‘Angry voters last night turned on David Cameron during the first televised debate of the EU referendum campaign, forcing the Prime Minister to deny that he is “scaremongering”. The Prime Minister faced a series of angry questions from voters about the tone of the Remain campaign after he claimed that there are no “big risks of staying” in the European Union. Mr Cameron was accused of “hypocrisy”, “waffling” and doing “personal damage” to his reputation by claiming that a Brexit could spark World War III and a global recession.’ – Daily Telegraph
Editorials
>Today:
‘Thousands of foreign offenders are in jail or walking the streets of Britain in spite of a pledge to deport them, MPs say in a revelation that will be seized upon by Brexit supporters. The number of foreign offenders is now more than 13,000 — the equivalent of the population of a small town — as ministers struggle to get them out of the country. Almost 6,000 foreigners who have served their sentences and are awaiting deportation are walking the streets, the most since 2012.’ – The Times (£)
Editorials
>Yesterday:
‘In a question and answer session in the main sales ring, Mr Johnson was challenged over whether farmers would carry on getting £3 billion a year they currently enjoy from the Common Agricultural Policy if the UK quits on June 23. Insisting they would, Mr Johnson said: “Any government would be out of its mind if it doesn’t continue 100% with support for farming.” It is the third policy commitment he has given in recent days, following a pledge that fuel bills would be cut and a points-based system brought in to cut immigration.’ – The Sun (£)
>Yesterday: Caroline Spelman on Comment: Britain’s EU membership helps us to preserve this green and pleasant land
‘Angela Merkel broke her silence during the referendum campaign yesterday to warn that Britain would find itself isolated and weakened in trade talks outside the European Union. The German chancellor, who has not commented since David Cameron named the referendum date in February, said that a place at the bargaining table for the single market and international trade deals were reasons for Britain to remain in the EU on June 23. “One nation by itself will never be able to achieve such good results,” she said.’ – The Times (£)
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Success!!! ConservativeHome stirs Merkel to intervene in the EU referendum
‘The Labour leader, who has come under renewed fire today for a lacklustre referendum campaign, said migration from Europe caused real pressure on public services. But he said this was not the fault of new arrivals but the responsibility of government to ensure there are enough schools and hospitals available for communities. Mr Corbyn made his remarks in a speech backing the campaign to keep Britain in the EU and he urged voters to register before the June 7 deadline and take part on June 23. And he slammed the ‘myth-making and prophecies of doom’ issued by the Treasury and mocked David Cameron and George Osborne’s claim a Brexit vote would produce a ‘DIY recession’.’ – Daily Mail
‘EU nationals living in Britain have been wrongly sent postal votes and polling cards for referendum because of a computer glitch, the Electoral Commission has admitted. The commission, which is overseeing the referendum, said that problems with elections software used by “a number of local authorities” meant that some EU citizens have been “mistakenly” told that they are entitled to vote. Iain Duncan Smith, the eurosceptic former Work and Pensions Secretary, said in a letter to the Prime Minister that the error could have “profound” implications.’ – Daily Telegraph
‘Voting to remain is a far greater leap into the unknown than voting to leave. It’s self-evidently normal to be independent and prosperous. Just look at America, Australia, Canada or Singapore. But there are no known examples of a previously independent democracy being subsumed into a dysfunctional, economically troubled technocracy and doing well as a result. As mad gambles go, it is hard to think of anything worse.’ – Allister Heath, The Sun (£)
‘Theresa May faces further opposition to the so-called snoopers’ charter, despite making a series of concessions. The home secretary has offered compromises, including a clause to bolster privacy protections. She is determined to protect the government’s fragile working majority of 18 amid criticism of the bill from inside and outside her own party. Labour and the SNP said yesterday that Mrs May had not gone far enough with her concessions.’ – The Times (£)
‘Nicola Sturgeon is facing fresh pressure to publish new national tests scores for younger pupils amid claims she bowed to pressure from teaching unions not to make the results public. Tory leader Ruth Davidson highlighted the claim in an internal document from the EIS teaching union on the Scottish Government’s proposed national Improvement Framework (NIF) which includes plans to test P1, P4, P7 and S3 pupils. It is part of a drive to close the attainment gaps between rich and poor areas which Ms Sturgeon says is the issue she wants to be “judged on” as First Minister.’ – The Scotsman
‘Former Tory party treasurer Lord Ashcroft said he was recently forced to abandon a planned visit to the island because of ‘serious concerns that the airport is too dangerous to use’. Writing on the Conservative Home website, he said: ‘Although aviation experts are working hard to try to find a solution to the windshear problems, there is a real danger that the airport could become a hugely expensive white elephant and a terrible embarrassment to the British Government.’ The airport had been touted as a lifeline for residents and businesses on St Helena.’ – Daily Mail
>Yesterday: Lord Ashcroft: Special investigation: A dangerous problem with St Helena’s new airport leaves the islanders in despair
‘Labour has become a cult that hosts Donald Trump-style rallies, a party MP said yesterday…Mr Streeting said that his party, which prides itself on standing up for workers’ rights, should “hold a mirror up to itself”. Labour must ask itself if it really wanted its events to resemble Trump rallies where journalists were booed simply for doing their job, he told the website PoliticsHome. “We’re meant to be a political party providing effective opposition and an alternative government, not a cult,” he said.’ – The Times (£)
>Today: Iain Dale’s Friday Diary: Corbyn’s in a bunker because Milne keeps him there
‘BHS is to disappear from the high street with the loss of up to 11,000 jobs after administrators failed to find a buyer for the stricken retailer. The grim news, which will see more than 160 stores closed and bring to an end an 88-year trading history, came after intensive efforts to save the business drew a blank. Told of the announcement by a journalist, one woman employee at a Surrey Quays branch in south London responded bluntly: ‘Oh f***!” – Daily Mail
‘The main check on Russian expansionism is Nato, a defence alliance which shields Europe under America’s nuclear umbrella. It’s now seen by a growing number of Americans as a scam, abused by freeloading Europeans. Such Americans now have a hero, in the form of Donald J Trump. A few weeks ago, he explained his foreign policy – rambling, of course, and contradictory. But it deserves to be taken seriously, given his rising chances of victory (about 2/1, according to the bookmakers). Trump has exhumed a slogan used by Charles Lindbergh and the isolationists of the Thirties: America First.’ – Fraser Nelson, Daily Telegraph