ToryDiary: The Times reports that Werritty was funded by a private intelligence firm On Comment, two new voices join the debate about the future of Party Conference: Martin Vickers MP: We must make conference less expensive so members can engage and participate in real debate Fiona Hodgson: The Conservative grassroots is getting more of a say in the Party - as Manchester 2011 showed TalkingPoints: Philip Booth: Deregulate business to save our economy and mend the “broken society" Local Government: WATCH: David Lidington in Paris: The breakdown of the Eurozone would bring instability Lansley to Britain: eat less, eat better "Five billion calories a day must be slashed from the nation’s diet as part of the war on obesity. Britons eat on average 10 per cent more calories a day than they need and Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said adults needed to eat less to shed weight. But the call came as Mr Lansley said that the recommended daily calorie intake should be raised. He believes this will make the calorie target more realistic for modern-day life and allow people to make better diet decisions." - Daily Express > Yesterday: Fox hunt latest 1) Werritty set up not-for-profit company: donors named 2) Right sets up backing-for-Fox meeting: MPs named "Rightwing supporters of Liam Fox are to show David Cameron the depth of backbench support for the embattled defence secretary by asking him to make a special address next week at which they will display their backing. It is the first tangible sign that Cameron will face an internal battle if he feels compelled to ask Fox to resign because of his links with Adam Werritty, his close friend and fixer. Fox has been asked to make a special address to the foreign affairs sub-committee of the backbench 1922 committee next Tuesday." - The Guardian > Yesterday: Anthony Browne on our Columnists' page - The reporting of the Liam Fox case sides with the civil servants, who don't like Ministers receiving external advice Government backs down over pension age reform "Almost 250,000 women will no longer have to wait an extra two years before they qualify for the basic state pension under a £1bn U-turn announced by the Government yesterday. In an attempt to head off a rebellion when the Pensions Bill is debated by MPs next week, ministers dropped plans to raise the state pension age to 66 for men and women in April 2020. This would have forced 245,000 women in their fifties to work another two years because the state pension age…is to be equalised at 65 from November 2018." - The Independent > Yesterday: James Gray MP on Comment - Iain Duncan Smith should find a way to lessen the blow women will face because of pension changes Mirror snaps Oliver Letwin throwing away private papers in a St James's Park waste bin Gove plans league table of students "Pupils face being given a national ranking from first to up to nearly 90,000th in A-level exams to help universities select the brightest candidates from thousands of top-grade passes. The move was floated by the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, as one of a series of radical measures to revamp A-levels, but parents' leaders said they were "alarmed" by the proposal and warned it would lead to increasing numbers of appeals against exam results." - The Independent > Yesterday: ToryDiary - Michael Gove looks forward to the years when exam results get worse (but more honest) Government: No referendum on Eurozone plan "A Government statement to MPs yesterday made clear that no national poll will be held in Britain over plans for a £380billion emergency fund designed to support Greece and other debt-laden eurozone nations. Some MPs believe the establishment of the European Financial Stability Mechanism, which requires changes to the EU constitution, should trigger a vote in the UK under the Coalition’s so-called “referendum lock” law." - Daily Express S&P cuts Spain’s sovereign debt rating - Financial Times (£) Boris seeks to boost jobs for young people "Boris Johnson, the London mayor, has urged landlords across the capital to renovate their properties, making them more energy-efficient, in an attempt to spur an “employment miracle” among young people and boost economic growth. Addressing the CBI London annual dinner on Thursday, Mr Johnson encouraged public, private, residential and commercial property owners to follow the success of Germany’s nationwide retrofitting programme, which provided “green-collar” jobs and training for young people." - Financial Times (£) "There is a wider issue, though. The past decade has seen significant job creation, and at the same time more than two million people have been allowed to come to this country to live. Figures show that many of those created jobs went to people coming to the UK, while, at the same time, millions of Britons have remained out of work for many years. Immigration and unemployment are rightly of concern to people. I want to resolve these two cases – but my fear is that this incident could represent a wider injustice." - Henry Smith MP, Daily Express No, Prime Minister, Jeremy Heywood is not the man to lead our great Civil Service "Standards of integrity stalled too, as The Daily Telegraph discovered…Heywood wrote a letter to this newspaper, in his capacity as private secretary to the prime minister, insisting that the report was “without foundation”. To say the least, this was being economical with the truth. Fundamentally, he had crossed the key dividing line between unbiased, public-spirited official and careerist political adviser." - Peter Oborne, Daily Telegraph Huhne claims that nuclear power is a costly failure - The Independent Mike Hancock MP* avoids parliamentary inquiry over 'sex texts" row - Daily Telegraph PM gets LinkedIn - Daily Mail Labour united on tackling ‘predators’ - Financial Times (£) Scots Labour leaders back Alexander Labour criticism - Scotsman Fury as Vaz asks extremist preacher to Parliament -Daily Mail First female Serjeant at Arms quits Commons just days after powerful clerk becomes her boss - Daily Mail Political News and Comment in Brief And finally…True Blue: Lady Thatcher celebrates her 86th birthday lunch *Remember: Not Matt Hancock MP Economy: ToryDiary: Michael Gove looks forward to the years when exam results get worse (but more honest) Columnists: Comment: Local Government: Noon ConHomeUSA: Today's top Republican and American political news
MPsETC: The footballing Tory MPs who were trounced 5-1 by the lobby"A corporate intelligence company with a close interest in Sri Lanka, a property investor who lobbies for Israel and a venture capitalist keen on strong ties with Washington helped to fund the jet-set lifestyle of Liam Fox’s close friend, The Times can reveal. Over the past year, Adam Werritty, the Defence Secretary’s best man and self-styled adviser, paid for first-class travel around the world and stays in five-star hotels using some of the £147,000 paid into the bank account of a not-for-profit company that he set up." - The Times (£)
"David Cameron's right-hand man Oliver Letwin has been caught dumping secret papers in park waste bins. The PM's blundering policy adviser was seen on five separate days throwing away sensitive correspondence on terrorism, national security and constituents' private details. The Cabinet Office minister disposed of more than 100 papers in the security breach in a park near No 10. One revealed how intelligence chiefs "failed to get the truth" on UK involvement in controversial terrorist interrogations." - Daily Mirror
Henry Smith MP says that foreign boss fired two cleaners for being 'lazy and British' - Daily Mail
Former Tory Cabinet Minister Lord Hunt is new Press Complaints Commission Chairman - The Independent
"She has always had a knack for knowing what makes a successful party. Baroness Thatcher was able to put that talent to the test once more yesterday as she stepped out for a lunch to celebrate her 86th birthday. Dressed in a smart blue skirt and jacket, the former prime minister gave a broad smile to the cameras as she left her home for the London celebration flanked by her son Sir Mark Thatcher and daughter-in-law Sarah." - Daily Mail
Friday, 14 October 2011
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