Politics live blog - Thursday 22 July

8.54am: There are many days when Westminster is awash with political news. But today isn't one of them. Looking at the schedule, I'm afraid it all looks pretty thin. The main announcement that we're going to get from the government is about David Cameron's plans for a (voluntary) national citizen service for 16-year-olds. Cameron unveiled this during the election and he's going to say more about it today at an event at 3pm at Downing Street. Apart from that, we've also got the justice minister Crispin Blunt giving a speech at 10.30am, David Willetts, the science minister, giving evidence to the Commons science committee at 11am and Nick Griffin attending a Buckingham Palace garden party at 4pm. The government is also putting out 28 written ministerial statements, although most of them look remarkably boring. Still, something more exciting might turn up. In the meantime, I'll be looking through the papers for all the good political stories, and as well as bringing you the best politics from the web. I'll also see if I can find any more interesting US reaction to David Cameron's visit. It won't be dull; it never is. 9.26am: Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, was on GMTV this morning talking about his invitation to the Buckingham Palace garden party. Last year he was invited as a guest of the BNP's London assembly member Richard Barnbrook, but pulled out after there was a public outcry. Griffin said that he was attending today because he had been invited in his own right, as an MEP. "The palace have made it very, very clear that they will not discriminate against any elected MEP and I think that's the proper thing to do, so there's no embarrassment there at all," he said. According to the Press Association, he said he was "pretty sure" he would not meet the Queen during the event and had absolutely no intention of trying to speak to her. But he added: "If we happen to meet over the sandwiches, of course I will." 9.31am: The day is picking up already. Nick Clegg is publishing two pieces of constitutional reform legislation: a fixed-term parliaments bill, and a parllamentary voting system and constituencies bill (paving the way for a referendum on the alternative vote and for a reduction in the number of constituencies). It looks as if we might get them around lunchtime. 9.53am: And I've just heard about another big announcement on the way. The government will make an announcement about compensating Equitable Life victims at around lunchtime. As the Guardian reported in May , the Treasury said at the time of the Queen's speech that the whole compensation process had taken "far too long" and that it was committed to paying out "as quickly as is possible". 10.10am: I'll post a roundup of the best stories in the papers later, but there's one in the Times that deserves special treatment. Francis Elliott and Philip Webster have written about the relationship between David Miliband and his brother Ed (paywall). And their conclusion? All those protestations about being rivals in the leadership contest not damaging their fraternal relationship are not telling the full story. As Elliott and Webster put it: Observers say that their relationship has deteriorated markedly as the contest has progressed. Senior Labour figures fear that the party, having laid to rest to the feud between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, may be witnessing another damaging psychodrama. The article mostly contains anecdotes attributed to unnamed sources. It is easy to dismiss evidence of this kind, although, as the Mandelson memoirs have illustrated, many of the journalists who were writing these kind of articles about Blair and Brown were spot on. Here's a flavour of what Elliott and Webster are reporting. When David Miliband was a senior figure at Mr Blair's side, colleagues were sometimes shocked – and a little amused – at the preemptory manner that he dealt with Ed, then a junior aide in Mr Brown's office. A typical e-mail might have read: "Tony has asked for this. It must be done quickly," with no preamble or hint of brotherly affection, they claimed. For his part Ed Miliband was said to have been furious when his older brother was shown in 2007 to have exploited a legal loophole to avoid inheritance tax on the family home. Elliott and Webster also suggest that David Miliband and Ed Balls both disapprove of Ed Miliband's populist approach, that some of David Miliband's supporters might make Balls their second choice and that relations between Ed Miliband and Balls are poor. 10.33am: Andrew Lansley is taking part in a live webchat on the Downing Street website about the health white paper. It's starting now. 10.59am: The Cabinet Office has put out a press notice about the national citizen service. As I explained at 8.54am, this idea has already been well trailed. But here are the key points that seem to be new. • There will be a pilot next summer, involving 10,000 places. They will last for seven to eight weeks. • Participants will spend a minimum of 10 days and nights away from home. • Activities will include an outdoor challenge, helping the local community and developing a social action task. • Organisations that want to run the pilots will be invited to submit bids in August. The government will publish a detailed specification for what it wants. Successful bidders will be announced in late October. • Cameron is keen for the programme to be seen as part of his "big society" initiative. The press notice also includes a quote from Cameron. There is a tragic waste of potential in this country today. The young people of this country are as passionate and idealistic as any generation before - perhaps more passionate. But too many teenagers appear lost and feel their lives lack shape and direction. National Citizen Service will help change that. A kind of non-military national service, it's going to mix young people from different backgrounds in a way that doesn't happen right now. It's going to teach them what it means to be socially responsible. Above all it's going to inspire a generation of young people to appreciate what they can achieve and how they can be part of the Big Society. But there's one ominous note at the bottom of the press release: "As will all government programmes, the scale of the pilots will be subject to the spending review." 11.07am: Eric Illsley, a former Labour MP accused of dishonestly claiming more than £25,000 in expenses, appeared in court today. The Press Association says he faces three charges of false accounting, relating to three years of expenses claimed on his second home in London. The PA report goes on: "Illsley, 55, spoke only to confirm his name when he appeared at Southwark crown court in central London. He was ordered to appear before Mr Justice Saunders for a directions hearing on a date yet to be fixed." 11.42am: I've finally got through the papers. Here are the highlights. • Benedict Brogan in the Daily Telegraph says David Cameron should reform the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa). [Ipsa] has won itself a reputation – among MPs, at least – as a costly mistake, a bureaucratic death-zone manned by idiots who are cut off from the reality of what a member does or requires. Phones go unanswered, the online claims system is impenetrable, money is not paid and the whole thing teeters on the brink of disaster. Three weeks ago, in a bizarre reversal of how politics is usually conducted, MPs crowded into the public gallery of a committee room to jeer and heckle the civil servants who run Ipsa. For a disgraceful moment, and under the very eyes of the Speaker, the rulers became the mob. • Steve Richards in the Independent says the next leader of the Labour party won't have long to make an impact. I make one prediction on the basis of discussions with quite a lot of Labour MPs. Such is their loathing for the coalition that they are deadly serious about returning to power as soon as possible. If their next leader flops in the first year or so there will be no sentimentality. He will be removed. • Jill Sherman in the Times (paywall) says that the national citizen service scheme being announced by David Cameron today could cost up to £1,400 per head. She also quotes Stephen Budd, head of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, who thinks the money could be better spent. I think there is a risk that the project will be filled by middle-class or upper-class kids who would have volunteered anyway. • James Slack in the Daily Mail says that the Home Office has taken control of licensing from the culture department and that the government will dismantle the "24-hour drinking" laws introduced by Labour. Labour had made it hard for councils to refuse late-night licences. In particular, town halls could not refuse a pub a licence on the grounds that a street or town centre was saturated with bars and clubs. This Government wants the situation reversed, in favour of councils fixing opening times. A bar could be turned down if homes were surrounded by pubs. • Tim Shipman in the Daily Mail says (over two pages) that David Cameron provoked "a furious backlash yesterday for the astonishing claim that the UK was a 'junior partner' to America in 1940 – a year before the U.S. even entered the war". 11.50am: My colleague Allegra Stratton has already written a story about the speech that Crispin Blunt, the justice minister, is delivering today . (See 8.54am.) Blunt is comparing the government's prisons policy with Winston Churchill's. Blunt, invoking the memory of Churchill, will say: "We are doing this because, as Churchill told the Commons, the first principle of prison reform, "should be to prevent as many people [as possible from] getting there at all'." In 1910, the then 35-year-old Liberal MP was made home secretary. One of his first acts was to announce that within the year he would reduce by 50,000 the numbers in prison for petty offences. 12.10pm: My summary of the highlights from the papers (see 11.42am) overlooked a cracker in the Daily Mail saying the fact that the Tories have stalled on an election pledge has created a situation where " thousands of cancer patients face being condemned to an early grave ". Tim Montgomerie has written about it at ConservativeHome . He says it is one of more than 10 anti-government articles in the Mail today. There's a good piece to be written about the coalition government's relationship with what used to be called Fleet Street. Most governments enjoy the solid support of at least one or two national papers. This government is getting a reasonably good press at the moment. But I'm not sure that there are any titles that will support it loyally when the mood sours. 