“David Cameron has been warned that his entire renegotiation of Britain’s relationship with the European Union will collapse unless he backs down on his plan to stop migrants from Europe claiming in-work benefits. Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council who is leading the negotiations, has published a letter saying that compromise must be found on the specific issue of the benefit ban before any deal can be reached. The warning puts intense pressure on the prime minister” – The Times (£)
“Ministers announced a full review of Britain’s storm defences yesterday as they blamed global warming for the floods that have devastated Cumbria. Liz Truss, the environment secretary, told MPs that Storm Desmond was consistent with climate change and the government’s predictions for future flooding would now have to be updated. There was also criticism of the government for cutting spending on flood defences by 14 per cent in the past year” – The Times (£)
“Every police force still needs to make spending cuts every year for the next four years, the home secretary, Theresa May, is to tell police chiefs. She is to warn police forces on Tuesday that the chancellor’s unexpected decision last month to protect overall spending on the police does not amount to a reprieve. ‘We must redouble our efforts,’ May is to tell a police reform summit” – Guardian
>Today:
“George Osborne’s plan to let parents pass on a £1m home when they die without paying inheritance tax has been branded a ‘mess’ by a senior Tory MP because of its complexity. Andrew Tyrie, chair of the Treasury select committee, has written to the chancellor to warn that the plans are so convoluted the main beneficiaries will be lawyers and accountants” – Financial Times
“Business hopes that David Cameron would give a green light rapidly to Heathrow expansion were fading on Monday after Downing Street said it would only provide a ‘clear direction’ in a statement before Christmas. The prime minister vowed in July to make a firm decision before the new year on whether to go ahead with a third runway at the airport… But Mr Cameron is now expected to say that more air pollution studies are needed” – Financial Times
>Yesterday:
“Thousands of new homes are set to be built on the Green Belt in the biggest relaxation to planning protections for 30 years. A new Government consultation proposes to change strict rules that only allow building on the ribbon of greenfield land around towns and cities which prevents urban sprawl in exceptional circumstances. Instead councils will be allowed ‘to allocate appropriate small-scale sites in the Green Belt specifically for starter homes’, which are designed for young families” – Daily Telegraph
“Government plans to meddle with freedom of information laws will take the UK back to the ‘Dark Ages’, the information commissioner has said. Christopher Graham criticised attempts to curtail the laws… His remarks come as MPs, led by Tom Watson and David Davis, increase the pressure on ministers to leave the Freedom of Information Act intact” – The Times (£)
“Delegated legislation may seem a dry and technical subject, but the use of these instruments by successive governments has mushroomed far beyond their original purpose… Should peers lose the right to interfere in what they deem to be bad measures, their role as a revising chamber would be curtailed… Cameron should recognise the risk he is running by degrading the upper chamber” – Financial Times editorial
“Grieving families face a wall of silence when they complain about NHS blunders, the health ombudsman warns today. Julie Mellor’s damning report reveals that some relatives are left not even knowing why a loved one has died. They are fobbed off with impenetrable reports that absolve the NHS of blame and are often written by the medics at fault” – Daily Mail
“George Osborne has ruled out a second independence referendum for Scotland, saying the SNP MPs were a ‘noisy and aggressive block’ in the House of Commons. On a whirlwind tour of New York, the Chancellor and aspiring Prime Minister told foreign policy experts that there would not be another vote on separation ‘at least for a generation’. He insisted there was no appetite in Scotland to overturn the decisive vote in favour of staying in the UK” – Daily Mail
>Today:
“A three-day conference for young conservatives has been postponed after being caught up in the bullying row involving ‘Tatler Tory’ Mark Clarke. The Young Britons Foundation conference was due to be held this weekend at Churchill College, Cambridge University, attended by 120 young people. Six Cabinet ministers had already pulled out of the event, citing diary clashes” – Daily Telegraph
“The leading Labour moderate Tristram Hunt moved to reclaim the issue of inequality for his wing of the Labour party, calling for a property wealth tax, universal free childcare, reversal of cuts to inheritance tax and stronger trade unions, including repeal of the trade union bill within 100 days of a Labour government coming to power. Hunt’s keynote speech stressed that a future Labour government would need to take tough choices to tackle growing concentrations of wealth” – Guardian
“Donald Trump has called for a ‘total and complete shutdown’ on Muslims entering the US in a dramatic escalation of the already sharp rhetoric about Islam that has followed the terrorist attacks in California and Paris. The real estate mogul, who is leading the polls for the Republican presidential nomination, said in a statement on Monday that Muslims should be barred from entering the country until national leaders ‘can figure out what is going on’” – Financial Times