Cameron confronts Tory party critics over billions more in foreign aid

David Cameron will today slap down critics within his own party who have questioned his decision to pour billions more into foreign aid at a time of austerity.

The Prime Minister will mount a passionate defence of his  policy in a speech.

Yesterday he said Britain had a ‘moral’ duty to ‘step up’ and help the world’s poorest.

Many Tories are furious at the decision to increase aid spending by 34 per cent to more than £12billion while most public services are facing steep cuts.

But Mr Cameron said it would be wrong to ‘turn inwards solely to our own problems and effectively balance our books while breaking our promises to the world’s poorest’.

He acknowledged that the policy was ‘controversial’ but said the public should be ‘proud’ of its spending on aid.

Mr Cameron added, however: ‘We have to make sure we get value for our money. In the past too much aid has been badly spent. It is right to be angry about that. But it is wrong to think the way to respond is to walk away from aid altogether.

 

Tory ministers are to backtrack on their pledge to cap state welfare hand-outs at £26,000 a year.

The retreat, which is a sop to Lib Dems, will overturn a promise that no household on benefits should be given more than the average family earns.

The policy was a vote-winning response to damaging headlines about large, workless families claiming more than £100,000 a year from the taxpayer.

Lord Freud, the Tory welfare reform minister, yesterday told the BBC’s Politics Show he was anxious to prevent bigger families being unfairly penalised. ‘We’re looking at exceptional circumstances which some people may find themselves in and we are going to be putting out arrangements for that later in the year,’ he said. 

He confirmed exemptions would occur and that ministers we’re ‘looking very carefully at how to draw up those protections’.

The climbdown marks another concession to the Lib Dems after a similar retreat on NHS reforms that saw party leader Nick Clegg boasting ‘we won’.

Bin collection and criminal sentencing pledges have also been reversed.
George Osborne announced the £26,000 cap last year, setting it as ‘the average family gets for going out to work’.

David Miliband yesterday denied plotting against his brother in an ongoing feud over the Labour leadership.

The ex-foreign secretary called for the party to unite behind Ed - and dismissed reports that he was hoping for his brother to fail as "soap opera".
The older Miliband said: "I have moved on from the leadership election.
"Ed won, I stand fully behind him and so should everyone else.
"I called for unity last October and I repeat that now."
The latest wave of speculation over the brothers' relationship was sparked by an unauthorised biography alleging that the fallout from last year's contest was far worse than either has admitted.
David is said to have effectively accused his younger brother of lying - and the claims have fuelled doubts about Ed Miliband's future at the helm of the party.
Last week's leak of a text of the victory address David planned to deliver did nothing to dampen rumours of divisions.
 But yesterday, he said: "We all have our part to play supporting Ed and the frontbench team to ensure we expose this Government for their reckless policies. "The rest is soap opera of which I want no part and the public have no interest." But meanwhile, supporters of David were accused yesterday of plotting against brother Ed.
Labour health spokesman Diane Abbott said: "You have a group of people who supported David Miliband and who cannot believe he lost and they are endlessly briefing against him.
"This is just malice from people who cannot believe David lost.
Her comments came as Labour figures said Ed must "raise his game" or risk facing a leadership challenge.
One shadow Cabinet minister said the party were "in a miserable place". Speaking on condition of anonymity, he voiced fears that Ed was yet not up to the job.
The source said: "Ed has to step up to the mark, make more impact and do something to break through. There's genuine concern it's not working out and he's not making an impact.
"The electorate aren't persuaded by him, he's got a long way to go and he needs to up his game."
Other frontbenchers said Ed Miliband has until next May's London and local elections to improve - or face a challenge.
But Abbott was withering about the suggestion that David would have made a better leader.
She said: "The idea you replace Ed for David is nonsense. What would the public think? "You get rid of one Miliband and replace him with another?" In a further blow to the Labour leader yesterday, an opinion poll revealed that two out of five Labour supporters believed electing Ed had been the wrong decision.

Two senior politicians have contacted police after a private investigator was accused in Parliament of targeting public figures for a newspaper.

