Action on Libya

David Cameron has given his clearest statement yet that the Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi should step down immediately.  Speaking from Downing Street, Mr Cameron said: “It is time for Colonel Gaddafi to go and to go now, there is no future for Libya that includes him” and he said the British Government was “putting serious pressure” on the regime to relinquish power by imposing a travel ban and an asset freeze.

The Prime Minister also confirmed that a number of Britons had been rescued on Sunday and although there had been some risks, he decided it was the “right thing to do” to ensure British nationals in remote oil fields were evacuated from the country safely. On Sunday evening the Foreign Office confirmed that the Chancellor George Osborne had taken the decision to freeze the assets of the Gaddafi family before the markets open on Monday.  This follows the UN Security Council Resolution tabled by France and Britain, backing sanctions on Libya is response to state violence against protesters. – PoliticsHome (more…)

Ed Miliband: Britain needs a more ethical approach to foreign policy

British citizens facing great danger in Libya have a right to expect more than David Cameron’s shambolic, incompetent government gave them last week. All of us have the right to expect a more coherent and principled foreign policy than the one on show: trying to pretend a trade mission for defence manufacturers and other businesses is a “democracy tour” really doesn’t cut it. But the wider truth is that all western governments are profoundly challenged by the chain of events that began, 10 weeks ago, with a young Tunisian man setting himself on fire in anger and desperation. The central assumption of the durability of long-standing and unpleasant regimes has been swept away. This change in circumstance has left many of the old orthodoxies seeming out of date and on the wrong side of history. – Ed Miliband, The Guardian (more…)

Tory plot to oust speaker

The government is privately backing a plan to oust the Commons Speaker John Bercow after the next election. Senior ministers are supporting a proposal which could force the Speaker to face a secret ballot of all MPs to retain his post. If he fails to be re-elected it would be the first time a sitting Speaker has been removed from office against their will. Ministers believe there is a majority in the House of Commons in favour of removing Bercow – but MPs are worried about voting in public to remove him in case he survives in the job. They are giving their tacit support to a plan that would change Commons rules to ensure that the Speaker has to be approved for re-election by secret ballot at the start of the Parliamentary term. As Select Committee chairs are already elected by secret ballot at the start of every Parliament, they believe they can sell it as part of the wider reforms programme which it will be difficult for the Speaker to object to. – the Independent

Ministers have given the green light to a new attempt by MPs to oust Commons Speaker John Bercow. Members of the Cabinet have revealed they will cooperate with a plan to change Parliamentary rules so the Speaker can be kicked out by secret ballot. It would allow MPs to remove the unpopular Speaker without them having to put their heads above the parapet. Despite the discontent towards  Mr Bercow – who is accused of bias against the Tories – many of his critics have been reluctant to push for him to quit for fear of suffering reprisals. But Conservative Party managers have decided to give MPs a free vote on plans to change the rules and bring in a secret ballot, Cabinet sources have revealed. – Daily Mail (more…)

Forgetful Clegg in humiliating return

In an interview, the Liberal Democrat leader was asked whether he was in charge while the Prime Minister was away from Britain travelling in the Middle East. Sipping from a mug marked “Deputy Prime Minister,” he said: “Yeah, I suppose I am. I forgot about that. “I’m holding the fort but I’m hoping to take the end of the week off with my kids. “Someone else will have to do it then. It sounds more haphazard than it probably is. People forget there are emails and there is BlackBerry.” It later emerged that within hours of giving the interview, to the Metro newspaper, Mr Clegg did indeed go on holiday to his family chalet in the exclusive Swiss ski resort of Davos. He departed on Tuesday – just a day after Mr Cameron left for his tour of the Middle East. As Labour seized on his remarks, the Deputy Prime Minister hastily returned from his Swiss half term break, where he had been joined by his wife, Miriam, and their three sons. – the Telegraph

Cameron, Obama and Sarkozy discuss Libya

President Obama and David Cameron agreed to co-operate in taking multilateral action on Libya, in a phone call between the heads of state tonight (Thursday). William Hague earlier said the Government is now “very much on top of” the Libyan evacuation effort, but apologised for yesterday’s delayed response. HMS Cumberland left Benghazi with 200 passengers on board this afternoon. A charter flight carrying evacuated British nationals has also left Malta bound for the UK. Colonel Gaddafi has described the protesters who have died fighting his regime as “Libya’s children” and said that those continuing the revolt are trying to “sabotage” the country’s achievements. – PoliticsHome

