IDS shoots holes in Miliband’s ‘jobs guarantee’ ‘A flagship Labour plan to ‘guarantee’ jobs for every young person unemployed for a year is ‘pie in the sky’, Iain Duncan Smith said last night. He said Labour’s suggestion that 80 per cent of the placements would be in the private sector was ‘pie in the sky’, […]
Ukraine crisis 1) Hague warns that Putin is risking war “Vladimir Putin risks war if he takes another step into the Ukraine, Foreign Secretary William Hague has warned. … He said there was a ‘real danger of a shooting conflict’ if Russian forces moved beyond Crimea to invade Eastern Ukraine. … But he admitted that […]
BBC’s own report says scrap the Licence Fee “Members of a panel reviewing the future of the BBC have suggested that it scrap the licence fee and switch to a subscription service from 2020. The radical plan has been recommended by some of the country’s most influential economists, consultants and academics and comes as the […]
Stephen Lawrence 1) Hogan-Howe vows to restore trust in the police “The head of the Metropolitan Police has vowed to win back the public’s trust after a damning report found officers spied on the family of murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence. … Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said the report, which has prompted an inquiry into undercover […]
Stephen Lawrence 1) Report exposes police misconduct “Two decades of shameful police lies about the Stephen Lawrence case were exposed in a damning official report yesterday. … Shocking allegations of corruption, a police cover-up and a ‘spying operation’ on the teenager’s grieving family were laid bare. … And the report also revealed that undercover police […]
McLoughlin: HS2 Bill won’t have passed parliament by 2015 ‘[The Transport Secretary] admits that the HS2 legislation won’t be through parliament before the next election: ‘I think one has to accept that perhaps through all its stages within the next 12 months is slightly ambitious.’ It will, he says, have ‘started its parliamentary progress’. When […]
Who will gain from any tax cuts? ‘David Cameron risked a row with the Tory Right last night after ignoring calls to help middle-class voters hit by the 40p tax rate. In a major speech on the economy, the Prime Minister promised that further savings from public spending would be used to fund tax cuts. […]
There are fears that Putin is poised to invade eastern Ukraine. He claims this morning that Russian troops have been ordered to their barracks. There are growing international fears that Vladimir Putin is preparing to launch an all-out invasion of eastern Ukraine and Crimea after military bases were said to have been given an ultimatum […]
Russia and Ukraine on brink of war “Europe’s two biggest states were on the brink of armed conflict last night after Russia tightened its grip by surrounding Ukrainian military bases and President Putin defended the invasion as ‘an appropriate response’. Ukraine warned that it was ‘on the brink of disaster’ as it put its military […]
Osborne v Boris “civil war” breaks out “Civil war erupted in the Tory Party last night after Boris Johnson accused George Osborne of lying about urging him to make a Commons comeback. Supporters of the London Mayor claimed the Chancellor’s camp was engaging in a ‘dirty tricks plot’ to wreck his hopes of becoming Conservative […]
Boris urged to return to the Commons for 2015 ‘Boris Johnson is being urged by allies of David Cameron to fight the next election as a Conservative candidate. The Mayor of London would settle once and for all questions over his loyalty by pinning his own political fate to that of the Prime Minister, they […]
Net immigration soars ‘David Cameron’s pledge to cut net immigration to under 100,000 by next year was in “tatters” tonight after a surprise surge in migrants from the European Union. Net immigration is now at its highest since 2011, and the Prime Minister is faced with going into an election without having met one of […]
Merkel to address both houses of UK Parliament with plea to stay in EU “Amid genuine fears in Berlin that Britain may be on a trajectory towards exit, the German chancellor is expected to say that Britain benefits from its membership of the EU. But Merkel is also expected to say that the EU benefits […]
Backbench message to Cameron over “No Second Coalition” claims: stand up to the Lib Dems now – not later “However, backbenchers were sceptical about the idea yesterday, suspecting the plan was being floated to try to improve Mr Cameron’s standing among Tory MPs and activists. One MP said: “We know from experience that manifesto commitments […]
Cameron “would prefer a minority Government to another coalition” “David Cameron is preparing to fight the next general election on a clear promise to the British people not to form a second coalition government even if he falls short of a Commons majority, The Telegraph has learnt. The Prime Minister wants to make a commitment […]