“The NHS will receive an extra £384m a week after a deal to hand the health service the biggest cash boost in its history. Theresa May will announce today that the health service budget will rise by £20bn a year — but to pay for it the government will have to increase taxes and borrowing by £11bn, the equivalent of around 3p on the basic rate of income tax. The rest of the money will come from what ministers are calling a “Brexit dividend”, by diverting the £9bn the UK pays into the EU budget to NHS funding. That will enable the prime minister to claim she has fulfilled the controversial pledge of pro-Brexit campaigners to increase NHS spending by £350m a week.” – The Sunday Times
>Today: ToryDiary: Dominic Cummings, NHS hero
“On the day I became Prime Minister, I said my Government would be driven not by the interests of a privileged few but by those of ordinary working people. Nothing matters more to the British people than our NHS. That’s why I will always put it first. We never know when we, or a loved one, might need the NHS, and we all sleep easier in our beds because it is there for us. World-class medical care, free at the point of use, is part of the social fabric of this country. This year, as we celebrate its 70th birthday, I am determined to take action to secure our NHS for generations to come. To do so, we will deliver a long-term plan for the NHS, and this week I will be setting out the principles that will guide it. It will be a serious plan for the future, led by the NHS itself, backed by new investment.” – Mail on Sunday
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>Yesterday: Ara Darzi in Comment The Government must end the cycle of feast and famine for the NHS
“Ministers are prepared to thrash out a compromise with Tory rebels on Brexit this week to avoid a defeat that could torpedo Theresa May’s remaining authority. Senior figures say Downing Street could seek a new deal with Dominic Grieve, the former attorney-general, who has been negotiating with No 10 after their talks collapsed last week. That could see ministers tweak the wording of an amendment to the withdrawal bill this week to peel away backbench critics. Grieve thought he had struck a deal on Thursday with Robert Buckland, the solicitor-general, to give MPs a meaningful vote on how to proceed if May fails to get a Brexit deal with Brussels this autumn — only for the wording to be changed at the insistence of David Davis.” – The Sunday Times
Comment:
“The Tory leadership in the House of Lords hasn’t yet ruled out the prospect of peers overturning the will of the House of Commons when the Brexit Bill returns to them this week. To defy the elected House once is a misfortune. To defy it twice, particularly when this is about implementing the result of a referendum, is an act of insurrection. The Commons must act. One of the many good side-effects of Brexit should be the abolition of the upper House and its replacement by a much smaller senate. Leaving the EU was never a one-stop goal. It was a crucial political objective only because it will allow us to settle all the big issues facing the country in our own way and time.” – Sunday Telegraph
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“The Government is considering reviewing laws on the use of medicinal cannabis after the Home Secretary intervened to help treat a chronically ill boy suffering life-threatening fits, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose. Sajid Javid took the unusual step of licensing a batch of cannabis oil, which is illegal in the UK, to treat Billy Caldwell, 12, who suffers from violent epileptic episodes. Billy’s mother, Charlotte Caldwell, 50, had a batch of the medicine seized by the Home Office last week. In a decision Ms Caldwell hailed as “historic”, the consignment of the drug which she had brought from Canada but was then confiscated at Heathrow Airport, was returned for doctors to administer to her son.” – Sunday Telegraph
“The Home Secretary has announced a crackdown on violent crime in the UK as he revealed he was recently the victim of a moped mugging at a London train station. Sajid Javid has said he will restrict knife sales, as well as place a complete ban on terrifying “zombie blades”. The MP for Bromsgrove said: “I want to ensure we do all we can to tackle rising knife crime. “Used wrongly, all knives are dangerous. “I’ll restrict all online knife sales so they must be delivered to a non-residential address.” The law on so-called “zombie knives” made them illegal to buy in 2016, but the legislation did not outlaw any of the blades bought before this date.” – Sunday Express
“… The situation looks increasingly unstable and, if the Tory party is looking for a prime minister with a middle position on Brexit but who can make decisions, Javid is available. We can note last month’s Conservative Home survey of party members – who would make the final choice of leader – that put Javid in third place behind Jacob Rees-Mogg, who probably wouldn’t get enough support from MPs to make it on to the ballot, and Michael Gove. Fortunes rise and fall fast, but it now seems possible Javid could be prime minister by the end of the year.” – Independent on Sunday
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“The renewed fears over Mrs May’s future came as Tory Deputy Chairman Mr Cleverly declared his own leadership ambitions. Asked if he wanted to lead the Tories into the next election if the PM stood down, former Army Officer Mr Cleverly, said: ‘Yes, yes, yes. And I make no apologies for that. When I was a soldier if anyone asked would I like to be Chief of Defence staff, I’d say, “Of course.” ‘When I played rugby if anyone asked if I would I like to be captain, I’d say the same. ‘I see nothing strange that someone who is in the first XV of Conservative politics saying he’d like to captain that team,’ he told a private event in Oxfordshire on Thursday, adding he remained loyal to Mrs May. Mr Cleverly, whose mother is from Sierra Leone, is the third Tory with an ethnic minority background to reveal his leadership ambitions, along with Home Secretary Sajid Javid and ex-Cabinet Minister Priti Patel.” – Mail on Sunday
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>Yesterday: ToryDiary: The Government must share the blame for the fall of the ‘upskirting’ ban
>Today: Chris White in Comment: Why it’s time radically to reform the Private Members’ Bill system
“Red plastic flags, a Solidarity tent and a shout out to ‘legend’ Jeremy Corbyn – it can only be Labour Live. While it may not have attracted the adoring Glastonbury sized crowds the leader is used to, Corbynistas still made their way to Jez-fest for an afternoon of music and socialism. The Labour leader was cheered by fans as he walked through the north London park. And the mostly white, middle-aged crowd praised ‘their guy’ Corbyn as they queued for food and enjoyed free trades union-supplied ice cream. Around the White Hart Recreation Ground in Wood Green, stewards handed out party flags, and Jeremy Corbyn Christmas cards were on sale for £5 for a pack of five. Alongside the flags, were stickers reading ‘B****cks to Brexit’, and ‘COR-BYN’.” – Sunday Express
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