Comment: Michael Brown: ConservativeHome should recognise that Rowan Williams is a friend of the poor
Also in Comment: Mark Prisk MP: How the Government is cutting regulation and freeing our small firms to thrive
LeftWatch: Labour is claiming that Balls's plot is "the past". Wrong. For Miliband, it's the present
Local Government:
The Daily Telegraph exposes The Balls files - over 30 secret documents detailing Brown and Balls's "Project Volvo" plot to oust Blair. Cabinet Secretary orders leaks investigation.
"The cache of documents show for the first time Mr Brown’s feelings towards Mr Blair in his own words and handwriting, material which has previously only been the subject of speculation and second-hand reports from anonymous sources. Mr Brown makes it clear, in a series of memos, that he regarded his rival as a “muddled” lightweight whose obsession with spin destroyed trust in politics. He used the perception of “lies” over the Iraq War to try to force Mr Blair’s early departure." - Daily Telegraph
Further links to the Daily Telegraph's Balls and Brown files:
- Balls's "Gang of Five" named and shamed
- Brown planned class war against David Cameron: "No silver spoon in our mouths". (Anyone told Harriet Harman?)
- Read the entire Balls file database
Benedict Brogan: What this means for Miliband
Gus O'Donnell approves Balls leak investigation - The Guardian
Mandelson says his phone was tapped - The Times (£)
Brown was not Labour's biggest problem at election, say polling experts - The Guardian
Archbishop of Canterbury, Day Two: Fleet Street does a Thomas Becket on Rowan Williams
"Speaking at a press conference on a visit to Northern Ireland, Mr Cameron said: “I think the Archbishop of Canterbury is entirely free to express political views. I have never been one to say that the Church should fight shy of making political interventions. “But what I would say is that I profoundly disagree with many of the views that he has expressed, particularly on issues like debt and welfare and education.” - The Times (£)
"Yesterday the leader of England's Roman Catholics rejected Dr Williams's suggestion that the Prime Minister's plans to encourage volunteering and charity work were a cover for cuts and spoke out in favour of the 'genuine moral agenda' driving the Coalition's reforms. Archbishop Nichols praised Mr Cameron for putting marriage and family stability at the centre of policy-making, and he supported his Big Society vision." - Daily Mail
The Real Editor of the New Statesman writes (Can ConHome readers name him?) - The Times (£)
Williams martyrdom-by-editorial details:
- Archbishop should not have played politics - Daily Telegraph
- Holy wrong - The Sun
- Politics, morality and a discredited archbishop - Daily Mail Comment
- Bully pulpit - The Times (£)
- Archbishop is dragging the Church into disrepute - Daily Express
- "It should be a wake-up call for Ed Miliband to find the Archbishop of Canterbury putting up sterner resistance to the Con-Dems than his own shadow cabinet." - Morning Star Editorial
Comment writers de-beard turbulent priest:
- The Archbishop is not only wrong, he’s rude - Lord Rees-Mogg, The Times (£)
- Rowan Williams is a profoundly divisive Leftie - Stephen Glover, Daily Mail
- "Please could a journalist become guest Archbishop of Canterbury? I am available." - Charles Moore, Daily Telegraph
Grayling pledges firms to get £14,000-a-head bounties to take jobless off dole as Work Programme launched today - Daily Mail
"Today we are launching a massive new initiative – the Work Programme – to tackle long-term benefit dependency by offering tailored support to suit individual needs. I know many people want to return to work and now they will have the personalised help they need to do so." - Chris Grayling, Daily Express
Cameron to sell health deal to 2010 Tory intake
"David Cameron will try on Monday to sell the revised health reforms to a sceptical and ever more disgruntled group of new Tory MPs, who suspect the prime minister of selling out to the Liberal Democrats. The prime minister has summoned the 2010 intake of Tory MPs for a pep talk, in an attempt to reassure the new generation that he remains committed to reform and to injecting more competition into the National Health Service." - Financial Times (£)
Spelman to declare Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire as drought zones - The Sun
May says EU must get tough on deportation of foreign criminals...
"Theresa May has demanded changes to the controversial EU ‘free movement’ directive which restricts Britain’s ability to deport foreign criminals. It was the first attempt by the Government to make changes to the key EU policy, which was agreed by Labour in 2004. The Home Secretary told a meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council in Luxembourg that the directive was wide open to abuse." - Daily Mail
...While The Sun reports Sentencing Council attack on Clarke
"Britain will have the softest justice system in the world under Ken Clarke's plans to halve prison terms for thousands of offenders, Britain's official sentencing watchdog has warned. It said the Justice Secretary's proposals to slash jail time in return for an early guilty plea are a clear threat to the core "principles of sentencing". The Sentencing Council also insisted there was NO evidence the move would encourage criminals to confess." - The Sun
Sack Dominic Grieve over Kelly cover-up, say doctors - Daily Express
Huhne file sent to prosecutors…
"Essex Police sent initial papers to the Crown Prosecution Service after receiving advice on the case last week. The development means that a decision on whether the Energy Secretary could face trial is likely by the end of the month. Last night the CPS said it had received ‘initial papers’ relating to a possible criminal offence." - Daily Mail
…And, yes, he'll definitely have his day in court
The Government on Thursday made a final decision to reduce the incentives, after announcing a review of subsidies to rid the solar industry of "hot money and speculators" earlier this year…A group of objectors, which includes Low Carbon Solar UK, MO3 Power and The Green Company, plans to argue in court that changes to the regime threatens millions of pounds of investment." - Daily Telegraph Stop hiding green fuel tax, firms told - Daily Mail
Cable: Government won't bail out Southern Cross
"His comments came as he pledged to investigate the business models of private companies running care homes following the announcement by Southern Cross that it plans to cut 3,000 jobs. Mr Cable and Commons leader Sir George Young also moved to allay MPs' fears that as many as 31,000 elderly people could be left homeless when the company closes some of its homes." - Daily Mail
Is Vince Cable really investigating Southern Cross collapse? - Financial Times (£)
Sinn Fein retains West Belfast with lowest voter turnout for Northern Ireland Westminster by-election since 1921 - The Times (£)
Coalition and Political News in Brief
- Andrew Bridgen MP arrested over sex assault claims - Daily Mail
- US targets al-Qa'ida as Yemen faces civil war - The Independent
- BMW to invest £500 million in UK - Daily Telegraph
- Clegg set to extend Scotland borrowing powers - Scotsman
- Hope for hundreds trapped in care after ruling on autistic man - The Times (£)
Rowan Williams -
ToryDiary:
- If Lambeth Palace calls for a ceasefire, Downing Street's got no-one to negotiate it
- David Cameron emphasises the moral justice of the Coalition's policies in his response to the Archbishop of Canterbury
Andrew Lilico on Comment: Where Rowan was right, wrong, and arguable
WATCH: Nick Boles MP: "What is Christian about asking people to remain dependant throughout their lives?"
Elsewhere -
ToryDiary:
Comment:
Eric Ollerenshaw MP on Comment: How I'm helping to widen access to paid internships in Parliament beyond the wealthy and well-connected
- Matthew Sinclair: Unions aren't the little platoons the Big Society needs, they're creatures of big government that could doom localism
ConHomeUSA: Today's Republican and American political news
WATCH:
- Tony Blair: Europe will lose influence unless European countries work more closely together
- Richard Ashworth MEP: The European Parliament would be "exceedingly unwise if it doesn't take on board" national governments' austerity
- Attorney General Dominic Grieve refuses a new inquest into the death of Dr David Kelly
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