“Conservative Home , the activist website owned by Lord Ashcroft, said that EU migrants should be forced to buy private insurance policies in lieu of access to welfare benefits and free NHS treatment in its election manifesto published on Monday morning. … Calling for a “new deal on immigration”, the influential blog site, which is edited by former Tory MP Paul Goodman, said: ‘Britain must regain full control of its borders, repatriating power over immigration policy from the European Union. With this renewed freedom, the existing immigration targets would be replaced by a points-based system emphasising the skills needed for economic growth.'” – Financial Times
And comment:
> Today: ConservativeHome Manifesto – Part 2) Jobs: Full Employment
> Yesterday:
“A series of local Conservatives have joined the former Tory Douglas Carswell in his defection to Ukip. … Mike Wadham, treasurer of his old association, Clacton Conservatives, is among those to have jumped ship, citing loyalty to the former MP as his reason. He told his new colleagues that ‘if Douglas had joined the Teddy Bear Party, I would have gone with him’. His predecessor as treasurer, Ashley Mooney, has also pledged to switch to Ukip and campaign for Mr Carswell.” – The Times (£)
And comment:
> Today:
> Yesterday:
“David Cameron yesterday said it ‘sticks in the craw’ that fanatics can go abroad, pledge allegiance to the Islamic State and still expect to be free to return to the UK. … The Prime Minister said he was ‘clear in principle’ that a ‘targeted discretionary power’ was required – but cross-party talks were needed to see if it was workable and legal. … Dominic Grieve, the ex-Tory attorney general, last night claimed such a move was ‘probably impossible’ and many Liberal Democrats are fiercely opposed. … A senior Lib Dem source said: ‘Frankly, we are going to take a lot of convincing before we sign up to any new legislation in this area.” – Daily Mail
“Mr Cameron announced proposals to prevent extremists from travelling to the Middle East war zone and sketchy plans to stop British nationals from returning to Britain after fighting in the region. … Mr Cameron’s proposals to tackle extremism were criticised by lawyers who claimed that they would be challenged in the courts. Liberty, the civil rights group , said the measures were ill-defined and amounted to ‘sabre-rattling’.” – Financial Times
And comment:
“David Cameron last night opened the door to joining US air strikes against Islamic State forces in Iraq without Parliament’s prior approval. … The Prime Minister gave his strongest signal yet that he is considering supporting Washington’s attempt to build a coalition to expand air assaults on the jihadists. … He also told MPs Britain would ‘look very favourably’ on a request for help from Kurdish forces fighting extremists in Iraq, so they are ‘properly armed and equipped’.” – Daily Mail
“Israel’s decision to grab nearly 1,000 acres of Palestinian land to build settlements was condemned by David Cameron yesterday as ‘utterly deplorable’. … Israel announced on Sunday that an area of the West Bank, near existing settlements at Etzion, south of Bethlehem, has been designated as ‘state land’ which means it can be used for homes for Israelis. … The move came days after an indefinite ceasefire brought an end to weeks of conflict in Gaza during which more than 2,100 Palestinians and 73 Israelis were killed.” – Daily Mail
“George Osborne opposed the demotion of Michael Gove and wants him to take a central role in the Tories’ election campaign, according to his biographer. … David Cameron overruled the chancellor’s ‘preferences’ when he reshuffled his ministers in the summer, Janan Ganesh wrote in an new edition of George Osborne: The Austerity Chancellor. … Mr Osborne has also handed over some of his duties as Mr Cameron’s de facto political secretary to Lynton Crosby, his biographer quoted a No 10 source as saying.” – The Times (£)
“A minister has warned that fear of intimidation in a London borough is so strong that voters are too scared to go to the police. … Greg Clark, the minister for cities, issued the private warning in a letter disclosed to The Times in which he spoke about fears of retribution in an area dogged by allegations of vote rigging. … He was writing to the head of the Electoral Commission after elections on May 22 in Tower Hamlets, east London, that led to Lutfur Rahman being re-elected as mayor.” – The Times (£)
> Today: Chris Wilford on Local Government – Tower Hamlets offers an indictment of the system of directly elected mayors
“A Scotland Yard report on the Plebgate affair shows ‘industrial levels of dishonesty by police working in Downing Street’, a senior Tory MP said last night. … David Davis hit out after the Met published a series of documents summarising its inquiry into the aftermath of the incident, which resulted in four police officers being sacked. … The Met also identified a female officer who texted a colleague two days after the incident to declare that she could ‘topple’ the Tory government. And it released new CCTV footage, of the heated disagreement between diplomatic protection officer Toby Rowland and then Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell at the gates of Downing Street in September 2012.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
