John Bercow elected as Speaker
‘John Bercow is starting work as Speaker of the House of Commons amid signs of some Conservative opposition.’ – BBC
‘Now disengagement from politics and indifference to what we do have given way to outright public ridicule, scorn and contempt. The tidal wave of devastating disclosures about expenses has horrified the public. Massive damage has been done. Only the most decisive action now to bring about permanent change for the better will enable us to restore trust in our probity.’ – John Bercow, The Guardian
‘How the former secretary of the repatriation committee of the notorious Monday Club became a Tory Speaker elected on almost entirely Labour support is testament to years of work by the MP from Buckinghamshire and the deep cynicism of his backers.’ – Sam Coates, The Times
‘The decision yesterday by the House of Commons to choose John Bercow as its new Speaker will either be a triumph, or it will be a disaster. It is difficult to say which. But given the severity of the Parliamentary crisis and the character of Mr Bercow, a quiet mediocrity seems unlikely.’ – Leader, The Times
Tories in Europe: ‘A dismal error’
‘David Cameron finally delivered on a four-year-old pledge to establish a new centre right grouping in the European parliament when the Tories announced they would lead a 55-strong bloc of social conservatives in Strasbourg and Brussels.’ – Nicholas Watt and Ian Traynor, The Guardian
‘Politicians rarely elevate the reduction of influence of their countries into formal party policy. But, on Monday, David Cameron, UK Conservative party leader, confirmed that he will withdraw Tory MEPs from sitting within the European People’s party in favour of a new group. A dismal error.’ – Editorial, Financial Times
‘The Conservative Party distanced itself yesterday from the hardline views of its new partners in the European Parliament, some of whom oppose women’s and gay rights.’ – Andrew Grice and Vanessa Mock, The Independent
Iraq inquiry
‘Gordon Brown faces the prospect of a string of public hearings on Labour’s role in backing the war in Iraq, after the chairman of the independent inquiry, Sir John Chilcot, said it was essential that as much of it as possible was held in the open.’ – Patrick Wintour, The Guardian
‘And I hope, given that I’ve put his name in the first paragraph and that this is, after all, The Times, Sir John will also read this article, urging upon him that he hold the entire inquiry in public, despite my certainty that it will, in one important sense, do no good, because it will change no one’s minds.’ – David Aaronovitch, The Times
Aid to Zimbabwe
‘Britain has pledged £5 million of additional British food and education aid to Zimbabwe after a fundraising visit from Morgan Tsvangirai, Gordon Brown announced yesterday.’ – Judith Evans, The Times
‘Mr Tsvangirai denies being “co-opted” by Mr Mugabe and tells an encouraging story of free elections in Zimbabwe within two years. What the Zimbabwean government needs from the outside world now, he argues, is no longer isolation, but support.’ – Leader, The Independent