Controversial US Pastor Terry Jones Barred from UK
THE GUARDIAN: Preacher sparked outrage last year when he announced plans to burn copies of the Qur'an to mark 9/11 anniversary
Terry Jones at his Florida-based church last year. Photograph: The Guardian
The controversial US pastor Terry Jones has been barred from the United Kingdom, the Home Office said tonight.
The preacher sparked outrage when he announced plans by his Florida-based church to burn copies of the Qur'an to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on America.
A Home Office spokesman said: "The government opposes extremism in all its forms which is why we have excluded Pastor Terry Jones from the UK."
The spokesman added: "Numerous comments made by Pastor Jones are evidence of his unacceptable behaviour.
"Coming to the UK is a privilege, not a right, and we are not willing to allow entry to those whose presence is not conducive to the public good. >>> Press Association | Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Terry Murden: Bank Bonuses Are Back as Politicians Roll Over
THE SCOTSMAN: NO-ONE should be surprised that the banks are expected to defy public opinion and once again pay multi-million pound bonuses.
Difficulties in controlling the bonus culture have been made plain by the frustrations felt by politicians across the spectrum and were highlighted here as far back as August 2009 after the then shadow chancellor George Osborne demanded that bonuses should be banned altogether in banks that had been bailed out by the taxpayer.
Well, he's moved a long way from that particular argument and now doesn't even see eye-to-eye with the bite-your-legs business secretary Vince Cable, who has found himself muzzled over the issue.
The bankers believe the Lib Dems who have been making most of the noise on this issue are now a bit of a spent force in the debate and that the slightly more banker-friendly tone emanating from Osborne and Prime Minister David Cameron will leave them free to award themselves the sums they see as their right.
The banks argue that they contributed towards the £53.4 billion paid in taxes last year by the financial services industry, equal to 11.2 per cent of Britain's total tax receipts. No wonder the Treasury should consider it inappropriate to bite the hand that feeds it.
Before Christmas there were more threats of a new bonus tax, an idea revisited by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, and warnings from Cable that the banks would be punished if they didn't change their ways. But opinion in the City is that there is not much substance behind them.
The bankers are now said to feel so confident of getting away with paying large bonuses that they see no further need for Project Merlin, the initiative led by Barclays former chief executive John Varley to repair relations with the government. Expect the next round of bonuses to be trimmed, but only marginally, and as an acknowledgement of, rather than a concession to, public outrage. >>> Terry Murden | Sunday, January 09, 2011
THE SPECTATOR: The control orders fiasco shows that our political class still isn’t serious about security
For a jihadi, Britain is one of the very best places in the world. In Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen, overhead drones kill terrorists on a regular basis. In most democratic countries, politicians try to limit their enemies’ ability to operate — so one runs the risk of being thrown into prison, if caught mid-jihad. But not in Britain. Here, the Islamist insurgents have found that there are a hundred ways to run rings around our police and justice system. Nothing demonstrates this more spectacularly than the control orders farce.
Control orders are an inelegant system for putting restrictions on terror suspects, either because the evidence which could convict them is too sensitive to be used in a criminal court, or because European human rights laws prevent them from being deported. Eight people are being detained under control orders, with the suspects under curfew, electronic tagging, a travel ban or other restrictions. The system is understandably popular, but it seems certain that David Cameron will allow his Lib Dem colleagues to claim victory by altering the name and tinkering with the terms.
If this happens, it might be seen as a Lib Dem victory. But it will be the clearest possible evidence that the coalition government, like the Labour government before it, remains unwilling to deal with the problem which made control orders necessary in the first place: the fact that this country has been systematically failed by its legal, political and immigration systems. Once, foreign nationals who posed a threat could be deported. The European Convention on Human Rights has put a stop to that. >>> Douglas Murray | Saturday, January 08, 2011
Friday, December 03, 2010
Britain’s Most Hated Politician – Nick Clegg – Is a Man of Judgment and Courage
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Three decades ago, Norman Tebbit was the most hated man in Britain. In the eyes of his opponents, Tebbit was held to represent everything that was brutal, vicious and disgusting about the Thatcher government.
