ToryDiary: How the Government could break down over Europe
Danny Kruger on our Columnists' page: We should regard deprived communities as mini-economies, and attempt to kick-start them as we do developing nations
Andrew Lilico on Comment: Lord Ashcroft is right about the dangers of a split on Europe but the split will be very big if the leadership defies the Eurosceptic majority
Tobias Ellwood MP on Comment: A long week at the Ministry of Defence
Local Government: Bureaucracy to be reduced for councils selling empty properties
WATCH: Barack Obama: The €urozone deal has calmed global markets
David Cameron: London is under constant attack from Europe
"The City of London is "under constant attack" from European Union regulations, David Cameron has said. Speaking on his way to Perth, Australia, for a Commonwealth summit, the Prime Minister also warned against the 17 eurozone nations colluding to undermine the European Union's free market rules. He said: "London is the centre of financial services in Europe. It's under constant attack through Brussels directives. It's an area of concern, it's a key national interest that we need to defend." Mr Cameron said that he will fight to prevent closer integration of the Eurozone countries leading to anti-competitive regulations." - Daily Telegraph
- "Prime minister believes Britain needs to be careful amid fears that euro countries will join forces to impose will on rest of EU" - Guardian
- "As eurozone leaders spent Wednesday evening thrashing out a rescue package for the single currency, David Cameron, UK prime minister, dined with his Polish and Swedish counterparts in an effort to make sure the 10 European Union “outs” were not marginalised in the new Europe." -FT (£)
- Now even Europe’s human rights chief admits British Bill of Rights is ‘the right thing to do’ - Daily Mail
> Yesterday on ToryDiary: Cameron greets "good progress" before Eurozone deal is struck
George Osborne vows to claw back powers as Europe heads towards a two-tier state
"George Osborne vowed to ‘rebalance’ Britain’s relationship with the European Union last night as he faced growing controversy over moves towards a two-tier Europe. The Chancellor sought to reassure rebellious Conservative MPs by giving the clearest commitment yet to using discussions over changing EU treaties to extract the UK from some of the burdens of membership. Mr Osborne said: ‘We have to be alert to the danger of the 17 eurozone members, which will have qualified majority voting, caucusing on areas that are legitimately the preserve of the 27 member stat es. ‘We need to ensure that they do not caucus in the future in a way that undermines our voice and influence or that bounces all 27 member states.’" - Daily Mail
> From yesterday - Anthony Browne on our Columnists' page: Merkel wouldn't be warning about war if we hadn't the €uro in the first place
Osborne to block IMF cash for eurozone bail-out as Tory MPs start planning areas for repatriation of powers
"Mr Osborne said he would not allow the International Monetary Fund, which is partly bankrolled by British taxpayers, to provide money for the new euro bail-out fund. The announcement was a fillip to Conservative backbenchers who have demanded that the Government acts to claw back powers from Brussels. The Daily Telegraph has learnt that Tory MPs will meet next month to begin drawing up a detailed plan calling for the return of employment and social laws following the back-bench rebellion over a European referendum." - Daily Telegraph
> From yesterday - WATCH: George Osborne: "Our view about how to solve the €urozone's immediate problems has been clear, consistent and forcibly expressed"
Sarkozy and Europe turn to China for help
"Mr Sarkozy spoke to President Hu as he sought backing for the European rescue fund after the late-night deal to save the euro. The fund’s chief, Klaus Regling, is due to fly to Beijing today to woo investors." - Times (£)
"China is very likely to contribute to the eurozone’s bail-out fund but the scope of its involvement will depend on European leaders satisfying some key conditions, two senior advisers to the Chinese government have told the Financial Times. Any Chinese support would depend on contributions from other countries and Beijing must be given strong guarantees on the safety of its investment, according to Li Daokui, an academic member of China’s central bank monetary policy committee, and Yu Yongding, a former member of that committee. He added that Beijing might also ask European leaders to refrain from criticising China’s currency policy, a frequent source of tension with trade partners." - FT (£)
- Sarkozy says Greece was not ready to join euro - Guardian
- Furious Greeks lampoon German 'overlords' as Nazis with picture of Merkel dressed as an SS guard - Daily Mail
Fraser Nelson: As Europe is reshaped, Cameron must seize Britain's moment - which may come sooner than anyone expects
"The crunch will likely come sooner than anyone expects. If the eurozone starts to merge tax and spending plans, a two-speed Europe becomes an inevitability. Members with their own currencies will have to decide what relationship they want, and this will require a new treaty. This time last week, Cameron might have believed he could get away with pushing a deal through, and calling it a “tidying-up exercise”. As of Monday night, he knows that will no longer work. The Prime Minister is discovering – and not before time – that keeping the Coalition together means more than keeping the Lib Dems on side. Indeed, the euro crisis is so deep-rooted that even they have to acknowledge the need for change." - Fraser Nelson in the Daily Telegraph
- "The EU referendum can wait no longer in the face of this terrifying economic crisis." - Daily Mail editorial
Ken Clarke’s reforms "will send 2,500 fewer to jail"
