Friday, 26 July 2013

Take the latest ConservativeHome Monthly Survey
Has Cameron got the right policy on internet pornography?
Has his charm offensive worked on you?
Would you welcome another Coalition between the Conservatives and Lib Dems after the next election?
These questions – as well as the usual ones, including our Cabinet rankings – are featured in ConHome's latest monthly survey. You can take the survey here.
Today's ConservativeHome top features
ToryDiary: "Is any growth, regardless of narrowness of base or sustainability, desirable? Or does George Osborne still seek a rebalancing of the economy by region and by sector - preferring expansion in the North and the Midlands to another South East boom, and favouring new manufacturing jobs over those in financial services?" What type of growth does George Osborne want? The risky hare, or the reliable tortoise?
Graeme Leach on Comment: "The UK has the smallest, most expensive and densely populated housing stock in Europe. This is a market screaming out for radical supply-side reform. Help to Buy may provide a temporary feel good factor over the 2014-15 period as house values pick-up, but there will be a price to pay. There always is." We need help to supply - not Help to Buy
Today's ConservativeHome newslinks
Osborne: The recovery must reach the North and the low-paid
Growth ConHome"Growth of 0.6 per cent in the second quarter of the year confirms that our economy is on the mend. In difficult conditions it has grown by 1.4 per cent in the past 12 months. But the damage done by the financial crisis runs deep and there is still a long way to go. We’ve had to take tough decisions to deal with our deficit and get back on track, but we’ve done it in a way that sticks to my pledge that we are all in this together. The richest have paid the most, but all have made sacrifices. Now we need to make sure that we’re still all in this together as th e recovery takes hold. We will do that by building an economy that backs aspiration and supports every part of our country." - George Osborne, The Times (£) 
>Today: Graeme Leach on Comment - We need help to supply - not Help to Buy
Lib Dem members want coalition with Labour, not the Conservatives
"Three times as many Liberal Democrat members want their party to form an alliance with Labour than the Conservatives after the next general election. A survey of the party’s grassroots showed that 55 per cent favour a post-2015 deal with Ed Miliband while just 18 per cent want Nick Clegg to work with David Cameron." - Daily Mail 
Matthew Hancock calls on firms to hire Brits, not immigrants
Hancock"Mr Hancock rejected a claim from the independent Office of Budget Responsibility that 60,000 foreign workers are needed annually to keep national debt at sustainable levels… ‘Immigration without support for people who are here masks problems.  'It doesn’t solve them. The jobs are increasingly there – we’ve got record numbers of jobs. ‘What we are talking about is making sure local people have a chance to get them. ‘It is sometimes harder to take on a young unemployed local person but, in the long term, it’s better for the busin ess and it’s better for the whole economy." - Daily Mail 
  • Lib Dems and UKIP team up to oppose "Go home" vans - Daily Mail 
Crosby is under attack because he's good at his job
"Labour’s attacks on Crosby are not about his ethics, his politics or his client list. They are about his effectiveness. Consider the thread that connects the revival in Tory fortunes. It’s not better policy, or a stronger economy. It’s sharper messaging, a strong narrative and message discipline." - John McTernan, Daily Telegraph
Ageing population keeps welfare bill high 
"In a report released tonight, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said that the proportion of GDP spent on jobseekers’ allowance, pensions and other “public social spending” stood at 23.8 per cent — the same as it was in 2010. The Paris-based think tank warned that unless action was taken to cut the cost to the state of Britain’s rapidly rising elderly population, the health and pensions systems could collapse." - Daily Telegraph
Cameron Long Wide
PM backs food lessons for children
"The Prime Minister said that as a father of three he took a personal interest in how young people could be “fitter and healthier”. Giving them the ability to cook and make informed choices on what to eat was key to improving the nation’s diet. His call for the return of old-fashioned home economics in schools came in a response to the winners of a letter-writing competition for 13-year-olds run by the Anne Frank Trust." - The Times (£) 
Two Stafford nurses become the first to be struck off in scandal investigation
NHS_Logo"Two senior nurses at the centre of one of the worst hospital scandals in living memory have been struck off. Sharon Turner, 48, and Tracy White, 52, stood accused of ruling the A&E unit at Mid Staffordshire ‘with fear’ by bullying other nurses into covering-up the appalling neglect of patients. They are the first two nurses from the trust to be struck off. Up to 1,200 patients are feared to have died there unnecessarily between 2005 and 2009." - Daily Mail
  • GPs want to charge for appointments - Daily Mail 
GM eco-warriors go over the top attacking "fascist" Owen Paterson
"Gently suggest, as the Environment Secretary did recently, that the West has a moral obligation to share GM technology with developing countries and you are apparently little more than a fascist bootboy. It is a bit rich coming from the Soil Association, which was co-founded by a genuine fascist, Jorian Jenks, who began his crusade as agricultural adviser to the British Union of Fascists and advocated a highly nationalistic food policy." - Ross Clark, The Times (£) 
  • Fracking battle intensifies in the Weald - Daily Mail  
  • Fuel duty raised £2bn last month - The Sun 
CofE's Wonga plan undermined by pension investment revelation
ABC"The Archbishop of Canterbury ordered an urgent review of the Church of England’s investments last night after it emerged that its pension fund helped to bankroll the payday lender Wonga. The discovery undermined the Most Rev Justin Welby’s high-profile pledge to destroy the loan company by throwing open a network of parish churches to promote non-profit credit unions." - The Times (£) 
Grayling explores more efficient ways to run the courts
"The government is considering setting up an independent public interest corporation to take control of courts and tribunals as it mulls options for radical reform of the court service in England and Wales. In a letter, Chris Grayling, the justice secretary, Lord Judge, the Lord Chief Justice, and Sir Jeremy Sullivan, senior president of tribunals, outline the development of proposals to cut costs and reform HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), but deny there are plans to sell off the court service." - FT (£) 
Labour reduces its Corporation Tax bill to zero, despite surplus
Red Ed"Labour paid no corporation tax last year despite being in surplus for its sixth year, the party’s annual accounts revealed yesterday. Three months after Ed Miliband criticised irresponsible tax avoidance, it has emerged that his party reduced its corporation tax bill from £561,000 to zero by offsetting expenses and tax losses held over from 2011. Both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats paid tax in 2012, although the corporation tax bill for the Lib Dems was only £15." - The Times(£) 
Jan Moir: I never signed up to porn in my house
"I am on Cameron's side. As he said himself, it is not going to be easy. Mistakes will be made, problems abound - but we have got to start somewhere.  How on earth did it happen that a river of pornography merrily flows into every house in the country via a laptop? When did hard core become so . . . normalised? I didn't sign up to a national porn programme. Did you?" - Daily Mail
News in brief
  • Being rude to Sarkozy is now legal - Daily Mail 
  • BBC Queen scandal exec pocketed £500,000 - Daily Mail 
  • Clegg and Cameron are on holiday, so who's in charge? - Daily Mail 
  • Treasury told to up its game over Equitable compensation - FT(£) 
  • Crackdown on uninsured drivers - Daily Mail 
  • Danny Nightingale walks free, but with a reputation in tatters -Daily Express 

Posted by Britannia Radio at 15:20