World Cup heart break

For the last five days in Zurich, Jack Warner’s chauffeur-driven Fifa limousine has nosed its way through the city’s traffic to take the 67-year-old former school teacher to meetings with Prince William, David Cameron and David Beckham, who have treated Warner like a friend and ally. Yesterday, Warner delivered a lesson to Britain’s young Prime Minister and its even fresher-faced heir to the throne that there are no politics in international sport more brutal than those of Fifa – where men will say one thing to your face and do quite another when they approach the ballot box in the boardroom at Fifa House. Cameron was fortunate that he was out of Zurich and away from the television cameras when Warner delivered his stitch-up of the English bid in which neither he nor his Concacaf colleagues, representing North and Central America and the Caribbean, voted for England. In Cameron’s gilded political career it would be difficult to remember a more blatant humiliation than the one dealt him by Warner. – The Independent

The result, worse even than the failed 2006 bid that made it into the second round before being ejected, exposed the confidence engendered by the work of England’s ‘Three Lions’ and an outstanding final presentation as illusory. There was resentment too that the strong technical merits of England’s bid – it was the most highly-rated on technical and economic grounds – had apparently been ignored. Cameron, who spent three days pressing England’s case in Zurich, said Fifa had ignored the bids merits: “According to Fifa we had the best technical bid and the strongest commercial bid and the country is passionate about football. But it turns out that is not enough.” – The Telegraph

Frank Field report published

The biggest transformation of anti-poverty programmes since the war – which will “require a testing of some of the 1940s welfare state’s sacred cows” – is today proposed by Frank Field in a report commissioned by David Cameron. Field, a Labour MP and a long-term anti-poverty campaigner, proposes the government switches focus from Labour’s anti-poverty measure, based on material income, to a set of life chance indicators. He writes: “Poverty is a much more subtle enemy than purely lack of money,” adding he does not believe poverty is the dominant reason why disadvantage is handed down from one generation to another. Parenting was more important than income or schooling to a child’s life chances. The findings will be strongly supported by the Liberal Democrat policy team, as well as by Oliver Letwin, the Conservatives’s chief policy thinker. Cameron and Nick Clegg, in a joint letter to Field, praised the report as “a vital moment in the history of our efforts to tackle poverty and disadvantage”. – The Guardian

Child benefit and child tax credits would be frozen and the money switched to improving the life chances of disadvantaged children before they start school, under plans being considered by the Government. In a report today, Frank Field, the Labour MP and the Government’s anti-poverty tsar, recommends a change away from boosting the incomes of poor families. Instead, his inquiry proposes improving public services and breaking the cycle to “prevent poor children from becoming poor adults”. – The Independent (more…)

Tuition fees vote

MPs are to vote on controversial plans to raise tuition fees in England on 9 December, ministers have confirmed. The vote will be a critical test for the coalition, which has faced mass protests over its plan to nearly double fees to £6,000 and allow charges of up to £9,000 for some courses. The Lib Dems have come under heavy pressure after pledging before the election not to support any fee rise. Ministers insist the proposals are fairer than the current system. But student leaders say the proposals – which followed the independent Browne review of student finance – will deter people from poorer backgrounds from applying to university. – BBC

The National Union of Students has announced plans for further mass student protests on the eve of a crucial Commons vote on university tuition fees. The union has called for students across the country to begin demonstrations on 8 December. A further rally by students and union officials is planned on the day of the vote before the group lobbies MPs inside Westminster in an effort to persuade them against voting for a rise in fees. NUS president Aaron Porter said: “MPs can be left in no doubt as to the widespread public opposition to these plans or of the consequences of steamrollering them through parliament.  “For the third time in less than a month thousands of students have taken to the streets to protest against the government’s attacks on further and higher education. He added: “Despite repeated dismissals by Nick Clegg that these are uninformed protesters, students are intelligent, articulate people who are not being listened to by those in whom they placed their hope for a different politics.” – The Guardian