Ex-ministers Lord Mandelson and Jack Straw want to know what information Scotland Yard has about Jonathan Rees, who worked for the News of the World.

The Met Police has revealed it is investigating claims of computer hacking, as well as phone-hacking.

Mr Rees's lawyer said his client "made many legal enquiries" in the 1990s.

Lord Mandelson told The Independent: "I have contacted the Met Police today to ask them what information they may hold from current or previous investigations."

He added: "It isn't acceptable to keep pointing the finger at one newspaper when clearly the use of unlawful means of investigating was, or is, widespread.

"This is a bigger issue than the wrongdoing of one rogue investigator and that's why this whole issue should be pursued more widely."

Private e-mails

Mr Straw told the paper: "I have written to the Metropolitan Police to ask exactly what evidence they have as this is the first I have heard of it."

Scotland Yard's six-person unit running Operation Tuleta was set up following a Panorama programme in February that accused News of the World Irish edition editor Alex Marunchak of obtaining the private e-mails of ex-British intelligence officer Ian Hurst in 2006.

Mr Marunchak, who left the paper later in 2006, denied involvement.

The Met unit is looking into this and other claims resulting from the Panorama programme.


Trinity Mirror's position is clear. Our journalists work within the criminal law and the PCC (Press Complaints Commission) code of conduct”

Trinity Mirror
It has also emerged that Mr Rees, who was accused by an MP of covert surveillance for News International, also worked for the Daily Mirror.

Papers seen by the BBC about his work for the Mirror show no illegality.

Leaked documents obtained by the BBC show Jonathan Rees was paid by the Mirror for work in 1998 and 1999 researching information on figures including Peter Mandelson, Alistair Campbell, Will Carling, Bank of England governors and a production company owned by the Earl and Countess of Wessex.

The papers, from a computer of Mr Rees's company Southern Investigations, are among those currently held by police and do not demonstrate any illegality.

A statement released by Mr Rees's lawyer said his client had "made many legal enquiries (eg electoral roll, Companies House) for many newspapers during the 1990s".

Hacking scandal

It added that the documents had been unlawfully obtained by the BBC, "almost certainly from police to distract attention from police failings".

A statement by the Mirror's parent company Trinity Mirror said: "Many years ago some of our journalists used Southern Investigations. They were last used in 1999.

"Trinity Mirror's position is clear. Our journalists work within the criminal law and the PCC (Press Complaints Commission) code of conduct."

During a House of Lords debate on Thursday, Lord Prescott called for the government to hold an independent public inquiry into the hacking scandal.

Lord Prescott, an alleged victim of phone hacking, said a number of UK institutions - including the police - had been "polluted" by the "criminal activity by our press".

'Wholly inaccurate allegations'

In the House of Commons on Wednesday, Tom Watson MP accused Mr Rees of carrying out covert surveillance for News International that had targeted former Prime Minister Tony Blair.

In response to the allegations, News International said: "It is well documented that Jonathan Rees and Southern Investigations worked for a whole variety of newspaper groups.

"With regards to Tom Watson's specific allegations, we believe these are wholly inaccurate."

The Guardian newspaper said Kate Middleton - now the Duchess of Cambridge - Prince Edward, the Countess of Wessex, the Duke and Duchess of Kent and former Home Secretary Jack Straw were all believed to have been victims of hacking.

Scotland Yard confirmed it had received several allegations of breaches of privacy since January that were being investigated.

On Tuesday, News International formally apologised in court to the actress Sienna Miller for hacking into several of her mobile phones.

The Met reopened its inquiry - known as Operation Weeting - in January into claims that staff at News International's News of the World newspaper had hacked into the phone messages of celebrities and other public figures.

The Treasury has speeded up access to £2.7bn worth of new borrowing powers for the Scottish government in an early concession to Alex Salmond's nationalist government.

The Treasury has speeded up access to £2.7bn worth of new borrowing powers for the Scottish government in an early concession to Alex Salmond's nationalist government.

Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, said allowing the Scottish government to use part of those borrowing powers in advance – helping it finance a new bridge over the Forth and a new hospital in Glasgow – was evidence of the respect agenda being pursued by the Westminster government.

