‘David Cameron’s EU renegotiation has left Britain vulnerable because it removes the right of future prime ministers to use Britain’s veto during treaty negotiations, according to 11 Tory MPs including former cabinet ministers. In a letter to The Times, the group, led by Peter Lilley, the former social secretary, sound the alarm over a little-noticed section of Mr Cameron’s EU deal which pledges that Britain “shall not impede the implementation of legal acts directly linked to the functioning of the euro area”.’ – The Times (£)
>Yesterday: Anne-Marie Trevelyan on Comment: Women’s democratic power is being taken away by the European Union
‘Many leaders were furious after Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu doubled his aid demand to £4.6billion at Monday’s summit. And some even reckon Mrs Merkel made a secret deal with the Turks over the weekend. The tone taken by EU leaders marks a huge shift from last summer when Germany waived border rules to allow Syrian refugees into the country. Mr Davutoglu yesterday reiterated his country’s commitment to work more closely with Greece to “reduce the dramatic scenes” in the Aegean Sea, the main crossing point for thousands risking their lives to reach the EU.’ – The Sun (£)
Comment
Editorials
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Merkel’s proposed deal with Turkey reminds us that staying in the EU means yet more costs and more risks
‘Here’s what I would do if I were running one or all of the Leave campaigns. I mean besides getting rid of George Galloway and that awful green tie. I would stop complaining about the Remain campaign’s Project Fear and launch my own…One I’d try is Turkey. The risk of future EU enlargement to include Turkey is a great issue. Ostensibly geopolitical, it presses all the right buttons. And because the government is theoretically in favour of including Turkey they’d find it hard to counter.’ – Daniel Finkelstein, The Times (£)
>Today: Rebecca Coulson’s column: What makes undecided voters decide – and are they really undecided in the first place?
‘Mark Carney said the Bank of England’s concerns about membership of the EU were put to rest last month after David Cameron renegotiated Britain’s deal with Brussels. Without explicitly advocating a vote to remain in the EU, the BoE governor gave considerable ammunition to the In camp under scrutiny by MPs, stating that membership of the bloc had improved Britain’s economic dynamism and prosperity. The prospect of leaving “is the biggest domestic risk to financial stability because, in part, of the issues around uncertainty”, Mr Carney said.’ – FT
>Today: Charles Tannock on Comment: A fair deal for the Commonwealth already exists – in the EU
‘Boris Johnson is soaring ahead of his competitors in the race to be the next prime minister with his support for Brexit giving him a massive popularity boost. In the Conservative Home monthly leadership survey, his share of the vote has soared by over a third, from 19% to 32%. George Osborne was once the favourite to take over when David Cameron steps down but he is now in fourth with just 11% of the vote.’ – The Sun (£)
>Today: ToryDiary: Our Cabinet league table. Cameron’s ratings go negative. Boris’s are the lowest on record. Feelings are running high in the Tory family.
‘Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, warns that medical staff are hiding their errors amid fear of punishment. He said that they needed “safe spaces” free from professional consequences for telling the truth. In an attempt to make the NHS the safest healthcare system in the world, a new investigation branch modelled on airline accident inquiries will be given legal powers to keep revelations secret. “What they say cannot be disclosed except by a court order. It cannot be used by the GMC [General Medical Council], it cannot be used in a disciplinary proceeding, it can’t be used in legal action unless there’s a court order,” Mr Hunt told The Times. “There’s no hiding place for gross negligence but if you just make a human mistake we need to learn from it.”’ – The Times (£)
‘Junior doctors will hold their first 48-hour walkout today amid fears they could stage a wave of strikes that will continue until the summer. More than 5,000 patients have had their operations cancelled ahead of the latest protest, which gets under way this morning. The new cancellations bring to more than 19,000 the number of operations cancelled ahead of strike days since the British Medical Association (BMA) began industrial action.’ – Daily Mail
‘Sajid Javid is to lead a cross-government taskforce focused on improving the life chances of non-white Britons, as new figures reveal that one in five people claiming jobseeker’s allowance is from an ethnic minority. The business secretary called on businesses to do more to support the careers of black and minority ethnic (BME) workers. “These troubling figures highlight just how difficult it can be to find a job if you’re from a minority background,” Javid said, saying that the taskforce would be focused on how to ensure people fulfilled their potential.’ – The Guardian
‘The plan to allow shops in England and Wales to open for longer on Sundays is on a knife edge after 54 Scottish Nationalist MPs vowed to oppose it. At least 24 Conservatives are expected to rebel today and form an “unholy alliance” with opposition parties to reject an attempt by ministers to liberalise Sunday trading laws. With Labour and the SNP opposing the changes, the government could be defeated.’ – The Times (£)
>Today: Henry Hill’s Red, White and Blue column: Cameron attacks Sturgeon’s ‘one party state’
‘Larger families will be the most severely hit by George Osborne’s objective to shave £13bn off the cost of welfare, according to stark new research that highlights the impact on areas with big Asian communities. The analysis, the first to examine the effect of the next round of welfare changes on specific types of household, found that more than 80 per cent of the reduction from the post-2015 reforms — or £10.7bn a year by the end of 2020 — would fall on families with dependent children.’ – FT
‘George Osborne was so desperate for a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point that he was prepared to agree a deal that would have meant customers paid even more for electricity, a former cabinet minister has claimed. The chancellor “would have shaken hands with EDF [the French company building the station] at a higher price” because he was so keen that the Somerset-based plant should be approved, according to Sir Edward Davey, the former Liberal Democrat energy secretary. Sir Edward led negotiations with EDF over the £18 billion project.’ – The Times (£)
‘A Labour MP stunned the House of Commons into silence this afternoon as she read out the names of 120 women killed by men in the past year to mark International Women’s Day. Jess Phillips’ powerful seven minute reading of the roll call of domestic violence victims moved MPs to rare applause – only heard in the Commons a handful of times in two decades. The Birmingham Yardley MP said she wanted to “honour every victim” of domestic violence.’ – The Sun (£)