Friday, 21 June 2013


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A reminder of Tory backbench rage..

Good morning. Today we are told is the happiest day of the year. Optimism is in the air, and Conservatives are fizzing with bright ideas to transform the country. A number of Tory MPs have published an alternative Queen's Speech packed with wheezes they say will transform Tory chances in 2015. Peter Bone (Con - Wellingborough) is one of its authors and declares: "This is serious attempt to deliver policies that the British public really want. There are ideas here that could form the basis of a future Conservative manifesto." How exciting. How happiness inducing. Well, up to a point.
Study the detail and it quickly becomes apparent that Mr Cameron will not share the joy. The alternative Queen's Speech is packed with suggestions that appear designed to embarrass him. Would Mr Cameron want to bring back the death penalty? Privatise the BBC? Rename the August bank holiday "Margaret Thatcher day"? Ban burkas in public? It's a slow Friday, and most people are preoccupied with the weekend, the beginnings of summer and the prospect of Wimbledon. These suggestions will quickly fade from view. But they are worth noting because they remind us the capacity of some on the backbenches to cause mischief for the Tory leader. Isabel Hardman describes Tory backbench rage as "tidal" - it goes in and out. But it's always there, and those who nurse rage against Mr Cameron will always be on the lookout for ways of holding him up to ridicule and exposing what they see as his ideological shortcomings. In the process of course they've an impression of a party that remains capable of great frivolity. Which in government is never impressive.
FARAGE UNDER FIRE
Ukip are finding the increased scrutiny not always to their liking. The Mirror leads with a splash on Nigel Farage's tax affairs. Mr Farage created an offshore trust fund on the Isle of Man in 2003, although he never used it. Mr Farage described its creation as a mistake on three counts - saying "I’m not rich enough to need one"; "Things that we thought were absolutely fair practice 10 years, 20 years ago, 30 years ago aren’t any more"; and that "it cost me money". Somewhat uncomfortably for Mr Farage, he recently criticised tax havens, including the Isle of Man, in the European Parliament. As Ukip becomes a more serious electoral force, so there will be more people who wish to take it down. They had better get used to it.
GOVE's LEGACY
No one ever said it would be easy. But Michael Gove has won. That's the verdict of Anthony Seldom, who will today say that "A revolution has taken place in schools which happens only once every 25 years in Britain", according to The Times (£). Mr Seldom will add that "The grip of the old education establishment — local authorities, trade unions, bureaucrats, education departments in universities — has been forever broken." While Labour oppose free schools, their support for "parent academies" seems a sign that Mr Gove's battle is almost won. To Fraser Nelson, the new battle line in Britishh politics is: "Who to support? The parents or the bureaucrats?" Labour's opposition to "surplus" places - which come about when parents don't want to send their children to the worst schools - places them on the wrong side of it.
Meanwhile, Mr Gove's education department have reached a settlement on the Comprehensive Spending Review. It's a reminder that,as I blogged yesterday, the 2013 Comprehensive Spending Review is proving much less difficult than expected; Eric Pickles has also accepted a 10% budget cut in 2015-16, notes The Times (£), leaving Vince Cable as almost the last man standing. But those who wanted more drama shouldn't despair too much: it's next year's CSR that we should be worried about.
GEORGE, MEET JEFFREY. JEFFREY, MEET GEORGE.
George Osborne might have found a new friend. Jeffrey Osborne yesterday suggested he'd been keen on a duet with the Chancellor - which prompted George to tweet: "Jeff, you wouldn't suggest a duet if you'd heard me sing."
UNIVERSAL CREDIT ATTACKED
Disappointing news on the universal credit programme is leading to "finger pointing" in Whitehall, reports the FT (£). The National Audit Office is preparing a report into the scheme for the autumn, which is expected to be highly critical. Concerns expressed include the technology underpinning the scheme, meaning that the October date for the full launch may not be met. HM Revenue & Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions are blaming each other for difficulties in ensuring that changes in people’s work circumstances are logged. The DWP have insisted that the scheme "is going well". Nothing worthwhile is hassle-free.
BUILD ON IT OR LOSE IT
Ed Miliband will say tomorrow that companies sitting on land must "use it or lose it" to ease housing pressure. In a speech in Birmingham, Ed will outline plans to fine building firms if they refuse to develop land that has been given planning permission. But it's not yet clear whether the proposals will become policy in Labour's next manifesto.
CLEGG ACCUSED OF FAILURE TO CONDEMN SAATCHI
Nick Clegg is being accused of dismissing violence against women after saying he did not know "whether that was just a fleeting thing" when asked to comment on the picture of Charles Saatchi with his hand around the throat of Nigella Lawson. As Michael Deacon notes, Mr Clegg's tweet that his appearance on LCB yesterday had been "really enjoyable" seemed hard to take at face value.
LETTING MPS OFF
There's never going to be a popular time to cut funds awarded to investigate MPs, and now is no exception. The Committee on Standards in Public Life is seeing its budget drop from £638,000 in 2011 to £400,000 with its secretariat reduced from four in 2010 to three now,reports The Times (£). Former chairman Sir Alistair Graham has complained of "a determined effort to emasculate the committee."
THE VERY HANDSOME LORD WOOD
Lord Wood of Anfield has discovered a new swagger after defeating Zac Goldsmith in our poll to determine the more handsome MP. Rumours abound that it was not an entirely fair vote, with Lord Wood extremely active in hustling for votes from colleagues and even old friends in the States. The vox populi have not convinced all of Lord Wood's Labour colleagues, with Douglas Alexander's texts to Lord Wood helping to bring him back to earth.
TWEETS AND TWITS

