9.45pm ToryDiary: George Osborne is planning for married couples' tax breaks in next year's Budget
5.45pm Local government: Labour should be ashamed of Rotherham Council
4.15pm WATCH: Ed Miliband calls for an investigation into UKIP fostering fiasco
3.30pm ToryDiary: Scottish Conservatives launch new logo and website at National Convention
Noon MPsETC: Tory MPs – and Michael Gove – react to Rotherham council UKIP foster parents story
ToryDiary: Shapps signals that election debates may not happen in 2015
Also on ToryDiary: If we agreed a pact with UKIP, we would own their pain – and their problems
Local Government: Rotherham Council remove foster children from couple as they support UKIP
Simon Reevell MP on Comment: Gay marriage legislation will eventually be enforced against the conscience of the church
MPsETC: The 118 Tory MPs the Daily Mail lists as being opposed to gay marriage
MajorityConservatism: The final part of the Wrong Right series, on the need for civility on the Right
EU budget talks collapse as David Cameron says "non" to Brussels
"Talks on a new European Union budget have collapsed after David Cameron won German support in a row with France about his demands for more cuts in spending. The Prime Minister accused Brussels of 'living in a parallel universe' and said there could not be a 'deal at any cost.' Speaking at the end of the failed summit Mr Cameron said… 'Frankly the deal on the table was just not good enough. It wasn't good enough for Britain and neither was it good enough for a number of countries.'" – Daily Telegraph
> Coverage from yesterday:
Cameron leads a Nordic alliance of budget cutters – including Germany
"In a major breakthrough for the once-isolated Mr Cameron, he recruited powerful German leader Angela Merkel to back his defiant stand. The duo were joined in their new alliance by the leaders of the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. The group, all big EU contributers, laid down a “very clear marker” for far bigger cuts, the PM insisted last night." – The Sun
But will Merkel use her support of Cameron to get an agreement on a banking union?
"One school of thought in Brussels suggests that Merkel was happy to support Cameron at this summit so that she can have a greater sway over him at the next EU summit on 13-14 December when an EU banking union will be on the agenda. Cameron will need Merkel's support at the next budget summit, possibly in January or February, increasing the chances that he will agree to water down British concerns about the banking union, goes the new theory." - Guardian
118 Tory MPs set to defy Cameron and trigger biggest Tory party rebellion in modern times
"They are an eclectic bunch – including a former breakfast TV presenter, a former top City investment manager, a Liverpool football fan and a gay friend of Margaret Thatcher. But all have one thing in common: they are among the many Tory MPs who bitterly oppose David Cameron’s controversial policy to make gay marriage legal. Altogether, there are at least 118 Tory MPs (out of a total of 303) who, the Mail can reveal, have condemned the proposal to redefine the centuries-old institution of marriage." – Daily Mail
> Today:
> Yesterday:
Osborne wants international action against tax avoidance
"George Osborne has joined forces with his French and German counterparts to call for faster progress on a drive against tax avoidance by multinational corporations. The Chancellor, Wolfgang Schäuble of Germany and Pierre Moscovici of France, have written to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) calling on it to urgently address loopholes that allow Amazon, Google and Starbucks to legally avoid tax." – Times (£)
Maria Miller: "It's very disappointing that the Church of England has taken this decision"
"Maria Miller… has urged the Church of England to review its internal democracy, describing it as not reflective of the overwhelming views of its members following its botched attempt to allow women to become bishops. In her first official comments on the issue, which has plunged the established church into turmoil, Miller told the Guardian it was "extraordinary" and "very disappointing" that a vote on long-awaited legislation had failed despite the overwhelming approval of grassroots members." – Guardian
Grant Shapps: "If you work hard and want to get on in life we are the party for you"
"Mr Shapps [hiring Lynton Crosby] is not a sign that the party is returning to a “core vote” approach, focusing on crime and immigration… “You don’t win a British election with a dog whistle but by keeping the supporters we have already and winning the support of people we didn’t get last time,” says the chairman. “We need to broaden our appeal politically and geographically. If you work hard and want to get on in life we are the party for you. I need to deliver our strategy with the sharpest, best-managed campaign and that is why we hired Lynton.”" – Times (£) interview with Grant Shapps
> Today on ToryDiary: Shapps signals that election debates may not happen in 2015
