8.45pm LeftWatch: Ed Miliband's £1,373 tax bombshell
7.30pm WATCH: David Miliband quits frontline politics
5.15pm LeftWatch: David Miliband's departure is Ed Miliband's opportunity
2.45pm Jeremy Brier on CentreRight: Labour's back! (In the Unions' pockets)
2.15pm WATCH: Andrew Neil catches out Hazel Blears over "wicked and malicious" claims
1.45pm Roger Helmer MEP on CentreRight: Tax competition between states is good
12.30pm Local Government: A reality check on Ken Livingstone's Labour Conference speech
Noon WATCH Tony Benn falls asleep while listening to Gillian Duffy (of Gordon Brown fame)
10.30am The Lurcher on CentreRight: Four actions to build confidence in the Defence Review
ToryDiary: The Liam Fox letter row – David Cameron can either shelter Departmental budgets or reduce the deficit. He can't do both
Brandon Lewis MP on Platform: Politicians should not fear the localist agenda of giving more real powers to local authorities
Local Government: Cllr Ravi Govindia – How to boost the private rented sector
Two new posts on CentreRight:
WATCH:
David Davis says that the Government must make the case for growth
"In
a speech today, hosted by the Legatum Institute free-market think-tank,
he will say that although it’s vital to slash the national debt that
was bequeathed by the Labour government, there must be a parallel plan
to create jobs and prosperity. Unless the Coalition charts a
clear way to economic growth, he will say it risks being pulled down by
a ‘Leftish backlash’ and by a relentless barrage of negative headlines
about ‘Tory cuts’." – Daily Mail
Hunt's plan to put the local back into TV
"The Culture Secretary told members of the Royal
Television Society that the TV industry was "deeply, desperately
centralised". He called the regional news broadcasts "token" and
said they had been increasingly stretched across vast geographical
areas. The Government wants this to change. "The
idea that somehow the UK can't sustain local TV will seem very quaint
when compared to other countries," he said. The US has six local
channels even in small cities, There are 100 such broadcasters in France
and 80 in Sweden." – The Independent
Development funds shore up British Council
"In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Mitchell said DfID was
spending about £40m in this financial year to help pay for a number of
British Council projects that are at present funded by the Foreign
Office. However, he insisted that he was funding only British Council
projects that involved legitimate development work, as defined by the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development." – Financial Times (£)
Northern Ireland Ministers discuss cuts with George Osborne
"First Minister Peter Robinson said the two leaders had reiterated the
need for the government to substantively support Northern Ireland's
efforts to grow the private sector. Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness warned there would be, what
he called, an almost immediate impact on the wider economy in Northern
Ireland if huge cuts to the block grant were introduced." – RTE
David Miliband expected to quit Shadow Cabinet…as the commentators pore over Ed Miliband's speech
David Miliband is expected to leave frontline politics today by declining to
serve in his brother’s Shadow Cabinet. The former Foreign Secretary is understood to have decided that he cannot
remain on Labour’s front bench without providing a huge distraction to Ed
Miliband’s leadership.He left the Manchester Central convention centre immediately after his younger
brother’s speech yesterday to return to London. It is thought that he will
not submit his name for election to the Shadow Cabinet — nominations for
which close at 5pm today. – The Times (£)
"As 40-year-old Ed attempted to turn the page on New Labour by
declaring that a ‘new generation’ had taken over and insisting it had
been ‘wrong to take Britain to war’, his brother sat stony-faced in the
front row. David, 45, then turned to the party’s deputy leader Harriet Harman,
who was applauding enthusiastically, and sniped: ‘You voted for it, why
are you clapping?’
A stunned Miss Harman hit back: ‘I’m clapping because he is the leader, and as you know, I’m supporting him.’ " – Daily Mail
"Campaign aides say he is still angry at the way Ed Miliband used the Iraq war
as an issue to score political points against him…David Miliband has been
weighing up whether to continue to serve in the shadow cabinet under his
younger brother. His decision will have to be made today, to coincide with the closure of
nominations for the new shadow cabinet elections. He is widely expected not
to stand with friends citing the distraction his presence could cause for Ed
Miliband as the reason, but yesterday’s rift over Iraq looks to have made
that decision almost inevitable" – Daily Telegraph
"I don’t, however, think [Ed Miliband] much likes or understands people who voted
for David Cameron. He regards supporting the Conservatives as a very
odd thing to do. He gives you — and I am not the only person to
experience this — a sort of compassionate but rather irritated look, as
if you are a bit dim, perhaps, and certainly a great disappointment to
him.I suspect that this incomprehension will be reciprocated. And
it will prove a big problem for him, one that he will struggle to
overcome." – Danny Finkelstein, The Times (£)
"And even before Miliband E made his speech yesterday, promising unity
and moderation, one knew what his game was. A new leader of the Labour
Party does not agree to write a piece for The Sunday Telegraph to
mark his first full day in his post unless he appreciates (however
crudely) the importance of sucking up to Middle England…But Miliband E and his supporters in the parliamentary party are aware
of how exposed he is because of the mark of the unions upon him, and his
lack of support in the old shadow cabinet and scarcity of support in
the Commons." – Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph
"The threat to David Cameron's coalition government this week depends not
on the new Labour leader, Ed Miliband. It depends on how far Miliband
can exploit the politics of recession. The Tories can heap any amount of
abuse on "Red Ed" – or now mildly pink Ed – but it will be just hot air
if the economy returns to a halt under the weight of George Osborne's
squeeze." – Simon Jenkins, The Guardian
"Apart from a few worrying pauses, Mr Miliband managed to get through the thing without a serious mishap. So far, so all right. But
for a man who has been a political groupie nearly all his adult life,
for a former Cabinet minister, for a London brahmin who barged into the
leadership election to mug his unfortunate brother, one hoped for
greater drive and sense of mission." – Quentin Letts, Daily Mail
Reddy, Ed? – The Sun
> Yesterday on LeftWatch: Only 36% of voters think "weird" Ed Miliband is up to the job of being PM
Women could make up half the Shadow Cabinet
"New Labour rules guarantee that a minimum of six of
the 19 elected places will go to women in next week's contest. But they
could gain as many as eight or nine positions following the new Labour
leader's intervention. With places reserved for
Harriet Harman, the deputy leader, and Baroness Royall, Labour's leader
in the Lords, 10 or 11 of Mr Miliband's Shadow Cabinet colleagues could
be female." – The Independent
Hague should beware friendship with Moscow
"As Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, prepares to follow the Obama administration in attempting a "reset" of relations with Russia, this latter thought is worth holding on to. For all the talk of
modernisation, reform and defeating corruption, the fiefdom of the
so-called "power tandem" – prime minister Vladimir Putin and president Dmitry Medvedev – remains a very foreign land of dark forests, hidden currents and murky deeds." – Simon Tisdall, The Guardian
"Mumbai style" terror attacks planned on UK, France and Germany are foiled – Daily Mail
Why Ken Livingstone still wants to be Mayor of London – Hugh Muir, The Guardian
Chris Huhne on the future of wind – Financial Times (£)
Tony Abbott not sure about Conservative Conference trip – Sydney Morning Herald
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