George Osborne got what something he wasn't expecting from the G8 summit: 
‏@George_Osborne: One unexpected breakthrough from G8 - offer to sing with legend @_JeffreyOsborne. Jeff you wouldn't suggest a duet if you'd heard me sing
TOP COMMENT

In the Telegraph
Best of the rest
Ben Macintyre in The Times (£) - America's idea of good mobsters goes on trial
Martin Wolf in The Financial Times (£) - British bank reform needs to go further
Mary Dejevsky in The Independent - Obama and Merkel - serious leaders for perilous times
THE AGENDA
0900 London: Jeremy Hunt speech on "silent scandal" of errors in the NHS. Department of Health press office
0930 London: Public sector borrowing figures are published by the Office for National Statistics.
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Thursday, 20 June 2013


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Banking reform must not be populist..

Good morning. George - well Jeffrey, if you listen to what Barack Obama called him at the G8 Summit - Osborne last night gave his Mansion House speech. Wisely, Mr Osborne avoided any mention of "green shoots", but it's clear that was what he was thinking as he spoke of the economy moving "out of intensive care". The Chancellor emphasised his determination to ensure that significant changes were enacted in the banking sector, though this aim needs to be balanced against protecting the City of London from populist, and counter-productive, assaults.
Mr Osborne gave the strongest indication yet that RBS could be broken up into a "good bank" and a "bad bank". Laying the groundwork, he outlined three tests to determine this - "if it supports the British economy; if it’s in the interests of taxpayers - and if it accelerates the return to private ownership".We are sceptical - "the good rump of the bank that remains could be somewhat duller and less dynamic". But Mr Osborne's move is modestly welcomed by Nils Pratley in the Guardian, who writes that "the assembled forces of Lord Lawson and other members of the Banking Commission, the governor of the Bank of England, and business secretary Vince Cable have scored a notable victory." The FT (£) has a useful summary of the pros and cons of an RBS split.
One interesting aspect of Mr Osborne's speech was a "with hindsight" criticism of the nationalisation of RBS in 2008, saying that the bank should have been split at the time. Mr Osborne admitted that he "didn't suggest it in opposition" but it could be read as light criticism of Alistair Darling's role - potentially significant given the decent chance of Mr Darling's return to the Labour frontbench after the Scottish independence referendum.
WHO STEERS THE TORY SHIP?
For the Conservatives to win in 2015, they first need to overcome themselves.Peter Oborne writes of the organisational problems facing the party today: with Chairman Grant Shapps having no real authority, it is unclear who steers the Tory ship. Instead:
Conservative organisation is a mess of special agendas, secret influence, and back-channels of communication. Contempt for traditional party structures is complete, meaning that conflicting messages and operational incompetence have become the hallmark of the Tory machine.
The solution? Peter suggests the need for a strong chairman "with the vision and substance to shape his own election-winning machine" to increase Dave's chances of remaining PM. He suggests Boris, though I'm not convinced the arrangement would work.
If Dave does win re-election the EU referendum will dominate the start of his second term. In this regard he will be encouraged by a new poll that shows over half of Tory grassroots members would vote to remain in the EU if he is able to win back powers from it. As Tim Bale argues, this reveals a surprising truth: the grassroots "trust David Cameron's strategy on the European Union." Whether they trust him more widely is rather less clear.  
Meanwhile, the inclusion of Sir Michael Hintze on the Queen's Brithday Honours list has been explained. Far from being the result of his Conservative Party donations, Sir Hintze was awarded his peerage in spite of concerns from Dave. It was driven by charities who Mr Hintze has given over £30 million to, reports Richard Kay in the Mail.
DAVE COULD IGNORE MPS ON SYRIA
Mr Cameron has hinted that the House of Commons might not vote on whether the British military should intervene in Syria. While he said he maintained a "big commitment" to allow MPs a vote, Mr Cameron added that "obviously governments have to reserve the ability to take action very swiftly on this or on other issues". The comments seem to contradict William Hague's previous assurances that MPs would get a vote ahead of any military action. 
UKIP WANT LORDS REFORM
David Cameron is running scared of House of Lords reform: that's the verdict of Nigel Farage, complaining about Mr Cameron's inaction on proposals that the appointment of peers should be based on results at the previous General Election. Mr Farage writes that, "What is clear is that he is afraid of a bank of Ukip peers sitting on the red benches making life even more difficult for his coalition than they are already doing themselves" in this month's Prospect magazine. Ukip currently only have three peers in the Lords.
CUTS? YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET
The next government will have to cut spending by 50% more than this government is if it is to meet the current deficit target. That's the stark verdict of new research by the Resolution Foundation thinktank, reported in The Guardian. There is also yet another reminder of the problems caused be an unbalanced approach to tackling public spending: if departments continue to be cut, the Foreign Office will have had its budget reduced by 64% between 2010-11 and 2017-18.
A LITTLE MINISTERIAL TINKERING
Mr Cameron yesterday announced a surprising change in his Trade Ministers.Lord Green will retire as Minister of State for Trade and Investment in December, credited with leading the "reform and rejuvenation" of UK Trade & Industry by Mr Cameron. Lord Green's successor will be BT chief executive Ian Livingston, who will also receive a peerage.  
WORK PROGRAMME FAILING
The Work Programme was one of the Government's flagship schemes to combat unemployment. That was the idea, anyway. Results from employers’ organisations taking part in the scheme suggest that two-thirds of those who been on the Work Programme for over a year are still without work - including 90 per cent of disabled and long-term sick adults who have been receiving employment and support allowance. And what of the official figures? These are released on June 27 - coincidentally, a day after the Comprehensive Spending Review.
TWEETS AND TWITS 
William Bain is confused by the SNP's plans for banking: 
@William_Bain: Salmond confirms he wants separate Scotland's banks to be regulated by the BoE & by a Scottish regulator - who would resolve a failed bank?
TOP COMMENT

In the Telegraph
Best of the rest
David Aaronovitch in The Times (£) - Keep out, they say. But then comes cataclysm
Chris Giles in The Financial Times (£) - Britain's banks are still a danger to the real economy
Joris Luyendijk in The Guardian - Banks are not out of control. They're beyond control
Steve Richards in The Independent - We need more intervention at home
THE AGENDA
Today: Owen Paterson speech on the role of GM crops. Berkshire.
0900: Call Clegg on LBC 97.3.
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Wednesday, 19 June 2013


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Mr Osborne must resist the anti-banker mob..

