“Mr Cameron said Help to Buy had been ‘very important to get the housing market moving’. … ‘It did play an important role in helping to restore confidence in housebuilding,’ he added. Mark Carney, the Bank of England governor, ‘had the tools at his disposal’ to recommend the scheme is pared back if he is concerned the property market is overheating. … ‘The Bank of England has all the powers they need to deal with this,’ Mr Cameron told the Daily Mail.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
>Today: The Deep End – Homeownership isn’t to blame for our crazy housing market
>Yesterday:
“David Cameron ferociously condemned Ukip last night saying voters had heard enough of its ‘appalling’ views. … In the closing days of campaigning for European and local elections, the Prime Minister said Ukip represented the ‘politics of anger’. … Decent, hardworking people who were tempted to vote for the anti-European party should think again, he said.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
“Reality TV star White Dee will be stripped of her benefits if she is found to be earning significant sums by cashing in on her notoriety, David Cameron implied yesterday. … The Prime Minister stepped in after the star of Channel 4’s Benefits Street insisted she would continue taking state handouts until he or his Government stopped her. … White Dee, whose real name is Deidre Kelly, has repeatedly insisted she is too ill to work as she suffers from depression.” – Daily Mail
“Under-fire football chief Richard Scudamore escaped the sack today despite the Prime Minister joining the backlash against his sexist emails. … David Cameron suggested a member of his Cabinet would not survive if they admitted sending crude messages, as the Premier League chief executive had done.” – Daily Mail
“The government was forced to clarify that it will play no role in judging any self-regulatory press body after a senior civil service press officer said the new Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) was the ‘only show in town’ – and said the Guardian should not be allowed to join. … A spokesperson for the culture department said it was up to the press to decide how to develop the work of the new body that has been established by some national newspapers, adding it was ‘not for the government to judge’ any proposed self-regulator.” – The Guardian
“Teenagers will study African kingdoms and the rise of Islam as part of a new history A-level aimed at broadening lessons beyond ‘Hitler and the Henrys’. … Examiners yesterday proposed a range of extra topics to be added to history A-levels under Coalition reforms aimed at making public exams more rigorous. … Education Secretary Michael Gove has also ordered exam boards to ensure that history covers at least a 200-year sweep instead of 100 years under the current syllabus.” – Daily Mail
“An academy chain in charge of running six state schools became the first in the country to fold today – forcing a sudden hunt for new sponsors to take them over. … The Prospects Academies Trust, which runs six schools in Paignton, Bexhill and Gloucestershire, was one of 14 chains told by the Government it could not take on any new schools because of concerns over standards.” – The Independent
“Humiliated justice ministers were last night blasted for going soft on criminals – and blocking moves to end days out for murderers. … Tory backbencher Philip Davies put up proposals to stop temporary release for killers last week – but the move was thrown out in the Commons. … Yesterday he blasted Justice secretary Chris Grayling for talking tough – but failing to protect the public.” – The Sun (£)
And comment:
“A proposal to run Heathrow 24 hours a day would inflict ‘untold misery on more than a million’ people, Boris Johnson said yesterday. … Mr Johnson said: ‘Heathrow is already the most noise-polluting airport in Europe and it would be catastrophic for the quality of life of Londoners if aircraft were allowed to take-off and land 24 hours a day . . . Do these people not deserve a decent night’s sleep?’ – The Times (£)
“Conservative MP Michael Fabricant has said his party is no longer made up ‘retired colonel types’ with ‘horrendous’ views. … The Lichfield MP has also revealed that the Labour Party unsuccessfully attempted to persuade him to cross the floor of the Commons and join its ranks shortly after the 1997 Labour landslide.” – Pink News
“Mr Clegg will tell the European Studies Centre at Oxford University: ‘UKIP. Conservative backbenchers. Isolationists. … They mask their hostility towards Europe as British bulldog spirit. But these are false patriots.’ … He will warn that if ‘the forces of insularity and chauvinism get their way’, they ‘will hand the keys to running our European continent to the Germans, the French and others, while we retreat back across the English Channel’.” – The Sun (£)
>Today:
>Yesterday: Priti Patel MP on Comment – This is the most successful Euro-sceptic government since Thatcher’s. So vote Conservative on Thursday.
