4.45pm Chris Skidmore MP on Comment: The Local Authorities that fail our children should be replaced by Learning Trusts
4.15pm PMQs: WATCH – PMQs: Cameron V Balls…sorry, Miliband
2.30pm ToryDiary – "One cannot say Mr Cameron's attacks are illegitimate: Mr Balls has
heckled him so relentlessly from a sedentary position that he deserves
everything he gets. And now that Labour is changing direction on the
economy, the temptation to mock the inconsistencies
in his evolving position is irresistible." Andrew Gimson's Commons sketch: Cameron wages an unEdifying war of attrition against Balls
12.45pm ToryDiary: The Commons moves closer to a ban on conflicting interests for Select Committee Chairmen
Noon ToryDiary: CCHQ launches new EU referendum campaign – Let Britain Decide
10am Local Government: What tonight's Panorama won't tell you about the Bagley's Lane Box Junction
Columnist Greg Clark MP's Letter from a Treasury Minister: Why shouldn't cities bid for Work Programme contracts?
Henry Hill's Red White and Blue Column: A new party for Northern Ireland; a new approach for Better Together
Robin Ould on Afghanistan: How the MOD's strategy in Afghanistan helped the Taliban – not our troops
Philip Blond and Adam Wildman on ThinkTankCentral – Why Risk Waivers for SMEs would help to fire economic growth
Top football latest on MPsETC: Sponsor agony as BlueBirds have wings clipped
Free Schools Week continues on Local Government: Say "hola" to the Bilingual free school in Brighton
The Deep End: Family values will die without economic opportunities for the young
Would arming the Syrian opposition mean proxy war with Putin's Russia?
"Defence chiefs have warned the PM about a new Cold War with Russia after revealing the Kremlin has sent “tens of thousands” of troops to Syria. Moscow has been secretly building up military advisers and technical experts in the war-torn country, intelligence officials have learned. Many are manning tyrannical leader Bashar Assad’s Russian-made air defence systems. Their presence means David Cameron’s plan to arm Syrian rebels would lead to a direct confrontation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin." – The Sun
The Guardian: Cameron plans 30 EU opt-ins
"The prime minister, who said earlier this week that membership of the
EU gives the UK a seat at the world's "top table", is expected to opt
in to 30-40 of the measures following warnings of a threat to security
if Britain fails to sign up. The decision by the Cameron, which
has still to be finalised in negotiations between Danny Alexander and
Oliver Letwin, will disappoint Eurosceptics who had hoped Britain would
stand apart from most of the 130 measures." – The Guardian
The Independent: May plans 130 EU opt-outs
"Theresa May will be accused of trying to placate her party’s “rabid”
Eurosceptic backbenchers at the expense of fighting cross-border crime. Labour are to use a debate in Parliament in an attempt to split the
Coalition over Ms May’s desire to opt out of up to 130 European
crime-fighting measures. Under pressure from her own backbenchers, Ms
May is keen to pull out of EU laws, including the European Arrest
Warrant, which has been in operation in Britain for eight years." – The Independent
Michael Gove dominates political coverage by unveiling new GCSEs in bid to
end grade inflation…
“Teenagers will be made to study world history,
extended topics in science, read whole books by authors such as Austen,
Dickens, Shelley and Wordsworth and apply maths to solve problems in the
new-look GCSEs unveiled yesterday. Michael Gove said that his reformed GCSEs
would be ‘more demanding, more fulfilling and more stretching’. Specifications
for the content of the redesigned qualifications are intended to require deeper
and more stretching study, with little or no coursework and exams at the end of
the course” – The Times (£)
> Yesterday: LeftWatch – The NUT – the union that loves to say "Never"
…but his plans also revive speculation that he
wants to be Tory leader
“As
Michael Gove stood at the dispatch box presenting his overhaul of GCSEs to
parliament, he told MPs it was part of his grand ambition to raise aspiration
among school pupils. But his latest policy salvo has only increased speculation
that the education secretary’s real aim is to rise up the Conservative party’s
ranks, with the eventual goal of becoming leader” – Financial
Times
(Fox dined in Cameron's flat, "return as Chief Whip imminent")
"His rehabilitation has been smoothed by an early victory in his defamation case against millionaire Harvey Boulter over comments made before he resigned from the Cabinet in 2011, after a storm over his adviser and best man Adam Werritty. ‘The smart money’s on Liam as chief whip,’ says my source." – Ephraim Hardcastle, Daily Mail
Bad news 1): Immigration chaos “won’t ever be fixed”
“The boss of
Britain’s new immigration body yesterday said its chaotic visa processing
system will never be fixed. Sarah Rapson, who started as director general of UK
Visas and Immigration 54 days ago, believes she will 'never finish the job'.
