Newslinks for Sunday 4th August 2019

Johnson: £1.8 billion more for the NHS – and social care is next

‘I am so determined to deliver now on the promises of that 2016 referendum campaign: not just to honour the will of the people, but to increase the cash available for this amazing national institution. It is great that the last Conservative government found another £34bn, and it is the immediate task of this new government to make sure that this cash makes a real difference to the lives of doctors and nurses and above all of patients… It is clear that something has gone badly wrong in the taxation of doctors’ pensions. So this government is listening. We are fixing it… It is thanks to this country’s strong economic performance that we are now able to announce £1.8bn more for the NHS to buy vital new kit and confirm new upgrades for 20 hospitals across the country.’ – Boris Johnson, Sunday Times 

• The money is needed – Chris Hopson, Sunday Times
• But where is it coming from? – Paul Johnson, Mail on Sunday
• He pledges to fix the tax quirk which is driving senior doctors to cut hours – Sunday Times
• Inside his first Cabinet meeting – Mail on Sunday
• Sanity is returning to British politics – Richard and Judy, Sunday Express
• The NHS wants to double its army of volunteers – Sunday Times
• A million health service computers are vulnerable to cyberattack – The Sun on Sunday
• Hancock is right to fight for Cystic Fibrosis patients – Sunday Express Leader
• CPRE tries to head off planning system relaxation – Sunday Telegraph

>Today: ToryDiary: Is Johnson aiming for a snap election?

Election 1) No confidence us, and we’ll call an election for after 31st October, Cummings warns

‘In one meeting, Mr Cummings warned that EU leaders such as Emmanuel Macron, the French president, “think we’re bluffing” or believe that “MPs will cancel the referendum”, ­according to two sources familiar with the discussion. “They don’t realise that if there is a no-confidence vote in September or October, we’ll call an election for after the 31st and leave anyway,” he said. Mr Cummings instructed staff to prepare for a no-deal exit on the basis that EU leaders “won’t realise the Prime Minister is not bluffing until ­October” when it could be “too late”. He is understood to have said that meetings of the new “XO” daily ­operations committee had made him “less worried” about a no-deal ­outcome than before his arrival in Downing Street 11 days ago. The remarks indicate that while leaving the EU with a deal is still Mr Johnson’s preferred option, he is ­confident that Parliament cannot ­prevent him from fulfilling his promise to deliver Brexit by Oct 31 “by any means necessary”.’ – Sunday Telegraph

• Tough stance is winning back voters – Sunday Telegraph
• How Boris bulldozed into Downing Street – Sunday Telegraph
• The Left needs a better answer than politics as usual – The Observer Leader
• If you want to be a great Prime Minister, you’ve got to be willing to upset people – Tony Parsons, The Sun on Sunday
• 45 US Senators say they will support a UK trade deal regardless of how we leave the EU – Sunday Times
• Varadkar is ‘open’ to all-island food and agriculture regime – Sunday Times
• Britain and Ireland are in this together – Jenny McCartney, Sunday Times
• Cox warned May six times that her changes to the deal were not sufficient to change is legal advice – Sunday Times

>Yesterday:

• ToryDiary: More than 70 per cent of Conservative Party members believe the UK will leave the EU by 31st October
• Robert Jenrick on Comment: Every council should ready itself for Brexit – deal or no deal – at the end of October

Election 2) The Conservatives plan a high-stakes campaign to crush Labour

‘In the past year Cummings has conducted numerous polling and focus groups. His intention was to relaunch Vote Leave, the campaign group that won the 2016 referendum, if remainer MPs forced a second referendum. On March 27, Cummings wrote a blog announcing his plan and urging former staff to collect “crucial data” including “name, email, postcode, mobile (full address if possible)” so he could “plug this straight into new data infrastructure’… He will start thinking about how to make the Tory data and digital operation battle ready in the next fortnight. One source predicted that would be the “worst nightmare” for their opponents. It is understood that bosses at Conservative campaign headquarters (CCHQ) have also begun talking to pollsters and data experts who might tender for business. “They’re on a war footing. They’re going out to market,” said one source. Co-chairmen James Cleverly MP and Ben Elliot are seeking to “tool up” for an election by recruiting new officials… Conversations with pollsters have convinced his team there is a path to a majority. A source familiar with some of Cummings’s thinking said: “It’s a two-pronged strategy, which is underpinned by two assumptions, the first of which is that they can kill the Brexit Party, which they are in the process of doing. The second thing, which is not in their gift but determines the success of the strategy, is that by [the Tories] becoming the Brexit party, the Liberal Democrats become the remain party, which takes votes principally from the Labour Party. I think Dom is prepared to give up 20 or 30 existing Tory seats [to the Lib Dems] on the basis that the Labour vote collapses…”‘ – Sunday Times

