“Ministers last night threatened to get tough with firms paying ‘poverty wages’, as they prepared for a Budget assault on Britain’s £30billion tax credits bill. Iain Duncan Smith told MPs that firms ‘should pay higher salaries’, rather than relying on the taxpayer to top up their employees’ incomes. He also accused Labour of cynically boosting tax credits before elections to ‘buy votes’. The Work and Pensions Secretary joined David Cameron in indicating that tax credits, which were introduced by Gordon Brown, will be the focus of the Government’s drive to cut the benefits bill by £12billion when George Osborne unveils his Budget on July 8.” – Daily Mail
Opposition:
Sketches:
Editorial:
“Whatever Mr Osborne announces on low pay and welfare reform in the Budget, the interesting thing is that he now realises any argument must be put in terms of moral values as well as value for money. Labour, in the middle of its leadership contest, is unsure how to respond and risks being outmanoeuvred over a politically crucial issue. Mr Field, the man who was once asked to “think the unthinkable” by Tony Blair on welfare, says he urged Mr Miliband not only to back the government’s benefits cap but also come up with his own tougher proposals for reducing the total amount that households could claim. His advice was ignored and he is convinced that Labour now needs to rethink its whole approach to welfare.” – The Times (£)
“And the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) will today come out in support of the Prime Minister’s strategy. The organisation, which represents tens of thousands of firms, says the nation must not ‘sleepwalk into an ever closer union’ and should be freed ‘from the regulatory burdens imposed by the EU’. British industry has traditionally been pro-union, but the BCC said its members now need real reform and urged the Prime Minister to fight for their interests.” – Daily Mail
The deal:
The benefits:
Backbenchers:
Comment and Editorial:
“Lots of people on the edges of Europe have been impoverished as an indirect consequence of the euro. Internal devaluations have taken Spanish unemployment to approximately 24 per cent and locked Greece into its circular hell. Extremists have prospered, a poison has seeped into relations between capitals. Had Britain joined the currency, our recession might have been much worse than it was. At best, we would be more financially exposed to eurozone bailouts. If pro-Europeans feel sorry about any of this, they might let us know. Their reticence suggests callousness as much as decorum.” – Financial Times (£)
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Just say Out
“The move comes after Michael Fallon repeatedly refused to say whether Britain would continue to meet the Nato target of 2 per cent. He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that the figures would show the UK was spending ‘comfortably over’ this amount. But when pressed on whether it would continue, the Defence Secretary said: ‘We can’t set the budget on this programme, we set the budget in September, then you’ll have your answer.’ Michael Fallon has repeatedly refused to say whether Britain would continue to meet the Nato target of 2 per cent. Military chiefs and politicians have repeatedly called on the Government to commit to the 2 per cent target for fear of undermining Britain’s standing on the world’s stage.” – Daily Mail
Comment:
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Are we prepared to police the Libyan coast?
“David Cameron today revealed his struggle to prepare his summer-born daughter Florence to start school this September. The Prime Minister said it was ‘challenging’ to get the three-year-old ‘school ready’ before term starts this autumn. It comes as the government prepares to review rules to allow parents to delay their young children starting school for up to a year… Schools minister Nick Gibb is poised to announce details of the government’s approach soon. ‘It is very much a priority,’ a Department for Education source said.” – Daily Mail
>Today: ToryDiary: Cameron backs family hubs. Now he must make them work.
>Yesterday:
“David Cameron moved the focus of education reform from disadvantaged to better-off areas as he laid out the criteria for a “coasting school” in a speech on improving social mobility yesterday. He also called on parents to be more demanding of schools and of their own children. Ministers have previously suggested that 1,000 schools will be required to become academies during this parliament after new laws come into force. Every school in England rated inadequate by Ofsted will be turned into an academy under the Education and Adoption Bill.” – The Times (£)
>Yesterday: Nicky Morgan MP in Comment: More academies. Greater freedom. Higher standards. More opportunity. What our Education Bill will deliver.
“Britain’s dysfunctional justice system is providing a ‘world-beating service’ to rich foreigners but ‘failing’ our own victims of crime, Michael Gove will say today. In his first speech as Justice Secretary, he will tear into the delays, inefficiencies and incompetence of the legal establishment and the courts. Mr Gove says the ‘wealthy international class’ who come to Britain to fight divorce cases and business disputes are receiving the ‘finest legal provision in the world’.” – Daily Mail
Comment:
“Ending onshore wind farm subsidies will save hundreds of millions of pounds, energy secretary Amber Rudd has said, as she confirmed that 250 proposed projects were now “unlikely” to get built. Ms Rudd announced last week that a key subsidy scheme, the Renewables Obligation, would be shut down a year earlier than planned, although projects which already had planning permission and other conditions could still get built under a “grace period”. The policy is a key part of the Conservatives’ manifesto pledge to end new onshore wind subsidies.” – Daily Telegraph
Comment:
“Conservative ministers are at odds with each other over flying the rainbow flag from government buildings. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond last week banned the flag being flown from British embassies to highlight gay rights. But today Cabinet Office Matthew Hancock said that it would be seen over Whitehall ministries to show ‘pride in our LGBT community’ is shared at the very top of government. Mr Hammond banned British embassies from flying the rainbow flag to mark this summer’s gay pride marches. In a break with last year, when William Hague was Foreign Secretary, the Foreign Office is also not not flying the striped banner which is the symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movements.” – Daily Mail
“The gloves came off in the fight to be Labour’s candidate in next year’s election to be London Mayor as opponents of Dame Tessa Jowell claimed she could not win the contest because she supports the expansion of Heathrow Airport. Senior Labour figures in London warned that Ms Jowell, the front-runner to win the party’s nomination, would be defeated in the election to choose Boris Johnson’s successor by Zac Goldsmith, the favourite to be the Conservative candidate and a staunch opponent of a third runway at Heathrow.” – The Independent
>Today: Adrian Pepper in Comment: Aviation expansion – the perils of going for Gatwick
“Possession of all drugs, including heroin and cocaine, would be decriminalised under radical plans tabled by the Liberal Democrats today. The party’s push, led by ex-police chief Brian Paddick, will attempt to ambush a Government Bill to ban the sale of legal highs when it is debated by the Lords. Under their proposals, nobody would be arrested or prosecuted for possession of drugs – even the hardest Class A substances. Instead, police ‘may’ ask the offender to attend a drug awareness course or treatment programme. In total, the Lib Dems have tabled more than ten amendments to the Government’s Psychoactive Substances Bill.” – Daily Mail