“Pictures posted on a militant website appear to show masked fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) forcing captives to lie down in a shallow ditch. … Further photos appear to show the bodies of the men soaked in blood after being shot. … William Hague, the foreign secretary, who spoke with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday, ruled out sending British troops into action, but said they could help Iraqi counterparts with ‘counter-terrorism expertise’. … David Cameron, the prime minister, spoke with the secretary general of Nato about the security situation in Iraq.” – Daily Mail
> Yesterday: ToryDiary – Iraq: the limits of western responsibility. The limits of western power.
“Former deputy PM John Prescott accused Mr Blair of trying to take the West ‘back to the Crusades’. … Tory MP Charlotte Leslie described Mr Blair’s views as ‘dangerous’. ‘Believing Blair on the Middle East feels about as safe and wise as referring patients to Harold Shipman,’ she said. … And Ukip leader Nigel Farage said the former Labour leader has become ‘an embarrassment’ and suggested his friends should urge him to take ‘an extended period of silence’.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
> Today: ToryDiary – Tony Blair, the Rector of Stiffkey
“Michael Gove’s closest ally has accused a ‘bumbling’ David Cameron of holding back the education secretary’s radical school reforms. … Dominic Cummings said that the prime minister’s failure to give greater support showed that he lacked ‘the slightest sense of purpose’ about what he wanted to achieve in government. … In an interview with The Times, he called Mr Cameron ‘a sphinx without a riddle’ surrounded by sycophants.” – The Times (£)
And comment:
> Today: The Deep End – Islamism is far from being the biggest extremist threat to our schools
“Thus both the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary posed with ‘Dame’ Angelina in Downing Street: David Cameron pledged to ‘protect victims and punish perpetrators of rape’ in countries such as Somalia and the Congo, while William Hague declared that rape as a weapon in war was the ‘moral issue for our generation.’ … It would be more realistic and useful if our most senior politicians put as much emphasis on the problem of sexual violence within our own society — and if our courts did more to protect those victims.” – Dominic Lawson, Daily Mail
“China’s premier will arrive in London today on a mission to change ‘mis-perceptions and misgivings’ about his country. … Mr Li is accompanied by Chinese business leaders and is expected to discuss up to £18 billion worth of deals, investments and memorandums of understanding. Several of these are likely to be in sensitive areas, such as energy, where China has encountered opposition elsewhere in the world.” – The Times (£)
“David Cameron has ordered Tory fundraisers to build a £30 million election warchest to keep Ed Miliband out of power. … Tory chiefs have been told they need to raise £100,000 a day between now and the election to pay for what is set to be the most expensive campaign for years. … Insiders say the demanding target is being achieved as entrepreneurs alarmed by Ed Miliband’s anti-business rhetoric reach for their chequebooks.” – Daily Mail
“Veterans of the D-Day landings will receive public funding to make the annual pilgrimage to the Normandy beaches where they fought for our freedom, George Osborne will announce today. … The Chancellor has set aside money raised from fines on the big banks to ensure that veterans can continue making the trip to France each year for as long as their health allows. … Treasury sources said Mr Osborne had been moved to act by the scenes in Normandy earlier this month when around 650 veterans gathered with world leaders to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.” – Daily Mail
“Figures drawn up by an independent consultancy and seen by the Financial Times show the UK’s military expenditure will hit 1.9 per cent of the size of the country’s economy by 2017, below Nato’s target of 2 per cent. … The analysis has been commissioned from within the British armed forces and will be used to bolster the case made by many of their senior members that cuts in the defence budget will endanger the close UK-US military partnership.” – Financial Times
> Yesterday: ToryDiary – Tax cuts versus defence versus austerity: Conservatism’s conflicting priorities
“The BBC licence fee could be cut after the Culture Secretary warned that it was a big expense for families and that ‘nothing should be ruled out’ when it is reviewed next year. … In the clearest signal yet that the Conservatives are preparing to overhaul the Corporation’s funding and governance if they remain in government after the general election, Sajid Javid said the annual £145.50 payment would be scrutinised.” – Daily Mail
“Lawyers and accountants who promote aggressive tax avoidance schemes should face criminal prosecution, according to a Conservative MP. … Charlie Elphicke, the MP for Dover and a former tax lawyer, has tabled a series of amendments to the Finance Bill that would make it illegal to help clients to invest in schemes designed to avoid tax.” – The Times (£)