Cameron U-turn on school sports

David Cameron was in retreat last night over the Government’s plans to cut funding for school sports following protests from top athletes. Ministers were facing a backlash against moves to scrap the £162m fund targeted on boosting sports standards in English schools. Critics warned that the move would threaten after-school clubs and cost the jobs of sport coaches and PE teachers – just as London staged the 2012 Olympics. Mr Cameron signalled a rethink over the plans yesterday, saying he was looking “very carefully” at the issue and planned to make an announcement soon. Downing Street acknowledged that there had been concern “at local level” about the move and said that Mr Cameron had asked the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, to look again at the decision. – The Independent

Calls for King’s head

There were calls last night for Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, to give evidence to a parliamentary inquiry after the Conservatives claimed he sided with them during the talks leading to the formation of the coalition government. Tristam Hunt, a Labour member of the political and constitutional reform select committee, said he had written to Graham Allen, its chairman, to ask King to give evidence. Allen said he would take soundings from committee members tomorrow. Hunt said today: “In light of the revelations in WikiLeaks and the Guardian, I believe King should give evidence to the committtee to clarify what role he believes a governor should play in the formation of coalitions, as well as what specific role he did play in May. This is not a small matter and does deserve some serious analysis by a committee like ours.” Hunt added: “There is a danger that Mervyn King has compromised the independence of the bank in his role in the coalition talks. The whole ideological rationale behind this government is the necessity of cutting the deficit faster than the Labour government. King seems to have encouraged that view and so raised serious questions as to what his role should be as head of the bank”. – The Guardian (more…)

Wikileaks: Cameron and Osborne lack experience and are “light weight”

The head of the Bank of England privately criticised David Cameron and George Osborne for their lack of experience, the lack of depth in their inner circle and their tendency to think about issues only in terms of their electoral impact, according to leaked US embassy cables. Mervyn King told the US ambassador, Louis Susman, he had held private meetings with the two Conservative politicians before the election to urge them to draw up a detailed plan to reduce the deficit. He said the pair operated too much within a narrow circle and “had a tendency to think about issues only in terms of politics, and how they might affect Tory electorability”. He also predicted that economic recovery would be “a long drawn-out process”, since Britain had not been through an economic restructuring. – The Guardian

The disclosures could test the relationship between Mr King and the Prime Minister and his Chancellor. Labour is sure to exploit the embarrassment at Prime Minister’s Questions later today. Mr King’s fears, made in a meeting on Feb 16, were sent in a cable to the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and disclosed last night by the WikiLeaks website. The Governor complained that the future Prime Minister and Chancellor relied too heavily on a narrow circle of advisers. They also “had a tendency to think about issues only in terms of politics, and how they might affect Tory electorability [sic]”. Mr King also said he had held private meetings with the Tory leader and Mr Osborne before the election to urge them to draw up a detailed plan to reduce the deficit. – The Telegraph

The rightwing Conservative MP for Sevenoaks and now Conservative deputy chairman, Michael Fallon, also confided his doubts to US diplomats. His remarks were detailed in a cable sent in October 2008 titled: “Conservative party caught flat-footed by Brown’s quick manoeuvres on financial crisis, says senior Tory MP”. It stated: “The Tories’ response to the crisis has been regrettably tepid … The Conservative party felt the absence of a strong shadow chancellor and the party’s counter-proposals to Labour’s plans have been ‘all over the place’. Fallon particularly criticised Osborne’s op-ed piece in the October 28 Daily Telegraph as a ‘weak’, almost laughable, response to the economic crisis.” Mark Tokola, the embassy’s economic minister at the time, concluded: “Fallon’s comments to us reflected Conservative frustration – and some grudging admiration – for prime minister Brown’s skill in seizing the high ground during the economic crisis”. – The Guardian

Will they, won’t they?

NICK Clegg and Vince Cable yesterday hinted they may not vote on tuition fees – leaving their party in disarray. The Deputy Prime Minister refused to say if he’d back the Coalition’s plans to hike the fees to up to £9,000 a year. And Business Secretary Mr Cable – the minister in charge of the controversial plans – admitted he may ABSTAIN in the face of protests from Lib Dem MPs. Party sources also admitted they were listening to the views of student protesters, who held demonstrations against the plans yesterday. One senior Lib Dem said the party’s MPs were not “tone deaf” to the criticisms of the policy. – The Sun (more…)