“Housing estates and schools dominated by a single Muslim community must become more ethnically mixed to end segregation in Britain, David Cameron has signalled. In his most robust address on fighting Islamic extremism, the prime minister said yesterday that there were areas where young people could “hardly ever come into meaningful contact with people from other backgrounds and faiths”. The intervention led, however, to warnings against social engineering. Tackling “deeply entrenched” segregation in social housing raises the possibility of caps on the share of new housing in a single block that can be allocated to different ethnic groups.” – The Times (£)
Comment:
Editorial:
Sketch:
>Yesterday:
“Islamic State must be destroyed in Syria to stop terror atrocities like the Tunisian beach massacre, the Foreign Secretary said last night. Philip Hammond said it was clear the gunman who killed holidaymakers in Sousse was either inspired by or directed from the jihadists’ ‘heartland’. ‘Whether it is clear attack planning and direction, or whether it is social media inspiration, we know where it is coming from and we know that in the end we have to tackle that heartland if we are going to stop this,’ he said.” – Daily Mail
Comment:
Sketches:
>Today: Garvan Walshe’s column: The Iran deal was a necessary gamble
“Although he did not use the word “appeasement” in his speech yesterday, he said there had been too much “passive tolerance” of honour-based violence, forced marriage sexual exploitation and female genital mutilation. “Turning a blind eye on the false basis of cultural sensitivities” could no longer be tolerated, he insisted. Making clear that he felt the country was on a war footing by saying young people recruited to the extremist cause would be mere “cannon fodder”, he said Britain had “never been cowed by fear or hatred or terror”. It had “faced down Hitler, defeated Communism and [seen] off the IRA’s assaults on our way of life” standing up to “aggression and tyranny”.” – The Times (£)
“Billions of pounds worth of land and buildings will be sold to enable George Osborne to cut public spending by £20billion a year. The Chancellor will today tell ministers to identify NHS, defence and other government assets to be disposed of, to help provide a further 150,000 new homes to ease the housing crisis. The Ministry of Defence alone owns 227,300 hectares – 1 per cent of all land in the UK, including 15 golf courses. The Chancellor used his Budget earlier this month to lay out plans to save £12billion in welfare and £5billion in tax avoidance a year by 2020. He will confirm today that government departments will be told to produce £20billion of savings by that year.” – Daily Mail
>Today: Cllr Peter Cuthbertson in Local Government: The Right to Buy for housing association tenant will have very wide benefits
“The home secretary, Theresa May, failed to protect three potential victims of trafficking who were locked up in an immigration detention centre, a high court judge has ruled. The three test cases on trafficking are linked to a series of other legal challenges which have successfully argued that the detention of asylum seekers while their claims are being decided is unlawful because it has failed to protect vulnerable people.” – The Guardian
“Phil Booth, of the medConfidential privacy campaign, said the fund had no right ‘to go hoovering up’ everyone’s GP appointments. ‘Trying to sneak round both GPs and patients to collect it all is a massive breach of confidence,’ he added. ‘Who knows what sensitive aspects of your health the PM’s people will have access to? Whatever the intent, politicians shouldn’t be allowed to hustle the companies that manage your GP’s computer systems into overriding the trust between doctor and patient.’ Andrew Percy, a Tory member of the Commons health committee, said: ‘We need to ensure that there are strong safeguards so that people are not identifiable, given some of the other NHS data scandals we have had. ‘Even though this is for legitimate purposes, it’s what happens to the data that is important.’” – Daily Mail
“The Football Association and the Serious Fraud Office are to be questioned by MPs to explain why they did not do more to expose Fifa corruption. Jesse Norman, the new chairman of the culture, media and sport select committee, has said he is setting up an investigation into the scandal, which is due to begin in September. “Britain must play its part” in rooting out misconduct, he said, adding that “more can be done”. Fifa has come under mounting pressure after a series of arrests, including seven of its officials in Zurich in May. The arrests came after an FBI investigation and separate inquiries by Swiss authorities into the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.” – The Times (£)
“Two Police Federation officials who were accused by MPs of giving misleading evidence about the Plebgate affair should face disciplinary hearings for gross misconduct, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has decided. Inspector Ken Mackaill, of West Mercia police, and DS Stuart Hinton, of Warwickshire police, were accused of misrepresenting their meeting with the former Tory chief whip Andrew Mitchell days after the Plebgate affair erupted in September 2012. After the meeting in Mitchell’s Sutton Coldfield constituency office, Mackaill wrongly told the media that the Tory MP would not provide an account of the incident. Hinton had to apologise to MPs after after he initially denied referring to the home secretary, Theresa May, as “this woman that the Conservative party have”.” – The Guardian