> Yesterday: WATCH – Operation Alice. Andrew Mitchell at Downing Street’s Gate. New footage
“A researcher who raised the alarm over the sexual abuse of teenage girls in Rotherham more than a decade ago was sent on a ‘ethnicity and diversity course’ by child protection bosses who refused to act on her evidence. … The researcher, who was seconded to Rotherham council by the Home Office, was told she must ‘never, ever’ again refer to the fact that the abusers were predominantly Asian men.” – Daily Telegraph
“Here was the Speaker – the Speaker of our House of Commons! – as a figure reduced, conquered, caught. How far we have fallen since Bernard Weatherill and Betty Boothroyd. … At the start of the afternoon he made a brief Statement about his failed attempt to nobble the Commons Clerkship. … When a Commons has no option but to ask such questions of its supposed Olympian, its semi-judicial grandee, its allegedly impartial helmsman, we are in a bad, bad place. … His spine bent like a willow whip. He said that there would be ‘a modest pause in the recruitment process’ for a new Clerk.” – Quentin Letts, Daily Mail
> Yesterday: ToryDiary – It’s time for Bercow to go
“A Tory MP allegedly reduced to tears by David Cameron after rebelling on Europe has announced he will not stand at the next general election. … Dudley South MP Chris Kelly is the ninth member of the 2010 intake of MPs to quit the Commons after a single term – sparking accusations that many are ‘giving up’ on the Prime Minister. … Veteran Tory MP Sir Tony Baldry will stand down at the next election, he announced today.” – Daily Mail
> Yesterday: MPsETC – Kelly and Baldry decide to step down – why are MPs really leaving the Commons?
“Boris Johnson’s dream of building a £100billion airport in the Thames estuary appeared to be dead in the water last night after Government advisers warned it was unrealistic. … The extravagant scheme should be dropped from a review of Britain’s future airport capacity, former CBI chief Sir Howard Davies is expected to tell ministers today. … One source said the Boris Island idea would be attacked with ‘every conceivable sledgehammer’.” – Daily Mail
“Support for independence has surged dramatically among Scots – meaning the United Kingdom could well now break up in just 17 days’ time. … A landmark YouGov poll for The Sun put the Yes campaign within just SIX points of victory. … And it revealed the No vote to be in severe collapse from its 22 point lead less than a month ago on August 4 … First Minister Alex Salmond is scoring major success with his controversial claim that only a free Scotland can save the NHS, the poll exposed. … And Scots also increasingly think the London government’s heavy-handed threat to stop them using the pound is actually just a bluff.” – The Sun (£)
And comment:
> Today: The Deep End – If ever we get an in/out referendum here’s the most important lesson we need to learn from the Scottish referendum
“White British children will be outnumbered in state school classrooms in England within 23 years, research reveals. … Population trends since 2004 have seen ethnic minorities soar by 61 per cent in primary and secondary schools as the number of white Britons dropped by 12 per cent. … The findings in a Department for Education report suggest increased immigration and falling birth rates will see classroom demographics shift dramatically by 2037.” – Daily Mail
> Today: Lee Davis on ThinkTankCentral – An education system to change the lives of the most disadvantaged
> Yesterday: John Bald on Local Government – August was a good month for education reform
“Desperately ill Ashya King was left alone in hospital last night after his parents were locked up for a further 72 hours. … Brett and Naghmeh King had begged a Spanish court to be allowed to visit their five-year-old son’s bedside. But a judge ruled they must stay in custody pending a decision on their extradition back to Britain. … Lawyers and relatives say the pair are being treated like criminals for smuggling their son abroad to treat his aggressive brain tumour.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
“Nato plans to create a crack squad of 4,000 troops and special forces – including Brits – to protect Baltic states from Russia. … Officials meeting in South Wales later this week will be asked to approve plans for the high-readiness force. … Nato secretary general Anders Rasmussen said the force would be drawn on a rotational basis from Nato allies. … It would be separate from the 10,000 strong British-led expeditionary force that is also being proposed.” – The Sun (£)
And comment:
> Today: Garvan Walshe’s column – Machiavelli’s advice to NATO on Russia
“Leading chefs have urged Matthew Barzun, the United States’ ambassador to the United Kingdom, to broaden his mind – and palate – after he complained of having his fill of ‘lamb and potatoes’ since arriving in London. … Asked by Tatler to describe his ideal dinner party, the Harvard graduate replied undiplomatically: ‘I’ll tell you what I would not serve – lamb and potatoes. I must have had lamb and potatoes 180 times since I have been here. There are limits and I have reached them.'” – The Independent