Newslinks for Sunday 20th May 2012

7.30pm WATCH: David Cameron: "We are on track to hand over the running of Afghanistan… from NATO forces to Afghan forces"

5.30pm WATCH: Alistair Darling: The G8 summit was another example of European leaders not acting until there is "an absolute crisis"

2.30pm ToryDiary: Ken Clarke says a Greek €uro exit is "quite likely", and brands a referendum "irrelevant" and "irresponsible"

2pm Dr Andrew Murrison MP on Comment: We should have the self-confidence to make it clear we won't tolerate abuse of our troops

11am ToryDiary: The uses and abuse of Steve Hilton

10.30am ToryDiary: Caption contest: David Cameron celebrates Chelsea's Champions League win

ToryDiary: HS2 suffers a setback as the Treasury is said to be reluctant to spend money on the scheme

Columnist Nadine Dorries MP: The Rochdale girls were let down by the very institutions which should have cared for them

Chris Skidmore MP on Comment: Personal health budgets would be a good deal for both patients and taxpayers

John Glen MP and Davis Lewin on Comment: Britain must ensure NATO remains the pre-eminent global military alliance

Local government: 

• Conservatives keep power in Gloucester, Worcester and Monmouthshire
• Lib Dem councillor defects to Greens

David Cameron and Barack Obama lead charge to save the eurozone

"David Cameron has called for world leaders to draw up "strong contingency plans" for the break-up of the euro after discussing the European debt crisis with Barack Obama. The Prime Minister also urged the European Central Bank (ECB) to emulate the Bank of England by printing new money to inject into the European economy." – Sunday Telegraph

• "Cameron and Barack Obama became “gym buddies” yesterday as the two leaders held the first bilateral talks while using running machines." – Sunday Times (£)
• The G8 summit is over; let the NATO gathering begin – ITV News

> From yesterday - LISTEN: Chuka Umunna: Apart from Italy, Britain is the only G8 member to have entered a double dip recession

George Osborne warns of "enormous risks" for Britain from eurozone crisis

"In a bleak assessment the chancellor voices fears that the turmoil in the European Union may “only get worse”, hampering Britain’s recovery from the double dip recession. … [W]ith G8 leaders this weekend failing to achieve any breakthrough, Osborne issued an urgent plea to the leaders of France and Germany to find an answer. “We need the eurozone to solve its problems …The alternative scenario carries enormous risks for everybody,” he said." – Sunday Times (£)

• This crisis that proves nothing is more certain than uncertainty – Matthew d'Ancona for the Sunday Telegraph
• The Prime Minister says he wants a stable eurozone. It is complete nonsense – Nigel Lawson for the Mail on Sunday
• Europe finally awakes from its utopian dream – Janet Daley for the Sunday Telegraph
• Easy to blame the Germans. Smarter to learn from them – Andrew Rawnsley for the Observer
• Kwasi Kwarteng MP previews his report "Plan E – Preparing For Eurogeddon" for the Mail on Sunday
• The best solution to the current eurozone crisis is an orderly Greek exit, radical reform and a federal Europe – Sunday Times (£) editorial

> From yesterday:

• Lord Flight on Comment: The Treasury must prepare for the fact that it is only a matter of when and how the €uro breaks up
• ToryDiary: Tory members lose faith in the Chancellor and Jeremy Hunt – but two Osborne-ites, Hammond and Greening, continue to impress

Cameron pushes employment de-regulation

"In a major report to be published as early as this week, the Coalition will reveal the findings of the Beecroft Report which was commissioned by David Cameron to look at workplace deregulation. … Proposals in the report include reducing the length of consultations businesses have to enter into before making “collective redundancies” from 90 days to 30 days" – Sunday Telegraph

• "Cameron, who commissioned the research, will signal his support but a senior Liberal Democrat source dismissed the 15-page document as “not methodologically rigorous” and merely the view of “one man”." – Sunday Times (£)

Theresa May wants "three strike" rule for anti-social behaviour

"A “three strikes and you’re out” crackdown on yobs will compel police to act if they receive three complaints from one individual about antisocial behaviour. … Unveiling a new criminal justice white paper on Tuesday, Theresa May, the home secretary, will warn police that a failure to respond to such complaints will see them hauled before elected commissioners with powers to sack chief constables." – Sunday Times (£)

• "Parents who force their children to marry will face jail under tough new laws being drawn up by ministers" – The Sun on Sunday

Ministers hire filing clerks to guard borders… after doing three months' training in just three days

"Hundreds of clerical staff are being drafted in to solve the crisis at airport immigration desks and will be expected to spot fake passports and suspicious passengers after just three days’ training. Low-level filing clerks and receptionists are among 700 usually desk-bound civil servants recruited for the temporary work." - Mail on Sunday

British special forces could stay in Afghanistan after 2014

"A small number of British soldiers could remain in Afghanistan after forces withdraw in 2014, a senior government official has said. … David Cameron has set a deadline of the end of December 2014 for Britain to stop all of its combat operations. But it is understood that up to 200 members of the UK's special forces could stay on to help combat terrorism." - BBC