Head of NHS warns difficult, demanding and tough times to come

Private sector take-overs, mergers and more community-based care may be needed to ensure all hospitals survive the shake-up of the NHS, the head of the health service says. Sir David Nicholson told the BBC the combination of reforms and squeeze on spending meant some hospitals would find the future “difficult”. He said he did not expect any hospitals in England to close completely. But said some would needed to adapt and change to remain competitive. Sir David, who will become the chief executive of the NHS commissioning board when GP consortia are set up, admitted the health service was facing one of its toughest and most demanding periods ever. – the BBC

Forces chiefs warn PM Navy cuts will risk lives

The scrapping of the Harriers and aircraft carrier Ark Royal means Britain can no longer carry out amphibious operations without putting troops’ lives at “considerable risk”, senior officers and defence experts have warned the Prime Minster. In a private letter, passed to The Daily Telegraph, the former Navy and Army chiefs warn the Prime Minister that there are serious flaws in last October’s defence review. The scrapping of the Royal Navy’s Harrier fleet, in particular, has “profound consequences” that “strike at the heart of our Defence structure”, they say. The authors, who include Field Marshal Lord Bramall, the former head of the Armed Forces, as well as six retired admirals and three generals, say the move undermines the Navy’s ability to protect the Army or Royal Marines on amphibious operations. These can no longer be attempted against “even a lightly armed aggressor” without “considerable risk” to the safety of soldiers, they say. – the Telegraph

Balls makes case for lowering the 50p tax threshold

The Labour party might propose lowering the 50p rate of tax to £100,000 and bringing in an annual mansion tax, Ed Balls has said in an interview with Progress magazine. The shadow chancellor says there is an argument for lowering the level at which the 50p rate of tax is paid. It is currently charged on those with incomes of £150,000 and over. The current government has indicated that although uncomfortable with the Labour measure, the task of deficit reduction means it is unlikely to be scrapped immediately. Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, has said he believes the 50p rate at £150,000 should stay in place as a point of principle. Balls says the government should not have increased VAT and puts forward two revenue-raising ideas of his own that are not party policy. He says: “I was probably the first person to be strong in opposing VAT. I thought there were fairer ways to make tax decisions. So my argument was that the VAT rise was unfair, I thought David Miliband’s idea of the mansion tax was attractive and it could be made to work. “And if we were making choices on the economy between VAT and the top rate of tax, I’d rather have stuck with a top rate of tax at £100,000.” – the Guardian

Government under fire over DLA plans

The government’s plans to overhaul disability benefits have come under fire from its own official advisory body. The statutory social security advisory committee is questioning the motives for the proposed replacement of disability living allowance (DLA), paid to almost 3 million people to help cover extra costs arising from their condition. It is also opposing outright the separate move to withdraw DLA entitlement from people living in care homes who receive it to help with the costs of transport. Ministers will be embarrassed by the committee’s intervention, disclosedthe day after the Guardian reported that one of the architects of the new sickness benefit regime had declared its fitness-for-work test “a complete mess”. The advisory committee, chaired by Sir Richard Tilt, a former director general of the prison service, has made its criticisms in a formal, so far unpublished, response to the consultation on DLA changes. – the Guardian (more…)

More than 50,000 NHS jobs could be axed

False Economy – the cuts campaign website that formally launches today (Wednesday) – reveals that more than 50,000 NHS staff posts are set for the axe, destroying government claims that the NHS is in safe hands. David Cameron then famously claimed before the election that he would “cut the deficit, not the NHS”. However less than 10 months into the coalition government, the reality couldn’t be more different, with NHS cuts across the country. The national total is already twice the previous estimate of 27,000 job cuts, published by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) last November. False Economy’s figures have been collated for the most part from NHS trusts themselves under the Freedom of Information Act but also include figures sourced by the RCN Frontline First campaign, as well as press reports and foundation trusts’ annual plans published by the national regulator Monitor. – Liberal Conspiracy

In response to a series of Freedom of Information requests, officials confirmed that 53,150 posts are due to be lost across 155 hospital trusts, 126 primary care trusts, 23 ambulance trusts and 54 mental health trusts in England, as well as 15 Scottish trusts, nine Welsh trusts and six trusts in Northern Ireland. Nearly every trust in the country admitted that they planned to shed staff over the next four years, with some losing up to one in five employees, according to the study. More than a dozen hospitals failed to respond to the requests, meaning the true level of job losses could be substantially higher. The requests were submitted by the TUC as part of its False Economy campaign against public spending cuts, which is launched today. – the Telegraph

