Newslinks for Sunday 29th May 2016

Leave fights back as Purdah kicks in

1) Boris and Gove say Cameron can’t deliver his immigration pledge unless Britain leaves the EU

“In the most pointed “blue on blue” attack to date by the leaders of the Brexit campaign, Gove and Johnson ridicule Cameron’s flagship promise, saying: “Voters were promised repeatedly at elections that net immigration could be cut to the tens of thousands. This promise is plainly not achievable as long as the UK is a member of the EU and the failure to keep it is corrosive of public trust in politics. “It’s government policy that ‘EU migrants should have a job offer before they come here.’ But the EU did not agree to letting the UK implement that policy during the renegotiation of our membership.” – Sunday Times

• McDonnell defends immigration – Independent on Sunday
• Cameron and the Tory faultline over immigration – Sunday Times Editorial (£)

2) Gove says that we can’t crack down on rich foreigners who help to price Britons out of homes unless we leave the EU

“The Justice Secretary says that it is currently impossible to crack down on rich foreigners who buy homes as investments because of Brussels rules that encourage international finance to flow across national borders. The super-rich who use offshore companies to snap up homes in the UK have been blamed for ‘hollowing out’ local communities and helping to push prices beyond the reach of many British buyers.” – Mail on Sunday

• Cameron’s credibility is on the line – Gove interview, Sun on Sunday
• It’s time Cameron started levelling with us – Sun on Sunday Editorial

3) Patel: Cameron and Osborne don’t care about those who lose out because of immigration

“If you have private wealth or if you work for Goldman Sachs you’ll be fine. But when public services are under pressure, it is those people who do not have the luxury of being able to afford the alternatives who are most vulnerable. Getting your child a place in your local school becomes more and more difficult; there is more competition for jobs; wages are held down…It’s shameful that those leading the pro-EU campaign fail to care for those who do not have their advantages. Their narrow self interest fails to pay due regard to the interests of the wider public.” – Sunday Telegraph

• For security and prosperity, even Eurosceptics have to vote Remain  – Michael Fallon, Daily Telegraph

Conservatives

• Bridgen says that if Remain wins a leadership challenge to Cameron is probable – Sunday Times (£)
• Minister warns that the Party will be impossible to whip if Remain wins – Sun on Sunday
• Welsh Conservative leader says search for Cameron’s successor will start “within weeks” – Sunday Times (£)
• Will it be Boris v Theresa? – John Rentoul, Independent on Sunday

Other

• Brexit could threaten the sovereignty of Gibraltar, says its chief minister – Independent on Sunday
• Glastonbury founder urges fans to use their vote on Europe – The Observer
• Lucas says that leaving the EU will not save Britain from TTIP – Independent on Sunday
• Miliband in young people registration drive… – Mail on Sunday
• …As he is stumped by Joey Essex over the French and Britain’s fish – Sunday Express
• The Commons Treasury Committee said both sides of debate are misleading and confusing voters but that Vote Leave is guilty of ‘by far the most serious’ offence  – Independent on Sunday

Adam Boulton:  Why there’s panic amongst the pollsters

“When voting ends at 10pm on June 23 no exit poll will flash up on television screens. Those anxious to know whether the UK has voted to “leave” or “remain” in the European Union will have to stay up into the small hours. The best guess is that we should know by about 5am at the latest. It’s not because the broadcasters don’t want to bring their viewers an instantaneous and accurate picture of the decision. It’s just that lengthy consultations between those involved — BBC, ITV, Sky, the university professors and the pollsters — concluded that money couldn’t buy a reliable exit poll.” – Sunday Times (£)

• Leave’s numbers don’t add up – Sir John Major, Mail on Sunday
• Moggster 1) The result must be respected either way: no second referendum – Jacob Rees-Mogg, Mail on Sunday
• Moggster 2) We should oppose the European Arrest Warrant – Jacob Rees-Mogg, Sunday Express
• Brexiteers isolated from Britain’s duty to save Europe – Niall Ferguson, Sunday Times (£)
• When will the real Cameron stand up? – Simon Heffer, Sunday Telegraph
  Our European allies have good reason to fear Brexit – Andrew Rawnsley, Observer
• Why the Norwegian option doesn’t work – Ian Birrell, Mail on Sunday
• Leave is losing – Dan Hodges, Mail on Sunday
• Questions the Brexiteers must answer – Mail on Sunday Editorial

> Yesterday: ToryDiary – Membership of the EU means a discriminatory immigration policy

> Today:

• ToryDiary –Where’s Merkel?
• Andrew Mitchell on Comment: To say that relations are strained on Europe among Conservative MPs would be an understatement

Feldman and Halfon clash over MP’s aide and a blackmail plot

Lord Feldman rejected Minister Robert Halfon’s plea to sack a Tory MP’s Commons aide who reportedly intended to film him leaving a London club with a lover so it could be used against him. The plot involving Sam Armstrong, an ally of Mark Clarke, who was an aide to David Cameron during the 2015 Election, was revealed by The Mail on Sunday last year.  Mr Halfon was furious to discover Mr Armstrong is still employed at public expense as a Commons adviser by South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay.” – Mail on Sunday

Families of servicemen who were killed in Iraq seek to sue Blair

“The Iraq Families Action Group, set up to seek justice on behalf of the 179 British soldiers killed during the eight-year war, will target former officials for unlimited damages that could run into millions of pounds. Whitehall officials are understood to be concerned because the government will be required to use taxpayers’ funds to cover the defendants’ costs during any civil proceedings. Legal experts say the families are most likely to pursue former officials and ministers for misfeasance in public office, or breaching their duty of care.” – Sunday Times (£)

• Anger as suspension of Corbyn ally lifted – Sunday Times (£)
• Labour activist claims Jews financed the slave trade – The Sun on Sunday
• Corbyn failed to reply to letter from Israel’s Labour Party about anti-semitism – The Observer
• Livingstone fired from LBC Show over Hitler remarks – Independent on Sunday
• Milne blocks anti-Russia EU referendum briefing note to Labour MPs – Mail on Sunday
• Blair will not be accused of breaking laws in Iraq War inquiry – Daily Telegraph
• He is grilled over Middle East role – Mail on Sunday
• I despise Blair – Michael Burleigh, Mail on Sunday

News in Brief

• 1,000 UK troops to be stationed in the Baltic States to keep Putin at bay – Sunday Times (£)
• RAF Typhoon jets scrambled to intercept Putin’s Russian aircraft six times in one week – The Sun on Sunday
• Battle for Fallujah begins – Mail on Sunday
• Charities’ costs eat up 78 per cent of donations – Sunday Times (£)
• How it’s all going wrong for Hillary Clinton – Observer
• Smart energy meters ‘put families at risk’ – Sunday Express
• Ministry of Defence is set to hand £425million helicopter deal to Boeing – Mail on SundayPakistani men can beat wives ‘lightly’, says Islamic council – Independent on Sunday
• Pakistan bans contraceptive advertisements – The Observer
• Doctors face deluge when chemists are closed down – Sunday Express
• Titchmarsh offers to gives Number Ten a makeover – Mail on Sunday

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