Cameron and Clegg clash over Palestinian recognition
"David Cameron and Nick Clegg have clashed over the Prime Minister’s reluctance to back an attempt by the Palestinians for statehood ... Mr Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, is understood to have challenged the Prime Minister, claiming that he was being too cautious by resisting greater recognition for Palestine." - The Times (£)
Tony Blair has been advising David Cameron on the Middle East
"The former prime minister was invited to Chequers for talks in July, sources said. The two men discussed the Palestinians' bid to be recognised by the United Nations as a full member. Mr Cameron will discuss the Palestinian claim at the UN General Assembly in New York this week. ... William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, has said he speaks to Mr Blair regularly. It is understood that Mr Hague and Mr Blair spoke this week about the UN process. They are understood to have met in New York yesterday at the request of Mr Cameron." - Daily Telegraph
- "The Chequers meeting was set up at the request of the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton." - Independent
- Andrew Grice: These days the Prime Minister prefers to learn lessons from Blair's mistakes - Independent
- The Palestian bid? Yes! But... David Miliband, Huffington Post
Hague at friends of Libya meeting - Press Association
Theresa May: Al-Qaeda is still planning operations in Britain
"The terrorist group is getting more "agile" and there is now a "new landscape of terrorism," Theresa May told an audience in Washington, as she warned that the progress made since 9/11 could be wiped out. She said the terrorist threat had changed significantly over the past ten years as al-Qaeda lost people, facilities, and freedom of action, along with much of its support. But the Home Secretary warned of the need to be "realistic" about the threats that remain, adding that the leadership of al-Qaeda continues to "plan operations in the UK"." - Daily Telegraph
Seven held in terror arrests - Daily Mail
Vince Cable: We’re fighting an economic war
"The country faces the “economic equivalent of fighting a war” with the global economic crisis worsening, Vince Cable warned the Lib Dem conference in Birmingham. The Business Secretary said that he could see only “grey skies ahead” and that the financial collapse had broken the post-war trend of “ever-rising living standards”. ... In his speech, Mr Cable warned that there was little reason for optimism. “Even with a stimulus to support recovery the next few years will be difficult,” he said." - Daily Telegraph
LibDems are helping to make Britain a fairer country - Norman Lamb, The Guardian
> Yesterday:
Allister Heath: We are not experiencing the economic equivalent of war
"Cable meant it partly to describe the magnitude of our problems and also as a justification for coalition government: there was a government of national unity during the second world war. But the analogy was misplaced – this is not a war and pretending that it is will merely retard the recovery. ... wars involve the state grabbing huge powers over the economy. Huge amounts of labour, capital and land are diverted to producing weapons and fighting the enemy, meaning that people have less to spend on things they actually want. This usually involves rationing and extreme protectionism. The result is t hat capitalism almost dies, replaced instead by a centralised, dirigiste and deeply corporatist economy, where only companies with close links to the state profit and the rest wither." - Allister Heath, in City AM
Italy's debt rating cut by S & P - BBC
Clegg allies shoot down Tim Farron's talk of "divorce" from the Tories
"Allies of Nick Clegg took to the airwaves to insist that the coalition would hold together until 2015, after Tim Farron, who was elected president at the start of the year, suggested a “divorce” as early as 2014. Privately, however, Mr Clegg’s allies admitted that they would have to do more to address unease over how the coalition will function in the final year of the Parliament." - The Times (£)
- Rachel Sylvester: Clegg must lead his party out of the scullery - The Times (£)
> From yesterday - Anthony Browne on our Columnists' page: Nick Clegg's pandering to his base is out of political necessity, rather than genuine conviction
Lib Dem peer calls for scrapping of the government's proposed benefits cap - Daily Express
Huhne to launch attack on "Tea Party Tories" - Independent
Energy Secretary to pledge to drive down household energy bills
"Householders will be able to switch energy suppliers more quickly, bulk-buy power at discount rates and claim refunds if firms are found to have exploited them for profit, Chris Huhne, the Energy Secretary, is to announce. ... The Liberal Democrat minister believes that making it easier for customers to switch energy suppliers will drive down prices. ... Mr Huhne will also offer customers the chance to join online “co-operatives” to bulk-buy electricity and gas from energy companies and automatically get the lowest price available." - Daily Telegraph
Michael Gove "investigated" over the use of private emails
"Michael Gove and his closest advisers are being investigated by the Information Commissioner after the Financial Times passed on evidence suggesting a systematic use of private e-mails, which conceal sensitive information from the education department’s own civil servants and the public. E-mail traffic, seen by the FT, shows the education secretary and his advisers have conducted government business using private e-mail addresses. Civil servants were then unable to find these e-mails when asked to retrieve them under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)." - The FT (£)
Gerald Howarth advocates "a policy of dispersal" towards Gurkhas
"Gerald Howarth said his constituency was being overwhelmed by the Nepalese ex-soldiers and their families following a landmark decision to grant them the right to settle in Britain. ... Around 10 per cent of the Hampshire borough of Rushmoor’s 90,000 population is now Nepalese, said Mr Howarth. He said schools, health centres and housing services in his Aldershot constituency were struggling to cope with the influx." -Daily Mail
Government to bring in EU temporary agency worker rules "unchanged"
"A spokesman at the Department for Business (BIS) told The Telegraph that the new agency workers legislation, which entitles temps to the same pay and benefits as permanent staff after just 12 weeks in a job, will definitely come into force unchanged from when it was laid before Parliament last year. This is despite the Prime Minister’s office secretly commissioning its own legal advice to see whether the law could be moderated to reduce its impact on UK employers." -Daily Telegraph
> From yesterday:
Scottish Conservative leadership candidate Ruth Davidson calls for more faith schools in Scotland
"She said parents should have more choice in education, with faith schools alongside Gaelic language schools as part of that choice." - Scottish Express
- "The election for the Tory leadership in Scotland has thrown up the first significant policy which has the potential to generate a broader debate north of the Border: the idea of setting up "faith schools". Ruth Davidson, Murdo Fraser and Jackson Carlaw are brave to suggest parents could be given more choice, including allowing state-funded schools to be run with churches." - Scotsman editorial
Insurance experts: Flood risk to homes if planning reforms go ahead
"The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said the current “rigorous planning system” stopped builders from developing areas at risk of flooding. But the ABI was worried that the draft National Planning Policy Framework could lead to a “rise in inappropriate developments” in flood risk areas." - Daily Telegraph
> Yesterday on ToryDiary: Business leaders are mobilised in favour of the Government's planning reforms
Regional fire control centres wasted £469 million, say MPs - BBC
Fabian Society: Miliband has 12 months to make himself a credible leader
"There is just a year left for Ed Miliband to turn himself into a credible prime minister-in-waiting, according to research to be published by the Labour-affiliated Fabian Society this week. Polling and focus group discussions suggest that Mr Miliband trails David Cameron in the leadership stakes because he has the wrong qualities for today's difficult economic times. Voters judge Mr Miliband to be a "good listener", but regard being decisive and a good communicator as more important – areas in which the Prime Minister outguns him." -Independent
And finally... "Equalities Minister" Lynne Featherstone attacks "brainless" men
""It frustrates me greatly that in the conduct of the House people behave as if they haven't got a brain," was her damning assessment. ... Tory MP Philip Davies has come up with a brilliant quote after Ms Featherstone's claims that men make terrible decisions. "One of the most terrible decisions that men have made was making her Equalities Minister, so I suppose you can see where she is coming from," he said." - Evening Standard
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