Thirty years on, British politics has at last produced a comparable villain. It is not David Cameron. Nor, astonishingly, has George Osborne been singled out for special opprobrium, despite his patrician sneer and trust fund. Local government minister Eric Pickles more or less put in a written application for the post of Coalition bully-boy, but remains a nationally popular figure.
Instead nice, gentle Nick Clegg has secured the position of Britain’s most hated man. He has been burnt in effigy by student rioters. Police have told him that he must no longer cycle to work for fear of physical attack. Excrement has been shoved through the letter box of his Sheffield constituency home, from which his family may now have to move for safety reasons.
Nor is that all. Clegg’s decision last May to join forces with Cameron is starting to look to some like an historic mistake. Inside the House of Commons, a division is beginning to open between Coalition Lib Dems and the back benches. To those with a sense of history this is very dangerous indeed – because this is exactly what happened the last time the Conservative Party and the Liberals entered a grand coalition, at the end of the First World War. By 1922, David Lloyd George had become a leader without a party, and the Liberals were fatally split.
History may be repeating itself. Lib Dem ministers love being in office, but appear remote as a result. On the back benches there is deep unhappiness and everywhere a chronic lack of conviction, epitomised by the astonishing inability of Vince Cable to state which way he will vote on government proposals to raise tuition fees to £9,000, a measure for which he is personally responsible. >>> Peter Oborne | Thursday, December 02, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
British Foreign Policy to Change Reflecting Arab Concerns on Middle East
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: British foreign policy will change to reflect Arab concerns over the Middle East peace process as part of the Coalition's efforts to seal a strategic agreement with the Gulf during the Queen's visit to the region.
That may mean yet further withdrawal of traditional British support for Israel, with criticism of its government already more marked under Mr Hague than it was under New Labour government. – The Daily Telegraph
Whitehall officials said Foreign Secretary William Hague's decision to reach out to Gulf states in an effort to secure better diplomatic and trade ties meant Britain had to "take on board" Arab foreign policy goals.
Requesting better ties would be a two-way street, not just plea for more defence contracts and exports, they said.
"It will be a six lane highway with movement in both directions," said one diplomat. "We have to respond to what Gulf States want. If we want a long-term partnership on foreign policy, then changes in our stance have to be part of it."
The Queen arrived in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, at the start of a five-day visit that will also take in Oman.
Both countries are long-standing allies, where the royal family also has strong personal ties with local leaders. The United Arab Emirates end of the visit was rearranged after a planned tour last year was cancelled at the last minute.
The visit to Oman is to join the celebrations for the 40th anniversary of Sultan Qaboos's ascension to the throne.
But the visit has taken on a more significant, and unusually political context both with the change of government in Britain and increasing tensions with Iran a short distance away on the other side of the Gulf.
Mr Hague set improving relations with the Gulf and India as his first policy goals, and both David Cameron, the prime minister, and Liam Fox, the defence secretary, visited Abu Dhabi within a month of taking office. >>> Richard Spencer in Abu Dhabi and Damien McElroy | Wednesday, November 24, 2010
So this is the new coalition government in action is it?
Our relations with the Gulf states has always been close and friendly HOWEVER it seems that the UK must now cringe and crawl and change our foreign policies and strategic partnerships to suit islam? What price does the UK have to pay for this new arrangement?
Are we really that desperate for Arab cash that they can now summon our Queen to go barefoot and covered into their mosque and make our fake foreign secretary crawl and creep to beg for money?
The UK is being islamised at an alarming pace now and the coalition are at the centre of it, not for them the dignity and pride of HM governments of old, these Quislings just have to abase themselves and us.
