Uk politics

Thursday

Isabel Hardman

Breaking: David Cameron says ‘I am not convinced statute is necessary’ for press regulation

David Cameron has just told MPs that while he accepts Lord Leveson's recommendations for a new independent press regulator, he rejects statutory underpinning of the new regulatory system. The Prime Minister said: 'I accept these principles... The onus should now be on the press.' He said he was in favour of giving the press a period of time to implement the recommendations. But to roars of disapproval from MPs on the other side of the Chamber, he said: 'I am not convinced... that statute is necessary.' He also told MPs that he accepted Leveson's recommendations on the relationship between the police and the press. The Prime Minister also took care to praise Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who was cleared of wrongdoing by the Inquiry.

Isabel Hardman

Leveson report: what the judge said about Jeremy Hunt

Jeremy Hunt was one of the most controversial figures caught up in the Leveson Inquiry, with Labour calling for the then Culture Secretary to resign over contact between his office and NewsCorp lobbyist Fred Michel. But today Lord Justice Leveson's report finds 'no credible evidence of actual bias on the part of Mr Hunt', but the exchanges between the lobbyist and Mr Hunt's adviser Adam Smith gave rise to the perception of bias.

James Forsyth

Leveson report: To pass a law you don’t just need a majority in parliament, but time too

There’s understandable excitement about whether a pro-Leveson Commons majority could be formed. At first glance, this looks likely if you add Labour, the Lib Dems and a handful of the Eustice Tories together you can get to 326 quite easily. But, in terms of passing a bill, you need more than majority. You need time. The vast majority of parliamentary time remains in the government’s gift. If the Prime Minister won’t let the government bring forward legislation, then there almost certainly won’t be a press law passed. David Cameron has tweeted that he’ll give a ‘clear sense of direction’ in his statement at 3pm. We will then after that have Nick Clegg’s statement.

Isabel Hardman

Leveson praises the media, then slaps it with ‘not statutory’ regulation underpinned by statute

Lord Justice Leveson has just finished giving his statement to the Inquiry press conference, and told journalists that he would be 'making no further comment' about the report's contents. 'The ball is back in the politicians' court,' he said. We have 40 minutes until we find out how the politicians plan to play that ball. The judge took great pains to praise the media, saying: 'I remain firmly of the belief that the British press, I repeat, all of it, serves the country very well for the vast majority of the time. There are truly countless examples of great journalism, great investigations and great campaigns.' He was so fulsome in his praise that it sounded almost valedictory, and as the judge continued, it seemed that it was: 'But none of that means that the press is beyond challenge.

David Blackburn

Leveson report recommends statutory underpinning of press regulation

'This is not, and cannot be characterised as, statutory regulation of the press.' This is the headline from the Leveson report. That said, Lord Justice Leveson recommends substantial changes to the current self-regulatory system, including changes that empower the civil courts. The changes will be underpinned by legislation to validate the new regulator, to guarantee independence from the industry, parliament and government, and to ensure compliance with certain guidelines. These changes are the consequence of the failure of the existing regulatory system and widespread press malpractice. Indeed, the report damns Fleet Street.

The Spectator

Nadine Dorries: Why shouldn’t a working class MP take a few days off?

Fresh from the jungle, Nadine Dorries is the Spectator's diarist for this week. As well as observing that each of her 11 fellow contestants on I'm a Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here! was 'probably more right wing than I am', she also explains why she thought it was acceptable for a 'working class woman to take a few parliamentary days off' to go on the show, writing: Many MPs take jollies from the House of Commons, but in seven years I have never spent a day away from my Westminster duties. This is why I thought I would be allowed to devote a few days of my holiday to a reality TV show. As far as I could see, the Conservative party is intensely relaxed about such absences. Some of its MPs have full-time careers in the City, others run family businesses or write books.

Isabel Hardman

Nick Clegg to give separate Leveson statement

Nick Clegg will make his own statement on Leveson in the Commons today after the Prime Minister has spoken. Party sources were saying yesterday that this would only happen if the two men disagreed on the government's response to the report. The Lib Dems want to back the rapid creation of a statutory backstop for newspaper regulation, while David Cameron does not want to back any press law, at least for now. This is probably the biggest clue we'll get as to the content of the Leveson report before the embargo lifts at 1.30pm. But it doesn't necessarily mean a big split over the outcome: the coalition cabinet committee will meet at noon to discuss the full response, and there may well be greater unity over this than initially appears.

