Baroness Warsi Launches Bitter Assault On Coalition Strategy Towards Muslims

THE GUARDIAN: Former Tory chair targets Michael Gove for criticism and says failure to engage with the community ‘has fuelled resentment’

Lady Warsi has delivered a blistering critique of the government’s approach towards Britain’s Muslims, warning that failure to engage properly with communities across the UK has created a climate of suspicion and undermined the fight against extremism.

In her first major intervention on the relationship between Muslims and the rest of society since she resigned from the cabinet five months ago, Warsi says the coalition’s policy of non-engagement has caused deep unease and resentment towards the government.

Writing in the Observer, Warsi warns that the government’s stance is counterproductive at a time of heightened national security. This month has seen warnings from MI5 that an attack on the UK is “highly likely” in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris on 8 January. » | Mark Townsend | Saturday, January 24, 2015

Sajid Javid: The Millionaire Bus Conductor's Son with a Portrait of Margaret Thatcher on His Wall

Sajid Javid: 'This is the root of my conservative beliefs. My mother
and father had nothing and, like many people in their adopted country,
worked their way up.'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: New Culture Secretary becomes the first Asian man to be given a full-time job in the Cabinet

Sajid Javid, the millionaire son of a bus driver, has become the first Asian man to be given a full time job in the Cabinet.

The promotion to Culture Secretary crowns a remarkable ascent to the top of the Government by Mr Javid, who only entered Parliament in 2010.

Mr Javid sacrificed a huge amount to become an MP. He became an MP after running Deutsche Bank’s trading operations in Asia, where he is reported by Bloomberg to have earned around £3 million a year.

Mr Javid was picked out as a high flier from early on, almost immediately joining the work and pensions committee.

He was made economic secretary to the Treasury in 2012, rising up the departmental ranks the following year to the more senior role of financial secretary. » | Christopher Hope, Senior Political Correspondent | Wednesday, April 09, 2014

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Sajid Javid and Nicky Morgan join Cabinet after Maria Miller quits: Prime Minister makes ex-banker educated at state school new Culture Secretary after Maria Miller quits over expenses » | Christopher Hope, Senior Political Correspondent | Wednesday, April 09, 2014

Cameron Can Overcome Mitchell Crisis by Imposing Some Discipline
THE OBSERVER: It's not so bad being called a toff. A toff who sorted out the country's problems would be very popular

The headlines on the front pages of the upmarket papers last week had been bad enough for Cameron, but the Saturday tabloids were an absolute disaster. This dog of a coalition government has let itself be given a bad name and now anyone can beat it. It has let itself be called a government of unfeeling toffs. Past governments have had far more real Tory toffs: prime ministers Alec Douglas-Home and Harold Macmillan, or even in Thatcher's day, Whitelaw, Soames, Hailsham, Carrington, Gowrie, Joseph, Avon, Trenchard and plenty more, without incurring similar abuse. » | Norman Tebbit | Saturday, October 20, 2012

The Arab Spring Turns Sour for America
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The murder of the US ambassador to Libya is a shocking reminder to Barack Obama that helping to overthrow dictators does not guarantee stability in the region

For anyone who still clings to a naive belief that recent dramatic changes to the political landscape of the Middle East have made the world a safer place, the murder of the US Ambassador to Libya and three other embassy staff on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks should act as a brutal wake-up call.

For more than a year, politicians on both sides of the Atlantic have given their enthusiastic backing to the seismic changes taking place among the ruling elites who have dominated the region for decades. As dictator after dictator has been removed from power, either through force of arms or the overwhelming strength of popular discontent, Western leaders have universally given their support to what they mistakenly identified as an “Arab Spring” of Western-style pro-democracy movements sweeping aside despotism.

In Washington President Barack Obama has sought, from the start of his presidency, a “new beginning” for America’s problematic relationship with the Muslim world. He has given unqualified support to those campaigning for change in the major Arab capitals, actively encouraging the overthrow of one of Washington’s longest-serving allies, Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak, and backing the military campaign to overthrow Libya’s Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

In London, a similarly proactive stance has been adopted by the Coalition. David Cameron and former French president Nicolas Sarkozy were at the forefront of last year’s Nato-led coalition to effect regime change in Tripoli, while William Hague regularly lectures his Foreign Office staff that it is important for Britain to be seen to support the reformers clamouring for change in the Middle East.