Isnt it funny how WE have to note and address THEIR concerns and adapt OUR policies and alliances and interests to suit THEIRS? Look on this visit with shame and humiliation as our government crawls and creeps and cringes and gives in to demand after demand. The truth is that these states need us more than we need them, they need our support in the face of their own regional threats and we do not need to creep and crawl to them at all.
A friendship that requires one side to change its other alliances or friendships or strategic goals is no friendship at all, a friend that bullies and threatens and demands obedience from the other is not a friend at all. We are either an equal partner where we stand up for our own interests or we are a stooge lackey lickspittle unfit to have a seat at the UN top table. Trade? They either wish to trade with us or they do not, they have NO right to dictate to us about our foreign policies and alliances and how we must change to suit their prejudices and hatreds. If that is the price of a trade deal then they should really go buy their stuff from North Korea or Russia. What would they say to us if we demanded that they change their policies and goals to suit us? Yeah! they would rightly tell us to piss right off and no mistake!
MAIL ONLINE: Shoeless and wearing a beekeeper-style shawl and hat, the Queen walked across the world’s largest carpet last night as she met Islamic students in Abu Dhabi at the start of her five-day state visit to the Gulf.
No sooner had the Queen and Prince Philip stepped off their chartered British Airways flight from London than they were taken straight to the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, the country’s largest.
The Queen in the Sheikh Zayed Mosque. Photograph: Mail Online
The floor of its main prayer hall is covered in a 35-ton carpet which took 1,200 Iranian women two years to stitch by hand.
In keeping with tradition, the Queen removed her shoes before entering and padded in in stockinged feet.
While other female members of the party wore a traditional 'abaya' or full-length cloak over their clothes and a 'sheela' or scarf, the Queen wore a gold brocade coat embroidered with Swarovski crystals over her matching dress, both designed by her dresser, Angela Kelly.
SKY NEWS: Students have smashed up a police van in London and there have been sporadic skirmishes during another violent demonstration against student fees.
Police moved to contain the demo by using the controversial "kettling" tactic - meaning large numbers of people could be held in one place for several hours.
But the Metropolitan Police has now said the policy has shifted to one of "controlled dispersal". >>> Rob Cole and Andy Winter, Sky News Online | Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Stick With Me, Clegg Begs Lib Dems
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Nick Clegg: 'The Lib Dems Have No Future on the Left'
THE TELEGRAPH: Nick Clegg has said that there is no future for the Liberal Democrats as a left wing party.
The Deputy Prime Minister said he sympathised with voters who had turned to his party as an alternative to Labour and were unhappy that they had formed a coalition with the Conservatives.
But he risked alienating key supporters by dismissing those who see the Lib Dems as “a sort of left-wing conscience of the Labour Party”.
"There were some people, particularly around the height of the Iraq war, who gave up on the Labour Party and turned to the Liberal Democrats,” he said.
"I totally understand that some of these people are not happy with what the Lib Dems are doing in coalition with the Conservatives. The Lib Dems never were and aren't a receptacle for left wing dissatisfaction with the Labour Party. There is no future for that; there never was," he told the Independent. >>> Heidi Blake | Saturday, September 18, 2010
Nick Clegg: There Is No Future for Us as Left-wing Rivals to Labour
THE INDEPENDENT: As the Liberal Democrats' conference begins, their leader gives his party an uncompromising message
Nick Clegg has declared that there is "no future" for the Liberal Democrats as a left-wing alternative to Labour as he appealed to his party to show "patience" and maintain a united front with the Conservatives.
In an interview with The Independent on the eve of Liberal Democrat conference starting today, he promised his party it would reap the electoral rewards if it held its nerve about its slump in the opinion polls. >>> Andrew Grice, Political Editor | Saturday, September 18, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
We Will Allow Gay Couples to Get Married, Says Top Lib Dem
MAIL ONLINE: Gay couples will be granted the right to marry, Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes has suggested.
