ToryDiary: "The Boris Reds": Johnson's Labour supporters are the key to defeating Ken Livingstone ToryDiary: Cameron's 'invest in Great Britain' message to world business leaders In his latest column Anthony Browne looks at ideas for the taxation of wealth and rejects all of them except, perhaps, new higher council tax bands: Wealth taxes are in decline, except in 'Liberal Democrat World' On Comment we have two different views of drugs policy: Local Government: LGA broadly welcomes Government planning reforms Cameron's first address to the UN assembly will urge the UN to take military action, and enforce sanctions Cameron's Chicago moment? Comparisons are being made with Blair's speech in Chicago during the Kosovo conflict in 1999 "So is it fair to draw comparisons with Chicago? At one level it is. This will be Cameron's most important speech on foreign policy as prime minister. He has known for a year that he would be delivering it after he despatched Nick Clegg to UNGA last year following the birth of baby Florence. He obviously did not know exactly what speech he would be delivering until events in Libya reached a (semi) conclusion last month" - Guardian In New York, Cameron launches a new Great Britain marketing campaign "He told an audience of business leaders in New York that the UK would put on “the greatest show on earth” next year when the London Olympics coincides with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and said he was sending out a message “loud and proud” that the world is invited. The Government has spent £510,000 developing the GREAT Britain brand, which will be used at business receptions abroad and in advertising by Visit Britain" - Telegraph 22 health service trusts contact Andrew Lansley saying they are crippled financially by PFI contracts National Programme for IT , a £12bn NHS computer scheme to be scrapped- Daily Mail Clegg is determined to protect the controversial human rights act, upsetting some Tories Clegg needs another hung parliament to avoid political "oblivion" - Guardian Clegg's "Kermit the Frog" like voice, and other criticisms from Quentin Letts- Daily Mail Charles Kennedy uses BBC film to attack the Liberal Democrats - Independent Matthew Parris labels Tim Farron's speech as "low" and suggests he overestimates his importance "That speech began to germinate in more minds than mine nagging questions about his moral courage as a potential party leader, about his intellectual stature and about his true political leanings" - Times (£) Steve Richards on the consequences of the Liberal Democrats' demonising of the Conservatives Jeremy Warner says that Osborne can rethink his deficit reduction strategy during the euro crisis Warning that the Government could miss the Office for Budget Responsibility's forecast as borrowing soars "If the overall performance of the first five months was replicated through the rest of the fiscal year, the [figure] would come in [at] around £127bn, compared to the targeted £122bn," Howard Archer, the chief UK economist at the forecasters IHS Global Insight, said. The end result could be worse, as state finances are pressured by "muted economic activity eating into tax revenues and pushing up unemployment benefit claims," he warned" - Independent The Guardian editorial says that Gove's "obsession with academies may prove wrongheaded" but praises his sincerity on the issue After the claims made about Gove's email use, other ministers are warned that they may have to disclose personal emails "A meeting of permanent secretaries yesterday discussed ordering a "trawl" of personal email accounts held by Mr Cameron, senior aides and government ministers to see if they contain messages which fall within the remit of the Freedom of Information Act, The Independent understands" - Independent Will Boris return to Parliament? Speculation mounts, but Boris promises to finish a second term as Mayor - Times (£) National Trust director set to sit down with Greg Clark to "hammer out a compromise" over planning reforms - Telegraph The Tory conference in Manchester is set to give the city a £27.4million boost - Manchester Evening News In the run up to the Labour party conference, Ed Miliband says he is "ripping up the rule book" Tony Blair sends a warning to Ed Miliband: only New Labour is an election winner "Mr Blair’s challenge comes in a new foreword to Lord Gould's book, 'The Unfinished Revolution, in which he distils his lessons of “what to do and what to avoid in winning the struggle to be elected”. He does not address them to Mr Miliband by name, but his conclusions will serve as a Blairite text against which the Labour leader’s performance at next week’s party conference will be measured" - Times (£) ToryDiary: Andrew Bridgen MP on Comment: Clegg and Cable should show they are serious about growth - by dumping the 50p tax rate Martin Parsons on Comment: Former Afghan President assassinated: lessons from a chapter in Afghan History Stephan Shakespeare on our columnists' page: Where is the political leadership on the €uro? MPsETC: Tory MPs go to Bangladesh as part of the party's social action project, Project Maja Local Government: WATCH: ConHomeUSA: Top Republican and American political news"In his first address to the UN General Assembly, the Prime Minister will give his most hawkish foreign affairs speech, telling the international community that success in Libya proved it must be “not just united in condemnation, but united in action. You can sign every human rights declaration in the world,” he will tell world leaders. “But if you stand by and watch people being slaughtered in their own country when you could act then what are those signatures really worth? ” - Times (£)
Barack Obama praises the "extraordinarily special relationship" with the UK - Sun
"Over the next few weeks, Department of Health officials and executives at the 22 trusts will develop detailed plans for dealing with the crisis. Their proposals are expected to include significant cost-cutting and the renegotiation of PFI contracts. Money will also be moved from NHS trusts that are in better financial shape to cover the debt costs at those that are struggling. However, officials are braced for the need to use Whitehall funds to bail out some hospitals" - Telegraph< /a>
"The Deputy Prime Minister won his loudest applause with an impassioned defence of the Human Rights Act – insisting it would never be scrapped while he was in government. David Cameron pledged to replace the Act, which he said had made it impossible for Britain to deport foreign terrorists, as Conservative leader of the Opposition. The Lib Dems robustly defended the legislation and the coalition agreement said the two parties would set up a commission to examine incorporating or building on the Act with a new British Bill of Rights. Mr Clegg, however, appeared to pre-empt its work in his speech – insisting the existing laws were ‘not, as some would have you believe, foreign impositions" - Daily Mail
"Cameron hoped to show that the Conservatives had moved to the centre ground by working harmoniously with the Lib Dems. This is not the message most Lib Dems conveyed at their conference. It is unlikely to be the message they will articulate at the election given that in winnable seats their main opponents will be Conservatives." - Steve Richards in the Independent
"The Chancellor has the perfect excuse for recalibrating his deficit strategy: the eurozone crisis. Any damage deficit reduction might be doing to growth is dwarfed by the catastrophic blow to confidence and credit availability being inflicted by Europe’s gathering debt crisis" - Telegraph
"Charming, urbane and brimming with concern about the chances of poorer children, his obsession with academies is controversial and may prove wrong-headed; but hear him enthuse about extending the ladder of learning down to the bottom of the pile, and it is hard to doubt he is sincere" - Guardian
"For the Labour leader, it is the "big picture" that matters. He believes that: "You only win an election as leader of the opposition if you have a clear sense of what's wrong with the country and what needs to change. I don't think David Cameron had that, before the election" - New Statesman
Thursday, 22 September 2011
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