More than 50,000 NHS jobs face being axed, including doctors, nurses and dentists, because of Government spending cuts, “destroying” claims about the funding of the health service, according to a new report. A study by False Economy, an anti-cuts campaign group, found that health trusts across the country were cutting staff or warning of job losses. The report detailed a series of cuts at trusts including East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust; Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust; Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust. False Economy said the total number of confirmed, planned and potential NHS staff cuts across the country was more than 53,000, adding that more NHS trusts were expected to announce staff cuts over the next four months, including all Wales’ health boards. – PA

1.6 million children living in severe poverty

Ministers should draw up an emergency plan to tackle extreme levels of poverty as new research showed that more than one in four children live in penury in some major UK cities. The figures, compiled by Save the Children, show that 1.6 million youngsters live in severe poverty, which the charity condemned as a “national scandal”. With unemployment rising and a radical shake up of the welfare system seeing £18bn wiped from benefits, the charity fears the number of children living without the basics will rise unless action is taken. The government’s survey defines severe poverty as a household with half the average income – for a family of four this would be pay of less than £12,500 – and also suffering from material deprivation. For example, they might not be able to pay for repairs to appliances or afford insurance. – the Guardian

In some areas, one in four children lives in a home which brings in less than £12,500 a year and goes without things most of their peers take for granted, such as having friends round for tea. Save The Children said it was a ‘national scandal’ that so many were suffering and warned the situation would only deteriorate as unemployment rises and the welfare system is reined back. ‘Children are going to sleep at night in homes with no heating, without eating a proper meal,’ said Sally Copley, the charity’s head of policy. ‘At the moment these children are hidden from official view and their plight unrecognised. If these children are to have a future, we must acknowledge their desperate need and urgently target government help towards them.’- Metro

Yes/No

With just ten weeks and one day left before the country votes in the referendum a new survey of members of the YouGov polling panel found that YES has dropped to 34% with NO edging up to 41%. The firm used what has been its standard question which when put last produced a 37-37 response. So with this week’s two polls both showing a move to NO it looks as though those opposed to change have got the initiative. The question is whether they can sustain it? The key group are Labour supporters and NO has recruited many of the party’s star names from the past in order to reach this audience. Ed Miliband is campaigning for YES. The normal way of expressing voting intention polling numbers is to strip out the won’t votes/wont say/don’t knows and quote the percentages of those expressing a firm view. For the sake of consistency I’m going to do the re-percentage calculation myself in order that all AV surveys are described in the same manner. So last night’s 34-41 becomes 45-55 – a healthy NO lead. – Political Betting

Coalition planning for summer strike breakers

Ministers are drawing up plans to deal with a wave of co-ordinated public sector strikes across the country this summer. A special unit of civil servants has been set up in the Cabinet Office to “war game” areas of vulnerability in key services and infrastructure. They are also investigating how they can draft in private-sector “strike breakers” to cross picket lines. Services identified as vulnerable to strikes include transport, energy, prisons and the health service. Ministers fear that the trigger for such co-ordinated action will be plans to increase the amount that public-sector workers have to contribute to their pensions – and could come as soon as the summer. – the Independent

Labour hits back at MigrationWatch report

Labour has hit back at the report by MigrationWatch claiming its points based system was bringing down net migration. Gerry Sutcliffe, Shadow Immigration Minister, said: “This is an unbalanced, misleading and highly political report. Migration levels increased initially because of the strength of the British economy over many years and must be seen in the context of increases globally. “However the most recent figures show net migration from outside the EU was coming down as a result of the new points based system and over a third of “long-term migrants” were in fact students, the vast majority of whom study, pay their fees, and then return home. “Labour introduced a tough Australian-style points based system to ensure that only those with the skills Britain needs could come here.” – the Telegraph

Rumours of a reshuffle

Spare a thought for Vince Cable. The disgruntled Business Secretary, whose “nuclear option” turned out to be more of a suicide vest, is the odds-on favourite to be the next minister to leave the coalition cabinet, according to the online betting exchange Smarkets. Or perhaps it will be Ken Clarke. “Is it time to give this disloyal, pro-Europe old bruiser the boot?” read the headline in the Daily Mail on 12 February. Paddy Power has him as 7/2 fav­ourite on its “next to leave the cabinet” list. Then there’s Tom Strathclyde. Tom who? The Leader of the House of Lords, exposed as an old-fashioned Tory adulterer by a Sunday paper last month, is second-favourite on both the Smarkets and Paddy Power lists. Away from the betting shops, Tory MPs and peers congregate in the bars and tearooms of Westminster to whisper about the future of William Hague, his personal life and his foreign policy (or lack thereof); about the Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman’s disastrous decision to sell off the nation’s forests; about Cheryl Gillan’s “Where’s Wally” performance at the Welsh Office and the persistent rumours of her impending departure from government. – New Statesman

