Lib Dems feel the heat

The Liberal Democrats are facing twin electoral assaults from the Green Party and the National Union of Students in the wake of the party’s U-turn on tuition fees. The Independent understands the Greens are drawing up a strategy to target Liberal Democrat MPs in the most marginal seats – a move which could potentially unseat up to 10 per cent of the party’s MPs. The Greens are unlikely to win the seats but they could do what UKip has done to the Conservatives and win enough votes to deprive the Liberal Democrats of a majority in several seats across the country. At the same time the NUS has announced plans to target high profile Liberal Democrat-held constituencies with large student populations including Nick Clegg’s constituency of Sheffield Hallam and Don Foster’s in Bath. They are also considering putting up a candidate in the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election – which the Liberal Democrats hope to win from Labour following the ejection of former immigration minister Phil Woolas. The election will be the first big test of the Coalition’s popularity. – The Independent

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg was struggling to contain a revolt over tuition fees yesterday as the party’s new president vowed to vote against the rise. Tim Farron MP, elected to the post on Saturday, also said the party would be “stark- raving mad” to deepen its alliance with the Tories. He challenged Mr Clegg by declaring he would oppose raising fees to up to £9,000 and appeared to back last week’s student demo, saying it made him feel “nostalgic” for his radical youth. Mr Farron said: “You would have to be stark-raving mad to think there’s any chance of a merger or closer relationship or a pact.” Shadow Business Secretary John Denham also weighed in with: “Nick Clegg has no credibility on tuition fees.” – The Mirror

Students are angry that the party has failed to stick to its pre-election pledge to oppose charging for university. The NUS claims Lib Dem MPs were elected on that promise and should now be removed from power. The campaign will target Mr Clegg in Sheffield Hallam, Simon Wright in Norwich South, Stephen Williams in Bristol West and Don Foster in Bath. Aaron Porter, president of the NUS, said the aim is to force out Lib Dems who break their pre-election pledge to oppose any rise in tuition fees. Mr Porter has said the NUS will urge a parliamentary recall for MPs who have broken their promises on tuition fees based on a coalition idea for holding MPs to account known as the “right to recall” initiative. – Sky News Read the rest of this entry »

Last minute decision to ditch the Harriers

The highly-controversial cut to the Harrier force – condemned last week by several former heads of the service as “perverse” and risking “national humiliation” – was decided only three days before the final announcement of the defence review, sources said. Until then, the plan had been to scrap the RAF’s Tornado fleet, the oldest strike aircraft currently in service. In a tense meeting, Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, the First Sea Lord, told Mr Cameron that he “could not endorse as his military advice” the decision to axe the Harriers and considered it a “political, not military decision. Senior defence sources said much of the £4.7 billion of cuts in the review was only decided in a series of meetings at 10 Downing Street over the weekend of 16/17 October, two to three days before it was announced. “There was little more than some PowerPoint presentations and Excel spreadsheets for financial planning,” said one source. He said the MoD was left “starting from scratch” that weekend on some of the contentious issues,” – The Telegraph

NUS launch strategy to oust Lib Dems

The National Union of Students will launch a “decapitation” strategy aimed at ousting Nick Clegg and other top Liberal Democrats from parliament in protest at the party’s U-turn on student fees. The move aims to build on anger about coalition policies – which spilled over into violence on Wednesday – in Lib Dem-held constituencies with large student populations. The key targets will be Clegg in Sheffield Hallam, Simon Wright in Norwich South, Stephen Williams in Bristol West and Don Foster in Bath. Aaron Porter, president of the NUS, said the campaign would aim to force out Lib Dems who break their pre-election pledge to oppose any rise intuition fees. The move has echoes of the Lib Dems’ own “decapitation strategy” in 2005, when the party threw resources into efforts to oust leading Tories with narrow majorities, including Michael Howard and Theresa May. Porter said the NUS will make use of a coalition idea for holding MPs to account that was championed by Clegg himself. The “right to recall” initiative, which has yet to became law, proposes that a byelection can be called if an MP is judged guilty of serious wrongdoing and 10% of constituents want him or her removed. – The Observer

