“Theresa May is to drop a pledge to pull the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Prime Minister said she wanted to leave the convention while she was Home Secretary, saying it frustrated her plans to deport hate preacher Abu Qatada. But in her new role at Number 10, she is expected to drop the pledge from the new Conservative manifesto, deeming it a distraction to Brexit negotiations… At the end of December last year, the Prime Minister said she would be committed to pulling out of the ECHR, laying out plans for a 2020 manifesto. She intended to enshrine the same rights in UK law, cutting off the overriding power from the Strasbourg court. But earlier this week, liberal Conservatives were reportedly concerned she would see the election as an opportunity to get a mandate to pull out as well as strengthening her Brexit plans.” – Daily Mail
>Today:
>Yesterday:
“Boris Johnson entered the election fray last night with a warning that Jeremy Corbyn is too weak on defence to protect Britain in a new ‘age of uncertainty’. The Foreign Secretary ripped apart Mr Corbyn’s record on security issues, highlighting his lukewarm support for Nato, his opposition to Trident, and his refusal to countenance ever using Britain’s nuclear deterrent. He suggested Mr Corbyn was more interested in ‘virtue-signalling’ than standing up for Britain’s interests. And he dropped a heavy hint that the Tories will commit to the Nato target of spending 2 per cent of GDP on defence in their election manifesto.” – Daily Mail
Comment:
>Today: MPs Etc.: Four former MPs selected. Shortlist of two to take on Farron. All the latest candidate news.
>Yesterday:
“The problem for the Tories is that not all of these gains will be sustainable: they can’t remain a 1950s-style national party forever. There will only ever be one Brexit election. Once we’ve left the EU, and Britain begins to settle into its new identity as an independent nation, the old cleavages will reappear. A new centre-Left party will emerge and disagreements over tax and spend will take centre-stage once more. Those who depend on the state will vote for higher taxes and more spending. It will become apparent that the forces of political gravity had only been temporarily suspended. It is therefore vital that the Tories not to get carried away by their likely triumph, and start planning for the future when they remain at the height of their powers.” – Daily Telegraph
Editorial:
“Staff in Labour headquarters are planning to strike if Jeremy Corbyn tries to cling on after a large defeat. The threat came as Matt Zarb-Cousin, a former media aide to Mr Corbyn, criticised Labour HQ workers, accusing them of “endless leaks” that made it difficult to function. Officials at the party’s headquarters at Southside in Pimlico, half a mile from the Houses of Parliament, fear that the leader will refuse to go even if he loses dozens of seats on June 8. Most Labour staff were appointed before Mr Corbyn came to power and, while usually neutral in party contests and over political disputes, almost none shares his politics.” – The Times (£)
Comment:
Editorial:
>Yesterday:
“Tim Farron blocked a former MP accused of antisemitism from standing for the Liberal Democrats at the general election. The Lib Dem leader had insisted he had no power to stop David Ward, a former MP, from fighting again for his old seat on June 8 but soon after reversed this and announced he was “unfit to represent the party”. The decision to “sack” Mr Ward came less than two hours after Theresa May condemned the Lib Dems at the dispatch box for putting forward a candidate “with questionable views on antisemitism”. Mr Farron said: “I believe in a politics that is open, tolerant and united. David Ward is unfit to represent the party and I have sacked him.”” – The Times (£)
>Yesterday:
“Alex Salmond has admitted the SNP would use an “overwhelming” general election victory in Scotland to try to force a second independence referendum only two days after Nicola Sturgeon played down the link. The former First Minister said the Nationalists would try to use a big win north of the border to “reinforce” their demand for another independence vote at a time of the Scottish Parliament’s choosing. He argued that Theresa May’s refusal to allow another vote as soon as autumn next year will “crumble” even if the Prime Minster wins a Commons majority of 150 across the UK. The Conservatives said Mr Salmond has “let the cat out of the bag” after Ms Sturgeon faced widespread mockery for arguing that the election campaign has nothing to do with independence.” – Daily Telegraph
Comment:
>Yesterday: MPs Etc.: Battleground Seats 2) Scotland
“More than half of the finance bill has been put on hold until after the UK general election, including a raid on dividend incomes, an overhaul of the non-dom rules and plans to force small businesses to keep digital tax records. The decision to remove 72 of the 135 clauses, before the legislation was rushed through parliament in just two hours on Tuesday, has dramatically reduced the size of a bill that would otherwise have been the longest in history. The parts that were removed included a cut to the annual tax-free allowance on dividend income from £5,000 to £2,000, forecast to generate almost £1bn in extra tax a year by 2020.” – FT
“The prime minister has piled pressure on Twitter to reverse its decision to stop the security services accessing data from tweets that they previously used to monitor terrorist support. Theresa May signalled her anger yesterday after the technology company and publisher prevented a third-party analytics business from providing intelligence reports on pro-Isis tweets to government and spy agencies. Despite its hardline against any state surveillance, Twitter, which yesterday reported its first drop in revenue, continues to sell details of its 328 million users’ tweets to businesses, both directly and through third parties. These data sales have partially offset losses from advertisers leaving the platform.” – The Times (£)
“David Cameron today risked enraging his Tory party colleagues by saying Britain should settle the terms of its Brexit ‘divorce bill’ before trade talks can start. The former PM made the intervention just hours before Theresa May has her first face-to-face meeting with the bloc’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier. Mr Barnier has warned that the UK must ‘settle the accounts’ amid threats that Brussels could demand £50bn exit fee from Britain. The pair will meet alongside European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker at Downing Street this evening.” – Daily Mail
More Brexit:
Comment:
>Today: ToryDiary: Open Britain betrays its supporters’ trust
“British soldiers who served in Northern Ireland have been left in a ‘morally indefensible limbo’ by a controversial police investigation, a report found yesterday. Up to 1,000 retired troops face becoming murder and manslaughter suspects over killings from the height of the IRA’s terror campaign. In a scathing paper, a Westminster committee warned that if a line was not drawn ‘urgently’ under the witch-hunt it would ‘grind on for many years’… MPs said veterans in their sixties and seventies should be immune to investigation and prosecution four decades after they fought terrorism in the Troubles. In a decision that has sparked outrage, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is re-examining every Army killing in the fight against Irish terrorism.” – Daily Mail