Mr Hughes predicted the change would be in place in time for the next General Election.
He said that a consultation will take place on taking civil partnerships to the 'next level'.
The reforms would see same-sex civil partnerships given the same legal and social standing as those between a man and a woman.
However, they would not apply to ceremonies in church - only those in a register office or other licensed venue.
Mr Hughes made the remarks in an interview with Yoosk, a website on which users can question important figures.
He said: 'It would be appropriate in Britain in 2010, 2011, for there to be the ability for civil marriage for straight people and gay people equally.
'That's different of course from faith ceremonies which are matters for the faith communities... they have to decide what recognition to give. >>> Gerri Peev | Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Grande-Bretagne : Nick Clegg est accusé d’avoir «vendu son âme» aux tories
LE TEMPS: Pour certains députés libéraux-démocrates et la base du parti, leur leader et vice-premier ministre a fait bien trop de concessions aux conservateurs
La transformation est sans doute l’une des plus rapides de l’histoire politique britannique. Il y a trois mois, en pleine campagne électorale, Nick Clegg était comparé à Barack Obama. Grâce à une excellente prestation lors d’un débat télévisé, il avait propulsé son parti, les libéraux-démocrates, au coude-à -coude dans les sondages avec les conservateurs.
Aujourd’hui, Nick Clegg est accusé d’avoir «vendu son âme», pour reprendre l’expression de Chris Leslie, un député travailliste. Désormais vice-premier ministre, il a fait un pari électoral très risqué: former une coalition avec les conservateurs, alors que son propre parti est traditionnellement de centre gauche.
Pire: il est désormais coauteur du plus dur plan de rigueur introduit en Grande-Bretagne depuis la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Et il a dû faire d’importantes concessions, à commencer par une hausse de la TVA. Cette même TVA que Nick Clegg jugeait «très fortement régressive» lors de la campagne électorale, parce qu’elle touche proportionnellement plus les pauvres. >>> Eric Albert | Vendredi 25 Juin 2010
Sunday, June 06, 2010
Bin Taxes and Planning Laws to Be Ditched by Coalition
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: A raft of Labour laws which have been criticised for penalising Middle England will be consigned to the scrap heap by the new Government this week.
Bin taxes will be ditched, along with laws allowing developers to build on back gardens, as the Coalition embarks on a bonfire of "meddling" legislation.
Ministers will say they are scrapping controversial Labour proposals to allow local authorities to charge for household rubbish collections or fine those who fail to cut their waste.
And in a major review of planning law, back gardens will no longer be classified as "brownfield" land which can be built on.
The Government will also announce that it is getting rid of a requirement on builders to squeeze more smaller homes onto new housing developments, after complaints that the rule leads to overcrowding.
The shake-up follows years of campaigns, including one in this newspaper against proposed refuse taxes, and is clearly aimed at pacifying core Conservative voters. >>> Melissa Kite and Richard Gray | Sunday, June 06, 2010
Philip Johnston: The State Opening Reminds Us of the Unique Flexibility of the British Constitution
The Queen makes her way to Parliament. Photo: The Telegraph
TELEGRAPH BLOG – PHILIP JOHNSTON: It was heartening to see that after 13 years of Labour “modernisation” the State Opening of Parliament retained all the pomp and circumstance that we as a nation still do so well. Funnily enough this great pageantry and its ancient rituals date all the way back to, well, 1852. Although the symbolism — such as taking an MP hostage and keeping him in Buckingham Palace until the Queen returns, or searching the Palace of Westminster for gunpowder — deliberately evokes our history, the form of the State Opening is relatively recent in origin. >>> Philip Johnston | Tuesday, May 25, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: David Cameron renewed his pre-election attacks on Labour following the Queen's Speech, claiming Gordon Brown had left the country in an ''appalling mess''.
In his first major speech at the Commons despatch box since becoming Prime Minister, Mr Cameron clashed with Harriet Harman, Labour's deputy leader.
