4.30pm Ruth Lea on Comment: There are two permanent solutions for the €uro area; full economic union or the division of the currency area into northern and southern zones
2.30pm Today's ConHomeUSA newslinks headed by warning of second downgrade
2pm WATCH:
- With socks at half mast, some comedy gold from John Prescott: I had to cope with "7/11" when I was running the country!
- Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt MP updates BBC1 viewers on the situation in Afghanistan
10am ToryDiary: Call for fairer petrol prices from Robert Halfon MP zooms to near top of epetitions website
ToryDiary: Cameron to Better Off Outers: You had your vote on Europe 36 years ago
Tobias Ellwood MP: Three years on from the Russian invasion, Britain must continue to focus on Georgia
LeftWatch: Labour MP rushes to exploit last night's Tottenham riots for political advantage
Local government:
- Tory Council leader in Derby attacks the Government over train contract for Germans: “This will undoubtedly cost our party and our coalition partners very dearly at the next local and general elections, and I cannot stress this point too strongly."
- Tower Hamlets placing vulnerable with rogue landlords
WATCH: Reacting to US downgrade, Justine Greening MP tells Channel 4 News that Osborne is holding talks with global leaders from his holiday
Gordon Brown on economic crisis: I was right. Everyone else was wrong.
"Gordon Brown today launches an extraordinary attack on the leaders of America, France and Germany, accusing them of being "wrong" on the big economic decisions and failing to heed his warnings over the EU debt crisis." – Independent on Sunday
- Meanwhile something to cheer Brown up… Price of tickets for Blair's Australian and New Zealand tour halved in price in sign of declining popularity – Mail on Sunday
"David Cameron has spoken to French President Nicolas Sarkozy to discuss eurozone finances and the US credit rating being downgraded… Meanwhile, Chancellor George Osborne, who is on holiday, spoke to the head of the International Monetary Fund and the current European Union president." – BBC
- "In this grave crisis, the world's leaders are terrifyingly out of their depth" – Peter Oborne in The Sunday Telegraph
- John Redwood presents eight point plan for €urozone leaders.
- Martin Ivens looks at options for the break up of the €urozone – The Sunday Times (£)
- Bank of England "to warn of slower UK growth" – The Sunday Telegraph
- The idea that a capitalist economy can support a socialist welfare state is collapsing before our eyes – Janet Daley in The Sunday Telegraph
- Cameron receiving tennis instruction while on Tuscan break – Mail on Sunday
Tory activists call on Osborne to deliver tax cuts to boost economy
"Nine out of 10 party members who took part in a survey by the ConservativeHome website want the Chancellor to bring in some sort of tax reduction. The most popular single move is to cut taxes on petrol, followed by a lower corporation tax rate for small businesses and a higher threshold for basic income tax payers, which would help the low-paid." – The Sunday Telegraph
Stephanie Flanders admits to being 'nauseated' by George Osborne – The Sunday Telegraph
David Laws as Business Secretary?
"Over the past year, the Lib Dems have sabotaged any hope of a growth strategy. They forced an increase in Capital Gains Tax. They’re blocking the end of the 50p rate. They’ve argued for greater investment in expensive renewable energy. And they’ve also reduced the likelihood of Britain escaping from damaging EU employment laws. George Osborne hopes that an economic emergency will strengthen his hand, and that he’ll be able to force Nick Clegg to swallow more business-friendly measures. This might be helped if Chris Huhne is forced to resign over allegations (as yet unproven) that his wife took the blame for his speeding tickets. That might change the balance of power in the Cabinet: Vince Cable could be moved to the climate change brief, the pro-jobs David Laws could take his place as Business Secretary, and most Tories would rejoice." – Tim Montgomerie in The Sunday Telegraph
Ministers "go to war" with National Trust and Campaign to Protect Rural England as they plan to petition government over planning reforms
"The planning reforms are supposed to streamline complicated rules on new buildings, reducing 1,300 pages of national planning policy to just 52 pages. In a highly controversial change councils will be told there should be a "presumption for development". Conservation groups say the reforms could allow un-checked development in the countryside and lead to parts of the Green Belt being concreted over…. But both organisations were heavily criticised by Bob Neill, the Local Government Minister. He accused them of being "vested interests" that were peddling "deeply misleading and simply untrue" claims." – The Sunday Telegraph
The Observer previews two books about the future of the Conservative Party, to be published at the time of Tory Conference
"The two books are likely to advance strongly eurosceptic agendas and suggest a fundamental rethink of the UK's relationship with the EU. They are also expected to push for a lower-tax economy, advance new ideas on wealth creation and combine a commitment to civil liberties with radical ideas on immigration, criminal justice and the future of public services, including the NHS." – Observer
Andrew Lansley plans NHS vehicle to warehouse toxic IT contracts – Observer
Cameron plans to address falling popularity among women voters – Melissa Kite in the Mail on Sunday
- Women are being priced out of the job market because of deep government cuts in state funding for childcare – Observer
53% back reintroduction of death penalty; 38% oppose (but it's a male thing)
"The Survation poll reveals a striking gender divide over the issue: while 63% of men back the move, just 44% of women are in favour… Only 41% of Lib Dem voters are in favour, compared with 45% of Labour backers, 67% of Conservatives and 72% of UKIP supporters." – Mail on Sunday
Gerald Warner in Scotland on Sunday on Andrew Percy MP's call for a public referendum on the death penalty: "[Percy] believes the issue should not be decided by the House of Commons but by a public referendum. He is right: the denizens of the slime-green benches have not the slightest regard for the public will on this or any subject."
- "What useless safety valves these new e-petitions are. They don’t even promise that Parliament will debate the issues raised. And what they certainly will not do is restore the death penalty, sensible though that would be. MPs are not chosen by us. They are picked by the centralised machines of the state-subsidised, billionaire-backed political parties." – Peter Hitchens in the Mail on Sunday
- The e-petitions website is a platform for hysteria rather than people power – Catherine Bennett in The Observer
Public sector excess continues
- Despite orders not to take on new recruits amid deep spending cuts, many public bodies are still advertising well-paid posts – The Sunday Times (£)
- Local authorities and National Health Service trusts have squandered £220m buying and leasing luxury cars, freedom of information requests reveal – The Sunday Times (£)
Jailed Labour MP Elliott Morley assaulted in prison and his £3,000 Rolex watch is stolen from him – Mail on Sunday
Left-wing think-tank is to be launched in the name of legendary Scottish union leader Jimmy Reid
"Supported by figures including Sir Alex Ferguson, Elaine C Smith and former first minister Henry McLeish – as well as his widow Joan – the Reid Foundation will be launched on Wednesday, a year to the day that the trade union activist died after a long illness" – Scotland on Sunday
And finally…
Prison officers have complained they are getting ‘high’ from cannabis fumes escaping from prisoners’ cells – Mail on Sunday
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