Review of the Papers, Tuesday 07 August

Government

• London's economic prosperity could be put at risk if the government holds back on funding Crossrail and further delays plans to build the multi-billion-pound rail link, the Mayor of London warned on Monday. Ken Livingstone said that while he welcomed the government's commitment to the infrastructure project, he was concerned that the Treasury would take "too cautious a financial view and put too much strain on the financial contribution London has to make". The comments came amid lengthy and as yet inconclusive negotiations between the government, the private sector and London's transport authorities over how to pay for the rail project. Crossrail - which would link Berkshire and Essex via Canary Wharf, Heathrow and the City - is the biggest and most costly infrastructure project being considered by the government. The transport proposal was first outlined about 18 years ago. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/4dae2dea-4447-11dc-90ca-0000779fd2ac.html

Conservatives  

• David Cameron today sharpens his commitment to helping the poor by describing those left behind by rising living standards elsewhere in the population as the most urgent political problem facing Britain. In an article for the Guardian, the Conservative leader says central government intervention is often too blunt an instrument to aid hard-to-reach families. Instead he endorses proposals published by a Tory task force today for "social enterprise zones" in run-down areas, boosted by tax relief and fewer planning constraints. "The last generation has seen a steady rise in living standards for the many, and a relative fall in living standards for the few. Helping these 'few' to catch up with the rest of society should be the most urgent political priority for the British government," Mr Cameron writes today. http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,2142968,00.html