“David Cameron’s quest for a new deal with Brussels has suffered a triple setback with senior figures warning that there is no prospect of him securing an EU treaty change before his in/out referendum planned for 2017. The European Commission said last week that discussion of a new treaty — seen as necessary to enshrine new rules to prop up the eurozone — would not begin until the summer of 2017, with a formal treaty not drawn up until later. The warning has led to a fresh ultimatum from senior Eurosceptics who think Cameron’s plans do not go far enough” – Sunday Times (£)
“It boils down to this: any deal that does not require treaty change will not fundamentally alter either Britain’s relationship with the EU or the internal workings of the EU itself, and will therefore not be worth having. It follows, therefore, that any deal worth its salt will require treaty change… the concept of treaty change that will be promised for the future…would be an utterly unacceptable proposition” – Liam Fox, Sunday Times (£)
“Half of Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet are prepared to vote with David Cameron for airstrikes on Syria as generals and intelligence chiefs criticised the Labour leader for his views on terrorism and the military. Senior members of the shadow cabinet have already spoken to Tory ministers, pledging to support bombing of ISIS targets in Syria… A serving general warned that there would be a direct challenge from the army and mass resignations if Corbyn became prime minister” – Sunday Times (£)
“New Labour Party leaders Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell were last night sensationally accused of risking inciting terrorist and anti-Semitic attacks in London. The claim was made by the Labour candidate for London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, in a devastating assault on Corbyn and the man he has made Shadow Chancellor…He said McDonnell’s claim that IRA killers should be ‘honoured’ could encourage terrorism in London, and Corbyn’s support for Arab extremist groups could inspire anti-semitic attacks” – Mail on Sunday
“Jeremy Corbyn unveils his first official policy since becoming leader of the Labour Party, with plans for a ‘People’s Railway’ under which his government would fast-track a renationalisation of England’s rail network. The plans would lead to a third of franchises being brought under public ownership by 2025 if he became prime minister at the next election. Mr Corbyn will announce that each route would be renationalised when its franchise expired” – Independent on Sunday
“The pressures have even forced Corbyn’s spin doctors — and who’d have thought he’d hire a load of them? — to declare that he will sing God Save the Queen at any future ceremony where the anthem is on the song sheet. But if this anti-imperialist veteran of decades of demonstrations and rallies is to become a national-anthem-singing, Nato-supporting, chauffeur-driven, suit-and-tie-wearing, docile member of the Privy Council, what on earth was the point of it all?” – Sunday Times (£)
“Jeremy Corbyn’s ‘jealous’ lover Diane Abbott staged an astonishing confrontation with his wife – ordering her to ‘get out of town’, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Ms Abbott, then a young Left-wing activist, stunned her love rival Professor Jane Chapman – Corbyn’s first wife – by turning up on her doorstep out of the blue to demand that she leave London. In an exclusive interview, Prof Chapman was scathing about Ms Abbott’s ‘hostile’ behaviour” – Mail on Sunday
“Last week Nicola Sturgeon talked of including the promise of another Scottish referendum in the SNP’s 2016 manifesto. We and others have therefore come together as the Constitution Reform Group to argue for a new Act of Union… We believe the new act should be the product of a careful consultative process that aims to build a broad-based consensus around a new constitutional settlement, which would guarantee the rights and autonomy of each constituent nation and region within a reformed UK” – Menzies Campbell, Peter Hain and Robert Salisbury, Sunday Times (£)
>Yesterday:
“Michael Gove, the justice secretary and lord chancellor, has offered to suspend the latest 8.75 per cent legal aid fee cut imposed on criminal law solicitors, according to their representatives. The conciliatory gesture follows a fresh round of talks this weeks between Ministry of Justice officials, the Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association (CLSA) and the London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association (LCCSA)” – Observer
“There are those who say we should fear China’s rise – that we should somehow guard ourselves against it. But we reject such thinking, which would simply leave the UK slipping behind. Instead, we should embrace it. We want a golden relationship with China that will help foster a golden decade for this country. It is an opportunity that the UK can’t afford to miss. Simply put, we want to make the UK China’s best partner in the west” – George Osborne and Jim O’Neill, Observer
“Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is to provide sanctuary to a family of Syrian refugees within Lambeth Palace. They will live as his guests in a cottage within the grounds of his official London home and their rent will be paid for from charitable funds under the archbishop’s personal control. Welby said this weekend: ‘Jesus was a refugee’” – Sunday Times (£)
“A Cabinet rift has erupted over plans by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to crack down on junk food TV adverts in a bid to curb child obesity. The move is being opposed by ministers who privately warn it is an example of ‘the nanny state’. Cabinet sources say David Cameron may be called in to referee the dispute. The Mail on Sunday has learned that Hunt wants to extend the ban on adverts for products such as Kellogg’s Coco Pops and Coca-Cola from ‘children’s hour’ programmes until the 9pm watershed” – Mail on Sunday
“A debating chamber could be built in Westminster Hall to allow MPs to remain in parliament while a massive programme of repairs is carried out, according to plans proposed by House of Commons officials… Many MPs and peers are unhappy at the prospect of leaving parliament and believe warnings the work will take three decades and the bill double to £7bn if they stay put are exaggerated” – Sunday Times (£)
“Campaigners fear government plans to streamline planning rules will herald a ‘war’ on rural areas and blight the countryside with new buildings. Brandon Lewis, the planning minister, has hired an eight strong team to ‘slash’ the amount of time it takes for councils to set up local plans which set out where building can take place. But half of the group have backgrounds which have involved them with the construction of more homes and other buildings, prompting fears that the needs of developers will be put first” – Sunday Telegraph
“The National Health Service will crash within two years with catastrophic consequences unless the government orders an immediate multibillion pound cash injection, the former minister in charge of care services says… In an interview with the Observer, NLamb, a Liberal Democrat who was at the heart of policymaking during the Tory-Lib Dem coalition, accuses the government of dishonesty in failing to admit the scale of the problems” – Observer
“Mr Whippy, watch out. The Liberal Democrats want to ban you. Delegates at the party’s Bournemouth conference will vote tomorrow to outlaw diesel vehicles, including ice-cream vans, that keep their engines running when parked. Party leaders fear the policy, to improve air quality, will make the party look ‘silly’” – Sunday Times (£)