“Van Rompuy was summarily led to the Downing Street door after the men clashed in the ornate White Room over Mr Cameron’s claim former Luxembourg Prime Minister Juncker’s appointment spells disaster for Britain – and Europe. Tempers flared at Mr Cameron’s determination to expose U-turns by Mr Van Rompuy, German leader Angela Merkel, Holland’s Mark Rutte and Italy’s Matteo Renzi on Mr Juncker.” – Mail on Sunday
“Cameron’s impassioned performance made the other leaders uneasy, particularly when he attacked their decision to rubber stamp a candidate proposed by the European parliament. “In future, it might be someone who doesn’t share your values”, he warned the leaders of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, “someone who might not stand up for the Baltics.” Laimdota Straujuma, the Latvian prime minister, admitted the speech had had the desired effect: “He spoke with such real emotions. It was not easy to listen. Honestly, we didn’t feel comfortable really.” – Sunday Times (£)
“Cameron is prepared to ditch Andrew Lansley, his first choice as Britain’s next commissioner in Brussels, in order to secure a better portfolio. “If they can find an alternative, they will,” a senior figure said. Lansley remains the frontrunner but the former Tory leader Michael Howard — now Baron Howard of Lympne — is being considered and the science minister David Willetts is also lobbying for the role.” – Sunday Times (£)
Editorials:
” “He might do a Harold Wilson – whether the public will believe it as they did in 1975 is another matter.Through the long renegotiation, we got absolutely damn all – indeed, I doubt there’s anyone alive today who can remember what he did get out of it, it was so trivial – but he presented it as a great success, and people bought it. I think David Cameron could try to do the same; he will get very little and he will present it as something.'” – Independent on Sunday
“Naturally Cameron’s preferred version is that he does the right thing, says what he means and means what he says. Juncker was the wrong man for Europe — an apparatchik not a reformer — and the other national leaders will “live to regret” their behaviour, particularly ceding their power to the European parliament and its questionable assertion of the right to nominate Brussels’s top man. Others, however, deride “an essay crisis” prime minister who never hands his homework in on time, is a poor judge of character who totally miscalculated how many friends in Europe he really has, and is a chancer whose lurches haphazardly.” – Sunday Times (£)
> Today: ToryDiary: Europe: Cameron’s steeplechase by moonlight
> Yesterday: ToryDiary – Cameron chooses to be the heir to Thatcher not the heir to Wilson
“Despite signals from Downing Street that Cameron would steer clear of constitutional politics in the run-up to the event, the Prime Minister yesterday said: “My message is always that Scotland gets the best of both worlds, and that’s what we want to see. More power through the Scottish Parliament to make its own decisions, but also the benefit of being part of a larger United Kingdom with – one advantage – these armed forces which can help protect our values and keep us safe.” – Scotland on Sunday
“Figures show that one in ten cancer sufferers have had to see their GP at least five times before being referred to hospital to be diagnosed. Last night Mr Hunt told The Mail on Sunday: ‘We need to do much better. Cancer diagnosis levels around the country vary significantly and we must do much more to improve both the level of diagnosis and to bring those GP practices with poor referral rates up to the standards of the best.’” – Mail on Sunday
“Stephen Dorrell, a former Conservative health secretary, Sarah Wollaston, a Tory MP, and Paul Burstow, a former coalition health minister, say that with the economy growing the NHS must receive a real terms increase in spending over the next five years if it is to function properly. For the past four years, the government has ringfenced the health service budget from cuts and raised funding in line with inflation, but largely relied on efficiency savings to pay for a growing demand for its services.” – Observer
“Local authorities could be legally forced to empty black bins every week if the Tories win next year’s general election, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose. Ministers have decided to act after attempts to spend hundreds of millions of pounds paying councils to reinstate weekly collections were largely rebuffed. Under plans being worked on by the Conservatives councils would be required to meet a “minimum service standard” when it came to waste collection.” – Sunday Telegraph
“Farooq Siddiqui, a former regional manager for the government’s controversial Prevent strategy, said it was acceptable for Britons to “walk the walk” and travel to Syria to fight the forces of President Bashar al-Assad. As part of a Facebook conversation Siddiqui, 45, defended the right of an individual to be called a martyr if he took up arms against Assad, and questioned whether those who fought against the Syrian president should face arrest upon return to the UK.” – Observer
“The Tory MP acknowledges that the programme has not met many people’s expectations but refused to accept such a damning verdict. “There have been plenty of bricks thrown at the Big Society,” he said. “But it was about encouraging more people to get involved in their communities and about encouraging people to work together at a local level more effectively and that is happening. The most obvious demonstration of that is the rise in volunteering which has risen sharply.” – Independent on Sunday
“In an email marked ‘strictly private and confidential’ David Amess told them: ‘A number of colleagues have complained that they are working class and want to know why they were not included. I did my best to identify working-class Tories and I am sorry if you were left out. As a result we are producing a further edition. If you have working-class credentials and want to contribute, let me know.” – Daily Mail
> Yesterday: MPsETC – Seema Kennedy chosen as the Conservative candidate for South Ribble
“The basic state pension would rise by at least £790 a year under plans by the Liberal Democrats to put pensions at the heart of any future coalition. Steve Webb, the Lib Dem pensions minister, has revealed that his party will demand that any government of which it is part must enshrine in the law the existing “triple lock” pledge which dictates that pensions rise by whichever is the greater figure: the increase in earnings, inflation or 2.5%.” – Sunday Times (£)
” ‘My job is to look at Labour’s policy agenda . . . and I can assure you that these interesting ideas and remedies are not going to emerge through Labour’s policy review. We set up independent reviews to rethink social policy, economic policy, democracy, local government — they come up with ideas and they’re just parked, parked. And instead instrumentalised, cynical nuggets of policy to chime with our focus groups and our press strategies and our desire for a top line in terms of the 24-hour media cycle dominate and crowd out any innovation or creativity.’ ” – Sunday Times (£)