“David Davis is the preferred choice among Tory members to replace Theresa May as leader, but the race is wide open, according to the most comprehensive measure of party opinion since its disastrous election campaign. The Brexit secretary was identified by just over a fifth of Conservative members asked to name their favoured successor to May, ahead of foreign secretary Boris Johnson, who still retains support among the rank and file.” – Observer
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>Today: ToryDiary: Next Tory leader. A YouGov poll echoes ConHome’s survey result: Davis first, Johnson second, and none of the above beating both.
“Theresa May must consider quitting before Christmas, grassroots Tories have told The Sunday Telegraph amid concerns her leadership instability is undermining Brexit. Leading voices among Tory activists have said the Prime Minister’s authority will never recover from the election flop and called for a swift leadership change. They want Mrs May to spend her summer break, which starts this week, planning a transition that would see a colleague take over without a leadership race.” – Sunday Telegraph
“Gay men will be allowed to donate blood three months after having sex instead of a year under equalities reforms announced by the Government. Transgender people will also be able to chose their legal sex more easily as part of the shake-up announced by Education Secretary Justine Greening. Fears over infections being passed on through donations from gay men led to an outright ban at the height of the Aids epidemic but that was cut to 12 months in 2011. Medical advances mean the time limit will now be reduced again under plans for the NHS in England.” – Sunday Telegraph
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“Ministers are expected to drop plans to allow Christian, Jewish and Muslim state schools to admit all their pupils from one faith after warnings that the move could heighten community divisions in Britain. A U-turn would jeopardise dozens of new free schools planned by faith groups, some to cope with the influx of Catholic families from Poland and other east European countries. Catholics said this weekend they would not open new state schools if they had to reserve half their places for children of other faiths, raising new school funding problems for the government.” – The Sunday Times (£)
“Ruth Davidson has warned Theresa May and her senior ministers to get out of their “defensive crouch”, stop fighting among themselves and start making the case for Conservatism or see Jeremy Corbyn become prime minister….Writing for a new website called UnHerd, for which she will be doing some work on the reform of capitalism, Davidson calls for the system to “get a reboot” so its benefits are spread more evenly. She says “capitalist behemoths” such as Amazon “have forgotten about operating with consent” and calls on them to pay a “fair share” of tax and give workers “a decent wage” as well.” – The Sunday Times (£)
>Today: Kieron O’Hara in Comment: How liberalism can undermine the foundations on which it is built
“Being in Washington only a month after my last visit here shows the level of commitment on both sides of the Atlantic to forge ahead in strengthening our historic trade and economic ties. We’re taking forward the trade and economic dialogue agreed by the prime minister and President Trump when they met earlier this year. … The US is our single largest trading partner, accounting for a fifth of all exports. So taking advantage of the many opportunities ahead of us is something we should welcome, as we look to improving trade relations both now and post-Brexit.” – The Sunday Times (£)
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“British negotiators offered to set up an ombudsman to independently monitor any potential breaches of the UK-EU ‘divorce agreement’ but were turned down by EU negotiators who were too hung up on EU ‘theology’, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal. The British offer of an ombudsman chaired by a judge from an impartial third country such as Canada, was among the practical solutions that UK negotiators presented when discussing how to protect EU Citizens’ Rights after Brexit during negotiations last week.” – Sunday Telegraph
“Traditionally, the British have two ways of responding to disaster. The elites are prone to panic. They wave their arms, indulge in lamentations, wish they could turn the clock back and then recommend orderly surrender. Ordinary people, by contrast, tend to make the best of a bad job. This state of mind is often summed up in the Second World War slogan “Keep calm and carry on”. The release of Christopher Nolan’s film Dunkirk provides a welcome reminder that there have been bigger disasters in British history than last year’s referendum vote to leave the European Union. We have made the best of worse jobs.” – The Sunday Times (£)
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“UK ministers say they are committed to resettling up to 3,000 children and families from the Middle East and North Africa, in addition to the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. Local authorities across the country are currently supporting more than 4,000 unaccompanied asylum seeking children, they said. Immigration Minister Brandon Lewis said: “We are committed to fulfilling our commitment under the Dubs scheme as soon as possible and ensuring that children arrive in the UK safely. This is just one aspect of a much wider response.” – Independent on Sunday
“…I don’t want to be a bore about this, but our deficit has not gone away. Last month, Britain borrowed an extraordinary £6.9 billion. In the time you have been reading this article, our national debt has increased by some £350,000. We need to find ways to screw the taps shut, not to spin them further open. It is never easy to cut spending. Government programmes are often initiated for the sake of nothing more than good headlines, but quickly become almost impossible to discontinue.” – Sunday Telegraph
“President Donald Trump on Saturday attacked The New York Times and its “sick agenda,” alleging that one of the paper’s reports thwarted a US bid to take out Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. “The Failing New York Times foiled US attempt to kill the single most wanted terrorist, al-Baghdadi. Their sick agenda over National Security,” Mr Trump wrote in one of a barrage of early morning tweets. Mr Trump did not expand on his charge against The Times, or explain what revelation by the daily is supposed to have hampered Baghdadi’s capture.” – The Sunday Times