David T Breaker on Comment: Why are we extending the welfare state to include free care? Justin Hinchcliffe on Local Government: The battle for Downhills The Deep End: Stella Creasy: Labour’s most interesting Member of Parliament …(But privately he's saying that he "he still has much work to do" as Justice Secretary) "Behind the scenes, however, Clarke is making clear that he believes he still has much work to do as justice secretary in reforming community sentences, introducing full work for prisoners and reforming the court system. The intervention by Clarke is also designed to protect the position of his closest friend in the cabinet, the Commons leader Sir George Young, 71, who is being tipped for a gentle retirement." - The Sun > Yesterday: ToryDiary - Laws to Business, Cable to Home Secretary, May to the Foreign Office, Hague to CCHQ... Paul Goodman's reshuffle plan Cameron U-turns over automatic gongs for gold medallists "But yesterday he appeared to have changed his tune, with sources close to the Prime Minister saying it was his personal wish that every gold medallist be recognised. The mastermind of the 2012 Games, Lord Coe, who will help choose who is to be honoured, and London Mayor Boris Johnson are also keen to see that every champion gets a gong, it emerged. Mr Cameron’s position is a complete volte-face from that he held just five months ago." - Daily Mail More than 20,000 spared jail reoffend - Daily Mail Donations 1) Tory donors: the gift that doesn't necessarily keep on giving "Some donors have told The Times that they are pessimistic about the next election. Other donors complain about government disarray, lack of action on the economy, irritation at gay marriage plans and the party’s stance on bonuses and bankers. Boris Johnson is attracting some interest from the donor community, according to two of them. Separately, The Times has learnt that a group of Tory ministers have started discussing how to win in 2020 if they lose the next general election. They want the party anchored more firmly on the right." - The Times (£) Donations 2) Miliband more reliant on Unions than Brown Navy 'running out of sailors to man submarines’ - Daily Telegraph Boris is out for gay marriage "Boris Johnson has risked alienating the Conservative right by publicly backing the Government's plans to legalise full gay marriage. In a short film made for the Out4Marriage campaign the Mayor of London said he was pleased that marriage rates are going up in London and that nobody should be denied the benefits. But perhaps sensitive to the divide in his party over the issue, Mr Johnson backed the proposals without using the phrase "gay marriage" once." - The Independent > Yesterday: WATCH - Boris Johnson records video message in support of same-sex marriage Tory police policy in for ‘bumpy ride’ - Financial Times (£) "HM Revenue and Customs is embroiled in a dispute with the expenses watchdog, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), which is defending the right of MPs to employ a professional to fill in expenses forms and tax returns for their offices and insisting that the cost – up to £5,000 a year for each MP – should be tax deductible. Ipsa insists that, despite being on the parliamentary payroll, MPs are more akin to small businesses, which can reclaim such costs. The row has now reached a standoff, with neither authority willing to compromise." - The Guardian Eurozone can cope with Greek exit, says ECB insider - The Times (£) Nick Gibb hits back at Labour over school playing fields > Yesterday: MPsETC - Philip Davies MP gets assurances from Michael Gove that EU must not brainwash Britain's schoolchildren Olympic exposure prompts NHS to sell services around the world - The Independent Ian Birrell: It's time to send bulldozers into the Green Belt... "Freeing up just 1% of green belt could provide space for 300,000 new homes. Instead, outdated planning policies penalise the most successful and productive parts of the country. Do we want to lose more playing fields, see more garden-grabbing, cram more families into the wrong properties, dash more young people's dreams and watch more landlords get rich at our expense from soaring housing benefit? If not, it is time to send the bulldozers into the green belt." - The Guardian ...Downing Street: We won't do that - end of story "In recent weeks there has been a series of report suggesting that Mr Osborne wants to reopen the debate by encouraging a new wave of house building. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman emphasised it was a commitment in the Coalition Agreement not to interfere with the green belt. He said: “We set out the position on the green belt in the national planning policy framework. “The coalition agreement commits the Government to safeguarding the green belt - that policy framework sets that out very clearly. The policy is as set out in that policy framework.” - Daily Telegraph > Yesterday: Local Government - Selling expensive voids to increase social housing supply? Southwark shows the way Osborne forcing middle class ‘to foot bill for extra nursery places’ claim - The Times (£) Janan Ganesh: Poor ratings, bad perceptions, vulnerable on policy - Miliband's poll lead is more fragile than it looks Assange: View from the Left 1) Galloway: What he did wasn't rape "The Respect MP claimed Assange should not be facing a rape charge in Sweden as he was accused only of ‘bad sexual etiquette’…the MP for Bradford West said he did not believe the two women who had accused Assange of rape and sexual assault. He added: ‘Even taken at its worst, if the allegations made by these two women were true, 100 per cent true, and even if a camera in the room captured them, they don’t constitute rape." - Daily Mail Assange: View from the Left 2) Now it's right to identify an alleged rape victim. Craig Murray thinks so, anyway "Last night, another supporter of Assange provoked anger by appearing to name one of the alleged victims on BBC2’s Newsnight. Craig Murray, 53, former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, said the name twice during a debate claiming it was in general circulation, sparking a rebuke from host Gavin Esler…Mr Esler told him: ‘You should not be naming a potential rape victim.’ " - Daily Mail Assange: View from the Right: He will end up in Sweden – and quite right too Scottish Ministers face calls to take addicts off methadone and put them on abstinence programmes - Scotsman UUP man in broadside over Rasharkin ‘ethnic cleansing’ - Belfast Telegraph Lib Dems face backlash from angry students at ballot box - Yorkshire Post Blair meets locals during Marbella holiday - Daily Mail Comment: MPsETC: 12.30pm Local Government: Selling expensive voids to increase social housing supply? Southwark shows the way WATCH: Boris Johnson records video message in support of same-sex marriage
"He said: “I am totally laid back about a reshuffle and am waiting to see whether or not it affects me. I have never had any conversations with the Prime Minister or anyone acting on his behalf about a reshuffle. Mr Clarke, 72, is said to be refusing to budge from the lenient justice policies that have triggered widespread anger…Mr Clarke has held most major offices of state, including Chancellor and Home Secretary, in a ministerial career stretching back to the 1970s." - The Sun
IPSA and HMRC go head to head over MPs' expenses
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
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