5.30pm David Merlin-Jones on Comment: Chris Huhne's energy policy is unaffordable, and will fail to have much of an environmental impact
CHRIS HUHNE'S CONFERENCE SPEECH
- Video: Huhne attacks "Tea Party" Tories – Daily Telegraph
- Huhne attacks ConHome: "Well, I can hardly pick up a Tory paper these days without a whinge about energy and climate change policies. It’s been nip and tuck between Vince and me in recent months to win an unpopularity poll – that’s on ConservativeHome among Tory activists." - Speech in full at the Telegraph
- Huhne's speech – and why we need a Centre for Social Justice, green-style - ToryDiary
- Channel 4's Cathy Newman factchecks Huhne over fuel price claims: "Based on the information currently available to us, the average fuel bill will be more expensive in 2020. If Chris Huhne wants to claim otherwise, he should publish the research he’s keeping up his sleeve"
- Matthew Elliott: "Chris Huhne: wrong on the Euro, wrong on AV and wrong about the Tea Party" – Daily Mail
IMF CUTS UK ECONOMIC GROWTH FORECASTS
- "Pinpointing the UK as one of the three big developed economies at risk of a double-dip recession, the IMF said the UK was now expected to expand by just 1.1% in 2011 rather than the 1.5% it had predicted in June." – Guardian
- Full September IMF report (pdf)
- Treasury on IMF report: "welcome that IMF have forecast that UK will grow more strongly than Germany, France and Eurozone next year" – Faisal Islam
- IMF's prognosis for advanced economies just got a whole lot bleaker – Jeremy Warner
EURO CRISIS RUMBLES ON
- "Joining the euro would have been a ''huge, huge error'', Nick Clegg admitted today." - Daily Telegraph
- IMF suggests ECB may have to cut interest rates if debt tensions persist, but encourages ECB to continue bond buying - ZeroHedge
- "Greece will probably default but will not leave the euro zone, Fitch credit ratings agency said on Tuesday, as pressure increased on the Greek government to push through with fiscal reforms." - Reuters
- Fraser Nelson says "Euroscepticism is the mainstream view in Britain" and asks if it's "time to leave the EU?"
TIM FARRON – FUTURE LIB DEM LEADER… OR NOT?
- "Tim Farron calls Tories 'brutal', 'appalling' and 'evil' at Ch4 fringe. Then claims he couldn't choose between them and Labour next time" – The Daily Mail's Tim Shipman
- He tells Andrew Neil he would not accept the leadership of his party… – Guido Fawkes
- …but later on, ITV News tweet: "Lib Dem president Tim Farron "never say never" to standing for party leader but insists he would not try to oust Nick Clegg"
- He then said Nick Clegg would "almost certainly lead the party into the next election". Only "almost certainly"!
- The FT's Kiran Stacey blogs: "I have spoken to many [Lib Dem MPs] in the last few days, including government ministers, and the overwhelming sense is that this was very much Farron’s leadership pitch, albeit for 2015, after the next election."
- Nadine Dorries criticises Farron for abandoning his faith to play to the left of his party: "The left are strongly pro-abortion and Tim knows this. Some with a stronger faith than Tim may say he’s been blinded by ambition and sold his soul to the devil."
ED MILIBAND TO OPEN UP LABOUR LEADERSHIP ELECTIONS TO THE PUBLIC?
- The proposed changes won't really influence future leadership elections – LeftWatch
- "It isn't though, as some have suggested, a significant "dilution" of the union vote in the leadership election." – Mark Ferguson, editor of LabourList
- Baroness Warsi: "It’s no surprise Ed Miliband has failed to curb the unions’ power over Labour leadership elections and Labour conference. After all, he’s only Labour leader because of trade union votes, and his party is only solvent because of trade union money."
LABOUR BACK PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD
- Douglas Alexander statement: “The case made by the Palestinians for recognition as a state is strong. This week, at the United Nations, the British Government should be willing to support the recognition of Palestinian statehood as part of continuing steps to achieve a comprehensive two state solution."