ToryDiary: An open letter to David Cameron about his speech on the riots Also on Tory Diary: The Heffersaurus becomes hi-tech David Davis MP on Comment: Our police chiefs should have the humility to listen Local Government: The number of Special Constables in London has more than doubled under Boris WATCH: Obama pressed by bystanders as a band plays upbeat music Tough riot punishments. May to announce more training for police. Clegg to spike Miliband's guns with probe. The fightback continues: but will it work? "Courts are being advised that the scale of last week’s civil disobedience means that offences committed during the riots should be dealt with more harshly. The memo, sent late last week by the capital’s most senior justice clerks, led one magistrate to warn that any offenders involved in the “anarchy” can expect a prison sentence. Magistrates appear to have heeded the message, as figures… disclosed that two in three people charged in connection with the riots and looting have been remanded in custody." - Daily Telegraph 2) Riot training - May to make announcement "As part of the "security fightback" section of the government's response, the home secretary, Theresa May, wrote to…HM's chief inspector of constabulary, asking for clearer guidance for forces on their preparations to tackle riots. Senior officers said that they did not have sufficient number of officers trained in riot control to respond immediately to last week's events, but Home Office sources confirmed on Monday night that they now expected a big expansion in riot training for the police as a result of May's request." - The Guardian 3) Benefits - IDS wants to bar rioters from claiming them 4) "Boris-tal" - Downing Street mulls Mayor's borstal idea "Boris Johnson's idea of sending under-age rioters to corrective schools could become law. The PM's spokesman said the London Mayor's Borstal-style proposal was being studied. He added: "We are considering it. We will look at all the ideas people come up with." The Justice Ministry said…we will consider this proposal for their future use." Mr Johnson also wants thugs under 18 who are convicted of rioting to have their free travel passes taken away." - The Sun 5) Child offenders - Cameron wants them named and shamed "Families of benefit claimants will be subjected to background checks, and child offenders will be “named and shamed” by the courts after the Government announced its biggest crackdown yet after last week’s rioting and looting. Calling for an across-the-board review of all government policy, David Cameron said yesterday that Britain should “fight back against the attitudes and assumptions that have brought parts of our society to this shocking state”. -The Times (£) 6) Blunt to launch payment-by-results project "Rehabilitation providers across the public, private and voluntary sectors are being encouraged to design their own payment-by-results projects under a scheme to reward contractors with about £2.5m in “success payments” each year if they show clear reductions in re-offending. The programme – which forms part of the Ministry of Justice’s “rehabilitation revolution” – will focus on cutting reoffending among criminals on short-term sentences, those recently released from prison and those serving community orders." - Financial Times (£) Dorries, Pritchard urge married couples tax breaks soon Front runners for Met job: House and Hogan Howe Two veteran officers with a proven track record of taking on gangs have emerged as frontrunners for the most senior job in British policing. Stephen House, a straight talking Glaswegian and the Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police, is believed to have been asked by the Home Office to apply for the role of Metropolitan Police Commissioner. Bernard Hogan Howe, the former Chief Constable who was recently drafted into the Met to restore order, will also put himself forward before applications close tomorrow." - The Times (£) Matthew Hancock: "It’s not left-wing to link bankers and the mob" "The dynamics of human behaviour that caused both the riots and the financial crisis certainly followed the same familiar pattern…That is not to say that the banking crisis, or indeed the MPs expenses scandal, caused the riots. Emphatically they did not. And the scale of criminality among rioters was in another league. Nonetheless, it is not left-wing to criticise the moral vacuum at the top as well as the bottom of society." - Matthew Hancock MP, The Times (£) Bailouts are bad but didn’t cause riots - Allister Heath, City A.M More riots news and comment Yesterday's riots coverage on ConservativeHome: As Merkel and Sarkozy meet today, Soros calls on Portugal and Greece to pull out of euro ECB reveals €22bn cost of bond rescue - The Guardian Downing Street hails Libya "progress" "Britain today hailed key advances by rebels in Libya - and insisted there would be no let up in the campaign against Muammar Gaddafi. Downing Street said assaults on two strategically-important towns near Tripoli demonstrated that "progress" was being made. Fierce fighting has been reported in Zawiya, just 30 miles west of the capital, and Gharyan, 50 miles to the south. If the towns fall to the rebels, they could effectively block land access to the dictator's stronghold, while Nato controls sea routes." - The Independent Other news and comment in brief And finally...No Mandy for Strictly Come Dancing? Send for Edwina Currie! (Remember her?) "She will follow in the footsteps of former Tory politician Ann Widdecombe and BBC’s ex-political editor John Sargeant when she lines up on the popular BBC1 series next month. The 64-year-old is now in advanced discussions with BBC executives after they failed to persuade former Labour business secretary Peter Mandelson to take part in the competition." - Daily Mail On ToryDiary: On Comment:
Samantha Callan on ThinkTankCentral: Early intervention is key to stopping young people turning to crime
1) Punishments - Magistrates ordered to send rioters to jail"Convicted rioters are set to be stripped of their welfare benefits even if they are not jailed, a Cabinet minister warned yesterday. Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said the Government was investigating changing entitlement rules in order to block handouts to claimants identified as looters and thugs. Under existing rules, only jailed lawbreakers can be stripped of welfare handouts. But Mr Duncan Smith said attempts were being made to overhaul the rules." - Daily Express
"Conservative MPs told Mr Cameron to turn his rhetoric on the importance of strong families to tackle the moral malaise into concrete action. They want to see a timetable to reward marriage in the tax system – currently scheduled for “before 2015”. Their demands came as Mr Cameron flashed his Tory credentials with a speech that attacked the “risk-free ground of moral neutrality” and called on a return to core Conservative values of marriage, commitment, discipline and duty to fix a “broken” Britain." - Financial Times (£)"The former currency speculator turned billionaire philanthropist also backed the idea of a euro bond, where debt is issued jointly by member states. He said: ‘Countries sharing the currency must be able to refinance a large part of their debt under the same conditions.’ Such a bond would allow Europe’s poorer countries to raise money cheaply, because French and German financial muscle would act as a guarantee." -Daily Mail
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
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