“Senior ministers are jockeying for position to succeed David Cameron as Conservative leader, as a new poll puts the Tories neck-and-neck with Labour. … Another Conservative source said the Chancellor feared that the Home Secretary, Theresa May, rather than one of his own protégés, would win any leadership contest. … One Cabinet minister said he would support any candidate who ends the ‘Osborne supremacy’.” – Sunday Telegraph
> Today: ToryDiary – Today’s blue-on-blue attacks – what do they mean?
“The education secretary, Nicky Morgan, has rejected Michael Gove’s portrayal of the education establishment as a leftwing ‘blob’ … In an interview with the Observer, which Morgan’s friends described as part of a counter-attack against those who say she is merely a ‘Stepford minister’ and a front for Gove’s ideas, she says overly combative language has obscured the government’s positive message on reforming schools and improving the lives of pupils.” – The Observer
“Theresa May has stepped up her Tory leadership war with Boris Johnson by drawing up plans for him to be booted out as London Mayor. … The Home Secretary is insisting voters get extra powers to axe BoJo over his role in charge of the capital’s police force. … Cabinet colleagues were told about the plans last week — but Mr Johnson knew nothing about them until we contacted his office last night.” – Sun on Sunday (£)
“George Osborne opens up a coalition civil war over the economy today, warning voters that the Liberal Democrats as well as Labour are a threat to the recovery. … Making a pitch for a majority Conservative government, the chancellor says both parties would lead to a ‘return to economic chaos’. Warning that voters have to choose between ‘competence or chaos’ when they vote next year, Osborne says only the Tories will secure the recovery.” – Sunday Times (£)
And comment:
“This history of tit-for-tat goes all the way back to the Liberal Democrats’ refusal to support Jeremy Hunt in the lobbies over his handling of the BSkyB bid (and further, depending on whom you talk to). MPs report a Commons that has all but ground to a halt. Only last week, Nick Clegg was accused by the Tories of instructing his ministers to desert their Whitehall desks and head for their marginal seats – having set an example himself by boycotting the Autumn Statement to campaign in the West Country.” – Paul Goodman, Sunday Telegraph
“The EU budget is set to rise by £2.4bn this year, according to information buried in the chancellor’s autumn statement. … The Office for Budget Responsibility watchdog confirmed last night that calculations about Britain’s payments to Brussels are based on the assumption that the European Commission will succeed in extracting €4bn more from member states at a meeting later this month.” – Sunday Times (£)
More on the Autumn Statement:
And lots of comment:
> Yesterday:
“In fact, it is not the BBC that pointed out that reductions in public spending proposed by the Chancellor on Wednesday amounted to a return to state spending on citizens last seen in the 1930s. That was the point made by the Office of Budget Responsibility, the institution created by George Osborne precisely so that the public could peer through the politics to judge for themselves the consequences of decision taken by the Chancellor.” – James Harding, Sunday Telegraph
“David Cameron has asked Unicef, the UN body that protects children in danger, to take on a new global role combating child abuse on the internet. … He will this week pledge £50m towards a new fund to support the work of Unicef and urge other governments to contribute, at a Downing Street summit on child sexual exploitation. … Of the 50 countries attending the summit, five — Holland, Ireland, South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines — are understood to have indicated their support.” – Sunday Times (£)
“Two members of Theresa May’s panel inquiring into child sex abuse are facing calls to resign after being accused of sending threatening or insulting emails to victims who had criticised the inquiry. … Lawyers for one abuse survivor have written to the home secretary to complain of a string ofunsolicited communications, including an allegedly threatening email sent two days before an official meeting that both panellists and an abuse survivor were due to attend.” – The Observer
And comment:
