Hannan causes more embarrassment
‘Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan has plunged the party into more controversy after naming Enoch Powell as his political hero.’ – Sky News
‘Controversial Tory MEP Daniel Hannan will not be disciplined after naming Enoch Powell as his political hero, Conservatives have said.’ – PA
GCSE results
‘Ed Balls marks the publication of this year’s GCSE results tomorrow with a scathing attack on the Conservatives’ education plans, claiming they want to revive a two-tiered school system relegating millions of children to take “second-class” exams.’ – Polly Curtis, The Guardian
‘The first group of young people to have been entirely educated under Labour pick up their GCSE results today. No doubt this will provoke some commentators into even greater efforts to do down their achievements – claiming more young people succeeding must mean exams are getting easier.’ – Ed Balls, The Guardian
Tributes to Kennedy
‘Nevertheless, the heavens have somehow conspired to make this Kennedy death, however expected it might have been, nearly as heartbreaking as those of his vigorous younger brothers. It’s not just that the great cause of the last 40 years of his life, reforming America’s healthcare system, sits at a perilous juncture, although it certainly is that, in part. But the tragic irony of the timing is even greater, because we see in the very healthcare debate that so needed his input the precarious state of the institution to which he devoted his life, and which he shaped and influenced more than probably any other senator in history.’ – Michael Tomasky, The Guardian
‘From our side of the Atlantic it is tempting to highlight the scandals, the Kennedy mystique and the role in the Northern Ireland peace process. But his most prodigious claim on history is his record as a senator. He left his mark on American social policy as few have done, in everything from civil rights, immigration and campaign finance laws to education, trucking industries and the rights of the disabled. He worked constructively with political enemies, including Bob Dole, in the battle to prevent Reagan-era attempts to weaken voting rights and with George Bush to strengthen the No Child Left Behind education law of 2001’ – Editorial, The Guardian
House prices rise
‘House prices rose by 1.6 per cent in August, their fourth consecutive monthly increase, and are rising at the fastest rate for two and a half years, figures showed today.’ – Emily Ford and Rebecca O’Connor, The Times