But Clegg gave a clear indication that the UK government was lukewarm about Salmond's demands for the Scottish government to be given powers over corporation tax, which raises £2.8bn a year in Scotland, mirroring similar proposals already being investigated for Northern Ireland.

Speaking after meeting Salmond at the first minister's office in Edinburgh, Clegg said the UK government would study carefully the Scottish government proposals on corporation tax and excise duty but said it was already getting "very considerable" new powers on taxation and borrowing worth £12bn a year.

The full borrowing powers, to borrow £2.2bn for capital spending and £500m for revenue spending, would be in force by 2013. The Treasury would announce how much Salmond could borrow in advance shortly.

Clegg said: "The principle of further tax devolution is something we clearly believe in, otherwise we wouldn't be piloting legislation for the Scottish parliament, but there's a lot of questions [about corporation tax], and I asked the first minister a lot of questions about how would it be funded, how would it work, not least in the context of where we in the British government are bringing it down dramatically, by 5% over coming years.

"What business leaders are telling me is that they're not interested in a patchwork of different corporation taxes across the UK, but just low corporation tax, full stop, and that's exactly what we're concentrating on delivering in the coalition government."

Clegg gently distanced himself from controversial proposals by his Lib Dem cabinet colleague and Scottish secretary Michael Moore this week that the UK government would likely insist on a second referendum on independence, to allow Scottish voters a vote on the precise terms of independence.

Moore's proposal has been ridiculed by the Scottish government and Scottish Tories, and been played down by Willie Rennie, the Scottish Lib Dem leader.

Clegg said Moore "was giving a very fair and accurate description of the legal and constitutional position as it presently is.

"A lot of people in Scotland will be lost in the constitutional and legal detail, quite a lot of it arcane, because what they really want to know is not so much the vehicle for this or that decision, but what is the choice ... What most people are interested in is what's the question, what's the choice?"

After the meeting, Salmond said he was still hopeful that the UK government would add further powers to the Scotland bill, which currently gives Scotland power over income tax rates this autumn.

His ministers would publish much more detailed proposals about devolving corporation tax and excise duty, getting even greater borrowing powers, and taking control over the Crown Estate's marine and land holdings in Scotland and setting up a Scottish digital television channel over the next few months.

Salmond also confirmed he was open to proposals to ask two questions in the independence referendum. The question on independence would be clear and unambiguous but he could add a further option, offering much greater financial autonomy for Scotland but remaining within the UK.

"There's no question of us doing anything other than 'yes' or 'no' [on independence] but the question of us adding another proposition is still open," he said.

DAVID Cameron's Tories were plunged into scandal yesterday after an up-and-coming MP was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault.

DAVID Cameron's Tories were plunged into scandal yesterday after an up-and-coming MP was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault.
Andrew Bridgen, the married 46-year-old MP for North-West Leicestershire, right, was released on bail after being held by police in Westminster.
It is understood the alleged incident involved a 29-year-old woman and took place in the MP's flat in Pimlico, near the Commons. It is believed she was a parliamentary worker, but not in Bridgen's office.
Scotland Yard confirmed: "A 46-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault at an address in SW1 in the early hours of Thursday, June 9. The man has been bailed to return on a date in mid-July."
The arrest was another dent to the carefully burnished rebranding that Cameron has undertaken on the Conservative Party, who have a long history of sex scandals.