> From yesterday - Columnist Bruce Anderson: I am now about to libel Lynton Crosby
Tory minister sent by No.10 to keep tabs on Vince Cable says Lib Dem keeps 'slipping his electronic tag' to attack business
"A Tory minister in Vince Cable’s business department has described his frustration that his boss frequently ‘slips his electronic tag’ by making anti-business speeches. In a sign of increasing rifts at the top of the Coalition, Michael Fallon – a close ally of Chancellor George Osborne – said the Lib Dem Business Secretary sometimes went off-piste by criticising wealth creators." – Daily Mail
Grayling's new mission: Crackdown on sex in prisons to stop "cosy" relationships between cell mates
"Chris Grayling… is understood to be looking at banning prisoners from setting up “cosy, domestic” living arrangements as part of his drive to make sure jail is not seen as a comfortable place. There is no data on how many inmates are in same-sex relationships but the prison authorities accept there is a "degree of inevitability" to sex in jails." - Daily Telegraph
Nadine Dorries backs Boris Johnson to take over from David Cameron
"Rebel Tory Nadine Dorries last night vowed to use her I’m A Celebrity fame to topple PM David Cameron. The 55-year-old MP… blasted his “controlling” Downing Street regime. She said: “I long for the day Boris Johnson is Prime Minister.” And she declared: “Boris is my King of the Jungle.” … “He is a good man and a hero of mine, and he can reach people other politicians can’t. … I do believe this will happen, and that he will be Prime Minister. If he doesn’t, it might be the day I consider giving up being an MP." – The Sun
Sir Malcolm Rifkind resigns from Conservative Friends of Russia amid homophobic smear allegations
"Chris Bryant, the former Labour minister… last night made accusations relating to a “smear” campaign after an old photo of him in his underwear was posted online. The picture of Mr Bryant was posted on the website of a pressure group called Conservative Friends of Russia (CFoR)… The photograph was later removed from the website, but it triggered the resignation of the former Foreign Secretary, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, from his position as honorary president of CFoR." – Independent
Lib Dems claim a victory over Tories in green energy battle
"The Liberal Democrats are claiming to have won a victory in the now open warfare with their Tory coalition partners over green energy… The chancellor has vetoed the original Lib Dem plan to introduce a de-carbonisation target before the next election, but the energy secretary, Ed Davey, claims that the Treasury has sanctioned him to give advice to the National Grid on the need to prioritise renewable energy" – Guardian
> Today on ToryDiary: Osborne and Davey both claim victory over green power deal. Green groups attack it
Foster parents 'stigmatised and slandered’ for being members of UKIP
"A couple had their three foster children taken away by a council on the grounds that their membership of the UK Independence Party meant that they supported “racist” policies. The husband and wife, who have been fostering for nearly seven years, said they were made to feel like criminals when a social worker told them that their views on immigration made them unsuitable carers." - Daily Telegraph
> Today:
Public sector pay squeeze may have to be extended until 2017 - Times (£)
Charles Moore: My industry must stop behaving like trade union leaders and show a willingness to change
"The Leveson report on the press will be published on Thursday. The press should welcome it. Note that I just said welcome it: I did not say agree with it. … We in the press have insulted Leveson. We have issued massive, reader-bewildering denunciations of one member of his panel of advisers. We have impugned the motives of MPs who disagree with us. And we have threatened David Cameron, in vague but menacing terms, about what might happen to him if he does not see us right." – Charles Moore for the Daily Telegraph
> From yesterday - Nick Pickles on Comment: A pro-business party of law and order should reject statutory regulation of the press
Sally Bercow abandons Labour ambitions after Twitter child abuse furore – Daily Telegraph
Dozens of new life peers to be appointed to House of Lords – Guardian
Radicals threaten Salmond and Scottish independence campaign
"Alex Salmond will tomorrow face a major challenge from leftwingers in his attempt to win over moderate Scots to the independence cause… The Radical Independence Conference has brought together the Scottish Greens, the Scottish Socialists, some of the more militant trade unionists, nuclear-disarmament campaigners and anti-monarchist republicans." – Independent
Just one in 20 aided by back to work scheme – Daily Telegraph
Charities fear huge rise in repossessions of family homes – Times (£)
George Galloway criticises Syrian opposition for not "lifting a finger for jihad" – Daily Telegraph
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