5pm WATCH:
- Boris – we must fight to keep the press free
- Derk Jan Eppink of the ECR Group produces a video about the spiralling costs of the EU's multiple building projects
3.30pm Dr David Green of Civitas on Comment: Britain has industrial policy lessons to learn from America
2.30pm WATCH:
- Andrew Neil corners Balls on Labour's structural deficit
- Matthew Hancock on the GDP figures: "This is good news, but there's a long way to go"
12.15pm ToryDiary: Update Twitter reaction to GDP figures – with statements from the CBI, TUC, IOD, FSB and TPA
10.30am ToryDiary: Twitter reaction to GDP figures
9.30am ToryDiary: What does growth of +1.0% mean for the Coalition?
ToryDiary:
- Six truths about strategy for Cameron
- Theresa May emails 300,000 Tory supporters urging them to get behind Police and Crime Commissioner elections
Columnist Andrew Lilico: On Europe, beware of "the tyranny of the status quo"
Dr Phillip Lee MP on Comment: We must challenge politicians who cling to a 'centre ground' cosily defined by Labour's New Luddites
MPsETC: Prisoner votes, the Twittering MPs revolt – and an unwhippable Parliamentary Party?
Cllr Ralph Baldwin on Local Government: Localism and the Big Society
The Deep End: The inflation hawks were wrong, but for the right reasons
At last! Britain will be declared to be out of recession today
"The longest double-dip recession since the 1950s will be declared officially over when key economic figures are released today. City experts predict they will show gross domestic product has grown 0.6 per cent between July and September, ending three consecutive quarters of declining output. But experts have warned the bounce back was largely driven by one-off factors, such as clawed-back activity lost to the extra Diamond Jubilee bank holiday and a slight lift from the Olympics." – Daily Express
- Nick Clegg warns of 'slow and fitful' economic recovery – The Guardian
- Double-dip recession set Britons back £1,800 every year – The Times (£)
- Cameron appears to seize on GDP ‘good news’ at PMQs – Financial Times (£)
- Statistics authority says it will look into Cameron's words – The Guardian
- The "GOOD NEWS" PMQs: "Indeed, some people are now wondering if Mr Grieve (a soapy
pro-European boffin) may have to consider his position and even resign.
Now that really would be GOOD NEWS!" – Quentin Letts, Daily Mail
> Yesterday:
- ToryDiary: What George Osborne should say tomorrow if GDP figures are half decent
- ToryDiary: Cameron hints at "good news" to come for the Government, but Miliband wins PMQs exchange
- WATCH: David Cameron: "No-one should be in any doubt: prisoners are not getting the vote under this Government"
- WATCH: Ed Miliband: "It's not the ticket that needs upgrading, it's the Chancellor of the Exchequer"
Cameron and Grieve at war over votes for prisoners. Prime Minister slaps down Attorney-General and Downing Street claims that his arguments "are slightly difficult to penetrate – he says lots of different things"…
"David Cameron was at war with his own senior law officer last night after insisting that prisoners would not be given the vote. Attorney General Dominic Grieve was said to be ‘furious’ with the Prime Minister’s stance. Last night there was speculation that Mr Grieve could even resign his Government role if the Prime Minister fails to respect the ‘rule of law’ and do as he wishes." – Daily Mail
…As civil servants scramble to bridge the gap: draft bill "not ruled out"
"Downing Street officials claimed that a fresh government vote, setting out reasons why the ruling was being defied, might satisfy the European court. It was claimed that Grieve might agree with this view, but his appearance at a justice select committee hearing on Wednesday gave no such hint. The fear for Cameron is of some senior government members resigning if he openly defies the court. Government officials, desperate to keep a lid on the row, said no option, including a draft bill, had been ruled out." – The Guardian
- Mr Grieve simply will not stand up to the bullies of Strasbourg – Daily Mail
- UK’s disdain for European Court of Human Rights condemned – The Independent
- Britain must defy Europe over votes for prisoners, for the very soul of our democracy’s at stake – Dominic Raab MP, Daily Mail
- Time for Britain simply to defy the Strasbourg Court – Daily Express Editorial
- Don’t let prisoners vote, whatever the cost – Daily Telegraph Editorial
- Don't cell out – Sun Editorial
- Pedantic and pusillanimous – Daily Mail Editorial
> Today: MPsETC – Prisoner votes, the Twittering MPs revolt – and an unwhippable Parliamentary Party?