“Tory Eurosceptics are planning to stand by David Cameron even if the party performs poorly in the European elections, as the right keeps its powder dry for a battle over Europe after the general election. … One senior figure said that the ‘wagons are beginning to circle’ protectively around the prime minister as rightwing Eurosceptics acknowledge that the Conservatives need to unite in the runup to May 2015. … But the right is preparing for a battle over Europe before the prime minister’s planned referendum on EU membership in 2017, amid warnings from insiders that it could lead to a Tory split as epic as the divisions over the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846.” – The Guardian
“As the Liberal Democrats head towards another round of damaging local election losses this week, Nick Clegg has been told by senior colleagues to distance himself from a possible second coalition with the Conservatives. … Mr Clegg says he would not want to prop up one of the two leading parties in a minority government in a hung parliament, saying he would favour a coalition in such circumstances. But his position has been seen by some on the left of the party as preparing the ground for a second Lib-Con coalition; some Lib Dems believe the party might be better off rebuilding its fortunes in opposition.” – Financial Times
>Yesterday: ToryDiary – The facts and the fears of giving MPs and members the power to veto a 2015 coalition deal
“Labour leader Ed Miliband today promised to end the ‘terrible scandal’ of low pay by linking the minimum wage to average earnings. … But the move threatened to backfire after the Tories highlighted official figures which suggested the minimum wage would be 20p lower today if the policy had been introduced in 2010 when they took over. … Business Minister Matthew Hancock claimed the minimum wage had ‘never been higher’ as a proportion of wages, suggesting that Labour’s proposal would hit low earners in the pocket.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
>Yesterday: Lord Ashcroft on Comment – Labour lead by six points in my latest poll
“Labour leader Ed Miliband has repeatedly hit out at the growing use by employers of ‘exploitative’ contracts that offer staff no guarantee of any work. … But figures produced by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority reveal that MPs employ 151 staff on zero hours contracts. … Of these, 62 are employed by Labour MPs, 77 by Conservatives, five by Liberal Democrats and seven by independents and the minor parties.” – Daily Mail
“Taxpayers are shelling out nearly £10million a year so police officers and staff can do union work. … Despite the financial squeeze leading to huge falls in police budgets, spending on union activity has shot up by 65 per cent in just two years, figures suggest. … The vast majority of that money pays the salaries of representatives from the Police Federation, the embattled body rocked by a series of scandals over recent months.” – Daily Mail
>Yesterday: Peter Walker on Comment – May still has lots to do – the Police Federation could help
“A coalition health reform could trigger a fresh cash crisis immediately after the election, NHS officials have warned. … Doctors fear that the NHS budget is going to be used to provide funding to plug gaps in social care at a time when the system is already under huge strain.” – The Times (£)
“AstraZeneca yesterday rejected a last-ditch £69billion offer by US rival Pfizer – ending a month-long battle over its future. … The British pharmaceuticals giant all but secured its independence when it called the bid ‘inadequate’ in a strongly worded rejection. … Bosses said it ‘failed to make a compelling’ case which presented ‘serious consequences’ for the company, jobs and research in Britain.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
“Hate preacher Abu Hamza is expected to die behind bars after he was last night found guilty in the US of a string of terror offences. … Hamza was convicted of 11 counts of criminal conduct related to the taking of 16 hostages in Yemen in 1998 that left three Britons and an Australian dead. … He was also found guilty of advocating violent jihad in Afghanistan in 2001 and conspiring to establish a jihad training camp in Bly, Oregon, between June 2000 and December 2001.” – Daily Mail
“During an unfortunate incident as he attended a football match, Nick Robinson lost his mobile phone containing personal contacts for everyone from the Prime Minister down. … Mobile numbers for ‘most of the Cabinet’, Downing Street officials and key civil servants were stored on the phone, sources said. … Now the loss of the treasure trove of government contacts is being treated as a ‘serious security breach’ by No.10.” – Daily Mail
“David Cameron has spoken passionately about his desire for Scotland to remain in the UK, insisting that ‘we would be deeply diminished without Scotland’. Now that sentiment is to take on a personal hue for the prime minister and his wife Samantha, who have hired a Scottish nanny to take care of their three children.” – The Times (£)
“More young women say they would back reality TV star Joey Essex in an election than Nick Clegg, a new poll reveals. … Just 1 per cent of women aged 18-30 surveyed by Cosmopolitan said they admire Mr Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, but 3 per cent said they would consider voting for Essex. … In fact all of Britain’s party leaders proved so unappealing that most young women said they would rather vote for politicians who are from other countries or dead.” – Daily Mail
“This is the moment MP Charlotte Leslie took to the beach to recreate a picture which emerged of her as a young Tory – looking like a stunning Baywatch babe. … Donning a red swimming costume the 35-year-old posed in a bid to raise awareness of the lifesaving efforts carried out daily on Britain’s coasts.” – Daily Mail