“The European Union’s first paramilitary force would have the power to take control of a nation’s borders without the consent of sovereign governments under plans to shore up defences against an influx of migrants… according to plans tabled yesterday by Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president. Europe’s migration crisis is set to overshadow David Cameron’s efforts to revive his renegotiation of British membership of the EU at a two-day Brussels summit starting tomorrow” – The Times (£)
>Yesterday:
“Four powerful Tory figures have warned David Cameron he must ask EU leaders for more to control immigration. Theresa May, Iain Duncan Smith, Michael Gove and Boris Johnson have all privately told the PM that his renegotiation bid for a four year ban on European workers claiming benefits will not curb new arrivals, The Sun has exclusively learned” – The Sun
“Presentation of the government’s case when in tight spots would not necessarily benefit from Boris. Which might make it more attractive to appoint him foreign secretary… You could swap an office that Boris covets for his support for you in the European referendum, which would more than come in handy” – Daniel Finkelstein, The Times (£)
>Yesterday:
“Arrested MPs should not be named unless the charge they face relates to their work, a cross-party committee has said. MPs recommended that members of the Commons who are questioned by police should only be identified when an allegation is of constitutional significance or has an impact on parliamentary privilege… The procedure committee concluded that it was unfair that, while the names of most arrested citizens are not disclosed, arrested MPs are identified in the daily parliamentary order paper” – The Times (£)
“Iain Duncan Smith has been accused of ushering in a new postcode lottery by pushing ahead with cuts to Universal Credit, which will see some benefit recipients up to £3,000 worse off next year than other claimants in exactly the same circumstances… The research, conducted by the House of Commons Library, has led Labour to call for the Government to mirror its tax credit cuts reversal by scrapping its plans to cut the in-work support for Universal Credit claimants” – Independent
“A Cabinet Minister was last night forced to pull out of a Christmas party organised by one of the rightwing youth groups implicated in the ‘Tatler Tory’ bullying scandal. Greg Hands, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, was until late on Tuesday afternoon due to be the guest of honour at tonight’s Conservative Way Forward Christmas party” – Daily Telegraph
“Health service finances have ‘severely’ deteriorated in the past year and ministers and NHS managers lack a ‘coherent plan’ to get them back on track, according to Whitehall’s spending watchdog. The National Audit Office warned that many hospitals now appeared to regard running deficits as normal practice, choosing to maintain quality of care rather than balancing the books” – Financial Times
“Households face paying almost £80 a year to subsidise wind and solar farms and other renewable power schemes because ministers are failing to control the budget for green levies. Spending on subsidies for renewable energy is on course to reach £9.6 billion a year by 2020, £2 billion above the limit agreed by the government, according to research by the Renewable Energy Foundation” – The Times (£)
“Mark Carney has made clear the turn of the year is no longer the time to consider raising interest rates as he launched a robust defence of his much criticised policy of ‘forward guidance’. In an interview with the Financial Times the Bank of England governor showed no sign of wanting to follow the Federal Reserve, which on Wednesday is widely expected to raise rates for the first time in nearly a decade” – Financial Times
“An independent Scotland would be forced to go ‘scuttling’ for an international bailout after a collapse in the oil price and soaring debts, a Tory minister has claimed. Nick Boles said Scotland would now be ‘bankrupt’ if Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP had got their way and broken up the Union in last year’s referendum. The dire warning came as a report revealed Scotland’s debts could top £50 billion by the end of the decade after a spending spree on roads, schools and hospitals” – Daily Mail
“Women still face unfair barriers to reaching senior levels of the Labour party, according to the Fabian Society, which found that just one in 10 of the party’s top staff and one in six of its council leaders are female… Labour has increased its proportion of female MPs to 43 per cent through the use of all-women shortlists. But the Fabian study found that in areas where there is no positive discrimination, representation of women falls away” – Guardian
“Flattering it might have been. But the lady herself would probably have had something to say about all this rampant inflation… How could a little silver bowl, with a guide price of £400, reach £47,500 in a couple of minutes… Such was the premium attached to anything with the imprimatur of Margaret Thatcher yesterday evening as many of her personal possessions came under the hammer at Christie’s” – Robert Hardman, Daily Mail
>Today: