“David Cameron is to demand the right to limit European immigration as his price to stay in the EU, The Sun can reveal. … If other leaders do not agree, the PM will tell them he is now prepared to lead Britain’s exit in his pledged 2017 In/Out referendum. … The ultimatum will be unveiled by the Premier by Christmas. … In issuing it, the Premier will openly accept the possibility of leaving the EU for the first time — a major departure from his position of refusing to accept failure in the key talks until now.” – The Sun (£)
“A leading eurosceptic Conservative is teaming up with Ukip’s treasurer in an attempt to derail the government’s plans to continue Britain’s involvement in key EU policing and justice measures, in an indication of the potential for Tory rebellion over Europe. … In a second show of defiance, MPs from the Thatcherite No Turning Back Group told David Cameron over a private lunch they would rebel over the prime minister’s plans to opt back into the European arrest warrant. … ‘We gave him a polite but firm warning that we can’t sign up to this,’ said one party figure.” – Financial Times
“David Cameron last night faced down calls to sack his welfare minister Lord Freud after claiming disabled people are ‘not worth’ the minimum wage. … In a statement Lord Freud issued a ‘full and unreserved apology’ and sought to insist all disabled people should be paid at least the minimum wage ‘without exception’. … It also emerged that in 2003, the Labour government published guidance on where it might be acceptable to pay disabled people less than the minimum wage, now £6.50 an hour.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
> Yesterday: WATCH – The furore over Lord Freud’s remarks
“A record high number of workers in part-time jobs has helped create the biggest fall in unemployment for 40 years. … It means the jobless total is below two million for the first time since the recession struck in 2008 – with just 6 per cent of Britons now out of work. … Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons yesterday, David Cameron seized on the unemployment fall as ‘great news’ but admitted there was ‘more work to be done’ as wages lag behind the cost of living.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
> Yesterday: Charlie Elphicke MP on Comment – The Conservatives are getting Britain working
“David Cameron has rowed back on a £3billion pledge to slash inheritance tax – just 24 hours after he promised it. … The PM dramatically vowed to OAPs on Tuesday that only the ‘very wealthy’ would be forced to pay the hated levy. … But as the massive cost became clear, he admitted to MPs on Wednesday: ‘It may have to wait some time.’ … His embarrassing change of heart came at Prime Minister’s Questions when Tory MP Angie Bray urged him to raise the threshold ‘as soon as possible’.” – The Sun (£)
And comment:
“The prime minister is to be given the final choice on the appointment of the most senior civil servants, in a reform that risks fuelling charges of Whitehall politicisation. … … Under the new agreement, the prime minister will be able to make the final appointment from a shortlist of names provided by the civil service commission. Currently one candidate is chosen by a panel and the prime minister can only approve or reject the appointment.” – Financial Times
“The NHS could afford to employ tens of thousands of extra nurses if it stamped out basic errors which put patient safety at risk, Jeremy Hunt will say today. … The Health Secretary will tell staff that a culture change is needed to stop cash-strapped hospitals wasting as much as £2.5billion a year on needless mistakes. … In a speech at Birmingham Children’s Hospital today, Mr Hunt will tell NHS staff that poor care is the ‘most wasteful and expensive’ failing made by hospitals – meaning patients suffer complications and longer stays as a result.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
“Foreign rapists, killers and burglars are finally being stripped of their right to lodge a ‘conveyer belt’ of appeals in a bid to cheat deportation. … Under tough new laws, the number of grounds on which foreign criminals can contest their removal will be reduced from a staggering 17 to just four. … Crucially, they will no longer be able to appeal simply because they do not agree with the Home Office’s decision or because they think their crime was ‘not serious enough’.” – Daily Mail
“Veteran DJ Paul Gambaccini yesterday backed the Home Secretary’s plan to limit the time suspects can be kept on police bail without charge. … The 65-year-old broadcaster, who spent a year on bail before being told last week he would not be prosecuted over historic sex abuse allegations, said he welcomed Theresa May’s proposals with ‘enthusiasm’. … Mrs May told chief constables yesterday that the Government would look at introducing a statutory limit on how long suspects could be kept on ‘pre-charge bail’.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
“There will be more Rotherham-style child sexual exploitation scandals unearthed in the coming months as the ‘stone is lifted’ on the scale of abuse perpetuated on the young, one of Britain’s top police officers has warned. … In an interview with the Guardian, Simon Bailey, chief constable of Norfolk police, who is the leading officer concerned with child abuse within the Association of Chief Police Officers, said that sex crimes involving children had for ‘too long been a hidden crime’.” – The Guardian
“The Government has dropped plans to allow minicabs to be driven by unlicensed drivers when ‘off duty’ after warnings it would endanger taxi users. … Mary Creagh, Labour’s shadow transport secretary, said the proposal, which had been part of the Deregulation Bill which reaches committee stage in the House of Lords next week, ‘would have put women’s safety at risk’.” – The Times (£)
“School absenteeism has plummeted to a record low following a crackdown on term-time family holidays. … New official figures show that in total, England’s primary and secondary pupils missed 35.7 million days of school in the autumn and spring terms of 2013/14 – down around 4.2 million from the same two terms the year before. … School Reform Minister Nick Gibb said: ‘Our plan for education is getting more young people than ever before back in class, helping thousands more to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations.'” – Daily Mail