But as the brutal murders of US Ambassador Chris Stevens and his colleagues in the Libyan coastal city of Benghazi have demonstrated, the wave of change sweeping the region is not without risk. It is still too early to say for sure who was responsible for the attack on Mr Stevens’s convoy as he was being evacuated from the American consulate following an assault by a mob of anti-American protesters, but this tragic episode certainly brings into stark relief the dangerous currents that are swirling beneath the reform movements. Read on and comment » | Con Coughlin | Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Vince Cable Tells Shareholders: Throw Out Bank Cheats

THE GUARDIAN: Bosses preside over 'moral quagmire', says business secretary, as Barclays chief Bob Diamond is summoned to face MPs

Vince Cable has urged shareholders in UK banks to rise up and purge their companies of corrupt executives, who he says have allowed "systemic abuse" to take root in the banking system.

The business secretary, writing in the Observer, says it is now clear that no one at Barclays Capital, the investment bank that triggered the market-rigging scandal, is prepared to take responsibility for endemic corruption, so the ultimate owners of banks must take matters into their own hands.

Describing the problems in UK banking as "a moral quagmire of almost biblical proportions", Cable says the government is taking urgent action, including creating a clearer separation between "casino-style investment banking" and retail banking on the high street. Ministers will this week begin a review into the libor system under which banks lend to each other and Cable hints that US-style criminal sanctions, such as the threat of prison terms, could be considered against those who abuse it.

But he says shareholder power will be crucial. "Regulators are a backstop: they don't own banks," he writes. "The governance at the top of our leading banks has been shown to be lamentably weak. No one at the top of Barclays will take responsibility for systemic abuse.

"Shareholders, the owners, have a major responsibility here. I am bringing in legislation to strengthen their control over pay and bonuses, through binding votes, but shareholders have to get a stronger grip on weak boards and out-of-control executives." » | Toby Helm, Jamie Doward and Jill Treanor | Saturday, June 30, 2012

Nick Clegg: Gay Marriage Is Inevitable
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Nick Clegg has said that same-sex marriage must “happen now” and insisted that opponents will not stop the Coalition changing the law.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that laws allowing homosexuals full marriage rights are inevitable, saying the current debate is about “when”, not “if” to make the change.

The Coalition is considering changing the law to allow couples of the same sex to marry in the same way as heterosexuals. The proposals have been opposed by many Conservative MPs and by the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church.

Mr Clegg’s Liberal Democrats are enthusiastic supporters of the change, and the issue has sharpened tensions between the two Coalition parties.

The Deputy Prime Minister gave his support for same-sex marriage in an online video for the Out4Marriage campaign, which has recorded statements of support from several leading politicians.

“I’ve always been very clear on this: love is the same, straight or gay, so the civil institution should be the same too. All couples should be able to make that commitment to one another, regardless of who they love,” Mr Clegg said.

“I fought for equal marriage before I was in Government, and I’m even more committed to making it happen now – as a Liberal Democrat and as Deputy Prime Minister.”

He went on to suggest that opposition to the change will not stop the eventual introduction of same-sex marriage. » | James Kirkup, Deputy Political Editor | Wednesday, June 20, 2012

UK Govt Bill Opens Up NHS to Private Profiteering

Gay Couples to Win Legal Right to Marry Before Next Election
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Gay couples will be guaranteed the legal right to marry before the next general election, a Liberal Democrat minister has said.

Lynne Featherstone, the equalities minister, defied Tory backbench MPs who want the proposal to be dropped, declaring: “There will be no U-turn on equal marriage.”

She said the Coalition would continue to focus on “core issues”, such as reducing the deficit, at the same time as introducing laws allowing same-sex couples to marry by the end of this Parliament.

Her remarks, on her constituency blog, will fuel tensions between Liberal Democrats and Tories over the direction of the government.

Since last week’s poor election results for both Coalition parties, a succession of Conservatives have demanded that David Cameron and Nick Clegg abandon “fringe issues” and focus on the economy.

