Uk politics

Why is Ed Miliband going to rule out a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU in a speech tomorrow? The Labour leader has written in the FT that he would legislate for a new referendum lock which would force an In/Out referendum if there was another transfer of British power to Brussels, which essentially means he supports the current situation under the Coalition. And he says in the piece that the transfer is unlikely in the next Parliament. Which means no referendum. He writes that Labour's position on Europe... "… is clear and principled: we strongly believe Britain’s future is in the EU. And my priorities for government after the next election are very different from those of the Conservatives.

What makes a good Secretary of State? Today Jeremy Browne was interviewed on the Daily Politics about what it's like to be a junior minister, from his experience of working in both the Foreign Office and Home Office. Towards the end, Jo Coburn asked whether it was true that he'd been given more freedom at the Foreign Office than he had when working for Theresa May at the Home Office. He said: 'Well that would be telling tales, but I think… anybody who's ever been in any workplace will know that some bosses are willing to give you a little bit more freedom and discretion and others are a bit more control freakish.

Why the surprise? Of course the Prime Minister would employ a nanny from somewhere like Nepal. David Cameron is simply taking part in the familiar upper-middle class game of 'Exploited Third World Labour Top Trumps'. The more backward, far-flung and desolate the country of origin, the higher your nanny scores. And, incidentally, the cheaper she is likely to be. Nepal scores a very commendable fifty points. Right now I’ll bet Osborne is trying desperately to source a skivvy from Kyrgyzstan, or perhaps a member of the Melpa tribe from Papua New Guinea, with their strange binary counting system and facility for pig-rearing. Nick Clegg has gone for easy points with a Belgian (thirty points for a Walloon, fifteen for a Flem).

Great excitement in Westminster today over David Cameron's Nepalese nanny (as a member of James Brokenshire's metropolitan elite) and whether the Prime Minister had a role in Gita Lima obtaining British citizenship. At this morning's lobby briefing, a Number 10 spokesperson was asked whether Cameron had played a role in getting Lima a British passport. The spokesperson replied that they were 'not aware' of any involvement from the PM. Now I understand that Number 10 have checked the relevant documents and are shortly to release a statement confirming that the Camerons did not write a letter in support of their nanny's passport application. Samantha Cameron was simply named as the nanny's employer on the application form, as is required.

With a mere whimper, the government has released its controversial report (pdf) on the effects of immigration on ‘native UK employment’. Following Newsnight’s revelations that the report was being ‘held back’, Labour demanded its release. 24 hours later, it was put online while Theresa May was informing MPs of an inquiry into undercover policing after revelations about the treatment of Stephen Lawrence's family. Here are the top five things you need to know from the paper: 1. There’s minimal evidence of migrants taking British jobs The Home Office report titled ‘Impacts of migration on UK native employment' reveals there is ‘relatively little evidence’ of British workers being displaced — i.e.