Cameron in PMQs 1) He reckons Mitchell deserves an apology “The row over the Plebgate affair has escalated after the Independent Police Complaints Commission indicated that three forces had watered down the conclusions of an investigation into a meeting between the Police Federation and Andrew Mitchell last year.” – The Guardian “The Prime Minister told […]
May calls on the police to apologise to Mitchell after IPCC judgement… “Theresa May last night called on a chief constable to apologise after an explosive report suggested senior officers had lied to blacken the name of former Cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell. … In a devastating judgment, the Independent Police Complaints Commission indicated an inquiry […]
Green taxes row rolls on and on as Clegg claims scrapping green taxes would raise energy bills “David Cameron, the Prime Minister, is considering relaxing green taxes in an attempt to relieve the “squeeze” on families struggling with the rising cost of living. A series of announcements on water bills and financial services is expected […]
Lib Dem Ministers fight to keep green taxes – and energy bills – high “Fuel prices will continue to soar, the Energy Secretary said yesterday – as he ruled out moves to cut punishing green taxes. Ed Davey said there was no respite in sight for hard-pressed families struggling to pay their fuel bills, adding: […]
Coalition 1): Lib Dems block cuts in green levies “Until four days ago, the Tory leadership was confident they could counter Miliband’s energy price freeze announcement by scrapping some of the green levies he had introduced as Energy Secretary. But I can reveal that at a meeting of the Quad – the Coalition’s senior decision-making […]
The three main parties agree a Royal Charter for press regulation – but will the press comply? “The three main parties finally agreed the detail of a royal charter setting up a system of newspaper regulation in the wake of the Leveson Inquiry. … But the newspaper industry last night warned there were major problems […]
City investors get two thirds of the Royal Mail shares. Smaller investors get the rest. Which means that half a million people could miss out… “More than half a million ordinary Brits could miss out on a small fortune after a huge stampede to snap up Royal Mail shares by City fatcats. More than 500million […]
Good news 1: Cuts haven’t harmed services, finds BBC poll (which they fail to publicise) “A majority of voters say the quality of public services has been maintained or improved – despite government cuts. A survey commissioned by the BBC showed that most voters believe schools, bus services, parks, libraries and bin collections have improved in […]
After the reshuffle, more good news for Osborne: the IMF doubles its growth forecast “In a huge boost for the Government, the IMF said UK output will increase by 1.4 per cent this year – twice the rate predicted in April when it warned Chancellor George Osborne was ‘playing with fire’ by pressing ahead with […]
Reshuffle 1) The Tories: Osborne’s supporters a step closer to the Cabinet “George Osborne strengthened his power base yesterday as a string of key allies took one step closer to the Cabinet. Six of the Chancellor’s protégés were promoted in a ministerial reshuffle that will help to broaden his reach across Government…The biggest rising star of the […]
Cameron and other Tory MPs move to crush Afriyie’s EU amendement “David Cameron moved last night to crush a bid to hold a referendum on British membership of the EU next year as the Tories were pitched into fresh turmoil on Europe. … Senior Tories accused Mr Afriyie of seeking to ‘destabilise’ the Prime Minister ‘at […]
Adam Afriyie tries to force a 2014 EU referendum “I believe there should be an EU referendum before the next General Election. It’s in our national interest to resolve this issue as soon as possible to create the certainty and stability our country needs for the future. Only by setting an early date can we […]
Hunt tries to curtail NHS pay rises “Ministers have sparked a new confrontation with NHS staff by trying to derail a pay rise they were promised next year and to scrap their pay progression system linked to length of service. … In a surprise move, the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, urged the two independent pay […]
Cameron’s plan to seize powers back from Europe will fail, claims Barroso “David Cameron’s plan to claw back powers from Brussels is ‘doomed to failure’, the president of the European Commission has claimed. … In a provocative intervention Jose Manuel Barroso rubbished Mr Cameron’s plan to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with Europe, saying it was ‘unreasonable’ to […]
Cameron conference speech follow-up: push to cut the cost of living “Cuts to the cost of rail commuters’ season tickets and a curb on bank fees will form part of a Tory assault on the cost of living starting next month…George Osborne has identified water bills, rail fares and bank fees as areas where the […]