Miss Featherstone insists that the coalition can introduce equal marriage and secure the economic recovery at the same time. » | Tim Ross, Political Correspondent | Monday, May 07, 2012

Related »

Tories Heading in the Wrong Direction, Says Lord Ashcroft

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Conservative party “is heading in the wrong direction” and does not know where it is going, party donor Lord Ashcroft has said.

The Tory peer said that the Government had so had its “most difficult month so far, and the voters have noticed”.

In an article on the Conservativehome website, Lord Ashcroft suggested that part of the problem was that the Government had lost its grip on events.

He said that if the drift was allowed to continue then the Tories would be punished at the next general election, expected in 2015.

He said: “The main problem is not so much that people think the Conservative Party is heading in the wrong direction, it is that they are not sure where it is heading. And that includes me.” » | Christopher Hope, Senior Political Correspondent | Thursday, April 19, 2012

This Is a Government of Chums, Say Six Out of Ten in Damning New Poll

MAIL ONLINE: Nearly two out of three say entry to Mr Cameron’s elite inner circle depends on ‘who you know’ / Three out of ten said George Osborne was a 'snob' / Ratings of Boris Johnson show that it is possible to have a privileged background and still be popular

David Cameron is running a ‘Government of chums’ where ‘who you know’ matters more than ‘what you know’ – and he is becoming dangerously out of touch with voters as a result.

That is the finding of a new poll in the wake of the longest run of political and public-relations blunders by the Tories, many self-inflicted, since Mr Cameron became Prime Minister.

The hostile reaction to the ‘granny tax,’ the ‘pasty tax,’ the petrol panic and the Downing Street ‘donorgate’ scandal appears to have led to a growing feeling that Mr Cameron and his Ministers are elitist and remote.

The phrase ‘a Government of chums’ was first coined in a leader column in The Mail on Sunday last week, which asserted that ‘a small group of people from very similar backgrounds, who have known each other for years, are running the country mainly by talking to each other – and to nobody else’. Read on and comment » | Simon Walters | Saturday, April 07, 2012

Polls Show British PM Cameron Losing Support
British voters are losing confidence in Prime Minister David Cameron to see them through the economic crisis, according to the latest opinion polls. The leader of the country's coalition government has staked his political reputation on reducing the UK's debt and reforming public finances. A series of blunders, however, has seen the government back-track on some of those measures. Al Jazeera's Harry Smith reports from London.

Revealed: Education's Great Class Divide
THE INDEPENDENT: Teachers warn of 'toxic' effect of a socially segregated system

Schools are becoming increasingly segregated along class lines, teachers have warned – calling spending cuts and reforms that hit poor pupils the Coalition's "dirty little secret".

The poorest children are suffering most from the "toxic" effects of socially divided schools, according to the leader of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers. "We have schools for the elite; schools for the middle class and schools for the working class," Mary Bousted said. "Too few schools have mixed intakes where children can learn those intangible life skills of aspiration, effort and persistence from one another."

Dr Bousted, who heads the most moderate of the three teachers' unions, added: "This Coalition Government's attack on poor children is a blight upon our conception of ourselves as a civilised society. They remind me of a former Prime Minister who said there was no such thing as society." » | Richard Garner | Thursday, April 05, 2012

The UK 'Snooping' Plan: Security vs. Privacy
Is the UK's new online surveillance plan an essential security tool or an unnecessary breach of personal freedoms?

Related »

Digital Surveillance: What My Phone Records Say about Me
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Granting police and security agencies immediate access to email, web and phone communications data allows them to paint a detailed portrait of a life.

The Coalition government's proposals to extend surveillance powers would vastly expand the amount of data that communications companies must keep on record.

Phone companies are already required to hold information for up to twelve months; in the future this information - as well as similar information collected form email and social networking sites - could be accessed in real time, and without a warrant.

I accessed my own data from my mobile phone company Vodafone, using data protection laws, to demonstrate what information is already stored and how this data already creates a revealing profile of the individual.

Use the graphic above to browse the location data logged by Vodafone every time my phone made a connection with the phone masts - when I made a call, received or sent a text message, or checked my emails.

Further data - recording what I was using the phone for in each instance, and the numbers I dialled - was also released.

Together this data creates a very effective profile of my life: who I called, where I worked, where I lived and what I got up to. » | Cal Flyn, interactive graphic by Dan Palmer and Mark Oliver | Tuesday, April 03, 2012

My comment:

I am sure I speak for many when I say that I am so disappointed in this government, in this establishment, in this country.