Defence spending out of control

Weapons projects that have been written off or delayed have cost the taxpayer more than £8bn, a cross-party committee of senior MPs said in a withering critique of waste in the Ministry of Defence. The decision to cancel the Nimrod MRA4 and Sentinel reconnaissance aircraft will lead to greater operational risks as well a write-off of nearly £5bn, the Commons public accounts committee says in a report which also sheds new light on the row over the decision to go ahead with the contract to build two new large aircraft carriers for the navy. The RAF spent an extra £2.7bn on the Eurofighter/Typhoon project, including the purchase of 16 additional aircraft it did not need, to honour contractual commitments to other countries assembling the planes. The MoD assumed other partner nations would also not wish to purchase the final tranche of aircraft, so the requirement would be waived, says the committee. – the Guardian

Defence Secretary Liam Fox today outlined plans to tackle the financial mismanagement that blew a £36 billion hole in his department’s budget. He said “fantasy projects” which make their way into the defence programme have to stop, and the department’s biggest projects will be regularly assessed. Speaking to the BBC, he said: “One of the criticisms by the public accounts committee was that projects get started with no real budgets to follow through. “So I have asked the new Chief of Defence Materiel in the MoD to ensure that no projects begin unless we’re sure that there’s a budget for development and in procurement and deployment, because otherwise we end up with fantasy projects which are not much more than a wish list, and that has to stop.” Dr Fox laid the blame for overspending squarely on Labour, saying it had created a “conspiracy of optimism”. – the Independent

Cameron takes aim at public sector

A week ago, I made clear that while the urgent priority of this Government is clearing up the mess Labour made of our economy, my mission in politics is to repair the breakdown in our society: the family breakdown and community breakdown that has done so much damage to people’s lives – not to mention the costs that our deep social problems load on to the state. The idea at the heart of this – the Big Society – is about rebuilding responsibility and giving people more control over their lives. But that doesn’t just apply in areas like volunteering. It’s as relevant when it comes to public services and the decentralisation of power. Indeed, I would argue that our plans to devolve power from Whitehall, and to modernise public services, are more significant aspects of our Big Society agenda than the work we’re doing to boost social action. – David Cameron, the Telegraph

The reforms mark a step change because the new “presumption” of public services being open to outside providers means that the Government will not have to legislate again in most areas every time it wants to involve the private sector in future. It will also be an alternative revenue stream for charities that have lost state funding under the Coalition’s programme of cuts. Mr Cameron says the era of “old-fashioned, top-down, take-what-you’re-given” public services will be ended. Downing Street believes the plans represent the biggest shake-up in public service provision for 50 years. – the Telegraph

Clarke and Clegg: We need ECHR reform

The government is to try to reform the relationship between theEuropean court of human rights and national parliaments when it assumes chairmanship of the Council of Europe in November after controversial rulings on sex offenders and votes for prisoners. The pro-European Kenneth Clarke, the justice secretary, told BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show that the government intended to scrutinise the relationship. This follows calls from a large number of Conservative backbenchers for the UK to walk away from the ECHR because they are unhappy with its rulings. MPs recently voted to maintain a ban on voting by prisoners despite an ECHR ruling that it was illegal. Many MPs have also been outraged by the UK supreme court’s ruling that the ECHR would uphold the right of sex offenders to appeal against having to register with the police for the rest of their lives. – the Guardian

There is no prospect of the current Government pulling Britain out of the European Convention on Human Rights or defying the rulings of the Court in Strasbourg, Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke has revealed. But Mr Clarke said that he will seek to initiate reform of the European Court of Human Rights to rebalance its relations with national courts when the UK takes over the chairmanship of the Council of Europe in November. Rows over prisoners being given the right to vote and the right to appeal for removal from the sex offenders register have revived calls from some Conservative right-wingers for the UK to withdraw from the Convention. But Mr Clarke said it would be “startling” for any British Government to say that it will not comply with the rulings of any court whose jurisdiction it recognises. – the Mirror

Not out of the woods yet

Some forests could be stripped of protection under planning reforms being considered by the Government, the Woodland Trust has warned. The conservation charity says the changes to planning guidance could slip through unnoticed in the aftermath of the row that forced the Government into a U-turn over its plans to privatise public forests. According to the trust, a review that aims to consolidate the 25 clauses in the current legislation as part of an attempt to hand power back to local communities, could leave ancient woodlands without sufficient safeguards. Currently, one of the planning policy statements explicitly recognises that ancient woodland is important for wildlife and says local authorities should not grant planning permission for development that will lead to its loss or damage. The trust fears this ban could be weakened if authorities believed the benefits of development outweighed loss of habitat. – the Independent

