“The majority of Conservative backbenchers will remain unconvinced even if David Cameron succeeds in renegotiating the terms of the UK’s membership of the European Union, the chairman of the foreign affairs select committee has said. Asked if a successful renegotiation would change the minds of “the bulk of his backbenchers”, Crispin Blunt said: “No, I don’t think so.” “The majority of colleagues are sitting in the middle waiting for the result of the renegotiation,” the MP for Reigate told the BBC’s Daily Politics programme. “People are going to have to take a view and whatever he gets is probably going to be unbankable. It’s not a treaty change, it will be a promise of a treaty change.” – The Guardian
>Yesterday: Columnist Iain Dale: Putting Ed Llewelyn in charge of Britain’s EU renegotiation does not inspire confidence
“British law should be supreme on our own territory. EU legal acts should come into effect only following an implementing decision by our own Parliament. The Treaty of Rome, in other words, should bind us in the way that all other international treaties do, rather than providing for a superior legal order, directly binding through our courts.” – Daniel Hannan gives one of the 11 demands that David Cameron should make to Donald Tusk Daily Telegraph
“The UK Foreign Office is turning a blind eye to Palestinian incitement due to “a pathological desire to appear balanced whatever the cost”, Sir Eric Pickles has said. Writing for the Conservative blog ConservativeHome, the former communities secretary and chairman of Conservative Friends of Israel said David Cameron had been “unequivocal in his condemnation of Palestinian incitement” in his speech to the Israeli parliament last year. “He recognises that democracies must stand shoulder to shoulder together against the threat to innocent civilians on our streets,” Pickles said. But the prime minister’s message had become “lost in translation in the bowels of the Foreign Office, which has an almost pathological desire to appear balanced whatever the cost”.” – The Guardian
>Yesterday: Eric Pickles MP on Comment: Why is the Foreign Office turning a blind eye to Palestinian incitement of violence?
“The health secretary has accused the doctors’ union of misleading junior doctors over changes to their contracts in England ahead of a rally later. Doctors are expected to march in protest at the changes which they say will lead to a drop in their salaries. Jeremy Hunt said the proposals would benefit doctors by reducing their maximum weekly working hours. The BMA denied it had misled its members and said the rally in London would be a wake-up call for ministers.” – BBC
“Proposals to extend Sunday trading hours could be rejected by a rebellion of Tory MPs, it was reported last night. A Commons vote on the issue is expected to take place within weeks, and as many as 20 Conservatives oppose the plans, according to The Daily Telegraph. Labour MPs are also set to oppose the reforms, which George Osborne put forward earlier this year. David Burrowes, MP for Enfield Southgate and leader of the backlash, described the Sunday trading reforms as anti-family. “It is wrong in principle and wrong in policy — and it was not in our manifesto,” he said.” – The Times(£)
“A hardworking salon owner and mother-of-four who voted Tory stunned the energy into silence with an impassioned tirade over the decision to withdraw tax credits, screaming: ‘Shame on you!’ Michelle Dorrell, who was part of the audience of BBC Question Time, runs her own nail salon in Folkestone but will be hit hard by the controversial decision which will see some working families lose up to £1,300 a year. Yesterday, Miss Dorrell confronted energy secretary Amber Rudd over the decision from the Conservative party, shouting: ‘I thought you were going to be the better chance for me and my children.’ ” – Daily Mail
“The Institute for Fiscal Studies suggested that because Ms Dorrell does not make a profit she is unlikely to be hit by changes to the income threshold for working tax credits, which is being almost halved to £3,850 a year. She will also not be affected by the changes to child tax credits, which will only be restricted to the first two children for new parents from April 2017.” – Daily Telegraph
“Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is to become the vice-president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). It comes despite the recent Labour conference endorsing the party’s existing policy to support renewing Trident nuclear weapons system. Mr Corbyn was also criticised by many of his MPs for saying he would never use nuclear weapons if he became PM. However, CND said Mr Corbyn was stepping down as its vice-chairman because of his “increased workload”.” – BBC