1.13pm: Here's a lunchtime summary. • Eric Pickles has announced the closure of the eight remaining regional government offices. The Government Office for London had been earmarked for closure. Unions believe this could involve the the loss of about 1,700 jobs. "We do not believe the arbitrary government regions to be a tier of administration that is efficient, effective or popular," Pickles, the communities secretary, said. A spokesman for the Public and Commercial Services union said: "This is a power grab by Pickles. He wants localism, but he wants it run from Westminster. Government offices aren't another tier of bureaucracy. They're about ensuring government has a regional accent." • David Cameron announced that 10,000 16-year-olds will have the chance join a national citizen service programme next summer. These will be pilots for a programme that Cameron wants to make available for all teenagers. "It's going to inspire a generation of young people to appreciate what they can achieve and how they can be part of the 'big society'," the prime minister said. (See 10.59am) • Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, has had his invitation to a Buckingham Palace garden party this afternoon withdrawn, the palace has announced. It said Griffin would be turned away because he was using his invitation for "party political purposes". • Mark Hoban, the financial secretary to the Treasury, said the government would reveal how much money was available to compensate Equitable Life victims in October . He made the announcement as he published a report from Sir John Chadwick explaining how much policy holders lost. Compensation will be considered as part of the spending review, which will be announced on 20 October. "This government has confirmed that we are committed to a swift, fair and transparent payment scheme, introduced a bill and set up an independent commission to decide upon the design of the payment scheme," Hoban said. • The Home Office has sacked the main contractor supplying the e-Borders system to check people going in and out of the country. Damian Green, the immigration minister, said the government was terminating the £750m contract with Raytheon Systems because it had "no confidence" the company would be able to get on top of delays. The e-Borders programme collects the details of people entering and leaving the UK electronically. Delivery of critical parts of the programme are running at least 12 months late and there are risks of further delays, Green told MPs in a written statement. But the government is still committed to the e-Borders programme. • Ministers have confirmed they are closing the ContactPoint children's database. Tim Loughton, the children's minister, told MPs in a written statement: "It has always been our view that it was disproportionate and unjustifiable to hold records on every child in the country, making them accessible to large numbers of people." He said the government would look for "a more proportionate approach" to supporting professionals who have to protect vulnerable children. • Andrew Lansley, the health secretary, announced further consultation on his proposed NHS reforms. he has published two consultation papers, covering commissioning for patients and local democratic legitimacy in health . 1.54pm: The Crown Prosecution Service will be able to block private prosecutions in England and Wales for war crimes, Ken Clarke, the justice secretary, has just announced. Clarke made the announcement to close a supposed loophole that has been used by campaigners trying to secure the arrest of high-profile foreign dignitaries such as Henry Kissinger, the former US secretary of state, the Israeli defence minister, Ehud Barak, and Israel opposition leader, Tzipi Livni. William Hague indicated that the government would take this step soon after the election . "We cannot have a position where Israeli politicians feel they cannot visit this country," he said. The rules cover offences over which the UK has "universal jurisdiction", meaning a suspect can be prosecuted regardless of where the crime was committed. These offences include war crimes under the Geneva Conventions Act, torture and hostage taking. At the moment anyone wanting to bring a private prosecution in relation to one of these offences can apply to the courts for an arrest warrant. The government believes this is open to abuse because the evidence necessary for the issuing of an arrest warrant (some information that an offence has been committed) is far less than that required for a CPS prosecution (which requires a realistic prospect of prosecution). Under the new system, the DPP would have to approve the issue of an arrest warrant in a case involving an offence of universal jurisdiction. Here's a statement from Clarke, from the Ministry of Justice press notice (which doesn't seem to be on the MoJ website yet). Our commitment to our international obligations and to ensuring that