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Tony Blair's brother appointed to EU regulatory body

The brother of former UK prime minster Tony Blair has been appointed to sit on the board of appeal that oversees the three newly created European financial supervisory bodies.

http://www.efinancialnews.com/story/2011-11-04/tony-blairs-brother-appointed-to-eu-regulatory-body

G-20 Urges EU to End Crisis as Greek Government Teeters

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-03/g-20-leaders-urge-europe-to-quell-debt-crisis-as-greece-government-teeters.html

http://www.willingaccomplices.com/

http://www.willingaccomplices.com/

Italy Faces Monitoring Pressure, Trumping Greece in Debt Concern

taly swept into the spotlight as the next potential victim of the European debt crisis, with world leaders calling for closer monitoring of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s deficit-cutting strategy.

Group of 20 leaders are considering International Monetary Fund inspections of Italy, saddled with Europe’s second-largest debt burden, officials said as a G-20 summit in Cannes, France entered a final day. Italy last week bowed to tighter European Union monitoring.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-04/italy-faces-monitoring-pressure-trumping-greece-in-debt-concern.html

eu reform treaty

Greece exit from euro poses EU legal, political headache AFP It would be playing with fire," Simon Tilford, chief economist at London's Centre for European Reform, told AFP. Fears of the EU losing a member emerged as Brussels experts confirmed that the bloc's rule book, the Lisbon Treaty, omits to provide for a ... See all stories on this topic » Today's top ConservativeHome features ToryDiary: Osborne tells Radio 4 that it would be better if Greece stays INSIDE the Eurozone The control of our borders must be top of the repatriation of powers list On our Columnists' page Bruce Anderson: Max Hastings, Conrad Black and repenting sinners Lord Ashcroft on Comment: The joy of giving: why the rich should be encouraged to become more philanthropic Tom Clougherty: Government must say no to Financial Transaction Tax Local Government: Ken Livingstone wants me imprisoned Lib Dem candidate deselected in middle of by-election DCLG staff spent taxpayers money at adult entertainment restaurants WATCH: "There'll be very little support for what the unions are doing" from the British public in today's climate, says Danny Alexander Today's ConservativeHome newslinks Britain looks set to provide billions of pounds for a new global economic package, which could see the International Montary Fund (IMF) double in size "David Cameron will face strong opposition from Conservative MPs over the potential use of taxpayers’ money to assist European countries after repeated assurances from the Government that Britain would not provide extra funds to help the eurozone. Both the Prime Minister and George Osborne, the Chancellor, insisted that the crisis is so grave that intervention is now required. “When the world is in crisis, it is right that you consider boosting the IMF, the International Monetary Fund, an organisation founded by Britain in which we are a leading player,â€� Mr Cameron said."- Telegraph Osborne braced for backlash from €urosceptic Tory MPs over IMF funding - Guardian Simon Hoggart: '€urosceptics make hay out of crisis' - Guardian Fraser Nelson: Osborne's shortcomings cannot be hidden by the €urozone crisis forever - Telegraph Allister Heath: '€urozone's growing crisis threatens to derail UK's coalition' - City A.M John Redwood: 'The €uro looks like the ERM' - John Redwood's Diary "The IMF plan is a bitter blow for French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German leader Angela Merkel. The two European Union fanatics desperately want the Eurozone to solve its own problems" - The Sun The Treasury says the Government is "well prepared for any eventuality" in the €uro crisis "The Treasury is considering a series of scenarios, concentrating on how Britain can best guard itself from the knock-on effects. The Chancellor, George Osborne, is understood to be examining how the British banking system can insulate itself from any financial contagion spreading across the European Union and continue lending to businesses. Ministers are also considering the potential impact of a crisis in the eurozone – Britain's biggest export market – on this country's stuttering recovery. . . Mark Hoban, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, referred to the single currency "breaking up" â €“ and told MPs that the Government had contingency plans in place to deal with the potential collapse