Newslinks for Thursday 19th November 2015

ISIS 1) Support rises for bombing in Syria – and for a ground war, too

‘Six out of ten Britons want the RAF to bomb Islamic State following the Paris massacres, a Daily Mail poll reveals today. Extraordinarily, half the population would back sending ground troops into Syria. Ministers are increasingly confident of winning a vote for military action – possibly before Christmas. ‘We’re going to war,’ said one last night.’ – Daily Mail

The case for and against – Stephen Glover and Max Hastings, Daily Mail
Downing Street believes it has the votes – The Times (£)
Sturgeon keeps an open mind – Daily Telegraph
No need for a UN resolution – The Times (£)
It is time to act – Parliament must agree – The Times Leader (£)
Corbyn may be about to u-turn on whipping the vote – Labour Uncut

>Today: Garvan Walshe’s column: A dispatch from the front lines in the struggle against ISIS

ISIS 2) First female suicide bomber in Europe strikes during Paris raids

‘One of the dead was a woman believed to have detonated a suicide belt as police moved in. A source close to the investigation said she could have been a cousin of Abaaoud, Reuters reported. Mr Molins said it appeared that a “new team of terrorists” had been ready for a fresh attack. A leader of one of the special forces units that took part in the raid said drones and robots equipped with cameras had been used to try to see inside the flat.’ – BBC News

Police believe the mastermind of the attacks is dead – Daily Mail
More details emerge of Paris victims’ bravery – Daily Mail
France must tighten borders and face her demons – Rachida Dati, The Guardian
Grim French estates breed terrorism – Allister Heath, Daily Telegraph
Jewish man stabbed in Marseille by extremists – Daily Mail
ISIS release photo of drinks can bomb they claim to have used on Sharm plane – Daily Mail

>Yesterday: WATCH: Cameron urges people to carry on with their lives, to defy the butchers of ISIS

ISIS 3) Montgomerie: The world needs a strong and warm US President to win this war

‘If a Republican becomes president next November America would become more interventionist. Some 74 per cent of Republican voters think “overwhelming force” is needed to defeat global terrorism. Despite only 30 per cent of Democrats taking that view, Hillary Clinton would also be more hawkish. She has backed a no-fly zone, for example. But can the world wait a year for the war on Isis to be stepped up? World peace needs America to be tough on Isis and warm towards the world’s Muslims. Obama ensures America is weak and too many Republicans ensure it appears cold.’ – Tim Montgomerie, The Times (£)

ISIS guide to encrypted apps published – Daily Mail
Tech giants must act – The Sun Says (£)
Cyber strike-back is welcome – FT Leader
Corbyn isn’t anti-war, he’s anti-West – Nick Cohen, The Spectator

>Yesterday: ToryDiary: The British Muslim woman we all need

ISIS 4) Radical changes proposed to the Schengen Zone

‘Eastern European countries will be kicked out of the Schengen Zone along with Greece, Spain, and Italy under a radical plan to save the European Union passport-free travel area in the wake of the migrant crisis. Belgium, France, German, Luxembourg and the Netherlands are set to re-draw the boundaries to just include the original members, creating a ‘Mini-Schengen’. Strict checks could also be introduced at passport control to systematically compare the names of all arrivals against those on counter-terrorism databases.’ – Daily Mail

Close the borders now – Daily Mail Leader
British islamists arrested in Eastern Europe – The Times (£)
How did they sneak out? – The Sun Says (£)
Jihadist given platform on Radio 1 – The Sun (£)
The battle for Muslim hearts and minds – David Aaronovitch, The Times (£)

Clarke expelled from the Conservative Party over bullying and harassment allegations

‘The Conservative party was allegedly aware of bullying and sexual harassment complaints against a senior aide almost a decade ago but they were ignored, it has emerged. The party expelled Mark Clarke over the allegations. Tory MP Ben Howlett claimed to BBC Newsnight that Lord Feldman, the Conservative chairman, knew about allegations against Mark Clarke for “a very long period of time” but that claims were “not investigated”…Ray Johnson, the father of Elliot Johnson, 21, who took his own life, has accused the party of a “whitewash” after it emerged that previous complaints against Mr Clarke were allegedly ignored.’ – Daily Telegraph

CF executive suspended as CCHQ takes direct control of youth wing – Newsnight

>Today: ToryDiary: The Legard inquiry into the Mark Clarke allegations must publish findings

The pay gap: public sector workers still earn more, and get bigger pay rises

‘Public sector wages are moving ahead of those in the private sector despite Government pledges to rein in spending, official figures revealed yesterday. They gave the lie to claims by Labour and the unions that workers in the public sector have borne the brunt of austerity. Despite years of pay ‘restraint’ during the recession, public sector wages are still higher than those for private sector workers – and are rising faster.’ – Daily Mail

Why won’t the BBC make management savings? – Daily Mail Leader
Real-terms wage growth, but we’re still worse off than 2008 – The Times (£)
Osborne is at risk of going too far on austerity – Jenni Russell, The Times (£)
Food banks to hand out fuel vouchers – The Times (£)

>Today: Local Government: Labour by-election candidate is paid £81,598 a year in councillor allowances

Rudd: Energy bills will rise

‘Households face a huge rise in energy bills after the Government called for a £10billion fleet of new gas-fired power stations. Energy Secretary Amber Rudd said it was inevitable prices would go up as Britain makes up for a “legacy of under-investment” by Labour…Asked about the effect on bills, Ms Rudd replied: “We need new gas. It is right we build new infrastructure.” But she barely mentioned fracking and shale gas in a 40-minute speech, her biggest yet. Electricity bills have already risen over 130 per cent in the past decade.’ – The Sun (£)

