“Sir Jeremy has also asked senior officials to root out ministers intending to campaign for Brexit but who have not yet declared this – so the ban can be applied. Only those backing the Remain campaign will continue to get unfettered access to all government documentation. The Whitehall guidance raises concerns junior officials are being asked to ‘police’ ministers’ knowledge of their own departments’ work in a wide range of areas touched by EU law.” – Daily Mail
Leave:
Remain:
UKIP:
“In every case the message is that Brexit is simply too scary; and the reality is that these threats are so wildly exaggerated as to be nonsense. Indeed I am ever more convinced that the real risk is to sit back and do nothing, to remain inertly and complacently in an unreformed EU that is hell-bent on a federal project over which we have no control.” – Daily Telegraph
>Today:
>Yesterday:
“George Osborne is today urged to press ahead with plans to slash pension tax breaks for higher earners in next month’s budget, despite warnings that it could undermine David Cameron’s campaign to stay in Europe. Ken Clarke, who was chancellor of the exchequer under John Major, says that the nation’s finances can longer afford “extremely generous” reliefs if Mr Osborne is to clear the £70 billion a year deficit by the end of the decade.” – The Times (£)
Comment:
“Wales is waiting to hear whether Welsh Stephen Crabb will press ahead with plans to overhaul the nation’s devolution settlement after a cross-party group of MPs urged him to pause and reflect. The Welsh Affairs committee has called on him to “look again” at a range of controversial measures in the draft Wales Bill which has come under fire from the Welsh Government, opposition parties, academics and constitutional experts.” – Wales Online
“Left of centre parties could agree to stand down candidates in between 20 to 30 marginal seats at the next election in an effort to defeat the Conservatives, according to sources involved in creating a “progressive alliance”. The Greens, the Scottish National Party, and Plaid Cymru called for sweeping reforms to the Westminster electoral system last month and vowed to include this in their manifestos. This followed The Independent on Sunday’s revelation that the Liberal Democrats and Labour were in discussions on changing the voting system as part of an alliance against the Conservatives. ” – The Independent
“MPs called for an inquiry after text messages showed Unite officials ordering Labour members in their teens and early 20s to elect hard-Left candidate James Elliott to the party’s ruling executive – and demanding to inspect their ballot papers. Despite the activities of Unite and the Corbyn supporters group Momentum to get him elected, he narrowly lost the vote to moderate candidate Jasmin Beckett, a working-class student from Liverpool.” – Daily Mail
Union demands inquiry into youth election lost ‘by one vote’ – The Guardian
“Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary Angela Eagle lined herself up to replace Jeremy Corbyn yesterday as she refused to rule out accepting the job. Eagle said it was “very interesting” that people considered her a contender and hinted she enjoyed standing in for Corbyn at Prime Minister’s Questions when he is away. But she insisted she was “concentrating on my current job”.” – The Sun
“An explosive new book – based on exclusive interviews with military chiefs, civil servants and Cabinet ministers – reveals Mr Blair decided early in 2002 on the need for ‘regime change’ to tackle Saddam Hussein. But he froze out, or kept in the dark, his Chief of Defence Staff, Cabinet Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary and most of the Cabinet.” – Daily Mail
Editorial:
“Labour leader Kezia Dugdale will today set out bold plans to use Scotland’s new welfare powers to increase support for students, pregnant mothers and carers as the Holyrood election campaign steps up a gear. The Lothians MSP will say the forthcoming May vote is the “tax and spend election” in a keynote speech in Glasgow following last week’s historic deal to devolve new powers to Holyrood.” – The Scotsman
>Yesterday: Nicholas Mazzei in Comment: Trident is a 20th century weapon in a 21st century world. It’s out of date – so let’s ditch it.
“MPs fear that at this conference the Corbynites could start to change Labour rules on how the leader is elected, and on policymaking. There could also be a series of big, embarrassing votes on issues such as whether the party ends its support for Trident renewal. “If the rules of the game are to be changed in September, then that increases the urgency to take some action now,” says one MP. The professional plotting operation Labour First is trying to get as many moderates into key positions to stop any changes to the rules of the game, but success is not guaranteed.” – The Times (£)
“Nicola Sturgeon has been told to take her head out of the sand after one of Scotland’s most high-profile entrepreneurs questioned her why education reforms that have closed the attainment gap in England have not been adopted in Scotland.
Sir Tom Hunter praised the freedom to innovate and academic success at academy schools south of the Border, which are outside local authority control, and asked the First Minister “why we wouldn’t give our kids a chance to have this?”” – Daily Telegraph