‘The terrorists who carried out these cowardly attacks want us to cower in the face of their hideous violence. To change how we live our lives. To compromise our values of freedom, tolerance and the rule of law. However hard it may be with feelings still so raw, it is essential that we stand firm in the face of this threat. We have to fight this terrorism and its poisonous narrative of Islamist extremism.’ – Michael Fallon MP, Mail on Sunday
Editorials
>Today: ToryDiary: Decline and terror. Europe is failing.
>Yesterday: Dr Martin Parsons on Comment: The Islamist threat is like the Nazi threat in the 1930s
‘We have to be lucky all the time, they only have to be lucky once. The better our intelligence the better our chances of halting an attack. But in many areas we hand an advantage to the terrorists that defies reason. Take border controls. We simply have no idea how many of the supposed refugees from Libya are in fact terrorists getting a foothold in Europe. But above all else, it is dangerous madness for the Government to be smashing the defence budget apart. Yesterday the nation showed its enormous pride in our Armed Forces. And yet under Mr Cameron, the Army has been cut from 102,000 to 82,000.’ – The Sun on Sunday Says (£)
>Yesterday: WATCH: Cameron says that many of those killed in Tunisia were British
‘We must ensure our security services are given the tools they need to keep us safe. But the threat comes from beyond our shores too. Britain must bear some culpability for destabilisation abroad. It was our government who foolishly bombed Libya into oblivion. It was a terrible mistake. Where do the people start their journeys across the Med from now? Libya, a country with a growing IS element. IS have already said that they intend to flood the continent with 500,000 jihadi fighters. Even if that only amounts to 5,000, it is still an alarming prospect.’ – Nigel Farage MEP, Mail on Sunday
‘Boris Johnson is preparing to call for a “no” vote in Britain’s referendum on the European Union in an attempt to extract greater concessions from Brussels than David Cameron is demanding. In a stance that puts him on a collision course with the prime minister, the mayor of London believes Britain should reject any deal Cameron puts forward because the EU will not give enough ground. Johnson has told friends that a “no” vote is desirable because it would prompt Brussels to offer a much better deal, which the public could then support in a second referendum.’ – Sunday Times (£)
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: The status quo will not be on the ballot paper in the EU referendum
‘Panicking Greeks queued to get their savings out of banks yesterday with the country on the brink of going bust. Lines formed at cash machines on a dramatic day that put Greece just 48 hours from bankruptcy — and almost certain exit from the euro. The plug was pulled on a financial lifeline after a sensational piece of brinkmanship from Greek PM Alexis Tsipras spectacularly backfired…shocked Eurozone finance ministers refused an extension and kicked Greece’s Yanis Varoufakis out of crisis talks in Brussels as they braced themselves for the worst.’ – The Sun on Sunday (£)
‘Let’s be clear about one thing. What has happened to Greece is not the fault of its people: it is the fault of its politicians. And its oligarchs. Greeks believe it is hard to separate the two classes and they hold them equally in contempt. It is not hard to see why. The very rich have been able to grow even richer for at least two reasons. One: they did not pay their taxes and the politicians allowed them to get away with it. Two: many big businesses creamed vast profits from the contracts the politicians were handing out as though they were distributing flyers outside an Underground station — except that they expected something in return.’ – John Humphrys, Sunday Times (£)
‘According to bookies and pollsters, Osborne is once again a contender to be the next Conservative leader and prime minister. In this month’s Conservative Home survey of party members — the people who will actually take the decision — Osborne has leapt ahead of Theresa May to third place in a close field. He’s on 15.3% (up seven points) behind Sajid Javid on 17% (also up seven) and the favourite Boris Johnson on 21% (down six). Meanwhile, as the prime minister wrestles with the daily trials from Isis to the EU, Osborne will deliver the big set-piece of this parliament so far in 10 days’ time.’ – Adam Boulton, Sunday Times (£)
‘If the dithering and delay over airport capacity are powerful symbols of Britain’s abject failure to think strategically about infrastructure over many decades, the railways are a demonstration of serious shortcomings when it comes to implementation. Not so long ago ministers were hailing “the biggest investment in rail since Victorian times”. A £38bn five-year investment plan, with HS2 following hard on its heels, sounded like the modern, visionary approach to rail modernisation that Britain needed…Handing over an ambitious rail investment programme to Network Rail, the creaking hybrid body created out of the ashes of Railtrack, was a triumph of hope over experience.’ – Sunday Times Leader (£)
>Friday: ToryDiary: The rail farce raises serious questions about HS2
‘When former Tory Chancellor Nigel Lawson cut the top rate from 60 per cent to 40 in the 1980s, the rich paid more in tax, and they paid a higher share of the tax collected as a result. Cutting the top rate in the next Budget will doubtless bring the same misinformed howls of anguish from the Left, who will claim that the Conservatives are always too soft on the rich. Our response should be that we want to get more tax revenue from the rich – and are adopting Gordon Brown’s method of doing so.’ – John Redwood MP, Mail on Sunday
‘Treasury officials and the board of Network Rail are examining plans for a quasi-privatisation of the railway company that they hope will improve day-to-day performance and stop cost overruns on big projects. Senior sources said directors were examining proposals for the creation of “risk capital” at the company, which operates Britain’s track, signalling and largest stations. Investors would suffer losses when performance slipped. “What they need is the discipline that comes with equity,” said one senior government source.’ – Sunday Times (£)
‘Justine Greening, the international development secretary, warned cabinet colleagues 18 months ago that “daft” aid programmes being run by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office risked wasting taxpayers’ money. Sources close to Greening said she was “furious” her advice had been ignored, particularly given the revelations last week that £350m had been spent by the Foreign Office on schemes including finding mates for tropical fish and teaching Shakespeare to Ecuadoreans.’ – Sunday Times (£)
>Today: Mark Field MP on Comment: How to reform our international aid department
‘Three rising-star Tory Ministers have joined forces with anti-badger-cull rocker Brian May to stop the ban on fox hunting being scrapped. The move follows reports that David Cameron is not opposed to moves by pro-blood sports Conservative MPs to revive the practice. The three ministers, who include Sports Minister Tracey Crouch, are expected to attend the Commons launch on Tuesday of May’s new anti-hunting group, Team Fox.’ – Mail on Sunday
‘Maybe, to push the bounds of credulity, some of my articles and speeches have made a difference to the world of education. Maybe, even, some of the interminable hours I wasted in the Department for Education may have had a little impact on the development of national policy. Anyway, the past is the past and there is no point in wishing it to have been any different.’ – Chris Woodhead, Sunday Times (£)
‘The Director of Public Prosecutions was facing calls to quit last night as her decision not to prosecute alleged paedophile Lord Janner was dramatically overturned. The legal U-turn came just days after The Mail on Sunday revealed that the Labour peer had made secret visits to Parliament despite medics claiming he was too ill to be questioned by police. Critics insisted Alison Saunders could not continue as the head of the Crown Prosecution Service.’ – Mail on Sunday
‘Former Minister and Blair ally Frank Field, one of Miliband’s most prominent critics, made a £250 profit by betting on an outright Tory victory. And Matthew Taylor, who ran the Downing Street policy unit when Blair was in power, also made money by wagering that the Conservatives would win an overall majority.’ – Mail on Sunday