of the euro." - Independent European leaders imagine a €urozone without Greece, after piling on the pressure on Greece, forcing Greek PM to call off referendum "Amid distinct echoes of the financial market meltdown in the autumn of 2008, European leaders put massive pressure on the embattled government of Greek prime minister George Papandreou, forcing the abandonment of plans to hold a referendum and triggering a political showdown in Athens. Downing Street sources said "strong political pressure to sort itself out" had been put on Greece, while Barack Obama said it was time to "flesh out"Europe's bailout plan. Share prices rose towards the end of the day as it became clear that Papandreou had been forced to shelve his referendum plans and was seeking to put together a government of national unity that would agree to Europe's bailout conditions" - Guardian Daily Mail Comment: Greek PM Papandreou "was unable to withstand the dark threats of Europe’s arrogant political elite, led by the posturing Nicolas Sarkozy, that — should the public vote No to the hugely painful austerity programme — Greece would be expelled from the entire EU" - Daily Mail Samuel Brittain: 'Why I would have voted no in a Greek referendum' - FT Nils Pratley: 'The fact Greece's exit from €uro has been discussed openly is seismic shift' - Guardian Mary Dejevsky: 'Have the Greek's got it in them to save themselves - and Europe?' - Independent IDS' reforms of the benefits system at risk if the Chancellor chooses to freeze housing benefit "If George Osborne chose to freeze housing benefit rather than uprate it in line with historic increases in rental rates next April, he would save the taxpayer about £900m. But the chancellor would also at a stroke leave many households in Duncan Smith's constituency about £10 a week worse off. The issue of how to pay for the increased costs for pensions and benefits resulting from higher inflation goes way beyond the personal for Duncan Smith. It's about his vision of politics - that the benefits system cannot be rebuilt by taking from the poor" - Guardian ... and could also prompt a rift with the Liberal Democrats "the move has provoked a rift with the Liberal Democrats, who are arguing that the most vulnerable people in society should not bear the brunt of efforts to reduce the deficit ... Liberal Democrat ministers are describing a benefits freeze as a "red line" they would not cross. The Liberal Democrat pressure may force the Chancellor to opt for a less painful squeeze on pensions and other benefits. Treasury officials are also looking at whether they could be raised in line with earnings, which could save about £5bn, or a six rather than 12-month inflation figure, which could reduce the bill by £1.4bn" - Independent The Government is pro-women, but could articulate its message better, say a new group of female Tory MPs "The new Conservative Women’s Forum comprises 37 of the 49 Tory female MPs, and met Mr Cameron in Downing Street this week. They have signed an open letter which stresses that the Government is pro-women and could articulate its message better, in an attempt to help Downing Street emphasise the Coalition’s women-friendly policies. Andrea Leadsom, a member of the group, said that she wanted to see women have more influence on government policies. She said: “We have got to get the messaging right as well as the policies. Women do most of the caring, they tend to work part-time, earn less than men.â€� - Telegraph Today, Theresa May will announce the recruitment of 5000 women as business mentors, in a bid to increase the number of female entrepreneurs "Ms May will argue that British women are naturally more entrepreneurial than their counterparts in other countries, but less likely to set up their own businesses. She will say that 5,000 volunteer mentors are to be appointed and trained over the next three years to give specialist advice to aspiring businesswomen. "We want the UK to be the best place in the world to start and grow a business, and for the next decade to be the most entrepreneurial and dynamic in Britain's history. Women can be at the heart of that" - Independent The Centre for Social Justice warns of an 'epidemic of fatherlessness' if fathers are denied the legal right to see their children "Plans to deny fathers and grandparents the legal right to see children after a family break-up will fuel an ‘epidemic of fatherlessness’ in Britain, it was claimed yesterday. A think-tank set up by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith warned that the proposals could further undermine the family. Downing Street also turned on the Family Justice Review, drawn