Good morning. The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards report is the doorstopper of the day. George Osborne has made welcoming noises, but beyond the enthusiastic-ish reception the Chancellor has to work out how to endorse it, and implement it, without doing anything that would stuff the City and the financial sector. The way the recovery is going, Mr Osborne can't afford to hobble one of the greatest contributors to UK wealth just because it suits the anti-banker mob. The point about a new tort of reckless behaviour is a case in point: those who want bankers swinging from lampposts will delight in the idea, but others might say it is fraught with peril: can a "reckless manner" be quantified? What to some is reckless might to others be no more than the kind of healthy risk-taking that must be part of how the financial sector works. When Mr Osborne is taken to task for the occasional spot of banker-bashing, he replies that he has to have mind to public opinion. But that's a short-term thing. It changes. His other duty is to the long-term health of the City and its contribution to the British economy in the global race Dave talks about. In his Mansion House speech tonight he might give us an idea how he proposes to marry the two.
Andrew Tyrie the Chairman of the Commission on Banking Standards, explained his proposals on Today this morning:
Bankers are different. Bankers and banks are in a position where they can not just do harm to their shareholders but do harm to the whole economy and end up putting taxpayers on the hook. Remember this can only be triggered - the reckless misconduct investigation - when there has been taxpayer support for a bank.
The report weighs in at a cool 571 pages. Besides the "reckless" point, the most important comments refer to the government's interference in the running of RBS, described as "not acceptable". Other key recommendations include urging the regulator to do more to promote competition; a new approval process for senior industry personnel; and plans to limit sales-based incentives across the banking sector, with bonuses being deferred for up to 10 years. The FT (£) has a useful breakdown.  Speaking of the link between politics and banking, Mark Carney has appointed Charlote Hogg to the new post of Bank of England chief operating officer - as well as a distinguished banker, she is also the son of the former Tory minister Douglas Hogg.
It won't surprise anyone to learn that Ed Balls has already laid down the gauntlet to Mr Osborne, welcoming the report's "radical blueprint" for change. Mr Osborne's response tonight is crucial: if the Conservatives aren't going to defend the City, then who is?
LET BRITAIN DECIDE, 21ST CENTURY STYLE
The referendum Bill is published in full by James Wharton for today's First Reading of his Bill. The choice of sponsors is telling: he's gone for a spread of interests, geographical areas and influence, with Guto Bebb, Dr Liam Fox, Zac Goldsmith and Graham Brady among the more interesting names. Intriguingly, David Cameron and William Hague were keen to be sponsors (the maximum allowed is 12, including the Member in charge) but were told by the Clerks and the Speaker that this would make it a Government Bill.
Labour and the Lib Dems are expected to abstain from the Second Reading on July 5th. Crucial to the Bill's chances of passing will be how quickly it can get out of Committee stage and so avoid being timed out. November 8th would then loom as Report stage, when the wrecking efforts would begin by an unholy alliance of those opposed in principle and those who want to save Ed Miliband from embarrassment. The overwhelming likelihood, as I write in my blog, is that the Bill will die in the Lords: but by then it could have served its central purpose.
