“At present, he and Labour seem trapped. His MPs sense it and the polls reflect it. Ukip is attracting support in the party’s old working-class northern English heartlands and winning converts in key Home Counties swing seats that Labour would once have hoped to win. In Scotland the SNP has become the natural party of government. …Most damaging, I think, is that he seldom seems optimistic about the country he wishes to lead.” – Jason Cowley New Statesman
“Morale has never been lower,” one shadow cabinet minister told me….. No MP I have spoken to has argued that the Labour leader’s parlous ratings aren’t a problem or dismissed them as a “Westminster bubble issue”. “We’re all very, very concerned. The reality is that whilst we don’t have a presidential system, people are thinking increasingly about who they want to be the prime minister,” one shadow minister said.” – George Eaton New Statesman
“A US consultant hired by Ed Miliband after being credited with getting President Obama re-elected is “exasperated” that he is not having more of an impact, senior Labour figures believe. David Axelrod, who is said to have been hired by Labour for £300,000, was “quite negative” about the party’s plans before its conference in September after trying to persuade Mr Miliband to present a less geeky image. The secrecy around Mr Axelrod’s salary and his lack of clear contribution is causing increasing unhappiness in Labour circles, and the matter was raised on Tuesday by union representatives on the national executive committee, Labour’s ruling body.” – The Times(£)
“Ed Miliband has carried out a mini-reshuffle of his top team after Jim Murphy quit the shadow cabinet to run to become leader of Scottish Labour. Mr Murphy has been replaced as shadow international development secretary by transport spokeswoman Mary Creagh. Ms Creagh is succeeded by Michael Dugher, a close ally of Mr Miliband’s.” – BBC
“Labour has a narrow lead in a series of marginal seats that could decide the election, a poll has revealed. The research by Lord Ashcroft, the Conservative peer, also highlighted that Ukip had made huge inroads, in some constituencies polling ahead of the Tories. Labour led the Conservatives by 36 per cent to 33 per cent in the 12 key seats — a swing of 4.5 per cent since the 2010 election. However, Labour’s lead was very fragile and there was little sign that the party had picked up significant levels of new support.” – The Times(£)
>Yesterday: Lord Ashcroft on Comment: Labour ahead in more Conservative seats – but not by much
“Britain will become a “safe haven” for foreign criminals and fugitives if it opts out of the European Arrest Warrant, 40 of Britain’s most senior legal figures will warn. In a letter to The Telegraph, a series of judges and lawyers including a former president of the Supreme Court, warn that “there is no credible alternative” to the arrest warrant. It comes as David Cameron is facing a back-bench rebellion from Tory MPs in a vote on the controversial justice measure, which is expected to be held next week.” – Daily Telegraph
“EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker has ridiculed David Cameron’s failures in Brussels – and declared he was ‘not frightened’ of facing him down. The Commission president said he was ‘not the type who trembles in front of prime ministers’ and warned Mr Cameron that he had ‘a problem’ with other EU leaders. Mr Juncker’s remarks come as Mr Cameron battles to reduce the £1.7billion surcharge demanded by the EU to cover years of strong economic growth in the UK while Europe struggled.” – Daily Mail
>Today: ToryDiary: Nine things the British don’t understand about the Germans
“COUNCILS allowing taxpayer-funded staff to spend hours doubling up as trade union reps will be “shamed” by new laws, Ministers claim. Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said new ‘Transparency Code’ would force local authorities for the first time to reveal the extent of the practice. So-called “facility time” – where staff are allowed to work on trade union activity – costs the public sector an estimated £240million a year. The Taxpayers Alliance in September said public bodies had set aside a total of 273,750 sq foot of space – equivalent to the Kremlin – for trade union work by employees.” – The Sun(£)
“David Cameron last night said he wants to see a ‘Prime Minister with a British Asian name’ in his lifetime. The Prime Minister warned Britain is not achieving its full potential because prejudicial barriers still remain against ethnic minorities. There was ‘a glaring absence’ of diversity among figures at the top of public life in Britain. Mr Cameron said at the GG2 Leadership Awards sponsored by the Daily Mail: ‘One day I want to hear that title “Prime Minister” followed by a British Asian name.” – Daily Mail
“Conservative peer Baroness Warsi has said her party has effectively acknowledged it will lose the Muslim vote in next year’s general election. Asked if the Conservatives were “dead in the water” with regard to Muslim voters next May, she told the BBC this was “a pretty fair assessment”. She said “a whole series of decisions”, particularly the UK’s response to this summer’s Gaza crisis, were to blame. Lady Warsi resigned as a Foreign Office minister in August over Gaza.” – BBC
“More than 100 Conservative MPs have refused to obey party orders to visit Rochester and Strood before this month’s by-election, prompting a daily “name and shame” email from the whips office. The defiant MPs, who include five ministers, have so far neglected to make any of the three trips demanded of them, with less than a fortnight to go before the November 20 poll. Michael Gove, the chief whip, has been sending a daily round-robin email listing the number of trips made by each Tory MP. The “roll of honour”, which began this Monday has irked many MPs.” – The Times(£)
>Today: Harriet Maltby on Comment: Intolerant, pessimistic, and powerless: UKIP’s Britain, not ours
“Britain’s defence secretary, Michael Fallon, has promised UK troops will be sent to Iraq only as part of a limited training mission, as Amnesty International called for reassurances that British forces will not be complicit in Baghdad-backed “death squads”. Speaking from Iraq, Fallon said a small number of officers would be involved in a strategic and advisory role, such as how to defuse roadside bombs, but would not put a number on how many would be sent.” – The Guardian
“David Cameron was accused of “weasel words” when he refused to say if he would ever campaign for Britain to leave the EU if he was unable to secure his renegotiation objectives with his EU partners ahead of a planned referendum in 2017. Pressed by the opposition Labour leader, Ed Miliband, at prime minister’s questions, Cameron said repeatedly: “I could not be more clear I want Britain to stay in a reformed European Union.” – The Guardian
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Andrew Gimson’s PMQs sketch: two jackals fight over the carcass of British politics
“Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander will call on major petrol and diesel distributors to drop their prices further in light of recent declines in the cost of oil. Oil has fallen from about $115 (£72) per barrel in June to about $84 per barrel, a decline of about a quarter. In comparison, petrol prices in the UK have come down from a high of about 131.7 pence per litre in the summer to 124.22 pence” – BBC
“Commuters in the north of England are using “decrepit” trains that would be unacceptable in London, Nick Clegg is to claim as he pushes for more investment in rail and road links. Northern cities still lack some “basic” transport infrastructure, Mr Clegg will tell a conference in Leeds. The deputy prime minister will say he wants funds for immediate improvements in December’s Autumn Statement.” – BBC