Isabel Hardman

The big flashpoints over Leveson

Nick Clegg and David Cameron will return, with their officials, to their speed reading exercise of the hefty Leveson report this morning. The Deputy Prime Minister wasn't giving much away unsurprisingly, when he spoke to journalists a short while ago as he left his home. He said: 'In this whole process, everybody wants two things: firstly a strong, independent, raucous press who can hold people in positions of power to account. And secondly to protect ordinary people, the vulnerable, the innocent when the press overstep the mark. That's the balance we're trying to strike, and I'm sure we will.' There is still the possibility that Clegg may give a second statement in the House of Commons later today if he and the Prime Minister fail to agree on the government's response to Leveson.

Wednesday

Isabel Hardman

Bold Boles’ planning push is a key example of ‘spreading privilege’

Nick Boles has just put in a fierce performance on Newsnight over his controversial remarks on planning. Amusingly, the minister's remarks aren't a million miles away from Nick Clegg's slightly less well-reported speech on housing last week, but Boles has a knack of going where other ministers fear to tread when he speaks about difficult issues. He was extremely impressive on why making development a priority does not mean England is going to turn into an enormous concrete jungle, saying: 'Under 10% of Britain, currently, 10% of England, is covered by urban development in any way. A very small amount. Over 85%, 88%, would still be rural, undeveloped countryside, and we would have completely solved our housing need for the next 20 years.

Jonathan Jones

Labour is sitting a little less comfortably for tomorrow’s by-elections

Tomorrow's three by-elections — the 11th, 12th and 13th since the general election — should have been three easy Labour victories. They are defending majorities of 16,481 in Croydon North, 10,462 in Rotherham and 8,689 in Middlesbrough. And certainly neither the Conservatives nor the Liberal Democrats — second and third in all three seats in 2010 — look capable of overturning them. But Labour are not looking as comfortable as they'd hoped. In both Croydon North and Rotherham, they've come under threat from Respect, raising the possibility that we'll see a repeat of the 'Bradford Spring' that saw George Galloway return to the Commons with 56 per cent of the vote in Bradford West in March.

Lloyd Evans

PMQs sketch: PM paints Work Programme a marvellous success

While Leveson packs his sun-cream and flip-flops and prepares for a holiday in Australia, the nation holds its breath in anticipation of his report. One lucky citizen, the prime minister, is permitted a sneak glance at the findings of the great inquisitor into press malpractice. At 11.45 this morning, the monumental hardback landed with a thump on Number 10’s doormat. David Cameron barely had time to turn to the index and see how many name-checks he’d been given before he was whisked off to the Commons to answer questions from Ed Miliband. It was not a great occasion. The opposition leader challenged Cameron on the failure of the Work Programme, (b. June 2011), to terminate long-term unemployment. Reports yesterday revealed that just 3.

James Forsyth

The Coalition split over Leveson

I'm informed by someone involved in the coalition negotiations on the issue that the reason the Liberal Democrats want to be able to make their own statement on the Leveson Report is that they intend to back the rapid creation of a statutory back-stop for newspaper regulation. By contrast, I hear that David Cameron doesn’t want to back any press law, at least for now. The key moment tomorrow will come with a meeting of the Cabinet’s coalition committee at noon. It is scheduled for an hour and is meant to thrash out whether a common position can be agreed. Michael Gove, the government’s most passionate opponent of statutory regulation, is a member of it as are all five Liberal Democrat Cabinet Ministers and David Laws.

Isabel Hardman

University applications fall 8%. But is that bad news?

University admissions service UCAS published figures today showing the number of students applying early for university has fallen by 8 per cent on last year, following a drop of just under 13 per cent the year before. 'Oh dear,' tweeted Times Higher Education's news editor Simon Baker, adding that these figures are 'worrying' while NUS president Liam Burns said the data meant the government 'should now finally admit that its higher education policies are having a significant impact on application behaviour'. Universities themselves might be worried about the effect on their business models of a decline in the number of students, particularly for undersubscribed courses. But are these figures really an unsettling indication of the effects of the government's higher education reforms?