up by former civil servant David Norgrove, insisting its conclusions are not in line with Government policy and saying it was not duty-bound to implement it." - Daily Mail Commons home affairs select committee says the UK Border Agency has lost contact with124,000 asylum and migrant applicants in the past year "The Commons home affairs select committee says the size of the agency's "controlled archive" of lost cases is equal to the population of Cambridge and is being used as a "dumping ground" for cases on which they have given up. The MPs say the bulk of the cases, 80,000, were moved into the archive to help clear a long-term asylum backlog, and the remaining 40,000 were outstanding migration cases. The agency said cases were only moved to the controlled archive after they have been checked against watchlists for six months and their best endeavours to trace applicants – they had lost contact with some of them years before – had failed" - Guardian For the first time in 30 years, nurses vote to strike over pension reforms "Hospitals, schools, benefits offices and driving centres face massive disruption on November 30 after Britain’s biggest public sector union voted in favour of strike action over pension changes. Unison members voted by three to one to back a walkout that could involve up to a million social workers, nurses, care assistants, school dinner ladies and teaching assistants. The ballot, the biggest in the union’s history, means nurses and health care assistants could strike for the first time in 30 years.â€� - Times (£) More in the Telegraph John Hutton: 'Reform, not strikes, will fix our public sector pensions crisis' - Telegraph The Scottish Conservative party will announce the result of leadership election later today - BBC Outgoing Tory leader Annabel Goldie takes part in her final First Minister's Questions at Holyrood - The Scotsman Vince Cable to face probe over documents which were left dumped outside his constitutency office - The Sun After revelations that the UK was advancing contingency plans for joining American forces in campaigns against military bases in Iran, Iranian foreign minister Salehi warns the US, saying it has 'lost its wisdom and prudence' - Guardian Con Coughlin: 'Iran is on the verge of getting the Bomb. It is time for President Obama to act' - Telegraph And finally ... a lighthearted look at the body language of world leaders at the G20 summit - Guardian Highlights from yesterday ToryDiary: Germany is not prepared to give Britain the EU renegotiation it wants, says The Economist's Bagehot  For Cameron, Clegg and Conservative MPs, the question is the same: When it comes to the EU, how far will you go? Grayling says Coalition must go "much further and much faster" on economic reform MajorityConservatism: There is a compassionate and ambitious alternative to Cameronism and Tory members prefer it Anthony Browne on our Columnists' page: Why the Greek referendum is the most important in EU history Columnist Jill Kirby is worried about a proposal that will allow women to check on the criminal histories of boyfriends: In promoting Clare's Law, the Coalition government is repeating Labour's mistakes On Comment: Michael Johnson:The government has surrendered to the unions on public sector pensions John Glen MP: The government’s adoption plans will help avoid barriers to finding permanent homes for children in care Charlie Elphicke MP: Children should have the right to know both their parents Mike Freer MP: The state must stop distorting the market, and allow world class universities the freedom to expand Nick Wood reviews a new book about London's Mayor: "The suspicion (remains) that he is in it for only one cause and for only one person: Just Boris" MPsETC: Tory MPs welcome Danny Alexander's public sector pensions statement to the Commons Bill Gates addresses Conservative Friends of International Development Local government: School Admissions Code cut from 138 pages to 61 Checking out the "check off" system for union subs WATCH: British taxpayers won't be hurt, Cameron promises, if UK government increases funding of IMF Andrea Leadsom: The 2010 intake are are "a eurosceptic bunch, but we don’t tend to be favouring getting out all together we strongly favour a renegotiation" Lord Lawson: Greece is "clearly going to fall out of the eurozone" Francis Maude warns against "disruptive and irresponsible" strike action by public sector unions Yesterday's teatime newslinks featuring more on the €urozone crisis as Cameron is in Cannes for the G20 summit, and Greek PM Papandreou says a referendum will not go ahead ConHomeUSA: Yesterday's top Republican and American political news