With the aim of giving the Bill a push, the Let Britain Decide campaign has announced that, from today the public will be able to co-sponsor the EU Referendum Bill online. Full details at Let Britain Decide. But there is also a more traditional option for the non-Facebook savvy, with the Conservatives allowing the physical co-sponsoring of the Bill before the Second Reading of the Bill on July 5th.
SMART CASUAL AT THE G8 SUMMIT
The G8 summit didn't fail to deliver. Dave got his historic announcement:a global crackdown on the wearing of ties, as Michael Deacon notes. But there was a bit of substance to go with all the smart casual attire, with Mr Cameron earning a significant win on tax avoidance to take back. And he also dared to make the case that a tax avoidance clampdown could be linked to lower taxes. Of course, what would really make the global beanfeast worthwhile would be an EU-US trade deal, as we note.
For all the grand hopes, the Syrian issue hasn't been resolved. Vladimir Putin is still refusing to arm the rebels, although Barack Obama and Mr Cameron did get Mr Putin to agree plans for a transitional government which could eventually replace the Assad regime. Mr Cameron also insisted that Britain had "learnt the lessons of Iraq" and Syria would not turn into a repeat. Ed Miliband was doubtless far from Mr Cameron's thoughts as discussions on Syria progressed, but Labour's opposition to intervention might cause it problems down the line, as Mary Riddell observes: 
If a Commons vote is called, if powerful US brokers such as John Kerry urge British co-operation, if the special relationship is at stake and if the worst disaster since Rwanda worsens, could Mr Miliband still vote against the Government?
NHS DOESN'T BOTHER INNOVATING
We know that the NHS budget will not be cut in the Comprehensive Spending Review, even as defence suffers unreasonable cuts. But a new Reform report makes the interesting case that NHS innovation is impeded by a lack of spending cuts: if cuts can stimulate innovation in policing, defence and local government, why not health and schools? A timely example of the benefits cuts can have comes with the Ministry of Defence's growing confidence that its latest cuts will be achieved through efficiency savings and renegotiation of equipment contracts rather than further manpower cuts, as the FT (£) notes.
Meanwhile planned Treasury savings in pensions have not materialised, at least not yet. The plan to raise the pension contributions made by nurses, teachers and civil servants by an average of 3 per cent was expected to save £3 billion in the Treasury top-up by 2015-16; instead the sums paid by the Treasury will actually rise by £300 million, as the Times (£) reports. 
MICHAEL GOVE'S GETTING OLD
Aged 45, Michael Gove's descent into middle-age is complete. That's the verdict of his wife Sarah Vine, who laments his new golf obsession in The Times (£): "I would rather my husband bought his entire wardrobe from the Peter Christian catalogue than see him take up golf." Reports than Diane Abbott is joining Mr Gove on the golf course are as yet unconfirmed.
If playing golf is considered one sign of getting older, then voting Conservative is often viewed as one too. But a new IPSOS-Mori poll suggests that old assumption may need revisiting, with the baby-boomer generation not becoming Conservative with age in a way that the pre-war generation did.
THOSE PESKY UNIONS
Ed faces more headlines he could have done without courtesy of those pesky unions. The leader of Unison, one of Labour's largest backers,made these remarks:
In the tabloid press, so much is written about benefits abuses - young women having babies to get state hand-outs. But conference, that's enough on Kate Middleton.
It's a reminder of less refined aspects of the Left - those same parts which got Mr Miliband elected. If he is to become PM, Mr Miliband will have to find a way of clamping down on these periodic outbursts from union leaders.
TWEETS AND TWITS