"The Justice Secretary has announced an overhaul of prison terms for the most serious and violent offenders, including a “two strikes” life sentence. ... But official estimates published yesterday showed the new regime will result in 2,500 fewer prison places being needed in the long term. Only 20 offenders a year are expected to be handed the new life sentences for those who commit two very serious crimes." - Daily Telegraph
- "The Justice Ministry says repeat offenders responsible for a quarter of a million crimes had more than 25 previous convictions each. Clearly, they had no fear of a stretch. And until Ken Clarke goes, they will continue not to worry." -The Sun Says
> From yesterday:
- ToryDiary: In the battle against knife criminals it's Nick de Bois MP 400 and Ken Clarke nil
- WATCH: Nick de Bois: Mandatory jail sentence for young people using knives to threaten is "another means of capturing part of the growing knife problem"
Royal equality act will end succession of first born male - rather than older sister
"Commonwealth leaders will pledge to amend legislation dating back to the 17th century to allow daughters of the monarch to take precedence over younger sons in the line of succession. David Cameron will hail the agreement of the 16 Queen's realms, the Commonwealth countries where the Queen serves as head of state, to amend "outdated" rules that also prevent a potential monarch from marrying a Catholic." - Guardian
Anna Soubry: The green belt could be destroyed by open cast mining
"Anna Soubry, a Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Department for Health, said the draft National Planning Policy Framework failed to prevent mines from being opened up on the green belt. ... In a House of Commons debate, Ms Soubry told MPs that the draft NPPF “makes it clear that such works are not necessarily inappropriate on green belt land”. She added: “I respectfully suggest to the Government that they are wholly inappropriate on green belt land.” Ms Soubry, the Conservative MP for Broxtowe in the the east Midlands, said the threat of open cast min ing “sits hanging over my constituency”." - Daily Telegraph
Figures show sharp rise in apprenticeships
"The number of people starting apprenticeships rose by more than half during the past year, according to government statistics. During the 2010-11 academic year, 422,700 people took up government-subsidised training positions, compared with 279,700 the previous year. More than three-quarters of the growth came from over-25s, whose numbers more than tripled. These workers now account for 40 per cent of the total number of starts. The number of under-19 starts grew by 10 per cent." - FT (£)
'Mickey Mouse' courses to be axed from league tables - Daily Telegraph
Coalition breaks green pledge with Siberian coal deal - Independent
Elderly care funds cut - Daily Telegraph
Baroness Thatcher claimed £535,000 public allowance
"Mr Blair, prime minister from 1997 to 2007, has claimed just under £273,000 since leaving office in June 2007. That figure included £169,076 in 2008-9 – more than his annual salary when he was prime minister. Sir John, who ran the country from 1990 to 1997, received £490,000 over the past five years. The 86-year-old Baroness claimed £535,000 between 2006 and 2011." -FT (£)
Nigel Farage: Tory MPs may defect to UKIP
"In an exclusive interview with the Evening Standard, Nigel Farage said Conservative MPs, MEPs and peers had told him privately of their dissatisfaction with Mr Cameron's stance. "I'm not going to tell you they are on the verge of coming across," he said. "All I can tell you is that it's being discussed. I do know people in the Conservative Party - and I've spoken to some this morning - who are deeply depressed at the moment. Some of them have got to be asking themselves, 'What if a whole group of us went to Ukip?'"" - Evening Standard
Sayeeda Warsi: "Britain must be a country where people can be proud of their religion"
"Now we need to go further: beyond the photo calls outside the mosque, beyond hosting the local imam for tea in a draughty church hall. This dialogue needs to be congregation to congregation, community to community. That is why we are working with the Church of England on the Near Neighbours programme, building up multi-faith social action using the existing parish infrastructure. We also need to take the lead internationally. That means pressing other governments to safeguard religious minorities – be it the Copts in Egypt or Christians and other minorities in Pakistan. It means raising problems of persecution at the highest level, as the Archbishop of Canterbury recently did in Zimbabwe." - Sayeeda Warsi in the Daily Telegraph
Lord Carey: The disgraceful closure of Wren’s masterpiece has been a debacle. The Church of England must urgently examine its values - Daily Telegraph
- "The canon chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral resigned because he could not face the prospect of "Dale Farm on the steps of St Paul's", as police prepared to take action against the anti-capitalist protesters within days." - Guardian
Alex Salmond apologises for reading fake independence referendum letter -Daily Telegraph
Pay for directors "rose 50% in past year", a report claims - BBC
French plot to send unemployed on trains to steal our jobs - Daily Express
Irish presidential election: polls close - Guardian
On Comment:
- Benjamin-Harris Quinney: Must the home of free-market conservative thought disappear into the ether?
- Chris Skidmore MP: Thanks to Andy Burnham, we now know that Labour are committed to opposing increases in NHS funding
- Charlie Elphicke MP: We have a right to know how our money is spent
Anthony Browne on our Columnists' page: Merkel wouldn't be warning about war if we hadn't the €uro in the first place
Local Government: John O'Connell: Councils in the Midlands spent nearly £300,000 on flights over the last two years when they were advising others to cut down on theirs
WATCH:
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