“Theresa May last night called on a chief constable to apologise after an explosive report suggested senior officers had lied to blacken the name of former Cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell. … In a devastating judgment, the Independent Police Complaints Commission indicated an inquiry by West Mercia Police that cleared the three of misconduct was a whitewash.” – Daily Mail
“Three police chiefs are refusing to back down after criticism by the home secretary for not disciplining officers accused of trying to discredit former Tory chief whip Andrew Mitchell. … The chief constables of West Mercia, Warwickshire and West Midlands Police say they will go before MPs to explain.” – BBC
“One in five civil marriages in parts of Britain may be bogus, it emerged yesterday. … Some 15,000 such ceremonies a year are taking place simply to get around immigration law, estimates one of the country’s most senior registrars, Mark Rimmer. … Last year the Home Office received nearly 1,900 warnings about potentially bogus unions.” – Daily Mail
“Government proposals to save money by reducing the number of judicial review cases may deter valid applications and save only ‘a pathetically small sum’ of money, the UK’s most senior judge has warned. … In a speech entitled Justice in the Age of Austerity, the president of the supreme court, Lord Neuberger, signalled his growing concern about the spate of legal reforms being introduced.” – The Guardian
> Today on the Deep End: The rule of law is important, but trust is the true foundation of a free society
“US bankers and UK lawyers attacked the new light-touch regulatory regime proposed for Chinese banks in the City on Tuesday, accusing George Osborne of political interference in regulation. … ‘It is extraordinary to treat Chinese banks differently,’ said one bank chief. ‘It’s very inconsistent. This is just a crazy lovefest.'” – Financial Times
“Britain’s shale gas industry will create far fewer jobs than the 74,000 figure cited by David Cameron this summer, according to a forecast produced on behalf of the energy department. … an alternative figure of about a third of that level has been put forward by AMEC, the engineering consultancy that is advising Decc.” – Financial Times
“Former minister Stephen Dorrell said a plan to offer loans to pay for care was not delivering ‘the objective the Government set out’. … Mr Dorrell, chairman of the Commons health select committee, particularly questioned a proposal to limit loans to people with assets of less than £23,000.” – Daily Mail
“Ministers on Tuesday promised people would not be forced to sell their homes to pay for care in their old age, after a government proposal to restrict the ability to defer payment came to light.” – Financial Times
“Labour’s 2005 Mental Capacity Act – which gave legal status to ‘living wills’ – allowed people to also choose an attorney with the right to end their life. … Now ministers plan to remove the legal necessity for someone to sign a special page of their form, and have a witness to the decision, when they choose to hand over life-and-death powers.” – Daily Mail
“The government is preparing to announce rules to better regulate the private rented housing sector, including a requirement that all letting agents join a new compulsory redress scheme. … The redress scheme, requiring new legislation, would allow complaints about poor service or hidden fees to be independently examined, and where a complaint is upheld, receive compensation…” – The Guardian
> Today, by Tom Papworth on Comment: Give people power over housing
“David Cameron has decided to look ‘with some sympathy’ at amending the hunting bill. Insane, I know. Why on earth does he want to bring up a subject that pitches town against country, divides parties, ferments class war and is best left well alone?” – Alice Thomson, The Times (£)
“Those who want a “dab of statute”, just a tiny bit you know, nothing to worry about, think they are the knights in shining armour, the defenders of the weak. In the end, however, restrictions on freedom of speech always spread, becoming the tool of the intolerant and the enemy of liberal engagement.” – Daniel Finkelstein, The Times (£)
> Today’s ConHome Interview: Boles – “There is no legal reason why the press should play along with the Royal Charter”
“…yesterday’s spectacle, in which several hundred veterans from 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers marched through Whitehall to protest against its disbandment, was a timely reminder of the mounting resentment that many current and former personnel feel about the way their cherished units, and the military as a whole, are being treated by the Government.” – Con Coughlin, Daily Telegraph
“The Coalition’s so-called ‘bedroom tax’ leaves some families facing ‘dilemmas which need to be addressed, Nick Clegg has said as he disclosed that research is being carried out into the benefits reform. … The Deputy Prime Minister hinted in the House of Commons that ministers are considering ways to soften the impact of the policy.” – Daily Telegraph
“The owners of dangerous dogs involved in violent attacks could face similar penalties to those found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving, Home Office Minister Norman Baker has said. … Mr Baker said the Government would be bringing forward amendments in the House of Lords to the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill to introduce tougher penalties for the owners of dangerous dogs.” – The Independent
