“David Cameron made a toe-curling gaffe in front of the Queen today by boasting that he has ‘two of the most corrupt countries in the world’ coming to a key London summit this week. The Prime Minister seemingly did not realise he was being filmed as he singled out Afghanistan and Nigeria for the insult. The blunder came as he was talking to the Queen and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby at an event in Buckingham Palace to mark the monarch’s 90th birthday” – Daily Mail
“David Cameron is being urged to contain the rebellious mood in his party by listening more to Conservative MPs, as he brings down the curtain on a parliamentary year marked by a series of U-turns. On Wednesday the prime minister makes his final Commons appearance of a session that has seen the government forced to retreat on policies from cuts to tax credits to the forced conversion of schools into academies” – Financial Times
>Today:
>Yesterday:
“Iain Duncan Smith said Brussels has ‘become a force for social injustice’, with the poor suffering most from the effects of mass migration. In a stinging attack on the ‘dysfunctional, declining, high unemployment EU’, he said a Brexit vote would allow the UK to ‘protect the people who often find themselves at the sharp end of global economic forces and technological change’” – Daily Mail
>Yesterday:
“The moment for the British people to define their character for the 21st century came when our Prime Minister David Cameron invoked the threat of World War Three… The claim was erroneous. The history false. The venue ludicrous. The virtual absence of British voters farcical. Churchill’s famous V sign was usually done with the palm facing outwards to a real enemy. I expect the British people to turn the palm inwards in derision and make a crude V sign to this speech” – David Owen, Sun
“As far as the EU is concerned, the more you are out the more likely you are to be In, and the more you are in, the more likely you are to be Out. The phone pollsters as a group (each company has its own methods) seem to be doing better at capturing these more elusive socially liberal people” – Daniel Finkelstein, The Times (£)
“The BBC’s founding mission statement, ‘to inform, educate and entertain’, is to be rewritten by ministers for the first time, The Telegraph has learnt. The principles, established by the BBC’s founding director-general Lord Reith nearly 100 years ago, will be adapted to add that the broadcaster must be distinct and impartial. John Whittingdale, the Culture Secretary, will announce tomorrow that the BBC’s historic remit will change, after fears that the broadcaster’s output has become too similar to commercial competitors” – Daily Telegraph
“Thousands of elderly patients are suffering ‘harrowing ordeals’ as they are sent home from hospital to fend for themselves, the NHS watchdog says. Those with dementia are being discharged without help so that beds can be freed, often with devastating consequences, the ombudsman says… One 85-year-old woman with dementia was sent home alone late at night and left without food, water, bedding or the ability to go to the toilet until her family found her the next day” – The Times (£)
“Scots believe Labour fought a negative, dishonest Holyrood election campaign and only a third think the party will be a political force in the future, according to exclusive research for The Times. As Kezia Dugdale attempts to rebuild Scottish Labour after the humiliation of coming third behind the Tories, polling suggests that voters think she is wasting her time” – The Times (£)
>Today:
>Yesterday:
“London’s new Muslim mayor Sadiq Khan today accused Donald Trump of making both the UK and the US ‘less safe’ because of his ‘ignorant view of Islam’. The astonishing attack came despite the Republican presidential candidate offering to exempt Mr Khan from his plan to ban Muslims from entering the United States. After Mr Khan was elected the first Muslim mayor of a major European capital last week, Mr Trump insisted he was ‘happy’ to see him win because he can ‘lead by example’” – Daily Mail
“Bernie Sanders has won the West Virginia primary, a sign of his enduring support — and the apathy for Hillary Clinton among the state’s voters. While Mrs Clinton carried West Virginia in the 2008 primary — and Bill Clinton won there in the 1992 and 1996 elections — Tuesday night’s result demonstrates the extent to which the Clintons have fallen from favour in the state, foreshadowing a big victory for Donald Trump in West Virginia come November” – Financial Times