• The Conservatives need more than just to rebuild the Leave alliance – Matthew Goodwin, Sunday Times
• They’ve boosted the Lib Dems, but are yet to kill off the Brexit Party – Stephen Bush, Sunday Times
• Deliver Brexit, and you won’t need a pact with Farage – Sunday Express Leader
• Labour’s divisions are the deciding factor – Janet Daley, Sunday Telegraph
• Might Corbyn panic back to Brexit? – Mail on Sunday
• Only a united front will deliver Remain – Heidi Allen, The Observer
• What does the clock count down to? – Andrew Rawnsley, The Observer

Election 3) The second referendum campaign draws up plans for tactical voting in 100 seats

‘A leaked document shows the People’s Vote (PV) campaign is mobilising for the biggest campaign of tactical voting ever planned in an attempt to prevent a no-deal Brexit and secure a second referendum. Tories to be targeted include the former leader Iain Duncan Smith, the environment secretary, Theresa Villiers, and Zac Goldsmith — all sitting on small majorities… The leaked strategy paper, drawn up by James McGrory, a former aide to Nick Clegg, details plans to tell voters whom to back in 100 crunch contests… The campaign has identified 133 marginal seats where “a small difference can have a huge impact” from which a final “PV100” hitlist will be finalised… Around half of the PV100 will be “attack” seats where Brexiteer Tories might be ousted, and half “defensive” seats where referendum supporters are at risk from Brexiteers. These will include Plaid Cymru’s Liz Saville Roberts, Liberal Democrat Layla Moran and Labour’s Rosie Duffield.’ – Sunday Times

• Summer love for the Prime Minister could swiftly pale – Sunday Times Leader
• Bold talk is just bravado – Nick Cohen, The Observer
• Farage is likely to stand aside for the sake of Brexit – Patrick O’Flynn, Sunday Express
• Form a pact with us or be annihilated – Richard Tice, Sunday Telegraph

Gove redeploys 2,000 civil servants for Brexit preparations

‘Michael Gove will move two thousand staff across Whitehall to aid leaving the EU in October, we can reveal. Senior Cabinet Ministers are re-deploying civil servants from ‘donor’ departments such as education and international aid to ensure a smooth Halloween exit. There are currently already 16,000 government workers working on the UK’s exit from the EU with plans discussed daily. Vital roles need to be filled in Transport, environment and Brexit departments along with HMRC. A similar pattern of staff moves happened into the botched exit day in March. Mr Gove will lead the discussions as part of the Daily Operations Committee – known as XO – who are meeting every weekday in the Cabinet Office.’ – The Sun on Sunday

• Barnier must secure a mandate to renegotiate, or face No Deal – Steve Barclay, Mail on Sunday
• Remainers should encourage Brussels to enter productive talks – Sunday Telegraph Leader
• Brussels is thought to be planning a £1 billion tax sting on the UK – The Sun on Sunday
• Scandal! Truss met with libertarians – The Observer
• Carney should butt out of politics and let the Government do its job – Simon Heffer, Sunday Telegraph
• The UK needs to become more global – Gerard Lyons, Sunday Telegraph
• The DUP presents its plans to save the Union – Mail on Sunday

>Yesterday: Book Review: The life of Gove, Cameron’s Jeeves and Johnson’s stooge

Labour frontbencher funded by campaigner who wants less economic growth

‘The activist handed Shadow Treasury Minister Clive Lewis the cash declaring he was “thankful” there has been a dip in growth. His ideal strategy outlines how some industrial sectors need to decline to meet social justice and climate change “goals”. He wrote: “While the rates of economic growth, as traditionally measured by GDP, have thankfully been declining in most parts of the world over the last 10 or more years…” He adds that: “most governments still claim growth is necessary for the equitable and just society we need”…Manser also laments the transformation from “walking and the horse and cart to car and plane” as a result of “ever growing consumer aspirations”.’ – The Sun on Sunday

• Corbyn’s leadership has ‘radicalised’ Labour members against Israel and Jews, report warns – Sunday Telegraph
• Labour pursues a racist electoral strategy – Dan Hodges, Mail on Sunday
• Brokenshire discusses his family’s suffering at the hands of the Nazis – Sunday Telegraph