there is no impunity for those accused of crimes of universal jurisdiction is unwavering. It is important, however, that universal jurisdiction cases should be proceeded with in this country only on the basis of solid evidence that is likely to lead to a successful prosecution – otherwise there is a risk of damaging our ability to help in conflict resolution or to pursue a coherent foreign policy. The government has concluded, after careful consideration, that it would be appropriate to require the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions before an arrest warrant can be issued to a private prosecutor in respect of an offence of universal jurisdiction. Consideration, that it would be appropriate to require the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions before an arrest warrant can be issued to a private prosecutor in respect of an offence of universal jurisdiction. The government will legislate on this "as soon as parliamentary time allows". This is going to generate a bit of a row. When I get some reaction, I'll put it up. 1.59pm: The Cabinet Office has released the text of the question that will be used in the referendum on the alternative vote planned for 5 May next year. Do you want the United Kingdom to adopt the 'alternative vote' system instead of the current 'first past the post' system for electing Members of Parliament to the House of Commons? The question is in the parliamentary voting system and constituencies bill, which is published today, alongside the fixed-term parliaments bill. 2.34pm: A Labour peer has accused David Cameron of "a scaremongering propaganda effort which Joseph Goebbels would have been proud of". Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgate, chief superintendent of Durham Constabulary from 1989 to 1998, made the comment in a debate on crime in the Lords today, the Press Association reports. He criticised Cameron for saying recently that crime "went through the roof" under Labour. This was not true, Mackenzie said. According to the British Crime Survey, violent crime has gone down by 42% since 1997. Any attempt to suggest otherwise by misquoting or disbelieving the British Crime Survey, which is accepted as a gold standard by most British academics and internationally, is beneath contempt and it deserves to be exposed as a scaremongering propaganda effort which Joseph Goebbels would have been proud of. It is accepted by most informed commentators that the fear of crime is far worse than the actual risk of crime, and by stoking the fear of crime the coalition government itself creates unnecessary concerns, particularly amongst the elderly. 2.35pm: Labour frontbenchers been asking fresh questions about the government's decision to cancel a £80m loan to Sheffield Forgemasters. As my colleague Nicholas Watt reports in the Guardian today , last night it emerged that the loan was cancelled weeks after Andrew Cook, who has subsidised some of David Cameron's flights, warned the government it could be illegal. Rosie Winterton, the shadow leader of the Commons, raised the issue at business questions. She suggested there should be an inquiry. Sir George Young, the leader of the Commons, insisted that all the queries about this had been answered by the business minister Mark Prisk when MPs debated Sheffied Forgemasters last night . An hour or so later Pat McFadden, the shadow business seceretary, had another go. On a point of order, he said that Nick Clegg had defended the decision to cancel the loan at PMQs yesterday on the grounds that the money to fund it was not available. But that was not true, McFadden claimed. He said that he had received a letter from the permanent secretary at the business department showing that financial controls had applied. The deputy prime inister has already got his facts wrong on the directors' shareholdings on this issue. Now the permanent secretary's letter shows that he has also got his facts wrong - this time on the issue of financial approval for the loan itself. How can we ensure that when the deputy prime minister next speaks at the dispatch box he does not simply spray around unfounded accusations but gets his facts right on this crucial issue? John Bercow, the Speaker, said Labour could raise the issue when Clegg answered deputy prime minister's questions on Tuesday. 2.38pm: My colleague Hélène Mulholland has filed a full story about Nick Griffin being barred from the Buckingham Palace garden party. (See 1.13pm) 3.30pm: The Electoral Commission has said that, in principle, it believes that a referendum on the alternative vote could go ahead on 5 May next year, on the same day as the English local elections and elections in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Jenny Watson, the chair of the commission, has issued this statement. Our priority is making sure that everyone who goes to the polls on 5 May can cast their vote safely and easily whether it's in an election, a referendum or both. It is possible to successfully deliver these different polls on 5 May, but only if the risks associated with doing so are properly managed. The commission has published a paper explaining how these "risks" could be managed (pdf) . A key demand is for a proper public awareness campaign, so that voters understand the issues. 