“Britain has moved a step closer to leaving the European Union after David Cameron declared “war” on Brussels over the nomination of Jean-Claude Juncker. Keeping Britain in the EU “has got harder”, the Prime Minister said, after he was outvoted by 26 to two in his attempt to prevent Mr Juncker becoming the European Commission president. The result emboldened Eurosceptic MPs and Ukip supporters who want to leave the EU. However, Mr Cameron said he would wage a “long, tough fight” to reform Brussels before campaigning for Britain to remain in the EU in an in-out referendum he has promised to hold in 2017.” – Daily Telegraph
>Today: ToryDiary: Cameron chooses to be the heir to Thatcher not the heir to Wilson
“German media wasted no time in using Mr Cameron’s defeat to ridicule both him and the England football team. Newspaper Bild said he ‘is becoming more and more the Wayne Rooney of EU politics: he lines up, he loses, he goes home’. The Prime Minister said support for the EU in Britain was already ‘wafer thin’ and would be further undermined by Mr Juncker’s coronation ahead of the in/out referendum the Tories have pledged to hold in 2017 if re-elected. He condemned the EU’s new boss as ‘the career insider of Brussels’ , saying he represented ‘a big step backwards’. Mr Cameron, who says he wants Britain to remain in a reformed EU, added: ‘If you want change, is that the type of person you want for the future?’ ” – Daily Mail
“The leaders of Sweden and Germany have offered encouragement to David Cameron after his defeat in a vote on the new European Commission president…Sweden backed Mr Juncker but after the vote PM Fredrik Reinfeldt said he knew closer union was not “for everyone”. Germany’s Angela Merkel said she was ‘ready to address British concerns’.” – BBC
“If Europe wanted to drive Britain away, then the appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker was the way to go about it. The Prime Minister made it plain that he, rightly, regarded Mr Juncker’s appointment as a threat to the UK’s interests. Britain is trying to renegotiate its relationship with the EU as part of a much wider argument about how the project should best adapt to the challenges of the modern world – by returning sovereignty to national parliaments, cutting regulation and embracing the benefits of globalisation. David Cameron has indicated that he will only be able to make the case for staying in during any referendum campaign if he can achieve such reforms.” – Leader Daily Telegraph
“The Prime Minister has shown Britain will not take a back-seat approach to reform of the European Union. If Juncker represents an even more integrated EU, then the Prime Minister has shown he supports an agenda for reform. This fight has not weakened the Prime Minister and Britain’s role in Europe. Instead, it has shown that after 13 years of Labour, a British Prime Minister can stand up for British values and also unapologetically fight for change to an overburdening European bureaucracy. He said what he was going to do and did it.” – Liam Fox The Sun(£)
“A former senior adviser to the prime minister has been charged by police over child abuse images. Patrick Rock was arrested at his home in London in February after Downing Street officials contacted officers. The 63-year-old was questioned by investigators from the newly formed National Crime Agency. Mr Rock was deputy head of David Cameron’s policy unit at the time of his arrest and they have known each other since the late 1990s. They worked together as special advisers.” – BBC
“Young offenders will have their cell lights and televisions turned off at 10.30pm sharp to enforce earlier bed times, the justice secretary, Chris Grayling, has ordered. The restriction, affecting those aged 15 to 17, is aimed at imposing stricter discipline on inmates and to prevent them from staying up all night watching programmes. “The public expects that serious offenders face prison,” said Grayling. “That is right. But it is also crucial that young people, most of whom have had chaotic and troubled lives, finally get the discipline so badly needed to help turn their lives around.” – The Guardian
“Ed Miliband has said a Labour government at Westminster would consider building border posts if Scotland voted for independence. The Labour leader said he “would have to look at the issue of a border” if the Scottish government achieved its goal of a looser immigration policy. His comments came during a lunch with journalists in Edinburgh.” – BBC
“There is a school of thought among some Tories that party interests should be put before those of the Union on the issue of Scottish independence. After all, what’s not to like about jettisoning all those Labour seats? I’m not sure if Lord Young, who sat in Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet, is among them, but he is not going out of his way to charm the people of Scotland. “It’s a misogynist country,” he says of the land of the brave. “The reason why the Conservatives lost all their seats was because of Margaret, because she was a woman.” – Daily Telegraph
“The NHS, police, education system and social care are at risk of an “existential crisis” within the next five years if the Conservatives win the next election, Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, will warn on Saturday. In a wide-ranging speech the senior Labour MP, tipped as a future leader, will say public services are about empowerment and opportunities – not just a safety net, as the Tories believe. She will make the comments at a conference organised by the Fabian Society, which sets out its own 12 ideas for Labour’s manifesto.” – The Guardian