“The former Environment Secretary attacked a so-called ‘green blob’ at the heart of Government yesterday – accusing Whitehall officials and ministers of raising energy prices for the poor. … He said the ‘green blob’ included civil servants and quangos in thrall to the climate change and environmental lobby. He claimed it had blocked him from prioritising shale gas exploration as a more efficient way to secure energy for the future.” – Daily Mail
> Today: the Deep End – The rightwing case against nuclear power
“Boris Johnson has described proposals to ban smoking in parks as ‘bossy and nannying’, while Downing Street said there are no plans to implement the measure across the UK. … The mayor of London set himself at odds with a recommendation from a health panel he set up that would make thousands of acres of parkland in London and landmarks including Trafalgar Square smoke-free zones.” – Daily Telegraph
> Today: Profile – Sir Winston Churchill. Not be confused with Boris Churchill, a.k.a Sir Winston Johnson
“One of the MPs most highly tipped to take over from Nick Clegg as Liberal Democrat leader has announced he will stand down from parliament next year, in a significant blow to the party’s attempts to retain his key marginal seat. … Jeremy Browne, the former home office and Foreign Office minister, said on Wednesday that he would not stand again as the Lib Dem candidate in Taunton Deane. … In a letter to Mr Clegg, Mr Browne said: ‘I have been very committed to the role and I have done it to the best of my ability. It is time to do something different.'” – Financial Times
“Nick Clegg said the details of the civil liberties board were being worked on but it would be modelled on its equivalent American body, which scrutinises policy initiatives at an early stage for their potential impact on privacy and civil liberties. … The Liberal Democrat leader announced the new body would be up and running before the election during his evidence to parliament’s intelligence and security committee’s inquiry into the future of security and privacy legislation.” – The Guardian
“Lord Ashdown said David Cameron will try to ‘mess up’ the proposed party leader TV debates by including the Green party, with the former Lib Dem leader rejecting a head-to-head between the prime minister and Ed Miliband as unfair to Nick Clegg. … Ashdown, the Lib Dem campaign manager, said Cameron would do all he could to avoid going head-to-head with Ukip leader Nigel Farage, included in the debates for the first time in plans published by broadcasters on Monday.” – The Guardian
“Buy-to-let investors would be banned from purchasing new flats in London and other parts of Britain under radical plans put forward today by Labour that would also allow some first-time-buyers to jump the queue for new-build homes. … The plan will be announced on Thursday as part of the Lyons review commissioned by Ed Miliband to look at ways to improve the housing market. … It comes just months after the opposition party alarmed landlords by promising to introduce caps on rent increases if it wins next year’s general election.” – Financial Times
“Gordon Brown is under pressure to quit the Commons and become Labour’s leader in Scotland in a desperate bid to halt the SNP surge, The Sun can reveal. … Senior Labour figures want the former PM to stand for election to the Scottish Parliament and re-establish the party north of the Border. … They believe Mr Brown should oust Labour’s current Scottish leader Johann Lamont and eventually become First Minister, in what would be a remarkable political comeback.” – The Sun (£)
> Yesterday: Henry Hill’s column – Scottish Labour must dismount the nationalist tiger
“The SNP’s incoming leader has refused to rule out a new vote on Scottish independence in the immediate aftermath of the next Holyrood elections in 2016. … Nicola Sturgeon marked her first day as the party’s unopposed replacement for Alex Salmond by suggesting that proposals for a second referendum could be included in the SNP manifesto for the forthcoming Scottish parliamentary elections. The move prompted outrage among her political opponents.” – The Times (£)
And comment:
> Today: Mark Fox on Comment – In defence of Westminster
“Carwyn Jones, leader of Welsh Labour, said Scotland’s rejection of independence and the wider UK devolution debate meant ‘the fundamental underpinning assumptions about the nature of our state have disappeared.’ … Mr Jones welcomed the prime minister’s commitment to put Wales ‘at the heart of the debate’. … However he did not support the idea of ‘English votes for English laws’. He prefers regional devolution to English cities, he said, despite research this week by the IPPR think-tank showing there is little public support for such a move.” – Financial Times
> Yesterday: ToryDiary – EVEL is not enough
“Ukip wants Ed Miliband in power because voters are more likely to opt to stay in the EU if a referendum takes place under David Cameron, senior party figures admit. … Two Ukip sources have conceded privately that they would prefer Labour to win the next election, since they believe that would maximise the chances of Britain exiting the European Union. … The prospect of people voting out would be increased under an unpopular, pro-EU Labour prime minister who has shown little interest in reform of Britain’s relationship with Brussels, one said.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
> Today: Pinning Down Farage – Do UKIP really want an in/out referendum on the EU?
> Yesterday:
“George Galloway will not face charges over a speech he made in August declaring Bradford an ‘Israel-free zone’. … The Respect MP for Bradford West was interviewed by police under caution over claims that his statements in Leeds had incited racial hatred. … The Crown Prosecution Service said on Wednesday night it had decided not to charge Galloway, who labelled the allegations ‘an extremely expensive waste of police and CPS time’.” – The Guardian
“As many as 30 Britons may now have died fighting for terror groups in Syria, it was reported last night. … Researchers believe 24 jihadists have been killed fighting with Islamic State and other groups but think the true figure could be higher. … Hundreds, and possibly thousands, of Britons are believed to have fled to Syria and Iraq to join radical Islamic groups such as Islamic State (ISIS) and the Al Qaeda affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
“The London Mayor joined in a children’s match to promote a new health report aiming to get more kids involved in sport. … But after seeing one youngster knock the ball past him Mr Johnson stuck his leg out, tripping him up, sparking shouts of ‘Referee!’ from the side-lines.” – Daily Mail