“A leading Tory MP has called on Boris Johnson to investigate claims that Scotland Yard officers have abused their position by trying to shut down newspaper investigations into Ukip. … Zac Goldsmith made the demand after a former Ukip official received a harassment warning for talking to The Mail on Sunday about her claims an alleged ‘former mistress’ of Ukip leader Nigel Farage had fabricated a sexual assault case against a fellow Tory MP.” – Mail on Sunday
“A Conservative MP has called for the security services to respond to claims that they were involved in the questioning and alleged mistreatment of Lee Rigby’s killer by Kenyan security services in 2010, three years before he went on to murder the young soldier in south London. … On Friday Mr Tyrie wrote to the chair of the Intelligence Security Committee, Sir Malcolm Rifkind MP, asking him to call spy bosses back to answer further questions about the role played by British security services.” – Independent on Sunday
“Britain will set up a permanent military base in the Middle East for the first time in more than four decades. … Four minesweepers have operated from the Mina Salmon port in Bahrain, but the new facility will also be a base for much larger ships including destroyers and aircraft carriers. … Foreign secretary Philip Hammond said the deal with Bahrain would guarantee the Royal Navy’s presence in Bahrain well into the future.” – The Observer
“Britain is considering sending warplanes back to Afghanistan, six weeks after it officially ended its war in the country, after two direct pleas from the country’s president to David Cameron. A British general told The Sunday Times that he expected more troops and fast jets to be sent next year in what would be seen as an admission that Britain had withdrawn too quickly.” – Sunday Times (£)
And comment:
“A massive £20billion in new Whitehall cuts will be found by ministers telling officials: ‘Just f***ing do it.’ … In a speech, Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude will say the same tough approach has already delivered £14.3bn savings — despite claims it couldn’t be done. … His plans include putting more government services online, slashing bureaucracy, ditching expensive buildings and ending costly long-term IT contracts.” – Sun on Sunday (£)
“Ministers are being urged to crack down on nuisance telephone calls by forcing businesses to tackle the problem at board level. … A Government-appointed task force will recommend tomorrow that a named company director be given the job of ensuring there is no illegal use of private phone numbers, and that householders are not inconvenienced by unwanted calls and text messages.” – Mail on Sunday
“Lord Tebbit said the Green party should be treated with ‘utter contempt’ last night after it picked as its candidate for a council seat an activist who claimed the Brighton bombing was justified. … That same year, Richard Stanton described the bombing as a ‘justifiable act of political warfare’, earning him national condemnation from across the political spectrum, including his then colleagues in the Labour party.” – Sunday Times (£)
“Pensioners are ‘livid’ that their retirement incomes have been hit by low interest rates, the pensions minister has said, as the government prepares to launch new savings schemes with more generous returns for the over-65s. … Ministers will announce the interest rates that will apply to new ‘pensioner bonds’ on Friday, with experts expecting the savings schemes to pay rates of up to four per cent.” – Sunday Telegraph
“Ed Miliband is threatening to cause a constitutional crisis by obstructing moves to ban Scottish MPs from voting on English laws, a senior Cabinet minister has warned. … Chris Grayling, the Lord Chancellor, said Mr Miliband’s refusal to engage in cross-party talks with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats over proposals for ‘English Home Rule’ risked fracturing public trust in British democracy.” – Sunday Telegraph
“So instead of trying to persuade us there’s some magical alternative solution that will work but will also be fair, why don’t Miliband and Balls be honest? … Admit the deficit is going to be with us a long time, but say they’ll keep cutting it bit by bit, year on year. That will mean cuts, but nothing like as big, fast or harsh as Osborne proposes.” – Damian McBride, Sun on Sunday (£)
And a related news story:
“David Cameron has ‘abdicated responsibility’ on the environment and left Britain trailing the world on climate change, Ed Miliband says today. Ahead of UN climate talks in Peru this week, the Labour leader, writing for The Independent on Sunday, launches a savage attack on the Prime Minister for turning the UK from being a world leader on environmental targets into a ‘laggard’ because Mr Cameron believes it is no longer a ‘fashionable’ subject and Conservative MPs are ‘flirting with climate change denial’.” – Independent on Sunday
