“David Cameron today tore into the Labour party for walking out on talks on English votes for English laws, accusing Ed Miliband of ‘not being interested in fairness’ for the whole of the UK. … Labour announced it would boycott talks on addressing the English problem, branding government plans ‘a closed shop stitch-up’. … It came as a Commons debate got underway on devolving more powers to Scotland in the wake of the independence referendum.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
> Today: ToryDiary – EVEL is not enough
“A pledge to lift everyone except millionaires out of inheritance tax is to be revived by the Tories, David Cameron signalled last night. … The Prime Minister said he believed the hated death duty should be paid by only the ‘very wealthy’. … Official forecasts suggest the number of families paying inheritance tax will double over the next five years unless the threshold of £325,000 is lifted.” – Daily Mail
“Desperate David Cameron is wooing female voters as his secret weapon to derail the accelerating Ukip bandwagon. … The PM revealed a woman will take on Tory defector Mark Reckless in the now all-important Rochester and Strood by-election next month. … Launching his fight back against the rampaging anti-EU party, Mr Cameron wrote to every single constituent in the Kent seat to unveil the two local women activists vying for the Conservative nomination.” – The Sun (£)
And comment:
> Today:
> Yesterday:
“An emotional David Cameron has spoken of the pain of seeing former PM Maggie Thatcher succumb to dementia. … The PM described how hard it was to see someone fall from ‘the height of her powers’ because of the disease. … He said: ‘Having seen her at the height of her powers, when I started working for the Conservative Party in 1988, you see what an effect this has on someone.'” – The Sun (£)
“George Osborne today hailed a surprise fall in inflation to a five-year low which means a rise in interest rates could be delayed until the middle of next year. … Cheaper travel, restaurants, books and gadgets like tablets and laptops meant the CPI rate of inflation was just 1.2 per cent in September, well below the Bank of England’s target of 2 per cent, and the lowest since September 2009. … Mr Osborne said: ‘We have a double-dose of good economic news for families and for pensioners. The increase in prices is much lower than expected. And that helps families. … And the pension next year will go up by more than double the rate of inflation thanks to the Government’s triple-lock.'” – Daily Mail
And comment:
“Chancellor George Osborne confides privately to my source that he might now be prepared to give the Scottish Nationalist administration in Edinburgh full control of North Sea oil revenues – a bitterly contested issue in last month’s referendum. … SNP leader Alex Salmond valued them at £1.5trillion, while the Office for National Statistics came up with £120billion. … Yet Osborne thinks this might be a good deal, especially if it has the useful side-effect of wrecking Labour’s already dire prospects among nationalist Scots.” – Ephraim Hardcastle column in the Daily Mail
And comment:
> Today: Henry Hill’s column – Scottish Labour must dismount the nationalist tiger
> Yesterday: Alexander Temerko on Comment – Conventional gas. Interconnectors. More nuclear. How to join the UK energy security dots
“Police should face time limits on how long a person can languish on bail without being charged, the Home Secretary will say today. … Theresa May is demanding action amid mounting anger that police forces are abusing their powers by keeping people in a legal limbo for ‘months or even years’ – only to be told they would not face any action. … The issue has been highlighted by a number of high-profile cases, including celebrities and journalists, who have been left on bail for long periods – often with strict curbs to their freedom – without charges being pressed.” – Daily Mail
“Police will be banned from using anti-terrorism powers to monitor journalists’ telephones under plans to be detailed today by Theresa May. … Her intervention over police powers comes after it emerged that officers twice invoked the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (Ripa) to access the phone logs of reporters to identify the sources of stories.” – The Independent
“A former Tory minister who still serves as an adviser to David Cameron has launched an outspoken attack on Israel for its construction of illegal settlements that he says have left some occupied Palestinian towns resembling South Africa under apartheid. … The intervention, from Sir Alan Duncan, comes after the Commons voted by 274 votes to 12 for a motion supporting Palestinian statehood.” – The Times (£)
> Yesterday: Sir Alan Duncan MP on Comment – It’s time to take on Israel’s settlements – and those who endorse them
“The vast majority of scientists say climate change is happening and that it is man-made. … But Mr Paterson will argue that many climate models have proved inaccurate. … ‘Over the past 35 years, the earth’s atmosphere has warmed nothing like as fast as forecast, and over the last 18 years it has not warmed at all, according to some sources,’ he will say.” – Daily Mail
“Smoking will be banned in the royal parks and at major London landmarks, under radical plans being considered by Boris Johnson. … The London Mayor is weighing up proposals to make cigarettes illegal in the city’s most popular open spaces. … But critics urged the top Tory not to sign up to the “nanny state” move. … The smoke-free plan was recommended by ex-Labour minister Lord Darzi who wants London to be the healthiest major global city within 10 years.” – The Sun (£)
And comment:
“Now, scepticism about involvement in police actions abroad has become a standard position on the right. Thatcherite inter-nationalism has not completely survived Lady Thatcher. It was notable that, in his last act as a Conservative MP, Mark Reckless, knowing he was joining Ukip within a few hours, voted against even the limited action proposed against Isis.” – Daniel Finkelstein, The Times (£)