“The SNP has been accused of “plotting a second referendum” after an MP asked the government about its contingency plans for such a vote. Margaret Ferrier, one of the new SNP members at Westminster, has tabled questions to David Mundell, the Scottish secretary, that include whether he is “prepared for the possibility of a further referendum on Scottish independence being the policy of the Scottish government after the Scottish parliament election in 2016”. The Scottish Conservatives claimed that the questions were evidence that the SNP was planning another referendum, rather than concentrating on representing their constituents. Last week, Angus MacNeil, the SNP MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, said there would be another referendum before 2020.” – The Times (£)
Comment:
“Three figures from the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties are working together to set up the foundations of Britain’s Yes campaign to stay in the EU. The trio are setting up a legal entity — a company limited by guarantee — that they hope will act as the nucleus for the campaign group. They are working with funding from individuals including Lord Sainsbury of Turville, the prominent former Labour donor from the supermarket family. Will Straw, an associate director of the Institute for Public Policy Research, is expected to lead the group as executive director.” – Financial Times
“Labour was in chaos last night after dozens of MPs defied Harriet Harman on welfare reform. The party’s interim leader had urged her MPs to abstain in the vote on the Government’s controversial cuts to tax credits and other handouts. But last night around 50 Labour MPs voted against the Welfare Reform and Work Bill. Left-wing leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn had urged MPs to oppose the Bill, while the three other hopefuls said they should obey Miss Harman and abstain. Andy Burnham made a last minute U-turn on the issue yesterday, telling his supporters not to vote against the Government’s welfare reforms, despite having criticised them for a week.” – Daily Mail
Comment and Editorial:
>Today: ToryDiary: In five years, the Tories have got smarter – and Labour have got more divided
“It’s an iron law of politics that you should never underestimate the stupidity of your opponent. In this, as in many other ways, politics is actually quite simple. There is rarely any need for the elaborate scheming of President Underwood in House of Cards. Far easier to put up a giant neon sign saying “Trap”, pick up your popcorn, sit back and watch your opponents walk straight into it. This is precisely what is happening to Labour over welfare at the moment. Some credit George Osborne with political genius. I don’t. By and large he is too clever by half… But it’s not me who should be going on and on about Osborne’s failures. It’s the Labour Party. Instead what we have is the worst spasm of self-indulgence by Labour since the Bennite years which led to the SDP split and nearly two decades in impotent opposition.” – Daily Telegraph
“Liz Kendall has warned that Labour must move away from interfering in people’s lives if it is to win back power. The leadership hopeful said the party had too often turned to regulation, restrictions and bans as a way of resolving the country’s problems. In a speech in which she appeared to attempt to distance Labour from its nanny state tag, the shadow health minister said people must be given the power to shape their own lives. Ms Kendall again dismissed accusations she was pushing Conservative values, insisting her plans were rooted in the ethos of the beginnings of the Labour movement.” – The Independent
>Yesterday: LeftWatch: Corbyn poaches grassroots support in the seats of 14 MPs who support Kendall, Burnham, and Cooper
“Each of the six contenders to be Labour’s London mayoral candidate own a home worth more than £750,000, David Lammy MP, one of the hopefuls has said. Speaking at a hustings organised by the Guardian, the MP for Tottenham, who hopes to be selected to stand for the Labour party in the 2016 mayoral election, said the biggest challenge facing inner London was whether it would become like Paris and only be inhabited by the very wealthy. “Everybody on this panel owns a home worth more than three quarters of a million and my office has checked,” said Lammy. “The bottom line is that’s the threat to a London that cares. Do something about homes for ordinary Londoners.”” – The Guardian
>Yesterday: Ivan Massow in Comment: Why I should be on our short list for London Mayor
“A Tory MP claimed 9p travel expenses for a 0.2 mile trip from his home to a neighbouring street. Charities minister Rob Wilson, who lives in a £700,000 home in his Reading East constituency, has been reimbursed for nearly 160 travel claims of less than £1 since 2010. These include the 350-yard 9p claim and a separate 13p claim for a 0.3 mile drive – which would have taken about three minutes to walk – from Reading Town Hall to a nearby street. The Conservative MP was reimbursed for both claims, which were made while on ‘constituency engagements’. The claim, on March 29, 2014, appears to be for a return trip from his home to the next road. Mr Wilson could have managed the walk in a matter of minutes.” – Daily Mail