She told MPs she could not rule out finding more backlogs of unprocessed cases
in the system she had inherited. ‘Are we ever going to say about this really
quite difficult organisation, with a set of complex things it has to do, ‘it is
perfect’? I don’t think so,’ she told the Home Affairs Select Committee” – Daily
Mail
Bad news 2): Workers suffer
deepest cut in real wages since records began
“Describing this downturn as the longest and deepest slump
in a century, the Institute for Fiscal Studies says workers have suffered
unprecedented pay cuts of 6% in real terms over the last five years.
Historically, real wages rise by about 2% a year. This suggests that people are
more than 15% worse off than they would have been if the pre-crisis wage trends
had continued" – Guardian
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson urges bold investment
in London infrastructure and housing…
“The
mayor reiterated his call for ‘Victorian boldness’ from the government in a
commitment to build a new 24-hour four-runway hub on the Thames estuary, to sit
alongside the London Gateway, the deepwater cargo terminal that opens this
autumn. ‘It would be a lasting solution that would give London a competitive
edge for the next 50 years’” – Financial
Times
> Yesterday:
…and riot police
storm London squat to foil G8 protest
“Hundreds of riot police were deployed against G8
protesters in London yesterday as the anti-capitalist group’s headquarters were
raided and more than 50 people were arrested. Scotland Yard displayed a huge
show of force at the start of a week of demonstrations against the
international summit, due to begin in Northern Ireland on Monday” – The Times
(£)
Paterson to push moral and ethnical case for GM crops
"The Environment Secretary, Owen Paterson, is
expected to use a speech next week to outline the start of a new
government approach to GM to ensure Britain “is not left behind” in
agricultural science. The move comes as 61 per cent of UK farmers now say they would like
to grow GM crops after a disastrous 12-month cycle of poor weather that
is expected significantly to reduce harvest yields" – The Independent
Daniel Finkelstein: The state pension at 70. No welfare for under-21s. Privatised roads. Fire service insurance. No more local council leisure services. In short, a dramatic downsizing of the role of the state. That's the big news from Miliband's manoevre on spending – whoever wins the next election
"If, therefore, the Labour leadership is serious in any way about agreeing to
George Osborne’s spending path it has committed itself to a fundamental
reshaping of the State. That is what the figures mean. It is what they will
require. Abandoning the argument against the spending plans means abandoning
much of the Left’s argument against the Centre Right’s view of the size and
shape of government." – The Times (£)
Ban on conflicting outside interests for Select Committe Chairman moves closer
"David Cameron, John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, and Andrew Lansley, the
Leader of the House, have paved the way for new rules governing the heads of
select committees after Tim Yeo stepped aside as chairman of the panel
scrutinising energy policy. Select committee chairmen from across the political spectrum demanded urgent
changes after it emerged that Mr Yeo had received hundreds of thousands of
pounds from green energy companies." – The Times (£)
> Recently:
Financial watchdog asks for PPI files
“The City watchdog has asked The Times to
hand over information obtained from an undercover
investigation into Britain’s biggest high street bank, which found
evidence of failures at its largest PPI complaint handling unit. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which oversees banks and other financial
firms, has asked for recordings, transcripts and documents obtained in
connection with the investigation into Lloyds Banking Group’s payment
protection insurance (PPI) processing unit at Royal Mint Court in London” – The
Times (£)
News in brief
And finally…
Boris Johnson describes David Cameron as “a
girly swot”
“Boris Johnson
has dismissed David Cameron as a ‘girly swot’ because he got a first class
degree. The London Mayor, who got a 2:1 degree in classics from Balliol College
Oxford, lashed out after he was teased about the Prime Minister’s greater
academic accomplishment. Quizzed about Mr Cameron and his brother Jo Johnson –
now head of Mr Cameron’s policy board – both of whom got firsts in Philosophy,
Politics and Economics, the Mayor pointed out that he won a scholarship and
they did not” – Daily
Mail
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