‘Our government has called for fundamental reforms to the UK’s relationship with the EU, including “full-on treaty change”. But it has already been rebuffed. This is not David Cameron’s fault, indeed I applaud his attempts to get change, but the EU is simply not set up to allow individual countries to try to wind back the ratchet…I have decided to accept the position of president of Conservatives for Britain, which is helping to establish a professional campaign to leave the EU.’ – Nigel Lawson, The Times (£)
>Today: ToryDiary: How are you likely to vote in the coming EU Referendum? Please take our pre-Conservative Conference survey
‘When I ask her if she will run for the leadership when David Cameron steps down, she confirms that she’s considering it. ‘A lot of it will depend on family,’ she says. ‘I’d be saying this if I was male or female — in the sense that being leader of the party is so all-consuming, putting such a pressure on family relationships.’ Whether she throws her hat in the ring, she says, will be a decision ‘made very much with family in mind’; she has a seven-year- old son and a husband. But to make her intent clear, she adds, ‘I hope that, in the not too distant future, there will be another female leader of a main Westminster political party.’ So there should be a woman in the race when Cameron steps down? ‘I would certainly hope there would be a female candidate, yes.’’ – James Forsyth, The Spectator
>Today: ToryDiary: The Cabinet: Who’s up, down…and likely to be out
>Yesterday: James Croft on Comment: Whatever happened to school choice?
‘Britain’s recovery from the Great Recession was faster than previously thought, according to official data that showed the UK grew more rapidly than any other G7 economy over the past two years. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirmed UK growth at 0.7pc in the second quarter of the year compared with the previous three months.’ – Daily Telegraph
‘George Osborne’s plans to tighten tax rules for wealthy foreigners living in Britain will leave many offshore trusts outside the UK tax net, according to proposals published on Wednesday. The Treasury’s consultation on “carefully targeted” changes to the rules for “non-doms” — people who live in Britain but do not consider it their permanent home — would reassure clients after the chancellor decided to axe permanent non-dom status, tax advisers said.’ – FT
‘The Labour leader is able to spout nonsense about globalisation because few of us understand what has rightly been described as the “greatest ever economic event”. Nothing has actually done more in world history to ensure the poor don’t stay poor — to quote Mr Corbyn’s noble ambition — than the advance of free trade. For each and every day of the past 20 years the number of poor people that share our planet has fallen by an average of 120,000. But ask people in America — as Gapminder has done with its “Ignorance Survey” — and two thirds of people think extreme poverty has doubled. Only 5 per cent are correct in knowing that it has halved.’ – Tim Montgomerie, The Times (£)
‘David Cameron has dismissed calls for Britain to pay Caribbean nations slavery reparations, during his first official visit to Jamaica. In a speech before Jamaica’s Parliament, the Prime Minister said he believed the Caribbean has emerged from the “long shadow” of the trade. Acknowledging that “these wounds run very deep indeed” he said it was time he hoped that they would be able to move on.’ – The Times (£)
‘Mr Corbyn’s assertion that he would not press the button led to accusations of putting the country at risk by single-handedly seeking to render our nuclear missiles redundant. Five Shadow Cabinet ministers criticised his stance and a union leader said Mr Corbyn may have to resign over the issue. Defence spokesman Maria Eagle said the comments were not worthy of a potential premier and risked pre-empting an internal party review into the future of the submarine-based weapons system. Miss Eagle was immediately slapped down by Left-winger Diane Abbott, the party’s aid spokesman, who said she was ‘surprised’ by the criticism of Mr Corbyn.’ – Daily Mail
>Today:
>Yesterday: Left Watch: The fallout from Corbyn’s Trident comments starts to contaminate the Labour Party
‘Free movement of workers in the EU has made life tougher for low paid workers in the UK, Andy Burnham has said. He was making a pitch to win back Labour voters from UKIP in his first big speech as shadow home secretary. He said it was “not true” that free movement had benefited everybody as Labour had claimed in the past.’ – BBC News
‘More than 20 Russian fighter jets launched an attack on three provinces in Syria yesterday, after the U.S. was given just one hours’ notice to remove its planes and officials from the area. The move increased tensions between the two countries, after concerns were raised that the airstrikes were only targeting anti-government rebels, many of whom are backed by the U.S.-led coalition.’ – Daily Mail
‘Richard Fuller, a Conservative MP who sits on the business select committee, told City A.M. the proposals were “precisely the sort of thing the committee should be looking at”. “What is the purpose of some of the regulations? Why is it in anyone’s interest to make people wait longer for a taxi?” Fuller said. “I don’t understand why a regulator feels that these are so important for the public interest. And if they’re not for the public interest, then who is the regulator working for?”…By last night, an online petition against the proposals had attracted more than 100,000 signatures in under a day.’ – City AM
>Yesterday: JP Floru on Comment: TfL’s attack on Uber is a blinkered attack on customers