His comments followed acting Labour leader Harriet Harman's response to the Queen's Speech from the Opposition front bench.
Mr Cameron said there was ''something missing'' from her speech: ''Not one word of apology for the appalling mess that has been left in this country.
''Nothing to say about leaving Britain with a deficit that is bigger than Greece's.
''Not a single idea for getting to grips with it.
''Until they learn what they got so badly wrong I'm not sure people are going to listen to them again.''
Mr Cameron said the Queen's Speech was the first in 65 years from a coalition government.
"It is a Government not driven by party interest but by the national interest, with clear values at its heart," the Prime Minister said.
"The values at its heart are freedom, because over the past decade the state has become over-mighty and civil liberties have been undermined consistently... >>> | Tuesday, May 25, 2010
TIMES ONLINE: David Cameron ignored the traditional niceties of the Queen’s Speech debate today to tear into Labour’s record in office and complain that Gordon Brown’s Government had left the country in an “appalling mess”.
The Prime Minister’s vitriolic attack in his first Commons appearance of the new Parliament raised eyebrows on a day when MPs usually act as though they can rise above party politics.
Speaking after Harriet Harman, the acting Labour leader, gave a gently chiding response to the introduction of the Lib-Con legislative programme, Mr Cameron said there was “something missing” from her speech.
“Not one word of apology for the appalling mess that has been left in this country. Nothing to say about leaving Britain with a deficit that is bigger than Greece’s. Not a single idea for getting to grips with it,” he said.
“Until they learn what they got so badly wrong I’m not sure people are going to listen to them again.” >>> Philippe Naughton | Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
David Cameron Drops More Tory Pledges As He Hails Coalition Deal
THE TELEGRAPH: David Cameron has hailed his final coalition deal with Nick Clegg, but conceded more Conservative pledges have been “discarded” to satisfy the Liberal Democrats.
The Prime Minister and his Lib Dem deputy have unveiled a 32-page document setting out the details of the shared policy agenda they will follow in government.
The document, entitled “The Coalition: our programme for government” was described by both men as a historic achievement blending their parties’ policies.
However, on several major issues, the partners have effectively deferred a final decision, promising only to establish independent commissions and reviews to consider the issue. >>> James Kirkup, Political Correspondent | Thursday, May 20, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: David Cameron has vowed to crack down on "crazy" bonuses paid to civil servants as the new Government seeks to reduce the costs of the bloated public sector.
Out of control hand-outs, which this year will be paid to three-quarters of senior civil servants, are to be restricted to high performers.
Under the terms of Whitehall contracts signed by Labour ministers at the height of the recession, bonus payments can not be cancelled by the incoming Government.
In future, however, windfalls across the public sector will be restricted to employees who have performed “exceptionally well,” with only the top 25 per cent eligible for the payments. >>> Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent | Sunday, May 16, 2010
Nick Clegg's Decision to Set Up Coalition Backed 'Overwhelmingly' by Party Members
THE TELEGRAPH: Nick Clegg’s decision to agree to set up a coalition Government with David Cameron has been overwhelmingly backed by his party's members.
Nick Clegg arrives at Birmingham NEC for the Lib Dem conference. Photograph: The Telegraph
The news came despite former party leader Charles Kennedy revealing he had not signed up to the coalition deal and opinion polls showed voters switching from Liberal Democrats to Labour.
The Lib Dems convened a special conference to give its members a say on Mr Clegg’s decision to enter in coalition Government with the Tories.
The decision had already been backed by the party’s MPs and its executive, which meant that the leadership would not have been bound by the result of the conference.
However, in the event, members voted “over-whelmingly” in support of the deal with no more than a dozen of the 2,000 delegates opposing the deal in a show of hands at the gathering in Birmingham.
Speaking after the vote, Mr Clegg said: “It is a big step. There are lots of unknowns, there will be bumps and scrapes along the way”.