Do not allow the shale dream to die – The Sun Says (£)

>Today: Tony Lodge on Comment: The Government must prioritise energy security above green targets, or the lights could go out

Scottish Tories surge in the polls

‘The Conservatives are now challenging Labour to become Scotland’s second most popular party following a surge in the polls and a “bruising few weeks” for the SNP. The percentage of people planning to vote Tory in next year’s Holyrood election has jumped six points to 18%, stealing five points from the SNP, who are down to 50%, and gaining significant ground on Labour, who remain unchanged at 20%.’ – The Courier

Fears grow as antibiotic defences are being overwhelmed

‘Superbugs have broken through the last line of antibiotic defences and now threaten to cause untreatable infections across the world, according to researchers. A gene that makes bacteria such as E. coli resistant to last-resort antibiotics has jumped from animals to humans and is likely to arrive in Britain.’ – The Times (£)

A pandemic threat – The Times Leader (£)
Doctors should not strike – Terence English, Daily Telegraph
Professionals are the new union barons – Simon Jenkins, The Guardian
Doctors’ union tries to prevent hospitals employing strike cover – Daily Mail
Report investigates hospital errors that contribute to stillbirths – Daily Mail

Human rights loophole means migrants don’t have to learn English

‘Supreme Court judges yesterday threatened to wreck the Government’s bid to ensure migrants speak English. A ruling called for the Home Office to water down its guidelines on English language tests for immigrant husbands and wives. If Theresa May fails to do so, the judges warned they will make a declaration that the Government is breaking human rights laws.’ – Daily Mail

2,000 police officers are too unfit for foot patrols – Daily Mail

Red Ken’s first day running Labour’s defence policy ends in disaster

‘Ken Livingstone, one of Jeremy Corbyn’s oldest political allies, provoked anger yesterday after telling an MP who suffered from depression that he needed psychiatric help. The outburst began as a disagreement over the Trident nuclear deterrent between the former mayor of London and Kevan Jones, the shadow defence minister. It ended in a television confrontation eight hours later, with Mr Livingstone only apologising fully after being forced to do so by Mr Corbyn, the Labour leader.’ – The Times (£)

Ken’s comments are inexcusable – Oliver Kamm, The Times (£)
He owes an apology to millions more – Kevan Jones MP, Daily Telegraph
The true nasty party – Daily Mail Leader
Corbyn will purge MPs, but keep his own hands clean – Tom Harris, Daily Telegraph

>Yesterday:

Andrew Gimson’s PMQs sketch: At this rate Corbyn will be gone within months
LeftWatch: How long will Shadow Ministers put up with their leader humiliating them?

John McDonnell called for MI5 to be abolished

‘The Shadow Chancellor called to scrap MI5 and armed police earlier this year, The Sun can reveal. John McDonnell signed a letter of demands from leftie group The Social Network in April calling to “disband MI5 and special police squads, and disarm the police”. His name remained on the letter last night, despite his camp denying he had ever seen it. Labour MP Gavin Shuker said: “To call for MI5 to be scrapped when we face this jihadi threat is beyond a joke. He is behaving like the enemy within.” – The Sun (£)

Corbyn hires Stop the War activist as media advisor – The Sun (£)
Labour’s internal war will only get worse – George Eaton, The New Statesman

Lords defeat Government over EU referendum voting age

‘Parliament’s upper house backed on Wednesday lowering the voting age to 16 in a planned referendum on Britain’s continued membership of the European Union, a move that could delay the timing of the crucial vote. Britons can usually vote from the age of 18, but 16- and 17-year-olds were allowed to vote in last year’s Scottish independence referendum, prompting calls for a similar lowering of the threshold for the EU referendum that Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to hold by the end of 2017.’ – Reuters

Eurosceptic MPs vow to defeat peers – Daily Telegraph
If you’re old enough to fight, you’re old enough to vote – Tim Farron MP, Daily Telegraph
UKIP donations collapse from £2.2 million to just £50,000 – Daily Telegraph
Tories raise twice as much as Labour – The Guardian
We’re begging pro-EU businesses to speak out – Stuart Rose, FT
Cummings harms the anti-EU cause – Nick Cohen, The Guardian

>Yesterday: WATCH: Ici Londres – It is time to rediscover our global vocation, argues Daniel Hannan MEP

Robinson to stand down as DUP leader

‘Mr Robinson revealed his plans in an exclusive interview with the Belfast Telegraph ahead of this weekend’s DUP conference. “I am telling you this now, because I think it would be disrespectful to the party membership if I was to go through a conference with the pretence that I would be leading the party into the next election. I think they have a right to know what the circumstances are,” he said.’ – Belfast Telegraph

Micro-businesses give me hope for Belfast – Martin van der Weyer, The Spectator

News in Brief

Police searching for missing girl find body – Daily Mail
Cambridge ditches ‘racist and sexist’ Starkey from fundraising drive – The Times (£)
Cabinet Office secrecy condemned by FOI tribunal – Daily Mail
Welsh might die out – Daniel Evans, The New Statesman
End of the road for lads’ magazines – The Times (£)
In a British newspaper, Tintin would have been fired years ago – William Cook, The Spectator

And finally…

Con Air? The Prime Minister is to get his own official plane

‘David Cameron is to spend £10 million on taking over an RAF plane, allowing him to tour the world with greater style and security, in an echo of Tony Blair’s attempt to buy “Blair Force One”. More than 70 years after America’s president got a bespoke aircraft, the prime minister will finally join the ranks of most other government leaders.’ – The Times (£)

A sensible use of time and money – The Times Leader (£)