> Yesterday: Tory Diary – Grayling and Cameron must quash votes for prisoners. If they don't, the Commons must do so instead
Theresa Villiers's first Commons question time "proves rarely gripping" – Belfast Telegraph
Van Rompuy to meet Cameron for EU talks in Downing Street today – The Independent
> Today: Columnist Andrew Lilico – On Europe, beware of "the tyranny of the status quo"
Prime Minister backs Gove over Whitehall delaying projects
"David Cameron has expressed concerns that the government's major capital projects are being delayed by a fear of official inquiries and by over-cautious civil servants, in a further escalation of the government's conflict with Whitehall. The prime minister's spokesman said he sympathised with the views of his education secretary, Michael Gove, who described the government's auditors at the National Audit Office (NAO) and the public accounts committee (PAC) as part of the "forces of conservatism"." – The Guardian
Gove's mum threatens him with a 'good telling off' for his schoolboy antics (if he ever picks up the phone) – Daily Mail
Case for UK split falls apart under scrutiny says Cameron – Scotsman
New Spanish blow to Salmond's EU argument – Herald Scotland
Select Committee news 1) Cameron and Salmond must agree on future of independent deterrent, says Scottish Affairs Select Committee – Financial Times (£)
Select Committee news 2) Making Afghanistan a viable state is a flawed ambition, says International Development Select Committee – The Guardian
IDS: Welfare is reinforcing dysfunction
"In his first major speech since publicly agreeing to draw up another £10 billion of benefits savings, the Work and Pensions Secretary will insist that the system must return to the principles of William Beveridge, the founder of the modern welfare state. Mr Duncan Smith will say: “All too often, government’s response to social breakdown has been a classic case of 'patching’ — a case of handing money out, containing problems and limiting the damage but, in doing so, supporting — even reinforcing — dysfunctional behaviour." – Daily Telegraph
Nadine Dorries: The Chancellor is “stupid”, "arrogant", "out of his
depth" and a "pernicious influence": "We won't win an election while
George Osborne is in a key position in the Conservative Party." – The
Independent
Hunt sets £50 million aside for dementia patients
"A new fund of £50m to create calming environments for people with dementia, which aid treatment by helping sufferers to avoid confusion, will be announced on Thursday by the health secretary Jeremy Hunt. The money will be available to NHS trusts and local authorities working in partnership with social care providers to help tailor hospitals and care homes to the needs of those with dementia. Hunt's aides claim that the announcement puts the care of sufferers at the heart of his priorities in a week when abusive workers from Winterbourne View care home are sentenced for assaulting elderly and frail patients." – The Guardian
- NHS workers get £21 million of golden goodbyes – Daily Telegraph
Pickles blasts Labour blocking of right to buy
"Eric Pickles today blasts Labour for “blocking” right to buy schemes — and vows to make it easier for families to own their council houses. Writing in The Sun, he pledges to revive Margaret Thatcher’s 1980s crusade for tenants to own their properties. He claims Labour town halls are failing to tell tenants they can get a discount of up to £75,000. Many offer little or no information on websites and fail to provide guides." – The Sun
Sir George Young cancels new Jag ordered by Andrew Mitchell – The Sun
Field and Reckless hammer Chancellor over child benefit cuts
"George Osborne was hammered by Tory MPs over his plans to axe child benefit for the better-off yesterday as they warned that the proposals would unleash a furious backlash from voters. HM Revenue and Customs is preparing to send letters to a million taxpayers it thinks will be affected by the change, which will see the benefit cut in families where one parent earns more than £50,000. Such families stand to lose more than £1,000 a year for a first child and almost £2,500 for three children, under the changes." – Daily Express
Progress warns Miliband to set out tough choices – The Guardian
James Forsyth: Lynton Crosby is holding out for control of Tory polling
"Crosby is currently earning a small fortune in the private sector and there’s been much speculation that the Conservatives couldn’t afford him. But one senior source says that the problem isn’t financial: ‘If it was just about money, Andrew Feldman would be sent out to raise it.’ The real stumbling block is that Crosby is asking for a level of control over the operation that the leadership is reluctant to give him, for fear of upsetting the coalition." – James Forsyth, The Spectator (not yet online)
- David Cameron doesn’t have a Willie, and it shows – Sue Cameron, Daily Telegraph
> Today: ToryDiary – Six truths about strategy for Cameron
> Yesterday: Iain Anderson on Comment – Five months and five ideas to reshape and bring more purpose and clarity to this Government
Willetts has produced "wildly over-optimistic predictions of the income from trebling student fees to £9,000" – The Times (£)
Peter Oborne: Patten has been institutionally captured…Patten's no longer fit for purpose…Patten must go! Now!
"He has become the spokesman for the BBC’s bankrupt managerial culture. Indeed, it is not going too far to say that he has been institutionally captured. This became horribly clear late on Tuesday night, when he issued his sneering reply after Maria Miller, the Culture Secretary, properly expressed what she said were “very real concerns” about “public trust and confidence in the BBC”…The chairman himself can no longer be regarded as fit for purpose." – Daily Telegraph
Health Minister Anna Soubry says that supersize cakes are fuelling the health crisis – Daily Mail
Peter Lilley, Climate Change sceptic, wins election to Climate Change Select Committee – The Guardian
> Yesterday: New 1922 Committee and Select Committee members elected
Savilegate 1) Shapps warned by BBC over raising Savile scandal – Daily Mail
Savilegate 2) DPP to review decisions on Savile – Financial Times (£)
Savilegate 3) Police must investigate historic claims of paedophile ring’s link to Downing Street, demands Tom Watson – Daily Mail
Whoops! Farage aide sends message on his behalf describing "conspiracy" against Iran fuelled by western powers intent on "world domination" – The Independent
And finally…Minimal TV, grim, holidays spent collecting firewood on Exmoor and bouts of corporal punishment: how Stanley Johnson raised Boris – Daily Mail
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