produce real, visible and comprehensive change," a Foreign Office statement said... Earlier, Prime Minister David Cameron said the Egyptian government must "urgently" heed protesters pushing for reform amid the biggest rallies yet against the embattled leader." - AFP
EU Conservatives dismiss talk of ECR split
"The leader of parliament's UK Conservative delegation has rubbished talk of a split in the ECR group, insisting "it is business as usual" despite the resignation of Michal Kaminski. Martin Callanan was responding to speculation of a major rift in the ECR in the wake of Kaminski's decision to stand down as leader... "As far as I am aware there is no possibility of him or any of his colleagues leaving the group. It is business as usual and we are getting on with our work." He said other groups in parliament contained parties from the same national delegation which "did not necessarily share all the same o pinions." - The Parliament.com
Baroness Ashton in political correctness row over word 'Christian'
"Baroness Ashton is under fire after the EU failed to agree on a statement condemning attacks on religious minorities in the Islamic world because it is not politically correct to use the word "Christian". A meeting of EU foreign ministers failed to agree on a condemnation of sectarian attacks over the Christmas period that targeted Christians in Egypt and Iraq. Talks ended angrily when Italy accused Lady Ashton, the EU's foreign minister, of "excessive" political correctness because she refused to name any specific religious group as a victim of attacks." - Daily Telegraph
Other Coalition news in brief
- Andy Coulson has now left Downing Street - Daily Telegraph
- England's forest sell-off "will cost more than it saves" - The Independent
- Lorry drivers face £9-a-day UK road charge - Daily Telegraph
- Clegg anounces extra £400 million to treat depression - The Independent
- CPS drops charges in Birmingham councillor's Twitter case - Birmingham Post
Labour news in brief
- Jack Straw returns to the Chilcot Inquiry - BBC
- Ex-Labour MP Jim Devine's expenses trial begins - Press Association
And finally... After Two Jags, here's Eight Jags
"Eight Cabinet ministers are still burning up taxpayers' cash on fuel for their luxury Jags, The Sun can reveal. Thousands of pounds are going on their motors while the rest of Britain is bled dry at the pumps. Our investigation exposes MPs snubbing the far cheaper Toyota Prius option. It means each wastes £1,500 a year extra each on diesel alone. The revelation heaps pressure on Chancellor George Osborne and PM David Cameron - who has an armoured Jag - to act on The Sun's "Keep It Down" campaign for a fairer deal for motorists." - The Sun
ToryDiary: The campaign to leave the EU took 373,000 steps forward yesterday
Parliament:
- Tory MPs debate the merits of the Health and Social Care Bill
- Liam Fox expresses his fear that Iran may have a nuclear weapon next year as Lib Dems demand to know if money is already being spent on components for Trident
Local Government:
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