May might not apologise to members for election result at conference
“Theresa May may not offer a widely expected apology to activists for the botched general election at the Conservative Party conference after all. The prime minister is believed to be considering scrapping an idea to make a major speech on the Sunday of the conference to address the failings of the campaign. Instead, she may make one big speech which will avoid a set-piece apology and return to the themes she set out on becoming prime minister in July last year. Some senior figures worry that this could prompt questions about whether Mrs May recognises the seriousness of the party’s predicament after the election.” – The Times
- The Prime Minister rallies MPs at Chequers – Daily Telegraph
Comment:
- Why the Conservatives need a new chairman – Katie Perrior, The Times
Brexit 1) Davis’ US speech will ‘enrage’ Johnson
“David Davis is to make a speech in the US about Britain’s place in the world in a move likely to annoy Boris Johnson. The Brexit secretary is planning an address about Britain’s future centred on an appeal to US business, which would also encroach on the turf of Liam Fox, the trade secretary. This could be taken as a direct challenge to Mr Johnson, the foreign secretary. “That’s crazy, [Mr Johnson] will go mad,” one member of the government said. A source at the Department for Exiting the EU said: “We’ve been looking at a visit for some time to talk to American businesses and investors about our plans for free trade . . . and our plan to build a global Britain.”” – The Times
- ‘Brexit effect’ sees biggest boom in US tourism since the 1980s – Daily Telegraph
- May warned that she can’t bank on Trump – The Times
- Expert claims Brexit will push UK closer to the US – Daily Express
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Brexit means the Government can now implement the migrant welfare plan that Cameron couldn’t
Brexit 2) Fox resists devolved vetoes of trade deals
“Liam Fox is demanding the right to bypass the Scottish and Welsh governments when striking free trade agreements after Brexit. The trade secretary has written to cabinet ministers suggesting that they deny devolved administrations the ability to veto deals, even if they allow in more genetically modified products, despite the bans on GM crops in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Dr Fox is also suggesting that the devolved administrations should not sit on the new board of trade that Theresa May has decided to reform. This is likely to be opposed by colleagues who fear it signals that the government is unwilling even to consult on trade.” – The Times
- Brussels warned over ‘chaos’ of removing agencies from Britain – Daily Express
Comment:
- Clegg: anti-Brexit hero, or wind-up merchant? – Matt Forde, The Guardian
Editorial:
- Brexit and all it entails needs the consent of Scotland, Wales, and Ulster – The Times
>Today: ToryDiary: If the Northern Irish law against gay marriage is overturned, it must be by Parliament
>Yesterday: Antoinette Sandbach in Comment: We won’t make a success of Brexit if we don’t boost productivity
Johnson ‘told to hike terror alert’
Boris Johnson was under pressure last night to change the Foreign Office’s travel advice after ISIS warned of a wave of new attacks to come in Spain after the Barcelona atrocity. In online communications the terror group called on its warped followers to carry out “greater” attacks after the Las Ramblas attack which left at least 13 dead and 130 hurt. But the Foreign Office yesterday refused to update its April warning that “terrorists are likely to try to carry out attacks in Spain” – despite this week’s attack and ISIS’ call for more bloodshed.” – The Sun
- Goldsmith links Barcelona attack to Momentum – The Independent
- May offers more counter-extremism support to Madrid – The Sun
- Plaid leader criticised for comments on Barcelona attack – Daily Mail
- Europol chief warns British tourists they face highest terror risk in a generation – Daily Mail
Comment:
- It’s wrong to say we can’t stop this terror tactic – Matthew Parris, The Times
More than a million renters open Osborne’s Help to Buy ISAs
“More than 1m renters have opened Help to Buy Isas, a UK government-backed savings accounts designed to help people save for their first home. The tax-efficient savings scheme allows people to put away up to £200 a month towards a first home deposit and offers a government bonus of 25 per cent of the savings pot. The maximum the government will contribute is £3,000. More than £1.8bn has been saved into the scheme since it was launched by former chancellor George Osborne in 2015, as aspiring homeowners have grappled with rocketing house prices, the Treasury said on Saturday.” – FT
- Real investment charge transparency will give savers a fair deal – Tom Tugendhat, Daily Telegraph
Gray brands two-year investigation into Heath a waste of money
“A probe into allegations of historical sex offences by former Prime Minister Edward Heath was branded an ‘idiotic waste of public money’. Mike Veale, Chief Constable at Wiltshire Police, said yesterday that the £2million investigation is to end is coming weeks. The probe into Sir Edward, Operation Conifer, was launched in August 2015 after the former Prime Minister was named as a suspect into historical allegations of child abuse. However, the MP for North Wiltshire, James Gray, said Wiltshire Police’s probe had been a ‘pretty pointless investigation’.” – Daily Mail
Dispute over Parliament renovations spreads as ‘democracy lamp’ set to go out