I was raised to believe that Great Britain was a land of fairness and fair play. Events in recent years have disabused me of the fairytale and myths my parents brought me up to believe in. I was also raised to believe that Conservative governments would always bring a little sanity back into public life where Labour had fallen short. This is another myth that I have been disabused of. It is now clear that one cannot put a cigarette paper between any of the main parties. They are out for themselves, and they are almost to a man, without courage and conviction.

To be fair to my parents, people years ago had to fight tooth and nail for their liberty, witness the Second World War. And they did so without as much as complaining. To them, the good of the country and liberty for future generations was their paramount concern.

It used to be the case that the people who caused the problems would be targeted for punishment. It would have been unthinkable for good, honest, decent folk to have their privacy invaded and attacked for the misdeeds of the few. Alas such noble concepts have gone by the board. Now, everyone – young and old, innocent and guilty – is the target of milquetoast politicians.

Now, politicians hide behind political correctness. In truth, they lack the courage to target the guilty, especially when those that are guilty belong to another culture, another religion. They have allowed the indigenous population to be swamped by an alien culture without as much as seeking the approval of the electorate. As a result, they have got themselves into difficulties which they do not know how to extricate themselves from. They are too craven to target the people who endanger our freedoms, so make good, decent people pay for their cravenness instead, by imposing unjust legislation upon them.

They forget – if they ever knew – that good, decent, courageous people fought for our liberties in previous wars. They are now willing to extend the arm of government straight into our private lives and personal affairs.

To say that if one has nothing to hide, one has nothing to fear is ridiculous. First of all, we are entitled in a free democracy to have a modicum of privacy. Even the innocent don't usually want everything about them and their lives to be known by everyone else. A little bit of anonymity makes life all the pleasanter for many people.

I can only urge David Cameron and his cabinet to re-think this awful piece of legislation. Too much will be lost if it is passed. This is a pernicious, malevolent bill. And it is so open to abuse. If the objective is to keep us safe, another, less-objectionable way must be found. To target the many for the crimes of the few is a step too far. It also defies the spirit of the British. This is NOT East Germany, this is NOT Iran, this is NOT China. This IS Great Britain. Let those that govern us not forget that. – © Mark

This comment also appears here

Tory MPs Told to 'Get a Grip' after Criticism of Leadership

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Conservative MPs unhappy about the way David Cameron is running the Government have been told to "get a grip".

Charlie Elphicke, an executive member of the1922 Committee of backbenchers, criticised MPs whose concerns about the leadership were revealed by the Daily Telegraph earlier today. Mr Elphicke spoke as Downing Street made clear Mr Cameron will not make changes in the face of pressure from the Tory benches.

Mr Elphicke said: “It is not the Prime Minister who needs to get a grip but colleagues on the backbenches who need to realise that government is not a cakewalk’.

“Given the poisonous inheritance from the Labour government, it was never going to be easy. But so far, the Government is doing a good job in difficult circumstances. Kris Hopkins, another Conservative MP, told the Spectator that MPs complaining about Mr Cameron’s approach risk “compromising” the Conservative Party.

Accusing critics of being egotistical, he added: “There should be constant challenge to the leadership, it shouldn’t start from the position of dislike for the Prime Minister”.

Some MPs have said they are concerned that Mr Cameron and his allies are seen are out-of-touch with the concerns of ordinary voters, worries sharpened by recent rows over the taxation of pasties and pensions.

John Redwood, a former Cabinet minister, said that the Prime Minister should avoid “phoney” attempts to conceal his privileged upbringing and focus on economic policy. » | James Kirkup, and Holly Watt | Monday, April 02, 2012

David Cameron and George Osborne Are Seen as Out-of-touch Toffs – David Davis

TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – JAMES KIRKUP: When sorrows come, they come not as single spies but in batallions. In David Cameron's case, those batallions often include one David Davis, late of the SAS and the Conservative shadow cabinet.

Ben Brogan has already identified the need for the Government to look and sound like it understands the rest of us. Mr Davis, the former shadow home secretary is making a similar point, in a rather more aggressive way. He's has given an interview to BBC Radio Four's World at One, in which he warned that the Cameron-led Conservatives risk losing the "hard-working aspirant" working class. "You can’t win an election without them," he noted.

