‘The former Tory leader used a referendum debate hosted by The Sun to slam the effects of huge influxes on hard-working Brits. He quoted a Bank of England report that found wages fall by 2% for every 10% increase in immigration. Calling for voters to back Leave on June 23, Mr Duncan Smith said: “We have seen a 50% rise in immigration, which means around a 10% fall in wages. “If you care about social justice we have to care that this is damaging the very lives we are supposed to be trying to protect.” His fellow Brexit-backer on the panel, Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom, delivered a passionate tirade against the elites of the European Union.’ – The Sun (£)
>Today: Daniel Hannan’s column: The status quo isn’t on offer in this referendum. The choice is more integration – or Leave.
‘Downing Street repeatedly refused to rule out holding a second Scottish independence referendum in the event of Brexit – despite the PM previously insisting there would be “no re-runs” of the 2014 vote…it triggered an angry reaction from Tory Brexit backers. Brigg and Goole MP Andrew Percy blasted: “Anyone who raises the prospect of a second referendum in the hope of trying to persuade people to vote against Brexit is wilfully misleading the public. “In the words of the Scottish Nationalists, it was a ‘once in a generation’ vote with a clear cut result and wholly irrelevant to the EU debate. We need to raise the debate above this attempt to pull on the heart strings of unionist Tories.” – The Sun (£)
>Today: ToryDiary: If Osborne really wants to “get stuck in”, why won’t he face Boris in the TV debates?
>Yesterday:
‘The claims about health from the Leave campaign have been shameful. They have knowingly placed a financial lie at the heart of their campaign, even emblazoning it on their battle bus, alongside the NHS branding, to imply a financial bonanza. It’s an empty promise and one which would soon backfire. A strong economy has always been the cornerstone of funding for the NHS and for all the arguments about the scale of the economic turbulence, the clear consensus is that the effects of Brexit would be significant and negative.’ – The Times (£)
>Today: Cameron Penny on Comment: Nasty, narrow and divided – why Leave will lose on 23 June
>Yesterday: Marcus Fysh on Comment: The EU referendum. Keep calm, think clearly – and ignore the alarmism of the Treasury
‘On 18 April, however, while on stage chairing an Open Europe referendum debate, Rodney had a massive stroke. His life was saved by a surgeon who happened to be present, but the poor man has not regained full consciousness. Does his view on how to vote therefore remain unknown or even, perhaps, unformed? In fact, Rodney Leach did decide…‘We aren’t ever going to sacrifice our democracy and the EU cannot ever develop a democracy, as it hasn’t got a demos. So whatever others do, we won’t join. In theory the shrinkage could be done either (a) by making the existing market the EU’s sole definition or (b) by us exiting and over time creating a new Europe-wide market. I used to favour (a) but the EU’s grim, grudging approach to the negotiations shows that they aren’t — or aren’t yet — willing to accommodate themselves to the planet’s oldest democracy. So it has to be exit, painful though that may temporarily be.” – Charles Moore, The Spectator
>Today: Matthew Sephton: Brussels meddles in local government and pushes up council tax
>Yesterday:
‘The young, women, city-dwellers and those from ethnic minorities are meant to lean towards staying in the European Union, while older male voters prefer Brexit. But new analysis suggests that these stereotypes are off the mark, with voters from Remain-friendly demographics coming around to Leave. This drift towards Brexit is so marked, according to the psephologist Robert Hayward, that he now believes Britain will vote to Leave on June 23 unless Remainers somehow spark an outbreak of pro-EU mania in the next fortnight.’ – Daily Telegraph
>Today: ToryDiary: Almost two-thirds of Tory members say in our survey that Britain will vote to Remain
‘The prime minister wrote on Twitter that people should continue to register as concerns were raised by both campaigns that tens of thousands of people had been disenfranchised. “If you aren’t registered and you want to vote in the EU referendum, you should continue to register,” Mr Cameron said in a tweet yesterday. Extending registration by 24 hours could allow hundreds of thousands more people to register, which could influence the final vote.’ – The Times (£)
‘A Conservative MP has joined fuel campaigners to demand the Government introduce a scrappage scheme for diesel cars amid fears that Ministers are considering increasing taxes on motorists. Jason McCartney, The RAC and Fair Fuel UK have warned it would be unfair to increase tax on those driving diesel cars in a bid to cut nitrogen oxide pollution, after previous Governments encouraged families and businesses to swap their petrol cars for low-carbon alternatives. Howard Cox, the founder of Fair Fuel UK, accused the Treasury of attempting to “fleece” hardworking people.’ – Daily Telegraph
‘The Tory MP Anne Main has found that while the UK’s Border Force has just three cutters deployed, countries with fewer miles of coastline have far more ships on the water. Italy has 600 boats deployed, Greece has 203 and Spain has 147, while even the Netherlands – whose coastline is a fraction of Britain’s – has 16 ships in service, according to her research. Ms Main, the St Albans MP backing Brexit, warned that the UK coastline was “more porous than a sieve” and said the failure to deploy more boats was “negligent”.’ – Daily Telegraph
‘Mr Blair said: “I’m accused of being a war criminal for removing Saddam Hussein — who by the way was a war criminal — and yet Jeremy is seen as a progressive icon as we stand by and watch the people of Syria barrel-bombed, beaten and starved into submission and do nothing.” He added: “There’s a guy whose face is on the placard. That’s me: Hate that guy. You’re the person in power taking difficult decisions. Jeremy is the guy with the placard, he’s the guy holding it. One’s the politics of power and the other’s the politics of protest.”’ – The Sun (£)
‘Sadiq Khan’s election manifesto said that “Londoners won’t pay a penny more for their travel in 2020 than they do today”…However, Mr Khan, who was elected a month ago, told the London Assembly on Wednesday that the freeze would not extend to season tickets because they can include travel on trains run by private companies, which are regulated by the government, rather than Transport for London…During the election campaign in February, Mr Khan criticised his Conservative rival for wanting to put up fares, saying: “The choice at this election has never been clearer: a fully funded plan to freeze fares under me, or more massive fare hikes under Zac Goldsmith.”’ – FT
‘More than 30 years after it attacked Margaret Thatcher’s policies, causing a rift with the Conservative Party, the Church of England has conceded that she may have had a point. In opposing her welfare policies in the 1980s, the church failed to recognise the “moral vision” underpinning her social reforms, an official said. The revised analysis is signalled in a discussion document, commissioned and endorsed by the House of Bishops, on welfare issues. It calls on the church to accept that governments were motivated by more than economic concerns when trying to reform welfare policies.’ – The Times (£)
‘“We know that flooding is projected to get worse and occur more frequently because of climate change, so it just isn’t good enough for government to react to flooding events as they occur,” said Mary Creagh, the Labour MP who chairs the committee. The condition of critical flood defences has also been suffering, the committee found. As the money required to maintain them was cut, the number of defences that met the Environment Agency’s required conditions declined.’ – FT
‘MSPs last night rejected an attempt to halt the Scottish Government’s named person scheme despite John Swinney conceding more work had to be done on the controversial legislation. A Conservative bid to “pause” the initiative, which the party described as the “most illiberal law” in Holyrood history, was defeated in a Scottish Parliament vote. Labour, Lib Dems and Greens backed the government to defeat the Conservatives.’ – The Scotsman
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Cameron slumps, Johnson slides and Davidson soars in our Cabinet league table