Duncan Smith resigns over Osborne’s welfare reductions
“Iain Duncan Smith has sensationally resigned from the Cabinet in protest over the disability benefit with a devastating parting blast at George Osborne. The Work and Pensions Secretary said cuts to disability benefits demanded by the Chancellor were ‘not defensible’ alongside the tax breaks for the wealthy in this week’s Budget.” – Daily Mail
- Work and Pensions Secretary quits in anger over cuts to welfare – The Times (£)
- Beware the IDS of March – The Sun
- How 72 chaotic hours and a bitter Cabinet feud led to resignation – Daily Telegraph
- Is this about welfare, or Europe? – The Guardian
- A strike at the heart of the Tories’ future – The Times (£)
- Disability cuts ‘a compromise too far’ – The Guardian
- IDS’ 25-year Commons career blighted by a feud with Osborne – Daily Telegraph
- Former Tory leader converted to fight for social reform – FT
- Five factors which explain what Duncan Smith’s resignation is really about – The Guardian
- McDonnell and Dorries lead the criticism online – The Independent
The Policy:
- Cameron abandons controversial savings… – The Spectator
- …after being ‘committed’ to them 24 hours ago – The Sun
- Disability benefits u-turn will damage the Chancellor’s reputation – FT
Osborne:
- Chancellor will scrap ‘tampon tax’ this summer – Daily Mail
- Corbyn calls for Osborne’s resignation – Daily Express
- Cameron rules out broader tax on sugary foods – Daily Telegraph
- ‘Significant concession’ for non-doms as Chancellor calls for amnesty – FT
- Osborne’s tax take is higher than Labour’s – Daily Mail
- Devolution plans provoke fury amongst Eurosceptic MPs – FT
- Blow to Chancellor as 40 MPs join solar panel VAT rebellion – The Sun
>Yesterday:
Charles Moore: Osborne the opportunist has no purpose beyond his own success
“Surely he would be better employed worrying whether he will have to say to his children’s generation: “I was Chancellor of the Exchequer. I’m sorry: I should have analysed the profound changes in the global economy which altered almost everything, but instead I treated the job as a political game.”” – Daily Telegraph
- It’s time the Chancellor found another job – Matthew Parris, The Times (£)
- Quiet man lights fire under Tory tensions – George Parker, FT
- Even Cameron thinks Osborne should have gone to the Foreign Office – James Forsyth, The Sun
Editorial:
- The Work and Pensions Secretary’s resignation is a wake-up call for the Tories – Daily Telegraph
- Ministers have created a crisis by appearing to balance the books at the expense of the poor – The Times (£)
- These cuts are incompetent, unprincipled, and unnecessary – The Guardian
>Today:
Cameron criticised for delaying Chilcot publication
“The publication of the long-awaited Chilcot inquiry is to be delayed until after the EU referendum, it was reported last night. David Cameron’s decision to postpone the report into the Iraq War sparked accusations that he was deliberately deferring controversial announcements. The delay comes despite the fact that ministers will be given the report – expected to condemn senior political figures – next month.” – Daily Mail
- Prime Minister says there is no need to call slaughter of Christians ‘genocide’ – Daily Telegraph
Dominic Raab: The authoritarian EU is a threat to liberal British lawmaking
“The EU’s drive for uniformity goes to ludicrous extremes. In 2008 Janet Devers, running a stall in east London, was convicted of selling in pounds and ounces in defiance of EU rules and left with a criminal record and a £5,000 legal bill. All for the temerity of selling scotch bonnets and okra in bowls, rather than by the kilo.” – The Times (£)
- Officials expect Brexit would trigger revolution in better laws – Daily Telegraph
- Furious Tory MPs complain to party over Cameron’s anti-Brexit speeches – The Sun
- UK’s global warming watchdog warns against Brexit – FT
- Brexit would spark constitutional crisis and put UK at risk, warns Jones – The Independent
- McCain claims British EU membership is vital to Western security – The Sun
- Brussels says UK has ‘moral duty’ to accept refugees from Turkey – Daily Express
Comment:
- The Turkey deals shows a future for the EU we should be desperate to be part of – John McTernan, Daily Telegraph
>Yesterday: MPs Etc.: Project Fear Scare Story of the Week: Soubry’s trade apocalypse
Davies is favourite with bookies
“A pro-gambling Conservative MP who has repeatedly lobbied in the Commons for bookmakers received “extremely favourable” treatment from Ladbrokes on his personal betting account, The Times can reveal. Philip Davies wrote to a director of Ladbrokes to ask for restrictions on his account to be lifted, allowing him the possibility of making money from a professional gambling strategy.” – The Times (£)
Other Tories:
- Javid won’t say if he took part in controversial tax scheme – The Sun
- Blacklisted donor claims to have been made a scapegoat – Daily Mail
- Ex-MP Proctor to be cleared as Yard ends abuse probe – Daily Mail
Corbyn would return to ‘beer and sandwiches’ days of union relations
“Jeremy Corbyn will return to the era of “beer and sandwiches at Number 10” with union leaders if he becomes Prime Minister, John McDonnell has said. The shadow chancellor suggested that a future Labour government would return to the politics of the 1960s and 1970s, with union leaders have a place at the “top table”.” – Daily Telegraph
- Kinnock tells leader to smarten up – Daily Mail
- Danczuk has to repay more than £11,000 in expenses – Daily Mail
Scottish Labour aim to guarantee GP appointments within 48 hours…
“Labour would guarantee patients GP appointments within 48 hours as part of a radical package for Scotland’s NHS that would allow patients to book their session online, Kezia Dugdale will say at her party’s pre-election conference… In an audacious move to challenge the SNP over the party’s record on the NHS Ms Dudgale will today claim that general practice is facing its worst crisis in a generation.” – The Scotsman
…as Eagle urges Welsh voters to offer Cameron no comfort in Assembly poll
“One of UK Labour’s biggest hitters was on the campaign trail in Wales today with a plea for voters to stick with her party and not give David Cameron’s UK Government any “comfort” on May 5. Shadow Business Secretary Angela Eagle is seen as a leading contender to one day be Labour’s first female leader – but she batted away questions about such ambitions while on a visit to Ogmore.” – WalesOnline
- Plaid argues that if Manchester can have police powers, so should Wales – WalesOnline
Trump’s main problem is female voters
“To win the White House Donald Trump will have to accomplish one of the great political seductions of all time. Having insulted the women of America as bimbos, fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals, he will have to persuade them to vote for him… If Mr Trump cannot rehabilitate his reputation among women voters he is almost certainly heading towards a catastrophic defeat in November against Hillary Clinton, the Democrats’ likely nominee.” – The Times (£)
- Be very afraid, the Republican front-runner is his own foreign policy adviser – The Independent
- Tensions boil over as protesters throw rocks at Trump supporters in Utah – Daily Express
News in Brief:
- ISIS terrorist behind massacre is caught by armed police – Daily Mail
- UK launches national cyber security centre – FT
- BMA announces ‘escalation’ of strike – The Independent
- New test could find 90 per cent of prostate cancers – The Times (£)
- Top doctor claims A&E is ‘overwhelmed’ and calls for army of medics to avert crisis – Daily Telegraph
- Queen refuses to return to London to meet Obama – The Sun
- ‘Dark day for Europe’ as migrant deal with Turkey is struck – The Independent
- Scores feared dead in Russian air crash – FT
- Eleven arrests made during St Patrick’s Day disorder in Belfast – News Letter