>Yesterday: James Steel on Comment: Why there will never be another Labour Government
“Jeremy Corbyn is facing mass resignations from his front bench if Labour ditches its commitment to nuclear weapons, The Sun can reveal. Shadow Defence Secretary Maria Eagle stunned colleagues on Wednesday by insisting she was “not ruling out” a return to unilateral disarmament as she reviews the party’s defence policy. One front bencher vowed to resign if that happens – and predicted others would follow in a massive revolt against leftie peacenik Mr Corbyn.” – The Sun(£)
“Nicola Sturgeon is to pledge to build a new £200m network of NHS treatment centres for planned operations if the SNP wins next May’s Holyrood elections. She will announce the new policy in her leader’s address to the SNP conference. Ms Sturgeon will also accuse Prime Minister David Cameron of playing “fast and loose” with the UK’s membership of the EU. And she will say the SNP will “campaign positively” to keep both Scotland and the UK in the EU.” – BBC
“SNP members at the party conference have rejected calls for the party to back an outright ban on fracking. The party’s Leith branch had tabled a motion to the SNP conference backing the Scottish government’s current moratorium on fracking. Several speakers called for the motion to be revised and strengthened. However, an effort to remit the motion back for revision was defeated by 427 votes to 554 and it was carried by the conference.” – BBC
“Scotland’s Deputy First Minister, John Swinney, is to give councils north of the border the power to cut business rates from the end of this month. He announce the decision in his speech to the SNP’s annual conference in Aberdeen. Business rates are set centrally in Scotland and retained locally, but Mr Swinney wants greater flexibility. From 31 October, Scotland’s 32 local authorities will be able to cut rates to try and boost economic activity.” – BBC
“David Cameron will have to give half a billion pounds to the Scottish Government if he wants to secure the SNP’s support for a third runway at Heathrow, Alex Salmond has indicated. The former SNP leader said public spending on the project – estimated at £5 billion – should be subject to the Barnett Formula, which gives Holyrood a proportion of UK spending.” – Daily Telegraph
“Nigel Farage has hit out at “fashionable” charities that have “money thrown at them” but are not subject to proper financial scrutiny. The UKIP leader told LBC Radio that he supported charitable giving but believed there were “quite a few charlatans” in the sector. It comes as questions are asked about the collapse of Kids Company, which received millions in public funding. Mr Farage claimed “something didn’t ring true” about the organisation.” – BBC
“Britain faces the spectre of another wave of mass migration after Brussels bureaucrats opened the gates of Europe to Turkey’s 75million citizens. Plans to allow Turks access to EU visas – in exchange for their country’s help with the Syrian migration crisis – were branded as ‘bordering on insanity’ last night.” – Daily Mail
“Uber’s minicab-hailing app has been declared legal, in a move hailed by the company as a “victory for common sense” and a blow for London cabbies who declared the service to be unfair competition. The High Court rejected accusations from taxi drivers in the capital that the smartphone app was in effect the same as a traditional fare meter, which is reserved for use in taxis.”- The Times(£)
“The weirdest thing about the way we look at schools is that we still expect a uniform national system. Why can’t we have free schools, comps, academies, grammar schools, grammar schools with a significant non-selective admission, schools with varying ages of entry, specialist schools, church schools, new charity schools, schools with no or little national curriculum, schools with fewer exams, state boarding schools and even some schools in which better-off parents pay fees but most places are free? Such multiple forms would certainly create administrative headaches for the government which ultimately pays, but often the best answer to that is to have less administration.” Charles Moore Daily Telegraph
“It is so easy for this infection to spread. Which of us doesn’t sometimes secretly feel that something in our life has gone wrong, somewhere there was a false turning, somehow fate has been unfair. As victim we long for a perpetrator. Ah — the reason for our unsatisfactory sex life is that a scout leader once fondled us. We’re fat because Coca-Cola made us so, or drunk because of alcohol pricing. We project resentment at our disability on to politicians. We’re HIV-positive because the world was cruel to gays. We’re in a career rut because of male discrimination.” – Matthew Parris The Times(£)