“Attack dog MP Michael Dugher tried to embarrass the Tories by probing how much taxpayers’ cash had been spent at the Education Department. … But the bill under Michael Gove since 2010 is just £696,000 — compared to £16.6million when Mr Balls was in charge. … That included £12million on an office makeover — which Labour insists was part of a ‘long-term efficiency programme’.” – The Sun (£)
> Today, by John Bald on Comment: The impulsiveness of Dominic Cummings
> Yesterday, by Mark Hoban MP on Comment: It’s time for academies to have the freedom to borrow
“A former Labour cabinet minister has warned that GCHQ and Britain’s other intelligence agencies appear to be undertaking mass surveillance without parliament’s consent because the coalition failed to get the so-called ‘snoopers’ charter’ passed into law after Liberal Democrat opposition. … [Nick Brown] said that it ‘looks very much like this is what is happening anyway, with or without parliament’s consent'” – The Guardian
“Labour’s new women’s spokesman Gloria de Piero yesterday defended doing a topless photoshoot when she was a schoolgirl, saying she understood why girls make the decision to strip off. … Newly promoted to Ed Miliband’s Shadow Cabinet, she revealed yesterday that she thought topless Page 3 girls were ‘totally out of date’. … But she added: ‘I’ve always said don’t blame the girls. I understand how they might think it would be a way out.’” – Daily Mail
“A blueprint for a future Labour government to spend at least £20bn a year more than the Conservatives, financed by tax rises for higher earners, is published today. … A commission set up by the Labour-affiliated Fabian Society proposes that Labour may need to cut £5bn off the welfare budget but that raising overall spending by 1 per cent more than inflation from 2016 is ‘realistic, credible and consistent with deficit reduction’.” – The Independent
“The Fabian Society will today push the Shadow Chancellor, a former vice-chairman of the organisation, to reexamine benefits for wealthy pensioners” – The Times (£)
“Imagine that Labour commits to a referendum, wins the election, and then delivers its promise. At this point, of course, Ed Miliband has neither tried for a renegotiation with Europe nor delivered one. The eurozone is still mired in low growth and high unemployment. With the British right having just lost, and seething, I just don’t see how a referendum could be won for the pro-European cause.” – Jackie Ashley, The Guardian
> Yesterday:
“The BBC has been condemned for paying its staff up to £150,000 each to move to its new base in Salford without keeping a full record of who authorised the sums. .. In a report published today, the public accounts committee of MPs said many of the allowances, which totaled £24million, were ‘excessive’ and ‘difficult to justify’ to licence fee payers.” – Daily Mail
“Sir Michael Wilshaw attacked ‘hollowed out and fragmented families’ where parents suffer a ‘poverty of accountability’. … He said child abuse and neglect were not the fault of councils alone. Such issues were the product of social breakdown.” – Daily Mail
“Birmingham has been branded a ‘national disgrace’ by Ofsted’s chief inspector, who said the city is one of the worst places to grow up in the developed world. … Sir Michael Wilshaw highlighted the infant mortality rate in Britain’s second city, which is higher than Cuba’s and almost twice the national average.” – Daily Mail
“Patients could soon have to pay for ‘hospital extras’ such as better food or IVF, a top GP has warned. … Michael Dixon, president of the NHS Clinical Commissioners and chairman of the NHS Alliance, said doctors had to consider introducing new charges to balance the rising costs of treatment and an ageing population.” – Daily Mail
“The number of people resorting to food banks for emergency help to feed their families has more than tripled following the squeeze on benefits which intensified in April. … David Cameron’s own poverty tsar warned last night of the danger of food banks becoming an ‘institutional part’ of the welfare state – and urged the Prime Minister to set up an inquiry into the issue.” – The Independent
“Fitch Ratings placed the triple A credit rating of the US on negative watch, as efforts to end the budget impasse faltered during a day of drama on Capitol Hill capped by the reopening of talks in the Senate late on Tuesday. … Spokesmen for Harry Reid, the Democratic majority leader in the Senate, and Mitch McConnell, the Republican minority leader, said after talks in the House had broken down that they had resumed negotiations and were ‘optimistic’ about success.” – Financial Times
“The problem, of course, is that nationalism is no kind of solution to Europe’s or the world’s problems. It is not the fault of immigrants or foreign companies that European countries incurred so much debt and were so vulnerable to the banking crisis. It follows that protectionism and isolationism are unlikely to make any of us any richer.” – Times editorial (£)
“Today the Commons will elect a new deputy Speaker. The job pays £102,000 a year. Sounds a lot but there is a drawback: you have to work under John Bercow. Danger money.” – Quentin Letts, Daily Mail
“Which brings me to my proposition: Boris Johnson is losing his looks, and with them his opportunity to be prime minister. This is not objectification of a man who is always happy to objectify women, but a prediction and a warning to other empty but sexually promising politicians with dirty eyes…” – Tanya Gold, The Guardian