Sir Charles is said to have reached a deal that will increase the defence budget to £24bn by the third year of the settlement.. Veteran left wing Labour MP Gwyneth Dunwoody has emerged as the surprise front-runner to be the next Speaker of the House of Commons among Conservative MPs, writes. Veteran left wing Labour MP Gwyneth Dunwoody has emerged as the surprise front-runner to be the next Speaker of the House of Commons among Conservative MPs, writes .
Meanwhile, middle-of-the-road Tory Sir Alan Haselhurst, currently Deputy Speaker, has become the “unofficial” candidate of the fixers who run Labour’s Millbank HQ.The emergence of Mrs Dunwoody, member for Crewe and Nantwich, as the Tory choice is the first surprise of what is guaranteed to be a protracted, dirty and very entertaining election. The revelation that Sir Alan, MP for Saffron Walden, is the choice of Millbank could ensure he doesn’t get the job.The announcement by Betty Boothroyd that she is standing down this year has sparked rivalries between runners and backers that make the Grand National look like a sack race.Mrs Dunwoody is favourite as the anti-establishment candidate. Some Labour MPs who oppose her are putting it about that, at 70, she is too old for the job.

The fact that many Tories are willing to dump their own candidates for Mrs Dunwoody could also damage her support among Labour MPs. But she is regarded by Tory and Labour “troublemakers” as the best candidate to protect free speech in the chamber.A member of the Tory whips’ office said: “A majority of the Tory backbenchers I’ve spoken to are backing Mrs Dunwoody because she is prepared to stand up to the Government.”Some senior Tories are privately rubbishing the chances of their party’s main candidate, Sir George Young. They complain that as shadow Leader of the House he has caved in too much to the Government by allowing too many Bills to be guillotined.The Tories say their other candidate, Sir Alan Haselhurst, is too “nice” to stand up to the Government – which is why Downing Street would like to see him get the job.. One of Britain’s senior Asian peers has attacked his ethnic minority colleagues in the House of Lords, claiming they are failing to fight for the issues affecting their communities.

One of Britain’s senior Asian peers has attacked his ethnic minority colleagues in the House of Lords, claiming they are failing to fight for the issues affecting their communities.
Lord Dholakia, the new Liberal Democrat president, has enraged other black and Asian peers who insisted their job was not simply to “fly the ethnic flag”. There are 17 Asian and black peers in the reformed House of Lords.But he has won the support of Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, who said he would demand in a meeting with Tony Blair next week that the upper house “looks, acts and thinks” like modern Britain.In an interview with the Independent on Sunday, Lord Dholakia said many black and Asian peers were a “disappointment”.He said young people in the ethnic community were “going to be very frustrated when they find out our record is poor”. It was, he said, a “matter of serious concern” if these peers did not contribute to debates on issues directly affecting minorities such as race and asylum.Lord Dholakia excludes from his criticism the Labour peeresses Baroness Amos and Baroness Scotland. “These are the quality of people we are looking for.”He said ethnic peers who were not pulling their weight on race issues, especially on immigration and asylum matters, must “ask their conscience”, saying the “community has to ask what they are doing in terms of their particular role”.Predicting a backlash, he added: “I’m simply turning round and saying that at the end of the day the community will question, in relation to certain issues, where were you? Then they’ll have to give an answer. If they are comfortable doing nothing it’s entirely a matter for them.”Lord Dholakia also condemned the selection process for choosing members of the House of Lords, saying it amounted to a “type of tokenism”. He demanded a government review.Lord Bagri, chairman of the London Metal Exchange, said that he was “not a political activist in any shape” as he had been selected through the honours system. He said: “I’m very proud of my ethnic origins but I’ve never flown an ethnic flag.”His comments were echoed by Baroness Uddin, who has been a peer since 1998.”We all wear our colours very proudly but we are not here just to deal with ethnic issues,” she said.”I have championed the issue of women’s health for all women all my life.

I don’t want to drop any of that.”Lord Taylor of Warwick, a Conservative, said: “I’ve got a great respect for Lord Dholakia not because he’s Asian but because of his career and his expertise I’m not saying there is a right or wrong way. One way we can address the problem of racism is for us to show we are capable of representing the whole community and not just have a sectionalised role. That is the road to despair.”Labour’s Lord Paul said peers should be selected to represent the whole country, not just ethnic groups. “You are selected because you belong to this country, not because you belong to a particular community. On the other hand you are bound to take issues which matter to the community and I think a lot of peers do that. I hope we don’t get into a situation where peers are selected on the basis of representing somebody.”The Tory Lord Tebbit, whose views on race have consistently caused controversy, branded Lord Dholakia’s remarks “hogwash”.