“Tony Blair is backing Chuka Umunna to be the next Labour leader, the former prime minister’s friends have revealed, in an intervention that will set the battle for succession alight. … But being anointed by the party’s most successful leader could be either a blessing or a curse for Mr Umunna, the shadow Business Secretary, given how far Mr Blair’s popularity in the wider Labour movement has fallen.” – Independent on Sunday
“Leading scientist Robert Winston has mounted an outspoken attack on a Tory MP’s ‘lunatic’ support for homeopathy. … The celebrated fertility expert and Labour peer said that he ‘could not believe’ that Bosworth MP David Tredinnick was allowed to sit on the Commons Health Committee despite believing in the alternative therapy.” – Mail on Sunday
“A heart attack victim died after an ambulance was delayed by a dirty sat nav, a Sun on Sunday investigation has found. … And an asthma patient died after an eight-minute hold-up when staff took down the wrong address. … The cases are part of a three-year list of more than 120 blunders, where 999 patients have died or suffered severe problems.” – Sun on Sunday (£)
And comment:
> Yesterday:
“Nigel Farage was last night accused of recruiting ‘toffs for the top’ of Ukip after a candidate in a key target seat expressed fury that he had been ousted in favour of a star of the TV programme Gogglebox. … Andrew Michael, a wealthy, retired hotelier who features on the Channel 4 programme, has been parachuted in as Mr Farage’s candidate in Hastings and Rye, where the sitting Tory MP holds a wafer-thin majority.” – Mail on Sunday
“Alex Salmond, Scotland’s former first minister, will announce that he is to run for the Gordon constituency in Aberdeenshire at next year’s UK general election. He will make his declaration at a meeting in Ellon. … The constituency is now held by retiring Liberal Democrat Malcolm Bruce, with a majority of 6,748. Salmond holds the similar Aberdeenshire East seat in the Scottish parliament with a majority of 15,295.” – The Observer
“The Queen is set to lose funding worth millions of pounds a year thanks to a republican snub by Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP government. … In a move that threatens an explosive cross-border row, Scottish Ministers have signalled they will refuse to contribute to the costs of running the Royal Family. … A deal to hand new devolved powers to Scotland after September’s referendum on independence will effectively rob the Royals of more than £2 million in cash a year.” – Mail on Sunday
And comment:
“Memebers of parliament paid their relatives and loved ones more than £3.7m last year, an increase of more than 50% since the last general election. … The £1.3m rise prompted accusations that MPs were milking the system and calls for a tightening of the rules that let them put family members on the public payroll.” – Sunday Times (£)
> Today: Mohammed Amin on Comment – How to downsize the House of Lords
“A new row over food banks erupted last night after a report backed by the Archbishop of Canterbury called for a £150 million state-backed system to combat hunger in Britain. … The Most Reverend Justin Welby appeared to be on course for a clash with David Cameron after calling on the Prime Minister to reverse his decision not to take European funds to boost UK food banks.” – Mail on Sunday
And comment:
“First it was Andrew Mitchell, then David Mellor and now the PM himself is the latest Tory to be caught sneering. … ‘Nick [Clegg] was very friendly,’ said a tour guide, pointing out that the Lib Dem leader took time to talk to all the staff at [Stonehenge]. … ‘But the PM was very grumpy and rather rude.'” – Guido Fawkes, Sun on Sunday (£)
“Heavyweight Tory MP Eric Pickles has spoken frankly about his battle to shed the pounds. … The burly Cabinet Minister revealed he had been on a diet since April and even disclosed that his body mass index (BMI) was 32, and falling. … Sources last night said the Local Government Secretary had lost more than two stone in the past six months.” – Mail on Sunday
“Sally Bercow is to give her Speaker hubby the TV shivers again — this time on ski show The Jump. … The MP’s missus has signed up for the celebrity snow sports contest on Channel 4 next month, The Sun on Sunday can reveal.” – Sun on Sunday (£)