“A new row about Big Ben has broken out after it emerged that a historic lamp installed by Queen Victoria to show that Parliament is sitting will be turned off for months. The House of Commons confirmed that the Ayrton Light at the top of the Elizabeth Tower which houses Big Ben will be switched off for months while maintenance work is carried out. It will be the first time in over 70 years that the lantern has not been lit when MPs or peers are sitting. The last time it failed to shine was when German bombers were strafing London during the Second World War.” – Daily Telegraph
- May is right to demand Big Ben keeps tolling – Rosa Prince, Daily Telegraph
Corbyn attacks The Sun as row over Champion continues
“Rattled Jeremy Corbyn has accused The Sun of trying to run the Labour Party after pressure increased on him for sacking Sarah Champion. More Labour grandees turned on the hard left boss for hounding the child abuse campaigner out of the shadow Cabinet for speaking out about grooming gangs. The row first erupted a week ago when the ex-equalities minister said Britain has a “problem” with Pakistani men targeting vulnerable white girls in an article for The Sun. Mr Corbyn was quizzed by the BBC over a second news story in yesterday’s paper about a planned conference snub for London Mayor Sadiq Khan.” – The Sun
- Labour leader demands ‘wider’ Grenfell inquiry – The Independent
- McDonnell: “The Government could collapse at any time” – The Guardian
>Today: Zehra Zaidi in Comment: As a Muslim woman activist, I will speak out about some Pakistani men and child abuse
>Yesterday: LeftWatch: Labour members can shout down Corbyn’s critics at Conference
Scotland 1) Sturgeon wishes SNP had a different name
“Nicola Sturgeon admitted yesterday that she dislikes the name of her party because she is uncomfortable at being branded a ‘nationalist’. Despite her lifelong mission for Scottish independence, the country’s First Minister said she was unhappy at being linked to other nationalist movements. If she could return to before the Scottish National Party was formed, she would remove the ‘negative’ word from its name, she added.” – Daily Mail
- Nationalist councillor shamed for ‘scoffing’ at hardship in First Minister’s constituency – Daily Express
Scotland 2) Cable claims free tuition for students is ‘unsustainable’
“Offering free tuition fees for higher education in Scotland clearly isn’t sustainable, the Liberal Democrat leader has said. Sir Vince Cable said funding free university tuition via “raiding” the budgets of further education colleges is “perverse and socially damaging”… “No doubt there is a mixture of reasons but my understanding of how the Scottish tuition fee story has played out is that in order to finance universities the Scottish Government has had to raid the budget of further education colleges, which is a very perverse and socially damaging way to proceed.” Questioned on a solution to the situation, he declined to provide an alternative saying it is up to Scottish parties to find their own model, but he added: “It’s clear that the system that operates here, although it had a certain populist appeal at the time, clearly isn’t sustainable.”” – The Scotsman
- Labour propose bursaries to tackle shortage of physics and maths teachers – The Scotsman
Bannon declares Trump’s presidency ‘over’
“Steve Bannon dramatically proclaimed the Trump presidency ‘over’ Friday hours after he was fired – and returned to his old role at Breitbart and declared war on his enemies, saying: ‘I will crush the opposition.’ Bannon was ousted by the president at the end of a tumultuous week with his administration roiled by his response to the Charlottesville violence. But it took just hours for the former chief strategist to start a civil war as he named his enemies: ‘West Wing Democrats’ and ‘establishment Republicans’.” – Daily Mail
- James Murdoch attacks Trump’s response to Charlottesville – FT
Comment:
- Sacked adviser is more powerful on the outside – Rob Crilly, Daily Telegraph
>Yesterday: Iain Dale’s column: May shouldn’t simply slag off Trump over Charlottesville – or anything else
News in Brief:
- Less than a third of cash raised for Grenfell victims has reached them – The Sun
- Royal Mail accused of selling items ‘lost in the post’ – Daily Mail
- Cambridge University Press bows to China’s online censors – The Times
- Venezuelan regime’s puppet legislature seizes powers – Daily Telegraph
- Erdogan attacks German parties ahead of election – FT
- Car ploughs into crowd in Sydney, Australia – Daily Express
- Hawking blames Tories for damaging the NHS – The Guardian
- Experts denounce new GCSE grading – The Sun
- Knife-wielding terrorist kills two in Finland – Daily Mail
- Former aide urges judge to declare Galloway bankrupt – The Times
- North East protests advert for London-based Teeside job – FT
And finally… Cable writes his party out of his new thriller
“Sir Vince Cable had been cast into the Westminster wilderness when he sat down to write a thriller — so he created the political landscape of 2019 without a Liberal Democrat in sight. The party’s leader admitted that his belief that he had a “remote chance” of returning to politics had resulted in his fictional debut being “perhaps less discreet than it should be”. “I didn’t put them [the Liberal Democrats] in the novel in quantity,” he said. “They weren’t marginal in the book because I think they are marginal,” he pleaded. “Please don’t misinterpret their absence.”” – The Times