The prime minister will today warn that cuts will change Britain's "whole way of life" and will impact the entire population.
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The prime minister will today warn that cuts will change Britain’s “whole way of life” and will impact the entire population. The Guardian reports that Mr Cameron will declare that Britain’s public finances are worse than expected, forcing him to take “momentous decisions”. In a speech this morning he will say: “How we deal with these things will affect our economy, our society – indeed our whole way of life. The decisions we make will affect every single person in our country. And the effects of those decisions will stay with us for years, perhaps decades to come.” The Times reports that the cuts will be “the biggest cuts in government spending since the Second World War”.
The report says: “The coalition Government plans to consult widely before making an announcement, likely in November. Public meetings will be held and people will be invited to go online and tell ministers about their priorities… Mr Cameron will argue that a failure to act now would mean higher interest rates, higher mortgage charges and lower employment.” The Telegraph says the Government will look towards Canada for inspiration, a country where “borrowing was brought under control within just three years by spending cuts of 20 per cent”, with the new approach to public spending set to encompass: “An unprecedented public consultation exercise on what people expect from public services and where they think the cuts should fall; a fundamental re-evaluation of the relationship between government and the public sector; and a new ‘star chamber’ of Cabinet ministers vetting every departmental budget.”
Israeli commandos have killed at least four Palestinian militants off the Gaza coast. The attack comes a week after the flotilla incident, in which at least nine activists were killed. Of the latest incident, an Israeli army spokesman said: “An Israeli naval patrol spotted a boat with four men in diving suits on their way to carry out a terror attack and fired at them.” The Telegraph reports that: “Hamas security sources said four bodies had been found and a fifth man was missing and was presumed dead… Palestinian militants in Gaza frequently try to attack Israeli border patrols and sporadically fire rockets and mortar bombs at Israel. Attempts to attack from the sea are rare, however.” On the flotilla incident, The Guardian reports that Israel has rejected calls for a multinational inquiry under the auspices of the UN, and is resisting growing calls for an end to the blockade of Gaza. Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, said: “We are rejecting an international commission. We are discussing with the Obama administration a way in which our inquiry will take place.” However, there were signs of a softening in Israel’s stance from some cabinet ministers; Isaac Herzog, Israel’s welfare minister, said: “The time has come to do away with the blockade, ease the restrictions on the inhabitants and find another alternative.” And shadow foreign secretary David Miliband, describing the isolation of Gaza as “a stain on policy right across the Middle East”, added: “I think there have been a series of deadly and self-defeating actions by successive Israeli governments in respect of Gaza.”
The deputy prime minister will set out a ‘menu’ for political and constitutional reform to parliament today. The Telegraph reports that Nick Clegg will “detail some of the early developments” and “reveal the progress made” when he addresses parliament. Yesterday, he told the Hay Festival: “Reforming the House of Lords has been talked about for one hundred years and we are absolutely determined to do something about it this time. Looking at boundaries, looking at the electoral system through a referendum, regulating lobbying, looking at party funding. This is a huge, huge menu. Have I worked out exactly how you sequence it? No. But I will be making some announcements tomorrow.” On Iraq, he said there must be “a presumption of disclosure”, and that openness would be the key to determining the Chilcot Inquiry’s legitimacy: “The battle that needs to be fought is to make sure in the final Chilcot report the presumption is towards real, meaningful, thorough disclosure. The acid test for the Chilcot Inquiry for its legitimacy and cathartic value, for a country still trying to grapple to come to terms in the way that we did, is it needs to be fully open. I know for a fact they have sought to have access to far more documents that they thought and the challenge is to make sure there is real disclosure when they publish their findings… What is really important is Chilcot does what it was supposed to do, which is make sure everyone understands how the decision was reached so that we can learn lessons and make sure we never again have a government hell-bent on going to war and able to bamboozle Parliament and the British people. That must never happen again.”
The Independent reports calls for an increase in alcohol prices from Tory MP Dr Sarah Wollaston, who “called for tough action to stem the rapid growth of problem drinking she witnessed during her 23 years as a GP and backed the imposition of minimum prices on alcohol”. She urges ministers to demonstrate political “bravery”, and examine the evidence from other countries that setting minimum prices “disproportionately reduces the intake of high-risk groups”: “There is no doubt it would be initially unpopular – people would say it’s the nanny state and it’s not what government should be about. But if the Government took the brave step of introducing a minimum price, in five years’ time people would see there had been a major difference.” She adds: “Alcohol is the No 1 date rape drug. Large numbers of women are targeted specifically because they have been drinking.” Recently, the British Medical Association has suggested a rate of 50p per unit of alcohol – which could mean a pint of medium-strength beer costing £1.14 and a bottle of wine £4.50 – but health secretary Andrew Lansley is resisting the move “on the grounds that it would unfairly penalise moderate and low-income drinkers”.
And The Times reports that David Cameron “will face an early test of the Government’s relationship with Europe” when he meets Herman van Rompuy today, with the pair set to clash “over whether Brussels should be allowed to see George Osborne’s Budget before it is presented to Parliament”. The Times reports that: “Britain has already clashed with EU chiefs in the first few weeks of the new Government, notably over plans for a sharp increase in the EU budget. The proposed 5.8 per cent increase has been described by Mr Osborne as unacceptable when European nations are struggling to cut costs. Mr Cameron will further set the tone of the relationship today when he tells the former Belgian Prime Minister that Britain will refuse to send its Budget plans to Brussels before being announced in Parliament. Mr Van Rompuy is arguing that the EU must analyse national budgets more closely before they are adopted to stop Greek levels of spending and head off a future crisis.” It adds: “William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, will spend the week seeing foreign ministers in European capitals, travelling today from Paris to Rome. Nick Clegg will join Mr Hague in Berlin this week for meetings with Guido Westerwelle, the German Foreign Minister and Vice-Chancellor. The Deputy Prime Minister will then travel to Madrid for further talks without the Foreign Secretary to try to emphasise coalition unity.”
10 Responses to “Politics Summary: Monday, June 7th”
Graeme Kemp
Public meetings on cuts? I hope the Left turn up en masse and give the Tories a hard time on this! We need to make our voice heard. How will the audience be selected though?
On-line constributions to the ‘debate’? Let’s make sure the appropriate web-site is snowed under with non-Tory points of view.
These cuts will hurt….
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Kurt
Politics Summary: Monday, June 7th | Left Foot Forward http://bit.ly/cAFgkE
Mr. Sensible
Who on Earth was Nick Clegg trying to kid in his Observer interview yesterday? These are cuts which he opposed during the election campaign and is now trying to provide sweeteners for.
And as for all this about the Star Chamber; what rubbish.
Sticking with Rubbish, I see that the BBC is reporting the new government’s plans to scrap ‘Pay As You Throw’ and instead provide incentives in the shape of vouchers that can be redeemed at shops ETC for people to recycle following a trial by Windsor and Maidenhead Council.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/politics/10251696.stm
Pardon the pun, but what total and utter rubbish. 2 problems:
1 Where’s the money?
2 As someone from ‘Friends of the Earth’ correctly said on the Radio today, This targets the wrong people; those who recycle already will continue to do so, but those who don’t still won’t. This was I think demonstrated in the same program when a lady from Maidenhead said I think that she wasn’t doing anything special just because of this.
In short, this is an uneconomical scheme that is targeting the wrong people; those who recycle already, and thus will not help us increase our recycling rates by 2020 in line with European rules.
Mr. Sensible
I will be interested to see if the Guardian, having backed the Lib Dems during the election campaign is still doing so given that they are rubber-stamping Tory cuts.