Eight ministers flirt with EU “no” vote
“The EU referendum ‘no’ campaign is in talks with at least eight cabinet ministers about joining the fight to get Britain to leave the European Union. In an open challenge to David Cameron’s authority, some of the Conservative party’s biggest donors have already been signed up to support efforts to defeat the prime minister in the referendum. Sources say they have put together a team that has won four referendum campaigns and secured pledges of at least £7m” – Sunday Times (£)
- Two renegades and a swinging Gove could make a “no” vote – Tim Shipman, Sunday Times (£)
- Mandelson advises Juncker on how to stop Britain leaving the EU – Sunday Telegraph
- European Commission lobbies UK and US by stealth – Sunday Telegraph
Government could legislate to force Chilcot publication
“The government is to consider intervening to force Sir John Chilcot to publish his inquiry into the Iraq War, amid fears that it may not be released before next year… One senior source suggested ‘insurmountable’ difficulties may mean that legal steps need to be taken, including reviewing or changing the law to force the inquiry to conclude its work. MPs and peers have called for a parliamentary resolution to set a formal deadline for the report to be published by the end of this year” – Sunday Telegraph
- It’s not Chilcot they’re afraid of, it’s the risk of going to jail – Anne McElvoy, Mail on Sunday
>Today:
Tory Diary: Force Chilcot to publish! Sounds great. But…
Hunt: NHS bosses face jail over links to drug firms
“Senior medical staff will be forced to declare all gifts and hospitality they receive from drug companies or face the sack and the threat of jail… Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, says he was forced to act after the Telegraph uncovered ‘disturbing’ evidence of senior NHS managers being paid thousands of pounds and taken on expensive trips by firms lobbying to get their drugs used” – Sunday Telegraph
Wikimedia UK says it has deleted Shapps emails
“Wikimedia UK, the national charity supporting Wikipedia and its sister projects, has told the MP and former Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps he can’t see internal emails he has requested under the Data Protection Act … because it has deleted them… Last month, Shapps requested to see personal data retained by WMUK. But the 80-odd pages returned to him have more than a few gaps” – The Register
Boothroyd: “My old party is galloping towards the precipice”
“What party in its right mind would allow a combination of far-left enemies, militant trade unions and first-time supporters to decide its fate?… Ed Miliband’s decision to abandon the leadership only hours after the party’s defeat in May started the rot. It was an act of self-indulgence… My old party is galloping towards the precipice. I urge it to heed the jagged rocks before it is too late” – Betty Boothroyd, Sunday Times (£)
Cooper attacks Corbyn for legitimising extremists
“In an interview with The Telegraph, as she travelled by train to campaign in Plymouth, Yvette Cooper stepped up her criticism of the frontrunner. She is not prepared to stay silent, she says, while Mr Corbyn sends out an ambiguous message about Labour’s stance towards extremism… ‘I just disagree with Jeremy. I would not have taken those decisions to sit on platforms or meetings in that way’” – Sunday Telegraph
- Burnham insists he can still win – Observer
- Corbyn’s young fans are fools – Janet Daley, Sunday Telegraph
Lawson: Could Corbyn be trusted with security briefings?
“It is one of the conventions of the British parliamentary system that when the government of the day is considering any form of military action, it gives the leader of the opposition access to the highest-level security briefings… Given Corbyn’s recent difficulty in establishing clarity as to whether he prefers Isis to the American military, would Cameron be able to trust him as a secure recipient of security briefings?” – Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times (£)
- Tebbit says Corbyn could not be trusted to post a letter – Mail on Sunday
- How a Corbyn premiership would destroy Britain – David Thomas, Mail on Sunday
- More than 40 economists support Corbyn’s policies – Observer
- Miliband thinks he lost because he was not left-wing enough – Sun on Sunday
- At least 25,000 “rogue” voters will be barred from chaotic Labour poll – Scotland on Sunday
Collapsing oil revenues show independent Scotland “could not survive”
“Oil revenues from the North Sea plummeted by a factor of almost six in just a year, according to Scottish Government figures… Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Murdo Fraser said: ‘Whichever way you look at it, and with the best will in the world, there is just no way an independent Scotland could survive on this’” – Scotland on Sunday
IDS challenged to return to Easterhouse
“Tory Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has been invited to return to the deprived Glasgow community where he reportedly underwent a Road To Damascus-style conversion to ‘compassionate conservatism’… the SNP MP for the area, Natalie McGarry, has written to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and urged him to ‘re-engage’”- Sunday Herald
Collins: We need to talk to ISIS
“There can now be no doubt about it – the RAF is conducting a systematic campaign of bombing against Islamic State targets. The number of bombs dropped has doubled in the 50 days since the Tunisian beach massacre and, as The Mail on Sunday reveals today, the RAF has killed as many as 40 jihadis in one single devastating mission… but at some point, once the jihadis’ military capability is sufficiently degraded, there needs to be dialogue – with the real power brokers in the region” – Colonel Tim Collins, Mail on Sunday
- Hammond flies to Tehran to reopen British embassy – Press Association
Timothy: Britain is being too indulgent to China
“In October, President Xi Jinping of China will be received by the Queen… The generosity of the government’s welcome will be exceeded only by the generosity of its policies towards China. Already, the UK has turned a blind eye to human rights abuses, ignored rampant industrial espionage and wished away security concerns about Chinese companies investing in Britain” – Nick Timothy, Sunday Times (£)
News in brief
- Seven killed in Shoreham Airshow fireball – Mail on Sunday
- Thousands of migrants rush Macedonian border as police fire grenades – Observer
- Europe on high alert after French train attack – Observer
- Brandon Lewis, Housing Minister, claimed over £30,000 in two years for London hotels – Sunday Times (£)