Lawson: For Bramall’s sake, we must hold the police to account

‘On Monday I was called by Field Marshal Lord Bramall. The 95-year-old D-Day veteran said how pleased he was that The Sunday Times had devoted such space last week to my interview with him about his appalling experiences at the hands of the Metropolitan police, while they purported to “believe” as “credible and true” the grotesque claims by Carl Beech that Bramall was one of a gang of “VIP paedophiles” who had abused, tortured and murdered young boys in the 1970s. “Please don’t stop now,” Bramall told me: “You must continue to hold the police to account.” He repeated his assertion that the Met had perverted the course of justice and added that Steve Rodhouse, the “gold commander” of Operation Midland (the investigation based solely on Beech’s fantastical accusations) was the man he holds primarily responsible. I told the field marshal I would obey his command, but wondered what more could possibly emerge to galvanise the hopeless Home Office into action.’ – Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times

• The Met are now trying to prevent the publication of a report on their incompetence – Nick Ferrari, Sunday Express
• Watson had previously been warned about allegations that weren’t credible – Mail on Sunday
• Senior judge warns that it is prejudicial to call people ‘victims’ before a case is proven – Sunday Times
• Police officer involved in two failed enquiries gains promotion – Sunday Times
• While Hogan-Howe is in the House of Lords – The Sun on Sunday
• Our own police are a bigger threat than Putin – Peter Hitchens, Mail on Sunday

Hannan: Harry and Meghan have got it wrong – we should be worrying about depopulation

‘Today, in rich countries, most of us live as if in Eden, enjoying distractions and luxuries beyond the imagination of previous generations. Sure enough, the birth rate in developed states is far below replacement level: Chile 1.7, Germany 1.6, Canada 1.5, Luxembourg 1.4, Japan 1.3, Singapore 1.2, South Korea 1.1. Even those figures are often pushed up by immigrant mothers, who retain the cultural habits of poorer societies. One in three babies in Britain is born to a woman from overseas. There are plenty of arguments against having children. No one should feel pressured one way or the other. But it no longer makes sense to present small families as a wholly altruistic choice. The challenges the next generation will face have to do with depopulation: unfunded pensions, decaying towns and intergenerational tensions.’ – Daniel Hannan, Sunday Telegraph

• We need more babies, not fewer – Danny Dorling, Mail on Sunday
• Don’t blame the elderly for the housing crisis – Tom Welsh, Sunday Telegraph
• So eco-celebrities are hypocrites? Fine, but at least they care in public – Barbara Ellen, The Observer
• Queen to fund Sandringham repairs – Mail on Sunday

Hong Kong enters third day of mass protests

‘Demonstrators in Hong Kong have clashed with riot police as the city entered its third consecutive day of mass protests. On Sunday, the police said they had arrested 20 people during Saturday’s clashes for offences including unlawful assembly and assault. Police fired teargas and pepper spray, and pinned protesters to the ground after tense standoffs in at least four locations throughout the city on Saturday evening, following a peaceful march earlier in the day. Thousands of protesters attending an anti-government march in Mong Kok deviated from a pre-approved route and occupied main roads in Kowloon, where they built barricades out of dismantled metal traffic barriers, handed out gas masks and helmets, and prepared to face off against police.’ – The Observer

• How long before Chinese troops open fire on protestors? – Ian Birrell, Mail on Sunday
• China suspends police co-operation with France – The Observer
• Royal Navy frigate shadows Chinese ship in the Channel – The Sun on Sunday
• There are no non-white senior officers in the Army and Navy – The Sun on Sunday

Dozens killed or injured in latest US gun attack by ‘white supremacist’

‘At least 20 people were slaughtered and a further 26 injured after a twisted gunman opened fire at a Texas supermarket last night. The “white supremacist” attacker – reportedly identified as 21-year-old Patrick Crusius – mowed down adults and children aisle-by-aisle in a packed Walmart in El Paso using an AK47-type weapon. The suspect, from Allen, Texas – 20 miles north of Dallas – did not put up a fight as he was arrested. He is suspected of posting a sick race-hate manifesto online hours earlier that railed against “race mixing” and called on the deportation of immigrants – urging authorities to “send them back”.’ – The Sun on Sunday

• Another mass shooting takes place in Ohio – Mail on Sunday
• Spate of murders stir race-hate tensions in Germany – Sunday Times
• President Trump is a cunning fox – Niall Ferguson, Sunday Times
• He has turned American politics on its head – Daniel Hannan, Sunday Telegraph

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