Friday, 9 September 2011

Special Britain/ EU survey

Which of the following four options would you prefer?

  1. The UK should remain full members of the EU and participate in further EU integration.
  2. The UK should remain full members of the EU but reject further integration.
  3. The UK should see substantial renegotiation of its existing relationship with the EU but remain full members.
  4. The UK should leave the EU altogether and negotiate a free trade agreement with the EU.

ConservativeHome is conducting a short survey today on the EU. Have your say.

Today's top ConservativeHome newslinks

Cameron demands school "elitism" as World Economic Forum ranks UK schools 43rd in the world in maths

CAMERON IN CLASSROOM"The Prime Minister will today warn that Britain needs a return to ‘elitism’ and a ‘complete intolerance of failure’ in its schools. The country must improve standards to compete with the rising economies of India and China, he is expected to say in a major speech. ‘We want to create an education system based on real excellence, with a complete intolerance of failure,’ Mr Cameron will add." - Daily Ma il

PM "risks coalition rift with plan to let MPs overrule human rights court"

"Britain would be able to ignore human rights rulings from Europe if MPs voted to override them, under proposals submitted to Downing Street. The idea is the most far-reaching being considered by a Government panel exploring reforms to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Others include calling in retired judges to help to whittle down the vast backlog of cases, allowing the Strasbourg court to issue advisory opinions only, and allowing it to consult national parliaments before ruling." - The Times (£)

A mockery of justice that must be stopped - Daily Mail Editorial

Clarke to outlaw "cash for crash" insurance racket - Daily Mail

New commission will make West Lothian question probe

"Constitutional reform minister Mark Harper announced in a statement to MPs that a formal proposal for the commission's work, and its terms of references, will be announced soon after Parliament returns from the party conference season. It will be made up of a small group of non-partisan experts with constitutional, legal and parliamentary expertise." - Daily Mail

Northern Ireland's MPs facing voting bar on Scots and Welsh matters - Belfast Telegraph

May says gangs may seek to disrupt Olympics

"Senior Scotland Yard officers believe that gangs in London may seek to disrupt the Olympics. Theresa May, the home affairs secretary acknowledged there was a possibility that gangs prevalent in the London's East End will use the Olympics as an opportunity for criminality. She said the team preparing the Olympics policing were now looking again to see what they could learn from the riots. A former police officer made the claim in private evidence to the home affairs select committee." - The Guardian

Latest Cameron/Boris confrontation…is a sporting one for International Paralympic Day

Screen shot 2011-09-09 at 08.09.48
"Trafalgar Square stood in for Wimbledon's Centre Court and grass was replaced by carpeting as the two political heavyweights exchanged backhands in front of hundreds of spectators. Not surprisingly the intensely competitive Mr Cameron - who represented his university at the sport - appeared to get the better of his portly opponent during the contest." - Daily Mail

> Yesterday: WATCH - Grudge Match? Cameron and Boris spar at tennis

Screen shot 2011-09-09 at 08.08.13
OECD warns of double-dip risk

"Britain is at ‘significant risk’ of a double-dip recession as the recovery in the world’s powerhouse economies falters, a leading international watchdog warned yesterday. The UK economy will barely grow in the second half of 2011 after virtually flat-lining during the previous nine months, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development." - Daily Mail

Osborne defends austerity measures - Financial Times (£)

> Yesterday: ToryDiary - Who speaks for the unemployed? Britain needs a jobs movement

Conservative Councillor sacked after riot race web jibe - The Sun

Hague: My vision for the Foreign Office

"William Hague declared on Thursday that he was planning to restore the role of the Foreign Office as a self-confident institution at the heart of government. Announcing what he said would be “a central part� of his mission as foreign secretary, Mr Hague revealed a programme to make the department “a revived and reinvigorated� body, one that can bring about “a permanent and well-entrenched improvement in Britain’s ability to project its influence overseas�. - Financial Times (£)

Gaddafi rants from hiding at "scumbags, germs and rats" - Daily Mail

> Yesterday: ToryDiary - Hague's plan to revive the Foreign Office (and a stuffed anaconda called Albert)

Health reforms face new challenge from Lib Dem rebels - The Guardian

Blair wants regime change in Iran

BLAIR head looking left"Tony Blair backs regime change in Iran and Syria and warns the West of a long and hard struggle to defeat terrorism and the flawed ideology that supports it. The former Prime Minister, in an interview with The Times to mark the tenth anniversary of 9/11, blames Tehran for helping to prolong the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan long after the allies’ initial victories. He suggests that the West must be ready to use force against Iran if it pursues its nuclear ambitions." - The Times ( A3)

David Miliband concedes "negatives outweigh positives" of Iraq war - The Guardian

Cruddas pushes Miliband to make Labour more democratic - The Guardian

Fox fury over Baha Mousa

"Liam Fox last night vowed to break the ‘conspiracy of silence’ by soldiers involved in the ‘violent and cowardly’ beating of an Iraqi detainee who died in British custody. Up to 14 serving soldiers are facing suspension for their alleged involvement in the death of Iraqi hotel worker Baha Mousa in Basra in 2003. The Defence Secretary is particularly angry that soldiers have chosen to remain silent." - Daily Mail

> Yesterday: WATCH - Cameron: Baha Mousa abuse was "a truly shocking and appalling incident"

Damian Green: Don't sub-contract caring to the Liberal Democrats

Green Damian Home Office"The Conservatives will once again become known as the nasty party if they listen to a “seductive chorusâ€� of voices urging they lurch to the right and “sub-contract moderate and progressive politicsâ€� to the Liberal Democrats, David Cameron is warned by one of his senior ministers today…Damian Green said that retreating to the party’s “comfort zonesâ€� would suggest that swing voters were considered 'not our people." - The Times (Â=A 3)

Fee threat to village greens over planning reforms -Daily Telegraph

Sajid Javid: They’ll hate it, but banks need fencing off

"British banks naturally oppose these changes, and I would expect nothing less. They are right to argue that the proposals would make them less competitive and less profitable. But that is a price worth paying for a safer banking system. Without ready access to depositors’ money, the investment banking arms of UK banks will no longer be able to operate securely in the knowledge that, if all goes wrong, the taxpayer will pick up the tab." - Sajid Javid MP, The Times (£)

BBC breakfast girls Amess botox blast - Daily Mail

Centre for Policy Studies paper urges Government to get ruthless on public sector pensions - Daily Express

First repatriation ceremony is held outside Wootton Bassett at Carterton, Oxfordshire - Daily Mail

Other Political News and Comment

And finally...Now Sir Stuart Bell claims it's too dangerous for him to hold surgeries

"When I did hold surgeries I had to have a policeman there, and now it's a different world," he said. 'So you deal with constituents in a way that is effective and positive for them and they don't complain, believe me.' Sir Stuart said all inquiries were dealt with 'promptly', adding: 'We've three full-time staff who answer telephone inquiries." - Daily Mail

Posted by Britannia Radio at 11:23