Isabel Hardman

Grayling defends stand-off with ECHR on prisoner votes

Chris Grayling today defended the Government's decision to square up to the European Court of Human Rights on prisoner votes. The Justice Secretary seemed to enjoy his hour and a half before the Justice Select Committee, and used it to make a number of typically forthright assertions about the criminal justice system. Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn attacked the minister for the government's decision to refuse to give prisoners the vote, saying: 'What message does this give to other countries if you are inviting the British parliament and judiciary to pick and choose which ECHR judgements it enacts or doesn't enact? In any event, you could easily agree with the ECHR by a very minimal level of prisoner voting.

Isabel Hardman

Lib Dems seek alternative Leveson statement slot

As teams in secure rooms in Downing Street pore over the half dozen copies of the Leveson report, which arrived this morning, the Liberal Democrats are already starting to work out what they'll need to do if David Cameron and Nick Clegg find they cannot agree on the government's response. The Lib Dems have approached the Speaker to find out whether there is a possibility that Nick Clegg could give his own separate statement following Cameron's own response in the Commons tomorrow afternoon. Sources say they hope that this is an unlikely scenario, but add that 'he would like to be able to make his position clear in Parliament' if he does take a different stance.

Fraser Nelson

Why The Spectator will take no part in state licensing of the press

Lord Justice Leveson reports at 1.30pm tomorrow and David Cameron has blocked out 90 minutes in parliament to respond. The big question is this: will he introduce state licensing of the media? A group of 42 Tory MPs wants him to, and No.10 apparently thinks they will rebel if he doesn’t. But this would mean revoking Britain’s 317-year history of press freedom, and give Parliament power to set the parameters under which the press operates. If the state seeks to compel publications to join the government scheme, then they face a choice: sign up, or defy the new law. In tomorrow’s Spectator, we make our choice. We say in our leading article that we would happily sign up to any new form of self-regulation which the industry proposes, no matter how onerous.

James Forsyth

The Lib Dems can use Leveson to show coalitions work

The Liberal Democrats’ strategic imperative in this parliament is to show that coalitions can work. Their response to the Leveson Inquiry is, I suspect, going to be part of this plan. Their position on the issue is hardening. Yesterday’s Guardian report that they would make clear if David Cameron was only speaking for the Conservative party not the government, has been followed by Nick Robinson’s news that Clegg will make his own statement in the Commons if no coalition position can be agreed. I understand that, ideally, Clegg would make his statement from the despatch box.

Isabel Hardman

Cameron to receive Leveson report as Tory party splits on press regulation

David Cameron will receive his copy of the Leveson report later today, and will meet twice with Nick Clegg to discuss its contents: once this evening, and again as part of a coalition committee tomorrow. There will be a Commons statement tomorrow at about 2.30 from the Prime Minister, but Nick Robinson reports this morning that the Deputy Prime Minister is considering speaking after his colleague if the pair fail to agree on the government's response to the Leveson report. Those won't be the only tensions over the recommendations from the Inquiry, though. Scores of Tories are among the 86 MPs,who have signed a letter which today pleads with the government to not introduce state-backed regulation of newspapers.

Tuesday

Jonathan Jones

Miliband’s false ‘millionaires’ tax cut’ attack

Messrs Miliband and Balls performed their pre-autumn statement double act today. If for some inexplicable reason you missed it, the Labour chiefs launched their Q&A with an attack on the government for its decision to cut 50p income tax rate to 45p: 'The Government is about to give an average of £107,500 each to 8,000 people earning over a million a year. Not £40,000, but £107,500. To 8,000 millionaires. David Cameron and George Osborne are giving them this money. But it’s coming from you. 'You are paying the price of their failure and them standing up for the wrong people. David Cameron and George Osborne believe the only way to persuade millionaires to make work harder is to give them more money.

Isabel Hardman

Work programme figures disappoint

Today's headline figures on the Work Programme are not good news for the government: in its first 12 months, only 2.3 per cent of participants actually landed sustainable employment against the department's target of 5.5 per cent. This sounds even worse when you contrast it with the government's own figures suggesting that 5 per cent of people who have been unemployed for a long time can find sustainable jobs without any intervention at all, suggesting the programme is actually worse than doing nothing. At Coffee House, we are keen to see the Work Programme succeed, not just because it will vindicate the ministers co-ordinating it, but also because a successful programme would bring those furthest from the labour market back into employment.