“Many of our current problems are little better, sometimes worse, than under Harold Wilson or Jim Callaghan. Yet they continue under a largely Tory government because in Opposition it forgot the need for intellectual investment in new policy thinking or squandered it on modish fantasies. Worst of all, the fatalistic sense of inevitable national decline that we thought had been banished is creeping back. So there is a backlog of serious Tory re-thinking to be done and some uncertainty as to whether the current crop of Tories is either energetic or creative enough for the task.” – John O’Sullivan, Daily Telegraph
“Nick Clegg will promise that his party’s election manifesto will be written solely to highlight the big changes Britain still needs, and not with an eye to setting out plans that either Labour or the Conservatives might accept in a post election coalition negotiation. … In his remarks today, Clegg will argue that ‘more, not less change, is what Britain needs now’ as he states that ‘our manifesto will be about the future not the past’ because ‘Britain doesn’t want or need simply “more of the same.”‘” – The Guardian
“Nick Clegg was embroiled in a fresh ‘cash-for-honours’ row last night after the extent of the party’s financial dependence on millionaire backers who have been made peers became apparent. … Of all cash donations to the party in 2012, more than £600,000 – or 40 per cent – came from just three wealthy supporters – and all three have recently been appointed to the House of Lords by Mr Clegg, a Daily Mail investigation found.” – Daily Mail
“Energy firms could be landed with hefty fines if they fail to cut switching time to three days by the end of the year, Ofgem said today. … Energy secretary Ed Davey said ‘making the process much quicker will encourage more people to shop around, increasing competition and driving down energy bills’.” – City AM
“Ed Miliband is making ‘unforced errors’ that are leaving Labour ‘in difficulty’, a senior MP warned last night. … Tom Watson, who was Labour’s deputy chairman until last year, said Mr Miliband’s controversial decision to pose for pictures holding a copy of the Sun newspaper last week was a ‘serious mistake’ that had damaged the party, particularly on Merseyside. … He hit out at the Labour leaders aides, saying that members of the Shadow cabinet were ‘worried’ about the performance of the team paid to advise him…” – Daily Mail
“Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has called on the Government to repay the £55.50 fast-track fee many people have paid for their passports. … Despite Home Secretary Theresa May announcing measures to help clear the 30,000 passport backlog this week, including waiving the fast-track fee, a number of people had already paid the extra £55.50 to upgrade to the service.” – The Independent
“Several times in recent weeks, fathers have said to me that they must go home to help their children prepare for exams. Some of these fathers have acquired such a command of the syllabus that it is a pity they are not themselves sitting the papers. … I cannot approve of such unremitting parental involvement in actual school work. Fortunately for her, our older daughter is in any case sitting exams in scientific subjects with which I am incapable of helping.” – Andrew Gimson, The Guardian
“The Scottish leaders of the three main UK political parties are to appear together to show voters they are serious about transferring powers from London if Scotland rejects independence in September’s referendum. … The photo opportunity on Monday comes after three polls suggested a narrowing in the No camp’s lead, indicating that promises of more devolution have not yet had much impact.” – Financial Times
And comment:
“Two Green party politicians, including its candidate for mayor of London at the last election, have criticised police chiefs who recorded their political activities on a secret database that was set up to track campaigners deemed to be ‘domestic extremists’. Neither politician has a criminal record.” – The Guardian
“A tax could be put on fizzy drinks and biscuits could be emblazoned with health warnings in a new strategy to slash the nation’s sugar intake. … A report commissioned by a Government agency says that targeting soft drinks would be an easy option in the war on sugar. … It estimates that a 20 per cent tax on fizzy drinks – which would raise the price of a can from 70p to 84p – would cut the number of overweight Britons by more than a quarter of a million.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
“Last week Pope Francis linked the ‘idolatry of money’ to the youth unemployment scarring southern Europe. Personally, I blame the eurozone. … History will judge Francis on whether he overcomes his church’s blackest hour. His running commentary on world affairs must not distract him from what he must regard as his defining mission.” – Tim Montgomerie, The Times (£)