Chuka Umanna welcomes the banking recommendations:
@ChukaUmanna: It is absolutely right, as the Parliamentary Banking Commission says, that senior bankers guilty of reckless misconduct should be jailed
TOP COMMENT

In the Telegraph
Best of the rest
Daniel Finkelstein in The Times (£) - We must never forget our debt to America
Martin Wolf in The Financial Times (£) - The toxic legacy of the Greek crisis
Ian Birrell in The Independent - Aid isn't ending world hunger. It's a sham
THE AGENDA
1230 London: PM to make statement to MPs on G8 summit. House of Commons.
1830 London: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speech on Japan's economic policy, following this year's G8 Summit. Guildhall.

1900 London: Chancellor George Osborne and the Governor of the Bank of England speeches to the Lord Mayor's banquet. Mansion House.
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Tuesday, 18 June 2013


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Clarke rails against euroscepticism..

BREAKING NEWS: George Osborne has been speaking to the Today programme about the agenda of the G8 summit.
"I think we’ve made more progress in the last 24 hours than people have made in the last 20 years.This is a real step-change in the seriousness with which the international community takes these issues."
Mr Osborne added: "We're working on a declaration that I think people will be impressed by because it covers so many of these issues", including consulting on whether to make a register of company ownership public.
CLARKE: CASE FOR EU "POSITIVELY THATCHERITE" 
Good morning. Kenneth Clarke has entered the European fray. As talks advance on an American-European trade deal, Mr Clarke, a key negotiator, has written that "irony of ironies, it is of course the EU that is making deals with America and Canada possible." For all the criticism of the EU, Mr Clarke writes that:
An asset it undoubtedly is. The European Union amplifies our influence in the world, renders us safer, more secure, and more in control of our own destiny. As Germany shows, the EU can indeed be the home of powerhouse exporters who dominate global trade.
Mr Clarke contrasts the "practical" souls who support staying in the EU and reforming it with the "isolationist John Bulls" who would sooner leave it. His Cabinet colleagues who support leaving the EU are compared to the romance of the Charge of the Light Brigade. To Mr Clarke, the only result of Britain leaving the EU would be "curtains for our ability to have any leadership role in world-defining plays".
Perhaps most audaciously of all, Mr Clarke describes the case for staying in the EU as "positively Thatcherite". It is an intervention that reminds us of how bitter the internal Conservative fight will be if an EU referendum does occur. Mr Cameron may have broadly united his party on Europe for the remainder of this Parliament, but the task will be altogether more difficult after 2015, whoever is leader.
In a sense the timing of Mr Clarke's Telegraph article is unfortunate. There is a risk that it will steal attention away from what could be one of the Prime Minister's undoubted policy successes - the American-European trade deal that could be worth £11 billion to Britain (£384 for every household) and create two million new jobs. The deal would dismantle taxes and tariffs between Europe and America, leading, it is hoped, to a single market.
It would be a better advertisement for EU membership than any concession Mr Cameron is likely to extract from Brussels inrenegotiations, although there is also some positive news on that front with the FT (£) noting that the UK has reached an agreement to limit the EU's influence over how the City regulates trading on its financial markets.
SYRIAN UNCERTAINTY CONTINUES
Mr Cameron yesterday pushed Vladimir Putin to sign up to plans to end the war in Syria. There is unity between the other seven G8 leaders over the need for action in Syria and the removal of the Assad regime, but Mr Putin is stubbornly maintaining his opposition to any intervention. 
The Times (£) notes the five key demands made by Mr Cameron, which avoided the issue of explicit intervention and were designed to find common ground with Mr Putin. These included: giving aid agencies better access to Syria; tackling the extremist five per cent of the Syrian opposition; denouncing the use of chemical weapons; starting to plan for the first day after Assad's fall; and explicitly giving a transition government executive authority. Early suggestions are that Mr Cameron's efforts, over a dinner that included Kilkeel crab, Kettyle beef and apple crumble with Bushmills whiskey custard, may not have been in vain.
