Ed doesn’t repeat Nick’s mistake

Ed Miliband has hit upon the easiest and most obvious way to avoid what might be called the Clegg-over Trap: you do not have to answer certain questions, and any answer you give will make you look a twit, so pass. He was put to the test soon after becoming Labour leader when he was interviewed by Piers Morgan for an article in a men’s magazine. Morgan put the predictable questions – “How many women have you slept with?” and “When did you lose your virginity?” – both of which Mr Miliband brushed away, somewhat immodestly, by saying he “would not boast about his sexual prowess”. His reply contained a hidden dig at the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, who once told the same magazine, GQ, that he had slept with “no more than 30” women, to the horror of his advisers who were sitting in on the interview. The reply was meant as a joke, but landed the Liberal Democrat leader with the embarrassing nickname “Clegg-over”. – the Independent

The Labour leader insisted he would not be bullied into marrying Ms Thornton, the mother of his two young sons, before quipping: “Thank God for that, probably”. Mr Miliband, who is the first leader of a major political party to live with his family out of wedlock, has been criticised for not marrying Ms Thornton, a 40-year-old Cambridge- educated barrister. Traditionalists have also attacked Mr Miliband for not putting his name on the birth certificate of his eldest son, Daniel. He claimed he was so busy he forgot. During an interview for GQ magazine, which is out on Thursday, Morgan teased the Labour leader by continually referring to Ms Thornton as his “wife”. Asked for his views on marriage during the interview, which took place on the day he returned from paternity leave last November, Mr Miliband explained his decision. “It’s a good institution and part of having stable families, but there are also people in unmarried relationships with stable families. I don’t think politicians should order people to get married,” he said. He insisted he would eventually tie the knot. “But the more people who challenge me on it from a political standpoint, the more resistant I will become,” he added. Mr Miliband said he never took drugs at university, claiming he was a “bit square” in his youth. – the Scotsman

Gloves off in battle for the NHS

The Prime Minister said the health service would be “unaffordable” unless it was overhauled. The comments, in a letter to The Times, come as MPs prepare to debate for the second time the Coalition’s Health and Social Care Bill. “Already our health outcomes lag behind the best in Europe. Without modernisation, the principle we all hold dear – that the NHS is free to all who need it, when they need it – will become unaffordable,” he wrote in the paper. Andrew Lansley’s proposals, which centre around handing GP £80bn of the NHS budget and increasing the roll of private companies in health provision, have come under fierce criticism from unions and clinicians. Unite is expected to present MPs with “new and forensic analysis” of the legislation before today’s second reading. And the Royal College of Surgeons is warning the reforms may compromise standards of patient care if doctors focus on low prices rather than quality. A survey of almost 2,000 adults for public sector union Unison showed that half were opposed to the move, including 56% of Liberal Democrat voters. Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: “This Bill is heading for trouble. “There is very weak support from Tory voters and clear opposition from Lib Dems. “The fact is there is very little support for this Bill from anywhere.” Health workers will protest outside Parliament today during the debate. – Sky News

Only one in four people support GPs using private companies to provide NHS services, one of the key planks of the Government’s health reforms, according to a new poll. A survey of almost 2,000 adults for public sector union Unison showed that half were opposed to the move, including 56% of Liberal Democrat voters. The results have been published on the eve of the second reading of the Health and Social Care Bill, which will attract fresh criticism from unions. Unison said the YouGov poll showed that only 46% of Conservative voters supported private firms providing NHS services, with 22% registering a “don’t know” response, and half of those surveyed were against GPs employing private management groups as part of the move to hand over £80 billion of the NHS budget to GPs. Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: “This Bill is heading for trouble. The YouGov poll shows a clear split between Lib Dem and Tory supporters. There is very weak support from Tory voters and clear opposition from Lib Dems. – Daily Mirror

Balls keeps on the attack

Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, has been “leant on” to support the Government’s policy of rapid spending cuts against his own better judgement, the Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls suggested yesterday. Mr King made a highly publicised speech earlier in the week in which he said that the Government was set on the “right course” and must keep to it. His remarks contrasted with the view he took 30 years ago when Margaret Thatcher’s government was cutting public spending and he signed a letter warning against a course that would lead to high unemployment. Mr Balls, who has repeatedly warned that cutting spending too fast could plunge the UK into another recession, claimed the nation’s leading banker secretly sympathised with the Government’s critics. “I do not think that Mervyn King, in his heart of hearts, really believes that crushing the economy in this way is the right way to get the economy moving,” Mr Balls said. “It is not what other countries are doing, it is not what many economists think is the right approach, and it is not working.” Asked by his interviewer, BBC1’s Andrew Marr, whether he thought the nation’s leading banker had been “leant on” by the Government, Mr Balls said: “I think the Governor is being loyal. I think there will be part of him that is worried about the need to get the deficit down. The fact is he is under huge pressure because the economy is not growing.” – the Independent

Teacher training cuts to come

In a move certain to trigger a new confrontation with public-sector unions, the Government will announce today that the number of students training to work in secondary schools will fall by more than 2,000 from September, a decrease of 14 per cent. Ministers will also abolish bursary packages over concerns that millions of pounds are being wasted each year training students who never make it into the classroom. The decision to push ahead with politically explosive cuts came as George Osborne, the Chancellor, predicted disastrous consequences for the country if the Government backed down. Under the plans, annual £6,000 payments to allow students to teach almost all secondary school subjects, including English, history, geography and art, will be abolished. Last night the cuts caused anger among teaching unions and Opposition MPs who claimed they risked creating teaching shortages. Mary Bousted, the general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, warned that cuts this year would create staff shortages in two or three years’ time. “We already have a large number of teachers aged over 55 who are going to retire in the next few years, just as we cut trainees and bursaries. This Government is setting itself up for some serious problems two or three years down the line.” Andy Burnham, the shadow education secretary, said: “As ever with Michael Gove the fine rhetoric is not matched by the reality. Just weeks after a White Paper that promised to raise the status of teaching, he does precisely the opposite. It is another embarrassment for a Secretary of State whose hollow statements are never backed up by the detail.” – Daily Telegraph

Tags: Ed Miliband, GQ, Piers Morgan

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