Newslinks for Friday 4th November 2016

Tory MPs warn of an early election if continuity Remain continue their ‘war against Brexit’

“Theresa May could be forced to hold an early election if judges and Remain campaigners do not back down in the war against Brexit, Tory MPs warned last night. On a frantic day at Westminster, the Prime Minister vowed to appeal yesterday’s High Court verdict which would allow Parliament to frustrate or even scupper the process of Britain leaving the EU. No 10 sent a clear message to the courts that 17.4million voters had backed Brexit and that they should not get in the way of ‘delivering the best deal for Britain’.” – Daily Mail

• Prime Minister urged to go to the country – The Times (£)
• UK could go to the polls in 2017 – The Scotsman
• May to tell EU the timetable hasn’t changed – The Guardian
• Attorney General under pressure to quit after shock defeat – Daily Telegraph
• Javid shames ruling for blocking the will of the people – Daily Express

More on the ruling:

• Fury at judges who ‘declared war on democracy’ – Daily Mail
• A thunderbolt from the High Court – FT
• The plot to stop Brexit – Daily Telegraph
• Awkward squad will seize chance to make May squirm – The Times (£)
• Ruling could delay Brexit by a year – Daily Telegraph
• Judge founded EU integration group – Daily Express
• Supreme Court will be a stern challenge to appeal – FT
• Brussels court could have final say – Daily Express
• DUP and Sinn Fein split as court rules MPs must vote – Belfast Telegraph
• Threats against former model who led challenge – The Times (£)
• British newspapers react – The Guardian

More Brexit:

• ‘You should be celebrating!’, gloating Remainers goad Brexiteers – Daily Mail
• A 500-year-old game of chicken – The Times (£)
• Former SNP minister reveals some Nationalist MPs secretly voted Leave – Daily Express
• Scottish Goverment considers joining legal battle – The Guardian
• US Government pleads with UK to negotiate ‘flexible’ Brexit after ruling – Daily Express

Analysis:

• May faces a finely-balanced calculation – Francis Elliott, The Times (£)
• The Prime Minister’s EU divorce dilemma – George Parker and Kate Allen, FT
• Trio were amongst those who jeered Gove at function – Andrew Pierce, Daily Mail
• Ardent Remainers shouldn’t get their hopes up – Heather Stewart, The Guardian

More May:

• Downing Street refuses to express confidence in embattled Commonwealth chief – Daily Mail

>Yesterday: Calum Crichton in Comment: The SNP’s tax plans put the squeeze on councils and families

Dominic Raab: If this ruling is upheld we shall call the bluff of Remain MPs

“There must be a strong chance that when ministers appeal against this decision in the Supreme Court, the most senior judges will row back on – if not overturn – yesterday’s maverick decision. But if the Supreme Court upholds the decision, Parliament will have to hold a vote. Then, all those Remain MPs – especially Labour and Lib Dems – who vowed to respect the referendum verdict on June 23 will finally have their bluffs called and will have to prove they meant it. Ultimately, there is the prospect of an early general election to uphold the verdict of the people.” – Daily Mail

• We’ll achieve Brexit if it takes an election or a thousand new peers – Jacob Rees-Mogg, Daily Telegraph
• A ruling which exposes the gulf between elites and the people – Daniel Hannan, Daily Telegraph

More comment:

• The great Brexit betrayal has begun, but I know the people won’t allow it – Nigel Farage, Daily Telegraph
• Decision undermines May’s approach to achieving Brexit – David Allen Green, FT
• After this ruling MPs must seize their moment – Martin Kettle, The Guardian
• This ruling shouldn’t have happened: judges should stay out of politics – Philip Johnston, Daily Telegraph

Sketches:

• The Westminster snooterati put the little voters in their place – Quentin Letts, Daily Mail
• Ship of state in the doldrums as the SNP mans the lifeboats – Patrick Kidd, The Times (£)
• Can British politics get any weirder? – Michael Deacon, Daily Telegraph

Editorial:

• A betrayal of common sense, the people, and democracy – Daily Mail
• The case for an early election looks stronger than ever – The Times (£)
• We must fight harder than ever to make sure we leave – Daily Express

