‘Scotland could miss out on a £200billion jackpot from North Sea oil if it votes for independence, David Cameron will warn today. The Prime Minister will argue that vital investment could be put in jeopardy because Scotland would be unable to afford the generous tax breaks needed to encourage firms to seek out the remaining stocks. Mr Cameron will issue the warning as he chairs a Cabinet meeting in Aberdeen, home of the British oil industry.’ – Daily Mail
‘Britain will offer to support the Ukraine through schemes set up by the International Monetary Fund and European Union,George Osborne said yesterday. The Chancellor, who is in Singapore, said that Europe should “embrace” the country’s wishes to have closer links with the West. He said: “It’s very, very early days, early hours, but the people of Ukraine seem to have demonstrated their wish to take their country into the future, to have stronger links with Europe, and I don’t think we should be repelling that, we should be embracing that.’ – The Times (£)
>Today: Daniel Hamilton on Comment: What must now be done to prevent the break-up of Ukraine
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Beware claims of a “Ukrainian Spring”
‘Who is really going to speak up for those families across Britain where one partner goes out to work at 6am in their van and comes back home at 7pm, when the other partner goes out to work? The kind of families that rarely have a holiday, struggle to keep their heads above water but have a work ethic second to none. They would rather work than live off the earnings of other hard-pressed taxpayers…Might it be the Conservatives, the party of Disraeli, who made it their mission to “elevate the condition of working people”? Or of Thatcher, who introduced the right to buy?’ – Robert Halfon MP, The Sun (£)
>Today: Priti Patel MP’s column: The bishops are blind to the moral message of IDS’s gospel of work
‘More than 750 foreign criminals – including killers, rapists and paedophiles – are walking the streets after jumping bail. They should have been deported after completing their sentences, but instead have been released from detention under human rights laws and then gone on the run.’ – Daily Mail
‘Theresa May is seeking to increase visa fees dramatically to help to plug a £50 million hole in the Home Office budget. The plan, revealed in leaked documents, risks provoking a fresh row with No 10, which has made boosting student and business visits to Britain a priority. It will also be seen as a shot across the bows of George Osborne.’ – The Times (£)
‘Pressure is mounting on three Labour grandees to explain their links with a vile group that tried to legalise sex with children. MPs, commentators and even Labour-supporting newspapers lined up yesterday to attack the silence of the party’s deputy leader Harriet Harman, her MP husband and former minister Patricia Hewitt.’ – Daily Mail
‘Senior Conservatives have raised concerns over a lack of proper assessment of the flood risk posed by the controversial HS2 railway proposals after recent storms on the planned route. MPs rounded on the Government last night over its failure to consider the impact of the £42 billion line on more than 100 watercourses that it will cross. David Lidington, the Europe Minister, has written to Patrick McLoughlin, the Transport Secretary, to object to the scheme.’ – The Times (£)
>Today: ToryDiary: Should aid money be spent on Britain’s flood victims? Which politicians have responded well to the crisis?
‘Pension companies will be made to come clean about the web of hidden costs draining billions of pounds from Britain’s retirement pots. The Government is to make fund managers reveal the details of costs and charges for almost all pensions in Britain.’ – The Times (£)
‘Angela Merkel will this week give the green light to David Cameron’s attempt to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with Brussels. On a visit to the UK, the German chancellor will say that she wants to see a new treaty to redraw the rules of the EU – opening the door for the Prime Minister to thrash out a different deal with Brussels. Foreign Secretary William Hague yesterday confirmed that Mrs Merkel is also expected to back two key planks of Mr Cameron’s renegotiation effort, demanding tighter controls over the rights of migrants to claim benefits and greater controls by national parliaments.’ – Daily Mail
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: An alliance with AfD in the European Parliament shouldn’t be ruled out
‘Eurosceptic and a vocal opponent of wind farms, Sir Tim says David Cameron’s Tories are simply ‘not interested in me or my neanderthal views’. He believes the party has deserted him, rather than the other way round. Mr Cameron must treat this defection as a significant straw in the wind and start right now in making a supreme effort to reconnect with his party’s sorely neglected grass roots. If he can’t rely on the vote of natural Conservatives like Sir Tim, how can he possibly hope to win a majority in next year’s election?’ – Daily Mail Leader
‘George Osborne is backing a bid to change the name of National Insurance to ‘earnings tax’. Tory MP Ben Gummer will introduce a Bill tomorrow TUE to rename the century-old levy on the grounds that it has become misleading.’ – Daily Mail