“Paedophiles who currently solicit explicit pictures of children routinely escape punishment if it can’t be proved they have received an illegal image. … But the new law will allow police and prosecutors to pursue those who send text messages or ‘fish’ for victims online, irrespective of the outcome of their behaviour … The Prime Minister will use a summit with internet firms and experts in Downing Street today to announce that a Serious Crime Bill currently going through Parliament will introduce the broad new offence, punishable by two years in jail.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
“David Cameron today penned a note in the Auschwitz memorial book describing the site as a place ‘where the darkest chapter of human history happened’. … During his first ever trip to the concentration camp the Prime Minister paid his respects to the millions of Jews who died in the Holocaust. … He lit a candle in memory of those who were killed and spent time walking round the site in Poland where so many were murdered in World War II under Nazi rule.” – The Sun (£)
“Drivers are being ripped off by a postcode pumps lottery with 10p gaps between nearby garages, motoring groups have said – even as the Prime Minister warned retailers to pass on tumbling oil costs. … David Cameron’s remarks came after experts predicted the price of crude oil would continue to fall, having already dropped 40 per cent over the past six months.” – Daily Mail
“David Cameron will join his Irish counterpart, Enda Kenny, in Belfast on Thursday morning to lend their support to all-party talks aimed at solving toxic issues hanging over from the Northern Ireland peace process. … The prime minister and the taoiseach are expected to meet the parties at Stormont in a bid to push forward negotiations on issues such as disputed marches, the flying of flags and the legacy of the Troubles.” – The Guardian
“Ministers had promised safeguards to prevent police misusing anti-terror powers to unmask potentially embarrassing confidential sources who blow the whistle to reporters. … But proposals unveiled by Home Secretary Theresa May made clear forces could continue to authorise their own applications for journalists’ telecoms data under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
“The Blair Government was last night accused of operating a ‘secret policy of complicity in torture’ after 9/11 as demands grew for the UK to hold a full judicial inquiry. … Amid the fallout from the US Senate’s explosive report into the barbaric techniques used by the CIA, ex-shadow home secretary David Davis said the UK had ‘turned a blind eye’ to what America was doing. … He said this included ‘allowing people initially under our control to be taken and subjected to torture’.” – Daily Mail
And other terror-related stories:
And comment:
> Today: The Deep End – The torture still taking place in American prisons
> Yesterday: David Davis MP on Comment – We have damaged our national interest by turning a blind eye to torture
“Defence Secretary Michael Fallon cheered Our Boys and Girls at a special Downing Street reception – telling them, ‘I’m proud of you.’ … The Defence Secretary stepped in to host The Sun Millies nominees as PM David Cameron was on official business in Turkey to discuss the threat of Islamic State. … Fallon praised the amassed ranks of soldiers, sailors, Royal Marines and airmen, who selflessly served in Afghanistan and in ongoing conflict zones across the globe.” – The Sun (£)
Read the list of winners in full
“Secretary of State for Wales Stephen Crabb has been named Welsh Politician of the Year in a ceremony at Cardiff City Hall. … Organised by the Wales Yearbook Online, the Welsh Political Awards were celebrating their 10th anniversary. … The panel of judges was chaired by Dr Denis Balsom, who said, ‘Post the Scottish Referendum, the panel felt that Stephen Crabb had revitalised the political debate in Wales.'” – Wales Online
“The head of a Conservative constituency association said a would-be MP was not selected partly because of the ‘double whammy of being brown and a woman’. … John Barnes, a local councillor and president of the local association, told the Financial Times Ms Fernandes had put in a ‘wowzer performance on the night’, but added that her gender and race had been a ‘handicap’ in such a strong field. ‘The double whammy of being brown and a woman probably handicaps her still,’ he said.” – Financial Times
“Questions over the fate of the government’s flagship welfare reform programme will continue until after the election as it was revealed on Wednesday that the Treasury has still not signed off the business case for universal credit and will not decide whether to do so until summer next year. A final decision might not come until 2016. … The Treasury said it would not be able to firm up the numbers until at least the summer of 2015.” – The Guardian
And comment:
“Britain’s energy secretary has called for tougher rules to be applied to companies holding “risky” fossil fuel assets that could plunge in value because of global action to tackle climate change. … Ed Davey’s move makes him one of the first senior politicians to weigh into a growing debate on the future of oil, gas and coal companies as governments work on sealing a global climate deal in Paris next year.” – Financial Times
And comment:
“The greatest irony of the coalition’s internecine warfare is that its members are quietly preparing the ground for a post-election renewal of vows. Both parties are consciously avoiding policy commitments that could prove impossible to maintain in a future negotiation. While railing against the Lib Dems’ proposed ‘mansion tax’, Osborne has not ruled out introducing a version in the future (having privately supported the option of higher council tax bands in opposition to Cameron).” – George Eaton, New Statesman
> Yesterday:
“Ed Miliband will today brand George Osborne an ‘extremist’ for his plan to reduce state spending to a share of national income last seen in the 1930s. … The Labour leader will insist a government under his party would be ready to impose years of unspecified spending cuts to reduce the huge deficit run up under Gordon Brown. … But in a major speech on the economy, he will condemn the Conservatives for pledging to take spending cuts even further and faster to start bringing down Britain’s towering debts.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
> Today: ToryDiary – The story of Osborne’s Chancellorship, as told by his Budgets
“A Labour government will cut unprotected departmental spending every year until the deficit is cleared, the party says, toughening its stance on borrowing. … Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, believes George Osborne has opened up an opportunity for Labour to gain ground with voters, saying they are uneasy about the chancellor’s ‘increasingly extreme and unbalanced plan’ to balance the books.” – Financial Times
“Ms Bolter accused Roger Bird, the party’s general secretary, of making an indecent proposition on the day he assessed her suitability as a candidate. She quit the party and Mr Bird was suspended pending an internal inquiry. … However, The Telegraph understands that senior Ukip figures expect the investigation to find in favour of Mr Bird after he released a cached of more than 100 text messages showing he did ‘nothing wrong’.” – Daily Telegraph
“Neil Hamilton stepped down from Ukip selection tonight as it emerged he was facing questions over expenses claims he made as deputy chairman of the party. … The former Tory MP is under scrutiny from the Ukip finance committee over expenses he allegedly claimed for staying at his wife Christine’s London flat.” – Daily Mail
> Today: UKIP Watch – So is Farage Blue UKIP, Red UKIP, Grey UKIP, Khaki UKIP or Purple UKIP? The answer is…
> Yesterday: UKIP Watch – The five tribes of UKIP
“The Scottish government is unprepared for new tax powers coming into force next April, with the potential for chaos as payments take longer to process and costs escalate, according to an independent report published on Thursday. … In a strongly worded report, Audit Scotland warned that delays in hiring staff and setting up an IT system ‘increased the risk that new taxes for Scotland will not be effectively managed’.” – The Guardian
> Yesterday: Henry Hill’s column – Pitfalls for the SNP as Sturgeon’s class war wages on
“Tens of thousands of bright children are going backwards at secondary school, a damning Ofsted report said yesterday. … High-achievers too often find themselves repeating topics they have already studied and enduring noisy lessons that are disrupted by increasingly poor behaviour. … In a ‘state of the nation’ report, Ofsted warned that almost two-thirds of high-fliers at age 11 – about 57,000 pupils – fail to convert their early promise into A and A* grades at GCSE.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
> Today: John Bald on Local Government – Grammar Schools. How we got where we are. And what to do next.
> Yesterday:
“Without global action, drug resistant infections will cause 10m deaths a year worldwide by 2050 — more than cancer — and will cost at least $100tn during the next 35 years, according to the first economic analysis of the problem. … The Review on Antimicrobial Resistance was set up by David Cameron, the UK’s prime minister, in July and will be closely scrutinised by politicians.” – Financial Times
“The NHS would be in ‘dire’ straits without immigrants and Britain has ‘masses of room’ for more people, Britain’s official economic forecaster has warned. … Stephen Nickell, one of the leaders of the Office for Budget Responsibility, said that the urban area of Surrey occupies less space than its golf courses as he rejected claims there was not enough room for migrants.” – Daily Telegraph
“Alan Rusbridger is to stand down as editor-in-chief of the Guardian after 20 years, leaving the news organisation to become the chair of its ultimate owner, the Scott Trust. … He will stand down next summer after his successor is appointed and will replace Liz Forgan in 2016 at the end of her term as the chair of the trust, the body that safeguards the title’s editorial future and independence.” – The Guardian
“I understand guidelines on drama output will come under intense scrutiny next year when the BBC charter is due for renewal. Leading Tory ministers know that a nation’s long-term values are forged in drama, documentaries and comedy. We all remember stories more than we remember facts. It is, after all, why Jesus told parables.” – Tim Montgomerie, The Times (£)
“Around 500 people are to simulate sex at Old Palace Yard in Westminster on Friday, as MPs debate the recent changes to UK pornography regulations and the effective banning of certain sex acts the government deems morally damaging.” – The Independent
“The WikiLeaks founder has used the whistleblowing website’s official Twitter account to publicise a funding drive for the creation of a life-size bronze public artwork featuring himself, Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, described as a ‘a monument to courage’.” – The Independent