3.51pm: Some of the Labour leadership contenders are now getting stuck in over Sheffield Forgemasters. This is from Ed Balls, who has put up a full statement on his website . This is very murky indeed and needs to be investigated ... Cancelling the loan to Sheffield Forgemasters was a short-sighted and disastrous decision typical of this government's economic policy which is undermining jobs and growth. And this is from Ed Miliband. The government's handling of the cancelled loan to Sheffield Forgemasters has been a complete disaster and seems to get worse each day. It is extraordinary that a top Tory donor has been lobbying the government against the Forgemasters loan. The public must know whether there has been a conflict of interest. With each new revelation about the botched cancellation of the loan to Forgemasters, this government looks more muddled and confused. 4.22pm: Here's an afternoon reading list. • Dan Hodges at Labour Uncut says David Miliband is emerging as the best candidate in the Labour leadership contest. It stands in stark contrast to the strategy adopted by his brother. David Miliband is playing the long game. Whilst the other candidates have been pitching to the party, David has been pitching to the country. 'I don't want to be leader', is his message, 'I want to be prime minister'. It's high risk. The party is bruised. A big hug, not tough love, is what we're looking for. Cynicism over Blair's power at all costs philosophy runs deep, despite the pain of defeat. And whilst he wants to look to the next election, we want to learn the lessons of elections past. But give him credit. He's not playing safe. He's not playing to the gallery. He's not running away from a history he helped construct. • Patrick Wintour at the Guardian on how "the cream of east coast political journalists" turned out to hear David Cameron speak at a dinner in Washington. • Stephen Tall at Liberal Democrat Voice says journalists don't report the coalition sensibly. The coalition doesn't fit within journalists' trite-and-tested formula that 'government splits' are news. Yet everyone knows the government is split. The public understands there are two different parties in government (compared with two different factions during the Blair/Brown years) and doesn't expect us always to agree, and certainly not on issues which divided us in the past, such as Iraq. 4.54pm: Here's an afternoon summary. • Jack Straw has accused the government of wanting to impose new constituencies by "central diktat" following the publication of the bill reducing the number of constituencies and paving the way for a referendum on the alternative vote. Straw complained that the bill would not allow public inquiries into the proposed parliamentary boundary changes. "For decades Britain has enjoyed a transparent, respected and non-partisan system for setting boundaries," Straw said. "This will now be abolished. This is the reverse of David Cameron's Big Society and Nick Clegg's 'new localism'." • Labour frontbenchers have demanded an inquiry into cancellation of the loan offered to Sheffield Forgemasters. Last night it emerged that a Tory donor had lobbied for the firm not to get the loan. Ed Balls said: "This is very murky indeed and needs to be investigated." (See 2.35pm and 3.51pm) • Ken Clarke announced that the Crown Prosecution Service will be able to block private prosecutions in England and Wales for war crimes. (See 1.54pm) • Caroline Spelman, the environment secretary, has announced the abolition of more than 30 quangos. The bodies getting axed are: the royal commission on environmental pollution, the agricultural wages board, the 15 agricultural wages committees, the 16 agricultural dwelling house advisory committees, the committee on agricultural valuation, the inland waterways advisory council and the commons commissioners. There are more details on the department's website . Unite's national officer, Ian Waddell, said the wages board should stay. "For almost a century successive governments of every political persuasion have recognised the need for the agricultural wages board to regulate pay, terms and conditions in the farming industry. The Con-Dem decision to abolish it is reckless, short-sighted and ideologically driven." • John Bercow appeared to rebuke Nick Clegg by saying that ministers should speak on behalf of the government. Yesterday Clegg explained that he was speaking in a personal capacity after he described the Iraq war as illegal at PMQs. Today Bercow told MPs: "Ministers speak from the despatch box as ministers, not as individuals or on behalf of parties. Ministers are responsible for what they say, and I must assume that they speak in this house on behalf of the government." • Andrew Mitchell, the international development secretary, has said that he is in principle in favour of building an airport on St Helena. Labour's Douglas Alexander said this could cost more than £300m. He questioned whether that was the best use of the aid budget. I'm finished for the day. In fact, I'm finished for the next two weeks, because I'm about to go on holiday. Colleagues will be taking over while I'm away. See you in August.