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The prime minister has welcomed an apology from his chief whip Andrew Mitchell over disrespectful remarks made to police in Downing Street. The incident occurred after Mitchell was forced to get off his bicycle as he left Downing Street, reports the Sun.
“He exploded with fury when armed police guarding No10 refused to open the street’s famous gates. The PC targeted by the tirade reported to his superiors that Mitchell told him: “Best you learn your f***ing place. You don’t run this f***ing government. You’re f***ing plebs.” An eyewitness said Mr Mitchell, 56, also branded them “morons”.”
Mitchell was promoted to chief whip two weeks ago as a result of Cameron’s re-shuffle. The post-holder is responsible for maintaining discipline within the party.
This is just the sort of story the media loves and the articles have been coming thick and fast. The list runs in the order of most recent first.
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22/09/12
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Mitchell police row: PM attacked
A police union leader has attacked David Cameron as the row continues over Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell’s words to an officer. The prime mi…0
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‘Thrasher’ Mitchell: The stern disciplinarian and quintessential Tory
As the Government’s new Chief Whip, Andrew “Thrasher” Mitchell’s task is to inject discipline into the fractious ranks of Tory MPs frustr…0
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Coming through. . . the arrogance of power – Telegraph
In the frantic quest to shoehorn Andrew Mitchell into the correct historico-fictional pigeonhole, the first step is to rule out one super…0
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Unthinkable? A self-effacing chief whip
A chief whip, according to Herbert Asquith, must have a large capacity for self-assertion and an even larger capacity for self-effacement…0
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Rudeness and free speech: why chief whips should set an example
There again, I know that smoothie, Andrew Mitchell. He can be charming, but also a bit snooty and rude. I can well imagine him saying som…0
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Should Andrew Mitchell resign?
Conservative chief whip Andrew Mitchell apologised after being criticised by David Cameron for shouting abuse at police. He denies report…0
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Police insult minister ‘must go’
The leader of the Metropolitan Police Federation has called for Andrew Mitchell to resign over his outburst to an officer in Downing Stre…0
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21/09/12 – NLAT covered the story shortly after it appeared in The Sun.
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Tory chief whip apologises to police for outburst | FacebookTory chief whip apologises to police for outburst | Facebook0
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The aftermath of Cameron’s re-shuffle
Cameron’s calamitous cabinet re-shuffle
Conservatives rocked by Cash4Cameron crisis
Cameron made the following statement this morning, ahead of a speech in London:
“What Peter Cruddas said was completely unacceptable and wrong … We have a robust and sensible system for raising money in the Conservative party. All donations to the party centrally above £7,500 are declared to the Electoral Commission and must comply with electoral law. No donation is accepted before going through very thorough compliance procedures …
There has been much speculation about dinners in my flat in Number 10 Downing Street. The position is this: in the two years I have been prime minister there have been three occasions on which significant donors have come to my flat. In addition, there was a further post-election dinner which included donors in Downing Street itself shortly after the general election. We will be publishing full details of all these today.
None of these dinners were fundraising dinners. None of these dinners were paid for by the taxpayer. I have known most of those attending for many years. Let me add that Peter Cruddas has never recommended anyone to come to dinner in my flat, nor has he been to dinner there himself.
I already publish details of my external meetings as prime minister – the first prime minister to do so – and I also publish all meetings that I have with media editors and proprietors. From now on the Conservative party will publish details every quarter of any meals attended by any major donors, whether they take place at Downing Street, Chequers or any official residence.
The Conservative party is funded by private citizens. I inherited a party that was tens of millions of pounds in debt and dependent on a tiny number of big donors. Since I have been leader we have significantly broadened the Conservative party’s funding base and many more significant donors …
From now on, the Conservative party will in addition publish a register of those major donors who actually attend these fundraising dinners.
On policy, let me make clear no one in the Number 10 policy unit has met anyone at Peter Cruddas’s request. Peter Cruddas spoke about passing requests to a policy committee at Number 10 Downing Street. There is no such committee. However, to avoid any perception of undue influence, from now on we will put in place new procedures in which if any ministerial contact with a party donor prompts a request for policy advice, the minister will refer this to his or her private office who can then seek guidance from the permanent secretary.
Clearly there is still an urgent need for party funding reform in this country. I have consistently argued this over the last six years. No party is immune from these problems. Indeed, the leader of the Labour party has himself encountered some controversy in recent days. That is why the government has invited Labour to restart the cross-party talks on reforming the current rules.
But today I make this offer once again to the Labour party. I’m ready to impose a cap on individual political donations of £50,000 without any further need for state funding. But to be fair, this must apply equally to trade unions as well as to private citizens or businesses.”
The Guardian (amended)
DC by MR
Millions of pensioners mugged in pickpocket budget
George Osborne has delivered a £1 billion Budget tax hit to pensioners as he cut the top rate of tax for Britain’s wealthiest earners. The Treasury acknowledged that 4.5 million pensioners would lose out as a result of the decision to phase out their additional age-related allowances.
Age UK said it was “disappointed” with the move warning that it could leave some pensioners up to £259-a-year worse off, with little chance to change their retirement plan. However, Treasury sources pointed to a report by the Office for Tax Simplification which claimed many pensioners did not understand the allowances and found claiming them “burdensome”.
Under the Chancellor’s plans allowances will be withdrawn for new pensioners from April next year while existing pensioners will have their allowances frozen at £10,500 for the over 60s and £10,660 for the over 75s until overall tax thresholds catch up with them. According to the Budget red book, the measure will raise an additional £1.01 billion for the Exchequer by 2015-16.
Although Mr Osborne insisted there would be no cash loss to pensioners, Treasury sources said existing pensioners would be, on average, £63 a year worse off while new pensioners would lose out to the tune of £197 a year on average.
Mr Osborne said of the allowances: “The National Audit Office points out that many pensioners don’t understand them. These allowances require around 150,000 pensioners to fill in self-assessment forms, and as we have real increases in the personal allowances, their value is being eroded all the time.”
Osborne on Marr: This is a Coalition budget
George Osborne lands the LibDems right in it as he ensures everybody knows they were in on the act – even if they weren’t, which is more likely to be the case
This week’s budget will contain aggressive measures against those avoiding stamp duty, the chancellor said this morning. The comment comes amid reports that up to £1 billion is being lost due to individuals registering their exclusive properties in offshore corporations, a move George Osborne described as “completely unacceptable”. He added: “We are going to come down on that practice like a ton of bricks.”
“People are going to face a very punitive charge. We are going to have new measures in the Budget on this. People have had their warning. They’ve got to pay stamp duty on the homes they live in.” The chancellor said he was intent on preventing high earners avoiding tax. “People should pay their fair contribution,” he said. “It’s not just the tax rate but whether they are actually paying the rate.”
Speaking on the Andrew Marr programme, Mr Osborne stressed the budget was aimed at low to middle income working families. He also stressed the Liberal Democrats’ role in the budget and defended figures in the minority party who had voiced demands for further penalties on the rich.
“This is a Coalition budget, this is not a Conservative budget or a Liberal Democrat budget,” he said. “I sit down with Liberal Democrats to make sure they’re happy with it. It’s perfectly reasonable in coalitions of two parties that you get supporters in those parties stressing the things they want to stress. Because it’s a Coalition budget it will satisfy a broader range of public opinion.”
Recent Land Registry figures showed 94,760 properties have been placed offshore – many of them town houses, mansions and country estates. Buyers avoid tax by transferring ownership of a property to an offshore company and then purchasing the company as a whole when selling. This classifies the deal as a corporate transaction as opposed to a property sale.
Politics.co.uk (amended)
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