Clearly, the issue of intervention is deeply complex, with Boris Johnson (whatever his motivation) yesterday presenting a powerful argument in opposition. But as I write in my column, for all the problems of intervening, it is something we might just have to do:
The global race is not just about economics. It is about the willingness of the few countries with the capacity to intervene to stand up and be counted when the need arises. Mr Cameron knows that the burden is always ours.
MINISTERS v CUTS, MICHAEL GOVE EDITION
Michael Gove is the latest Minister to resist departmental budget cuts. The education department could bear the brunt of as much as £2 billion of the £11.5 billion, according to The Times (£), and Mr Gove is resisting hard (sounds familiar?). The issue is further complicated by George Osborne's pledge to protect spending on the schools budget for children aged five to 16. While the total Education budget will be £39.4 billion by 2015, the cuts will come exclusively from the £12.2 billion that is unprotected, and would affect areas such as childcare, pre-school provision and further education. But Rachel Sylvester writes in The Times (£): "The Treasury is optimistic that, despite all the sound and fury, it will complete the spending review in time." 
THE PRICE OF DITCHING DAVE
To those Tory MPs tempted to write letters to 1922 Chairman Graham Brady, who already has around 30 of the 46 needed to trigger a no-confidence vote in Dave, YouGov's Peter Kellner has a message: don't. Despite a recent poll putting Dave behind his party for the first time, he is still comfortably more popular than Ed Miliband or Nick Clegg. Mr Kellner writes:
Those anti-Cameron Tories need to realise that their principles have a price. To divide their party, dispose of its greatest electoral asset and drive it further to the Right will not win them victory in 2015. Instead it will guarantee their party’s defeat.
WHEN IS AN ACADEMY NOT AN ACADEMY?
There is more confusion over a Labour policy. Do they support more autonomy for schools or not? After Stephen Twigg's announcement yesterday that Labour would "not have additional free schools", Lord Adonis wrote that "Labour will enable more parent-led academies, like the West London Free School", as we note. Answers on a postcard, please. We need convincing that "the party’s conversion to autonomy is sincere". One person certainly not convinced is Dan Hodges, who is underwhelmed by Ed Miliband's lack of personal exposure in Labour's U-turns: 
If Miliband was smart, he would have spent the past fortnight making a virtue out of necessity. He would have taken clear ownership of these significant U-turns, signalled a major change of direction for his party and framed the whole thing as a bold rebranding of Labour in the run-up to 2015.
NADINE FANCIES A RETURN TO THE JUNGLE
Nadine Dorries has given another interview that might have No 10 a little worried. Ms Dorries told Total Politics that she would "definitely" do more reality TV, that the Conservatives "would be idiots not to have Boris" and that the party suffers from "political naivety and delusion" about its 2015 prospects. She also reiterated her interest in running on a joint ticket with Ukip in 2015.
IF YOU CAN'T GET ENOUGH
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TWEETS AND TWITS

Douglas Carswell has issues with Kenneth Clarke's Telegraph piece:
@DouglasCarswell: Quitting the EU would "wreck the economy", says the man who wanted us to join the Euro
TOP COMMENT

In the Telegraph
Telegraph View - A lesson learnt?
Best of the rest
Rachel Sylvester in The Times (£) - No Minister, you can't have recycled paper
Janan Ganesh in The Financial Times (£) - Britain is served well by its political class
Donald Macintyre in The Independent - Is Ed up for a referendum? He may need to be
THE AGENDA
Today: Second and final day of G8 Summit at Enniskillen, Northern Ireland.
0930 London: Inflation figures for May are released by the Office for National Statistics.

1100 London: Culture Secretary Maria Miller hosts summit on damaging internet content, with ISPs, search engines and social media sites. DCMS.
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