Because of austerity measures, those people feel they’ve been “pushed off the escalator”, he said. "They start to resent those at the top of the escalator, and that works worst against Conservatives.”

“They look at the front bench. They see them, all very well turned out, well-fed, they look like they’re in a completely different world" Read on and comment » | James Kirkup | Thursday, March 29, 2012

Budget 2012: Ed Miliband's Response
Labour leader accuses government of unveiling a millionaires' budget and says it marks the end of 'we are all in it together'

Christians Have No Right to Wear Cross at Work, Says Government

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Christians do not have a right to wear a cross or crucifix openly at work, the Government is to argue in a landmark court case.

In a highly significant move, ministers will fight a case at the European Court of Human Rights in which two British women will seek to establish their right to display the cross.

It is the first time that the Government has been forced to state whether it backs the right of Christians to wear the symbol at work.

A document seen by The Sunday Telegraph discloses that ministers will argue that because it is not a “requirement” of the Christian faith, employers can ban the wearing of the cross and sack workers who insist on doing so.

The Government’s position received an angry response last night from prominent figures including Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury.

He accused ministers and the courts of “dictating” to Christians and said it was another example of Christianity becoming sidelined in official life.

The Government’s refusal to say that Christians have a right to display the symbol of their faith at work emerged after its plans to legalise same-sex marriages were attacked by the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in Britain. » | David Barrett, Home Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, March 10, 2012

Coalition Lacks Vision, Says Vince Cable

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, has admitted in a leaked letter that the Government lacks “a compelling vision of where the country is heading” after the financial crisis.

The Liberal Democrat minister described elements of the Government’s economic policy as “frankly, rather piecemeal” and said it was not clear how Britons would “earn our living in the future”.

The leaked letter, sent by Mr Cable to David Cameron and Nick Clegg last month, is evidence of a growing rift between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats over economic policy in the run-up to the Budget. Senior Liberal Democrats have broken with recent convention by being increasingly vocal in their demands for new taxes on expensive properties to fund greater tax breaks for low-paid workers.

There are also growing disagreements over policies to boost economic growth with the Conservatives blaming Mr Cable for blocking initiatives to cut unnecessary red tape for private firms.

In his five-page letter sent to the Prime Minister and his deputy on Feb 8, Mr Cable criticises the Government’s failure to develop a coherent industrial policy.

After praising Coalition measures to restore the public finances, the letter says: “I sense, however, there is still something important missing: a compelling vision of where the country is heading beyond sorting out the fiscal mess; and a clear and confident message about how we will earn our living in the future.” Read on and comment » | Robert Winnett, Political Editor | Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Lynne Featherstone Tells Church 'Don't Polarise Gay Marriage Debate'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Church does not have the exclusive right to define who should be allowed to get married, the equalities minister warns, as she suggests that religious groups have polarised the debate on gay marriage.

Lynne Featherstone directly challenges the role of the Church in the debate over homosexual weddings, saying it does not “own” marriage.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Miss Featherstone says the Government has a right to change the definition of marriage and pledges to challenge those who “want to leave tradition alone”.

Citing the words of the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, who is a prominent opponent of the Coalition’s plans to allow same-sex couples to marry, she insists that how marriage is defined is up to “the people”.

In a direct address to the Christian opponents of the proposed changes, she says: “We understand how strongly some religious groups feel about the issue, which is why we are listening and we want to work with them.

“But there is a range of other views we need to listen to as well.

“I want to urge people not to polarise this debate. This is not a battle between gay rights and religious beliefs. This is about the underlying principles of family, society and personal freedoms.” » | John Bingham, Social Affairs editor | Friday, February 24, 2012

My comment:

One way out of this impasse would be for the UK to adopt a Swiss-style system in which everyone who marries has to marry in what we would call a registry office. That makes them married in the eyes of the law. Then, in Switzerland, if people feel so inclined, they are also entitled to have a second ceremony in a house of worship, making them married in the eyes of God. The former is a legal must; the latter, a preference. If the UK adopted this system, much of this debate would become irrelevant. – © Mark

This comment appears here too.