>Today:

• ToryDiary: MPs will betray Britain’s future if they force May to show her negotiating hand. Now her supporters must fight back
• ToryDiary: Should reducing immigration be the top Brexit priority? Take our monthly survey.
• Iain Dale’s column: John Howard, Australia’s great centre-right election winner, backs Leave

>Yesterday:

• ToryDiary: Calm down, dears – Article 50 is still going to happen
• James Frayne’s column: Why are so many politicians content to ignore provincial Leave voters?
• MPs Etc.: Read the court judgement against the Government on Article 50

U-turn as Bank admits it was too pessimistic about Brexit

“The Bank of England yesterday admitted it had been too pessimistic about the UK’s post-Brexit economy as it upgraded forecasts for growth. In a humiliating U-turn for Governor Mark Carney, the Bank raised forecasts for this year and next – abandoning plans to cut interest rates. The upward revision for economic growth next year – from the 0.8 per cent forecast in August to 1.4 per cent – was the Bank’s biggest ever.” – Daily Mail

• Economy will grow twice as fast next year, Bank of England predicts – The Times (£)
• Trading partners want to keep EU deal terms post-Brexit, says Fox – The Times (£)

More economy:

• Sacked Osborne makes £100,000 for giving just three speeches – Daily Mail
• Shoppers set for £3 billion Black Friday spree – Daily Mail

Comment:

• Carney is just the man to see Brexit through – Ed Conway, The Times (£)

>Today: Ashley Fox MEP’s column: How the Walloonatics almost took over the asylum

Truss to cut prison governors free of red tape

“Prison governors are to be given sweeping powers to develop education and training programmes tailored to their own jails under plans to free them from Whitehall-imposed rules, Liz Truss announced. The government is also to set down in law for the first time that the purpose of the prison system is not only providing places for inmates but also for reforming them. A formal trigger for the justice secretary to intervene when a prison is failing, including the power to replace governors and other senior managers of a jail, was also announced.” – The Times (£)

• Changes won’t work until sentencing is reformed, warns Clarke – The Guardian

Michael Gove: The criminal side of our justice system

“There is something criminal about our justice system. Which is why it’s so welcome that Liz Truss, our justice secretary, is determined to reform it. Prisons are a regrettable necessity in any society. Those who’ve broken the law need to accept punishment because defending the distinction between right and wrong is the foundation of any enduring moral or civic order. But while it’s right to punish those who inflict pain on others, it is striking how many of those we incarcerate have suffered so much themselves before they ever get near the courts.” – The Times (£)

Inventor calls for guaranteed visas for tech graduates

“Sir James Dyson has called for foreign engineering and science students to be guaranteed visas after completing university courses to address the UK’s skills shortage. One-third of all students studying engineering and technology subjects were international in 2014-15, according to Hesa, a higher education data provider. “I would like them to feel they would be guaranteed a visa at the end of their training. I think we can do some very simple things to considerably increase the number of British engineers and keep that talent in Britain,” the inventor said.” – FT

• Sir James Dyson to open first new university in four decades – The Times (£)

Comment:

• Dyson University is a wake-up call for higher education – Jo Johnson, The Times (£)

Bridgen demands Vaz be investigated over Justice Committee role

“An MP has demanded a formal investigation into Keith Vaz’s decision to join the justice select committee, the Telegraph can reveal. Andrew Bridgen has written to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards to ask that his role be investigated under rules which state MPs must not bring the reputation of the Commons into disrepute.” – Daily Telegraph

News in Brief:

• BAE to start building Royal Navy’s new Type-26 frigates next summer – FT
• Chaos and misery loom as rail unions call Christmas strikes – The Times (£)
• Five million could be left without a GP in surgery closure crisis – Daily Mail
• US fears Russian hackers will use ‘huge cyberattack operation’ to undermine election – Daily Telegraph
• Indian MP demands trillions from Britain – Daily Express
• Deadly explosion in major Kurdish city – The Guardian
• Scottish Labour proposes legal fracking ban – The Scotsman
• Labour lose second Cardiff council seat in three months – Wales Online
• Trump aims at Clinton’s ‘firewall’ states as polls narrow – FT

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