If Ed Balls really loves Labour, he should resign

Labour supporters must wish they could go back under the duvet this morning: it is one thing to suspect that Ed Balls, Douglas Alexander and – to a lesser extent –Ed Miliband were Gordon Brown’s boys, ready to promote their man at any cost; it is another to read that these men at the top of today’s Labour were plotting to oust Tony Blair from No 10. To do so they were prepared to lean on party members and drip poison in their ears. Brown before the party, was their motto – and Brown before Britain, for this was when the nation faced its worst terrorist attacks.
The worst of it, for Labour, is that these men form Her Majesty’s Opposition. They have retained their bullying tactics, frenzied factionalism, and – judging by the leaked letters –  bitter enmities. This in-fighting is key to understanding Labour since 1997. Forget Tory splits between Eurosceptics and Europhiles: that’s kids’ stuff. When you want to see deep dark hatred in action:  misinformation campaigns, threats and counter-threats, and language (”brutal cleansing”) that echoes Stalin’s. The party, Brown’s cabal decreed, must be purged of unreliable (ie Blairite) elements. It was precisely this kind of tribalism that Blair’s revolution was supposed to eradicate: he knew, instinctively, that Labour could not succeed until it got over its obsession with score-settling. Unfortunately, for the anti-Blair camp this was no pastime but a raison d’etre.
One question is: whom does this row serve? I have a hunch, given its timing, that one former Prime Minister (no, not Gordon) stands to benefit a great deal. Only yesterday Blair came out with an extraordinary request, that there should be a President of the European Union. It would make sense for him to give David Cameron a big gift, in the shape of an explosive anti-Labour revelation, in order to secure the Coalition’s support for his plans. But I should add that this is just guesswork.
Whatever the truth, Labour can survive only by flushing out the thugs. Voters will never believe in a hierarchy riddled with yesterday’s plotters. Ed Balls has claimed time and again that he loves his party. If this is so, the Shadow Chancellor must now resign.

 

Fresh evidence has emerged of how Gordon Brown and his supporters tried to oust Tony Blair as prime minister.

Their efforts are shown in papers belonging to the current shadow chancellor Ed Balls, which have been obtained by the Daily Telegraph.

The memos show they tried to get Mr Blair to stand down after Labour won a third general election in 2005.

Their plan was codenamed Project Volvo, the car Mr Brown's supporters believed voters most associated with him.

Mr Brown's supporters met on 21 July 2005, when Mr Blair was dealing with attempted terror attacks on London.

BBC deputy political editor James Landale says that - after gossip and memoirs dealing with the same topic - these memos document the extraordinary attempts to oust Mr Blair.

"Much of the detail may be for historians but the question is whether any of the revelations damage some of those on Labour's frontbench today who were close to Mr Brown, including the current leader Ed Miliband," our correspondent said.

A Labour source has said that this is all ancient history and that Labour is a party looking to the future, he adds.

'Muddled'
The Daily Telegraph has obtained more than 30 memos belonging to Mr Balls, one of Mr Brown's closest advisers.

The paper names current Labour leader Ed Miliband and shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander as co-conspirators.

The documents disclose details of secret meetings, opinion polls on Mr Blair's policies and attempts to rebrand Mr Brown's image.

They also include letters exchanged between Mr Blair and Mr Brown, which provide greater insight into the rivalry at the top of the Labour party.

The files show them haggling over the terms for a handover of No 10.

In February 2006, Mr Blair wrote to Mr Brown: "You (understandably) want me to go now.

"You need to be the candidate of continuity and change. The second will be relatively easy to do. A different person is, by its nature, change."

But, said Mr Blair, to be the candidate of continuity would require a "clear demonstration" to the public that Mr Blair, as the embodiment of New Labour, was "working hand in hand with the successor".

Suggesting a deal under which he would leave in summer 2007, Mr Blair said that in return he would need "full help and co-operation" on key reforms to the NHS, schools, welfare and energy.

And he warned: "Whilst I remain PM, the final decision has to be mine; and that cannot provoke a breakdown. I will try, at all costs, to avoid disagreement, but there can't be stalemate if it happens."

On a copy of the letter he passed to Mr Balls, Mr Brown scribbled the words "shallow", "inconsistent" and "muddled".

Claims by the Archbishop of Canterbury that the coalition government is pushing through radical change which no one has voted for were rejected by Prime Minister David Cameron

Claims by the Archbishop of Canterbury that the coalition government is pushing through radical change which no one has voted for were rejected by Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday.

In an outspoken attack, Rowan Williams warned that the government’s policies in areas such as health and education were sparking “bafflement and indignation” among voters who had not seen them exposed to public debate in last year’s election.

There was “anger and anxiety” at efforts to push through far-reaching reforms for which they had no democratic mandate, said the head of the Church of England.

The prime minister said Mr Williams was free to express his views, but he “profoundly disagreed” with the remarks.