No plan for Lords reform referendum

The coalition has decided against holding a referendum on reforming the House of Lords, it has been revealed.

The outcome will be seen as a victory for Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats, after David Cameron hinted that he could back a national poll.

Historic plans for introducing a largely elected second chamber are due to be published next week. It could begin operating in 2015, but the legislation is facing fierce resistance from Tories and Labour peers.

Critics have argued that the changes should not be a priority at a time of economic crisis, and said such a major constitutional reform requires a referendum.

Labour leader Ed Miliband has also suggested a vote will be needed, while the Prime Minister signalled he could back asking the public.

However, Mr Clegg has insisted that a referendum is unnecessary because Lords reform featured in the election manifestos of all three main parties.

Government sources have now confirmed that a national poll - which could have cost more than £100 million - will not feature in the plans.

Mr Cameron is said to have secured concessions in return, including making it clear that the new-look chamber cannot block legislation passed by the House of Commons.

The legislation is expected to propose cutting the number of Lords from around 900 to 300, with at least 80% of peers being elected.

Elections would be held every five years and appointed or hereditary peers will progressively be replaced by the new elected "senators". Each senator will serve for a single term of 15 years and will represent a region rather than a traditional constituency, similar to the European Parliament system.

Cameron: 'Thousands of jobs' to be created in Norway energy deal

Thousands of jobs will be created and billions of pounds invested into the UK energy sector thanks to an agreement on closer co-operation with Norway, David Cameron said.

David Cameron has met Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. Credit: Sang Tan/PA Wire

Mr Cameron was speaking as he arrived in Oslo for talks with his Norwegian counterpart Jens Stoltenberg on a two-day visit which will also take in discussions with energy companies from both sides of the North Sea.

A new UK-Norway energy partnership will deliver closer co-operation between the two countries on affordable long-term gas supply, as well as two-way investment in oil and gas exploration and the development of renewable technologies, said Mr Cameron.

David Cameron said "Affordable, secure energy from trusted and reliable partners is critical to this and there is no stronger energy partnership than between Britain and Norway.

Tomorrow we will take this vital relationship to the next level with a new UK-Norway energy partnership.

This will mean more collaboration on affordable long-term gas supply, more reciprocal investment in oil and gas and renewables, and - underpinning all of this - a set of major new business deals creating thousands of new jobs and adding billions to our economies"

Backlash grows over GCHQ 'snooping'

David Cameron is facing a growing backbench backlash over plans for a major expansion of the Government's powers to monitor the email exchanges and website visits of every person in the UK.

Under legislation expected in next month's Queen's Speech, internet companies will be instructed to install hardware enablingGCHQ - the Government's electronic "listening" agency - to examine "on demand" any phone call made, text message and email sent, and website accessed, in "real time" without a warrant.

Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti said the plan
threatened to undermine the coalition's commitment to human rights

A previous attempt to introduce a similar law was abandoned by the former Labour government in 2006 in the face of fierce opposition from the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats as well as civil liberties groups. Senior MPs from both coalition parties lined up to condemn the move by ministers to revive the plan.

The Home Office argued that the measure was "vital" to combat terrorism and organised crime and stressed a warrant would be needed in order to access the content of the communications they were monitoring.

However that did little to allay the concerns of critics who said the authorities would still be able to trace who people were in contact with and how often and for how long they were communicating.

"It is not focusing on terrorists or on criminals. It is absolutely everybody. Historically governments have been kept out of our private lives," said Conservative former shadow home secretary David Davis.

"Our freedom and privacy has been protected by using the courts by saying 'If you want to intercept, if you want to look at something, fine, if it is a terrorist or a criminal go and ask a magistrate and you'll get your approval'. You shouldn't go beyond that in a decent, civilised society but that is what is being proposed.

"They don't need this law to protect us. This is an unnecessary extension of the ability of the state to snoop on ordinary innocent people in vast numbers. Frankly, they shouldn't have that power."

Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti warned that it would undermine the coalition's commitment to human rights if it went ahead with the plan.

"There is an element of whoever you vote for the empire strikes back," she said. "This is more ambitious than anything that has been done before. The coalition bound itself together in the language of civil liberties. Do they still mean it?"

New Sunday Times allegations against Peter Cruddas

The Sunday Times has released new undercover footage of former Tory party Secretary Peter Cruddas discussing some of the many occasions he mixed with David Cameron and party donors at private events.

"I feel that, as I work for the party," former Conservative Party Treasurer Peter Cruddas tells Sunday Times reporters, "my job is to get the donors in front of the Prime Minister."

He describes Chequers as "fantastic" and says of one dinner he attended, "I was sitting next to Sam [Cameron], because I sponsored the evening."