All eyes on Libya

Libya-watchers are now waiting anxiously to see if protests spread to the capital, Tripoli. Most violence is confined to the east of the country where unemployment is high and Mr Gaddafi’s grip said to be weaker. But they stressed that his regime had survived 41 years through brutality and he showed no signs of losing his nerve. William Hague, Britain’s Foreign Secretary, condemned Libya for firing on demonstrators. “This is clearly unacceptable and horrifying. Governments must respond to the legitimate aspirations of their people, rather than resort to the use of force, and must respect the right to peaceful protest.” However, experts admitted the British Government and business interests were watching the situation closely. BP declined to comment on the situation last night but said it was concerned for its 140 employees in Libya. Security experts said all UK companies in Libya had contingency plans if the uprising spread. Douglas Alexander, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, said: “From Libya to Bahrain, many past assumptions have been dissolved by these demonstrations. Britain should speak out against violence, speak up for human rights in all countries and make clear that moves towards democracy are the best guarantee of long-term stability.” – the Independent

Cameron is losing his grip, and his way

Mr Cameron’s strength, that he seemed comfortable with the responsibility of leadership, is beginning to look like anarrogant sense of entitlement and a petulance about his personal reputation. The slogan, “We are all in it together,” never very convincing, is beginning to look like a caddish joke at the expense of the majority. The Independent on Sunday is not persuaded that Mr Cameron is an ideologically driven Thatcherite whose ruling purpose is to shrink the state. He may be, but it seems more likely that he does not in fact believe in much at all. We were once prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt over his claims to be greener than Gordon Brown’s government. Since May, and with the exception of Heathrow, we have seen little evidence of the “greenest government ever” and the doubts have grown. We are beginning to wonder whether the deeper, and just as worrying, truth is that the Prime Minister is simply somewhat incompetent. – editorial, the Independent

The Prime Minister’s clearly decided that enough’s enough.  So he’s executed one of the biggest U-turns of all, drafting in a head of strategy and a deputy and beefing up his policy unit.  And in the News of the World (£), Fraser Nelson writes about a three-part plan to accompany it.  Phase One (currently under way) is to “deal with fat-cat council leaders”.  Phase Two to take the fight to NHS officials who cut services rather than waste.  And Phase Three is to deal with Balls by getting “better at political arguments”. The aim, Nelson writes, is “to minimise the damage for the Tories in the May local elections”.  Andrew Cooper, the new head of strategy, will try to give the Government a sense of direction (whatever happened to: “Together in the National Interest?) while the job of Paul Kirby, heading a beefed-up Policy Unit, is “to cut the U-turn rate – currently a calamitous one per week.”  In short, Cameron’s acknowledging that he over-reacted against the way Blair ran government.  In doing so, the Prime Minister’s marking the end of the first phase of his. – ConservativeHome

Pressure on Cameron to reshuffle pack

Senior Tory MPs are urging David Cameron to reshuffle the cabinet to quell discontent in the party and draw a line under policy blunders during the coalition’s first eight months in power. Messages were relayed to No 10 by backbench envoys last week after MPs – mainly from the right of the party – concluded that the government did not appear “competent” in key departments and was “out of step” with grassroots members in several policy areas. Following the latest U-turn, over plans to sell off the nation’s forests, Cameron has acted to improve policy co-ordination and presentation by beefing up the Downing Street policy unit, with Andrew Cooper, the co-founder of the polling firm Populus, in the new post of director of political strategy. But Tory MPs, many of whom increasingly resent the influence of Liberal Democrats in ministerial jobs they had sought themselves, want Cameron to go further and remove those they see as incompetent or too far to the left. – the Observer

Top Tory attacks Osborne over public sector pensions

The government’s controversial plan to make public-sector workers pay higher pension contributions is in crisis as the Tory head of local government warns of “strong evidence” that employees will opt out en masse, with disastrous economic consequences. The extraordinary warning – and call for an urgent rethink – has been made in a letter to the chancellor, George Osborne, from Baroness Eaton, the Conservative chair of the Local Government Association. In the letter, written last week and leaked to the Observer, Eaton demands urgent talks, and says that a “significant level of opt-outs” from the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) – which has 3.5 million members – would call into question its “sustainability and viability” as well as harming the economy. She also warns that with fewer people making provision for their retirement, the government would be left to pick up the bill in the long term as a result of “further reliance on the state via means-tested benefits in retirement”. – the Observer