• MoD faces criticism over redundancies – Sunday Telegraph
• Announcement on Army reorganisation delayed – Sunday Telegraph
• Afghan troops and Taliban in pact to loot Nato convoys – Sunday Times (£)

James Forsyth: Downing Street is now more "aggressive" in dealing with problems

"In Downing Street there is a quiet confidence that after a difficult few months they have ‘stopped the rot’. I’m told that No 10 is now in a ‘more aggressive mode’ in terms of dealing with problems. Whitehall sources have been struck by how Cameron is overruling departments – which previously he had been reluctant to do. … Another aspect of his new approach is focusing more clearly on what matters: welfare, the economy, schools, family and the NHS." – James Forsyth for the Mail on Sunday

John Rentoul: Steve Hilton's departure ends Cameron Mark I and the beginning of Cameron Mark II

"The Budget was a historic error, from which all of Cameron's problems flow. It was a betrayal of Hiltonism. In opposition, Hilton would never have contemplated a tax cut for the rich that would so offend the AB liberal demographic group. … I don't know if Hilton was, in the end, the right person to do it, but it seems to me that Hiltonism – defined as persuading the voters that the Tories are not the party which looks after its own – is the key to the next election." – John Rentoul for the Independent on Sunday

Treasury delays put HS2 plan in 'jeopardy'

"So serious has the dispute between George Osborne’s department and HS2 Limited become that officials in charge of the proposed rail line say there is a “major risk” that the hybrid Bill to introduce the scheme will not be laid before Parliament by the end of next year, the deadline set by ministers." – Sunday Telegraph

• HS2 chiefs' link to firm in £8m deal – Sunday Telegraph

Britain gives more foreign aid than the rest of the G8

"A G8 report showed that the UK spent 0.56 per cent of gross domestic product on aid last year. The G8 average was only 0.28 per cent. France is the next biggest giver, with 0.4 per cent, while the US contribution is 0.2." – Sunday Telegraph

Richard Dawkins the arch-atheist backs Michael Gove's free Bible plan - Observer

> Yesterday on Local government: Councils cutting subsidies for teaching unions by up to 50%

Envoy offered Tory Party a 'serious contribution' from Bernie Ecclestone if Max Mosley became an MP – Mail on Sunday

David Cameron's Rasta friend guilty of hacksaw attack on cafe customer – Mail on Sunday

Government backtracks on fracking - Independent on Sunday

• Cameron to view revived Severn barrage plan - Independent on Sunday

Nick Clegg condemns divide in schools as 'corrosive'

"Clegg will condemn the "rift in opportunities" in the British education system this week as new figures reveal that privately educated children are more than three times more likely to get good grades at A-level than state school pupils. In one of the toughest assessments of the inequality between private education and the state sector, the Deputy Prime Minister will warn that it is "corrosive for our society and damaging to our economy"." – Independent on Sunday

> From yesterday - Columnist Bruce Anderson: Even Fred Goodwin is a far more sensible chap than Clegg, Heseltine and the other €uro-fanatics

Ed Miliband urged by Shadow Ministers to offer an EU referendum in 2015

"Several figures in the party are pushing the Labour leader to make the pledge well before the next European elections in 2014 to outmanoeuvre David Cameron, who is under heavy pressure to commit the Tory party to a national vote on the issue. The Observer has been told that, after discussions with shadow cabinet members, Miliband is leaving the door open to a referendum" – Observer

• "Tony Blair gives me good advice" - Ed Miliband's interview with Matthew d'Ancona for the Sunday Telegraph
• How Miliband could make it to No 10 – Martin Ivens for the Sunday Times (£)

> From yesterday:

• MPsETC: The People's Pledge announce three Greater Manchester constituencies will be next to hold a vote on an EU referendum
• Andrew Smith on Comment: Labour’s reshuffle is a swing to the left, but it will put more pressure on our areas of weakness

Darling hosts secret summit to kill off Scottish independence at his Edinburgh home – Mail on Sunday

New Scottish school curriculum teaches students Britain is an ‘arch-imperialist villain’ - Mail on Sunday

Secret 'pay map' for civil servants threatens crisis in Whitehall – Observer

And finally 1… NHS launches 'diversity week' with transgender art – Sunday Telegraph

And finally2… Cameron makes John Terry gaffe as Osborne joins Chelsea's Champions League celebrations in Munich

• "David Cameron was embarrassed last night after he was caught on film telling Angela Merkel that it was ‘good’ that John Terry was disqualified from playing in last night’s Champions League final in Munich." – Mail on Sunday
• The White House photo feed has a photo of David Cameron celebrating Chelsea's win… and then commiserating with Angela Merkel.
• "What's George Osborne doing there a few seats away from Michel Platini?" – Daily Telegraph liveblog from last night

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