Lib Dem president says pact would be “raving mad”

The new president of the Liberal Democrats last night dismissed the idea of a long-term pact with the Tories as “absolutely stark raving mad”. In comments likely to raise the hackles of traditional Conservatives, Tim Farron told The Independent on Sunday his politics is “very much built upon an anger at the injustice” of Margaret Thatcher’s premiership. “The fact there’s a good working relationship is something we should celebrate, but not assume there is any kind of attempt to assimilate,” he said, just hours after defeating ex-MP and former London mayoral candidate Susan Kramer to the presidency by 14,593 votes to 12,950. “You would have to be absolutely stark raving mad to think there’s any chance of a merger or closer relationship or a pact with the Conservatives.” Lib Dems will contest every seat, he added. – The Independent Read the rest of this entry »

Coulson “dossier” passed to the Crown Prosecution Service

Scotland Yard has handed prosecutors a file containing new evidence on the phone-hacking scandal surrounding David Cameron’s top spin doctor. The announcement comes less than a week after Andy Coulson was interviewed by police. The information has been passed to the Crown Prosecution Service, which will now consider it before deciding if charges should be brought. The move will increase pressure on the Prime Minister over his decision to employ Mr Coulson as his head of communications. – The Herald

Coulson under the spot light again

Scotland Yard said a dossier had been passed to specialist lawyers at the Crown Prosecution Service. It is understood to contain transcripts from four police interviews with ex-employees of the newspaper, including Mr Coulson, its former editor. Clive Goodman, 49, a senior journalist on the Sunday tabloid, was sentenced to four months in 2007 for conspiracy to access phone messages involving Princes William and Harry. Glenn Mulcaire, 36, a freelance “researcher”, got six months. A Metropolitan Police inquiry was revived earlier this year following an investigation by the The New York Times which alleged that the practice was more widespread at the News of the World than previously admitted. Mr Coulson, who was editor at the time, has always insisted he did not know about or authorise the activity. Sean Hoare, a former reporter who made claims about Mr Coulson, was questioned by police under caution but not arrested. Mr Coulson was questioned as a witness earlier this month and was not under caution or arrested. Two other men have also been interviewed. Paul McMullan, who handled investigations at the newspaper, has said that illegal activity was so widespread in the newsroom that the editor must have known about it. –The Telegraph

Scotland Yard said today it had uncovered new material about phone hacking at the News of the World and had sent a file of evidence to prosecutors who will now consider if there is a strong enough case to bring criminal charges. The controversy presents a danger to David Cameron’s communications director, Andy Coulson, who was editor of the News of the World when a reporter and private investigator were convicted and jailed for hacking voice messages involving Princes William and Harry. A number of journalists have come forward to say the practice was more widespread than the tabloid has admitted and known about by Coulson, a claim that he denies. – The Guardian

Lib Dems plotted to ditch tuition fees pledge

The Liberal Democrats were drawing up plans to abandon Nick Clegg‘s flagship policy to scrap university tuition fees two months before the general election, secret party documents reveal. As the Lib Dem leader faces a growing revolt after this week’s violent protest against fee rises, internal documents show the party was drawing up proposals for Coalition negotiations which contrasted sharply with Clegg’s public pronouncements.  A month before Clegg pledged in April to scrap the “dead weight of debt”, a secret team of key Lib Dems made clear that, in the event of a hung parliament, the party would not waste political capital defending its manifesto pledge to abolish university tuition fees within six years. In a document marked “confidential” and dated 16 March, the head of the secret pre-election coalition negotiating team, Danny Alexander, wrote: “On tuition fees we should seek agreement on part-time students and leave the rest. We will have clear yellow water with the other [parties] on raising the tuition fee cap, so let us not cause ourselves more headaches.” – The Guardian Read the rest of this entry »