“Trade unions are using Facebook bullying, violence, inflatable rats and even IRA-style dirty protests to intimidate employers and strike-breakers, an official report warns today. … The Carr report on industrial relations lays bare the shocking tactics deployed by some unions to bully opponents into submission. … The Government-sponsored report, which was boycotted by the trade unions, said it received evidence of ‘violent, intimidatory or clearly unlawful behaviour’ during industrial disputes.” – Daily Mail
“Ed Miliband has urged Labour MPs not to panic about public concern over immigration – despite polls showing the party’s reputation on the issue slumping to a six year low amid a surge in support for Ukip. … The embattled Labour leader told a private meeting of MPs that the party could not ‘out-Ukip Ukip’. He insisted Labour had the right policies on immigration and told MPs they needed to just ‘keep going on at it’, a source told MailOnline.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
> Today: Jon Cruddas MP on Comment – Home, family, community, Roger Scruton’s new book – and why Labour is conservative
> Yesterday: LeftWatch – Miliband begs his MPs not to bump him off
“Labour has acknowledged the threat posed to its election chances by the Greens in as many as 17 of its target seats by asking Sadiq Khan, the shadow justice secretary, to lead a fightback. … Douglas Alexander, Labour’s campaign manager, asked Khan to counter the perceived threat in the face of polling showing the Greens picking up between 5% and 8% nationally.” – The Guardian
“Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, has promised a boost in capital spending on social and council housing to make it possible to reach Labour’s target of 200,000 new homes a year by 2020 – the centrepiece of Labour’s long-awaited Lyons review into the future of housing due to be published on Thursday. … He insisted the plans would be politically popular because even homeowners know their children cannot afford to get on to the housing ladder and are increasingly having to stay within the private rental sector.” – The Guardian
“A terror suspect was caught carrying bombmaking instructions and Tony Blair’s address, a court was told yesterday. … Erol Incedal, 26, was arrested at gunpoint after a bug that police planted in his car recorded his rants against the West. Officers allegedly then found a micro memory card hidden in his iPhone case with a step-by-step guide on making an improvised explosive device.” – Daily Mail
> Yesterday: Garvan Walshe’s column – Obsessed with our own Iraq selfies, we’ll let Kobane be sacked
“Schools at the centre of the Trojan Horse scandal have taken ‘very little action’ to improve their performance, watchdogs have found. … In a damning report, Ofsted said the five Birmingham schools taken over by Muslim hardliners were still ‘not fit for purpose’. … Officials carried out snap inspections at those schools last month to see if any progress had been made since the scandal broke. … But in his report to Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw said little had changed.” – The Sun (£)
“Britain’s Ebola screening plans descended into chaos on its first day today after people flying to the UK from high risk countries revealed the checks are not compulsory. … [Jeremy Hunt] warned Britain should expect up to ten cases by Christmas as screening of passengers from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, where 4,000 have died from Ebola, started at Heathrow. … But travellers at Terminal One this morning said the system is a ‘complete joke’ because they were either not checked at all, told it was optional or had to seek out medical staff themselves.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
“Heavy drinking was the cause of ten million visits to English hospitals last year, figures have revealed. … In the first all-encompassing analysis of the toll of alcohol on the health service, experts put the total cost of treatment at £2.8billion. … Charities last night said that the country’s booze culture is putting an ‘intolerable strain’ on the NHS.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
“Around 104,000 elderly or vulnerable people suffered abusive treatment in care homes or their own homes last year, according to complaints made by their families and friends. … The most serious cases led to 46 deaths, the majority of them older people. … The record of investigations was collected from all councils in England for the first, annual Safeguarding Adults Return produced by the Government’s Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC).” – Daily Mail
“John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, may have attracted a degree of opprobrium for all of his junkets at the taxpayers’ expense, but he has at least not come back empty-handed. … The official register reveals he accepted a “medal and two bottles of wine” from his Romanian counterpart; a metal model of a harp from the Burmese president; and a “wooden picture” and photograph album from the South Korean Speaker.” – Daily Telegraph
“But Ed Vaizey, minister for culture and the digital economy, has admitted he never listens to the broadcaster’s high-brow classical music station Radio 3. … The Tory MP, who serves under culture secretary Sajid Javid, revealed he listens to independent rival Classic FM instead because it ‘plays lovely music’ and is ‘accessible and informal’.” – Daily Mail
“Hapless Ed Miliband was caught out trying to impress EastEnders star Danny Dyer with his knowledge of the show — when he admitted he never watches it. … The Labour leader reeled off two detailed facts about characters from the hit BBC drama at a showbiz bash. … But when pressed by the actor if he ever tunes into the soap, a red-faced Ed was forced to admit he did not and had been researching it online.” – The Sun (£)