He said the party's special conference had taken a “very, very important decision” to approve the coalition “which is utterly new in modern British political history”.
He added: “It would simply be wrong for us to let this chance of real change pass us by. >>> Christopher Hope, Whitehall Editor | Sunday, May 16, 2010
Top Liberal Democrats Open Rift Over Coalition With Conservatives
THE OBSERVER: Why I refused to back deal - Charles Kennedy / Former leader fuels doubts over pact
Paddy Ashdown and Charles Kennedy congratulate Nick Clegg after he beat Chris Huhne to become Lib Dem leader in 2007. Photo: The Observer
The depth of division among Liberal Democrats over Nick Clegg's coalition deal with the Tories bursts into the open today as former party leader Charles Kennedy reveals that he refused to vote for the deal.
In a heartfelt article for today's Observer, Kennedy writes that he could not bring himself to back Clegg in the crucial, behind-closed-doors meeting of Lib Dem MPs last Tuesday night. He feared the move to a formal coalition with the Tories could wreck for ever plans for a progressive centre-left alliance in British politics.
Other party grandees, including former leaders Menzies Campbell, Paddy Ashdown and David Steel, also had profound doubts. But in the end Ashdown and Campbell voted in favour. Steel, who could not be present at the meeting, authorised Kennedy to express their shared views about the dangers of the deal. >>> Toby Helm and Anushka Asthana | Sunday, May 16, 2010
Labour Hid ‘Scorched Earth’ Debts
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Labour ‘left poison pills’ for Cameron’s government
THE government last night accused Labour of pursuing a “scorched earth policy” before the general election, leaving behind billions of pounds of previously hidden spending commitments.
The newly discovered Whitehall “black holes” could force even more severe public spending cuts, or higher tax rises, ministers fear.
Vince Cable, the business secretary, said: “I fear that a lot of bad news about the public finances has been hidden and stored up for the new government. The skeletons are starting to fall out of the cupboard.”
The new cabinet has been discovering previously unknown contracts and uncosted spending commitments left by their spendthrift predecessors. >>> Marie Woolf and Jonathan Oliver | Sunday, May 16, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Analysis: Liberal Democrats Switch Support to Labour After Tory Coalition Deal
THE TELEGRAPH: The Liberal Democrats have clearly taken an electoral hit as a result of their decision to enter into a coalition with the Conservatives, writes John Curtice.
At 21 per cent, their share of voting intentions is down three points on what they secured in the ballot box just ten days ago.
Only around three-quarters of those who voted for the party on May 6th say that they would vote for them now. In contrast nearly everyone who voted Conservative or Labour would do so again.
Moreover, most of those who have defected from the Lib Dems have switched to Labour. This has helped push Labour up three points to 33 per cent, though the Conservatives have edged up a point to 38 per cent too.
Yet this result may still be greeted with some relief at Lib Dem headquarters. The party might have feared the electoral fallout from last week would have been much greater. The Lib Dems' current rating is still above what the party polled during most of the last parliament.
The Lib Dems will also be encouraged by the finding that the public might vote in favour of a switch to the Alternative Vote system in the proposed referendum, the key concession Nick Clegg obtained from David Cameron. As many as 56 per cent say they would back a switch. >>> John Curtice | Saturday, May 15, 2010
Tory/Lib Dem Coalition Wins Public Approval in ICM Poll
THE TELEGRAPH: The Liberal/Conservative coalition has won high levels of public approval, with nearly two thirds of voters backing the new Govern-ment, a Sunday Telegraph/ ICM poll shows.
The survey, the first by ICM since election day, showed 64 per cent of voters thought that the Liberal Democrat/Conservative coalition was the right way forward for Britain after the general election resulted in a hung parliament.
It was backed by 87 per cent of those who voted Tory this month and 77 per cent of Lib Dem voters. >>> Patrick Hennessy, Political Editor | Saturday, May 15, 2010
