‘The Prime Minister has said the conflict ‘could have been stopped by Moscow’. He said all the evidence pointed to the fact that ‘Flight MH17 was blown out of the sky by a surface-to-air missile fired from a rebel-held area’. Mr Cameron said: ‘If this is the case then we must be clear what it means: this is a direct result of Russia destabilising a sovereign state, violating its territorial integrity, backing thuggish militias and training and arming them.’’ – Daily Mail
Comment
Editorials
>Today: Columnists: Charlotte Leslie MP: ISIS. MH17. Boko Haram. There are more serious issues at stake than whether Ministers have bosoms.
>Yesterday: David Davis MP on Comment: It’s time to end the appeasement of Putin
‘The Tory fear of the nimby vote is almost as poisonous to the common good as Labour’s fear of the public-sector unions. House prices are high because Tory councils, in particular, are failing to increase supply. Those prices mean impossible mortgage debt for some, cramped conditions for others and young people being forced to leave the communities in which they were raised.’ – Tim Montgomerie, The Times (£)
>Today: Benedict McAleenan on Comment: The promotion of housing in the reshuffle
‘Britain will vote to leave the EU if major powers aren’t won back, insisted the new Foreign Secretary yesterday. Philip Hammond said he was “pretty clear what the answer from the British people will be” if Brussels does not give real ground in renegotiations ahead of a pledged 2017 referendum. The powerful warning shot marks a significant hardening of the Government’s position.’ – The Sun (£)
‘Schools, hospitals and other public service organisations will be told to cut down on imported food and buy British instead under new guidelines unveiled today. Public bodies – including the Armed Forces and government departments – currently spend £400million a year on cheap imported produce that could easily be grown in the UK.’ – Daily Mail
‘Damian Green, the sacked Home Office minister, said that he is concerned that the topic of grammar schools has become “taboo” for the Conservatives. He told The Telegraph that he will enlist the support of fellow MPs in the run up to the General Election as he makes the case for building a new generation of grammar schools across Britain. Mr Green said: “One of the things I intend is to make the case for grammar schools. I went to a grammar school, I am in favour of them. ‘ – Daily Telegraph
>Today: ToryDiary: McVey denies Downing Street “sit-in”
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: The Axis of Evangelism: Paterson and Fox start preaching against Cameron
‘British people have become too inclined to blame someone else when something goes wrong, the justice secretary said yesterday. Chris Grayling said the “blame someone else” attitude in society had helped to fuel a compensation culture that needed to be broken. The justice secretary spoke as MPs prepared to debate the latest set of measures intended to curb ambulance-chasing lawyers and compensation claims.’ – The Times (£)
‘The result of the Labour price freeze promise and the industry’s response is that bills are likely to be artificially inflated all through next winter. Some City analysts had already warned that Labour’s policy would backfire, however the admission from the energy industry insider is proof positive that this is the case. Peter Lilley MP, the former Tory Cabinet minister and a member of the Commons Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, said: ‘This was always a fear when Labour announced their proposal.’ – Daily Mail
‘Teachers and doctors are to be given extra training to help them step in to prevent female genital mutilation. They are among key front-line public sector workers who will be given compulsary guidance to help them identify and help girls and women who may be at risk under a package of new measures. It will be announced by Nick Clegg at a conference aimed at ending FGM within a generation.’ – The Times (£)
‘Most council bosses have defied government demands for pay restraint by handing out huge salaries while cutting services. Around 61 per cent of councils paid their biggest earners more than the Prime Minister, who receives £142,500 a year. The highest salary was thought to be the £318,500 paid by Somerset County Council.’ – Daily Mail
‘To combat the rise of radical Islam and radical Christianity, we should try the secular, free-thinking approach. Mild Anglicanism should make common cause with humanists in defence of tolerance. The experience of the past three centuries is that if lots of people stop believing in gods, they do not become less moral. On the contrary, the number of people attending church has gone down at about the same rate as the number of people who commit violent crimes. I am not suggesting a causal connection…’ – Matt Ridley, The Times (£)
‘Visitors to the South Downs, drawn there for the unbroken vista of rolling hills and choppy seas, could soon be faced with the sight of scores of wind turbines towering above the waves. Energy Secretary Ed Davey has approved a £2billion project to build 175 turbines nine miles out to sea, each standing nearly 700 feet tall.’ – Daily Mail
‘Private companies and charities should be able to compete with government agencies to help unemployed people find work, according to a think-tank close to the Conservative party. Policy Exchange says job centres are failing to help people find long-term jobs and should be restructured in a way that would allow other providers to bid to offer “more personalised and specialist support”.’ – FT
‘At least 100 people were killed yesterday in the bloodiest day of fighting so far in the Gaza conflict — which deepened last night after Hamas claimed to have seized an Israeli soldier. The Palestinian death toll was 87, while 13 Israel Defence Forces soldiers died.’ – The Sun (£)
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Hamas, the Millwall of the Middle East