The commentators                    05-11-14

...on British politics

The true focus of immigration policy should be on what, realistically, can be done to implement a pause. For non-EU immigration we retain considerable policy freedom, but within the EU we have to get smart. We need to ask ourselves why so many would-be immigrants crowd at Calais: after all, their alternative to England is not their country of origin, but France and the entire open-access Schengen area, including prosperous Germany and generous Scandinavia.
- Paul Collier, The Guardian
Mary Riddell
Worcester Woman, grown older and more discerning since her incarnation as the pollsters’ oracle, demands a leader with the boldness to seek great change and the frankness to own up to the limits of what is possible. If Ed Miliband is to maintain a hope of winning, then he should heed her.
- Mary Riddell, Daily Telegraph
If corporations want to sue governments, they already have a right to do so, through the courts, like anyone else. It’s not as if, with their vast budgets, they are disadvantaged in this arena. Why should they be allowed to use a separate legal system, to which the rest of us have no access? What happened to the principle of equality before the law?
- George Monbiot, The Guardian
If, in the next few weeks, you are approached by the Home Office to chair the independent panel inquiry into child sexual abuse, you should politely decline. It may be that — having never said a word on the matter, met anyone who knows about it or given it much thought — you can’t imagine that you will be selected for this task. These, however, are precisely the qualities that make you what the government is looking for.
- Daniel Finkelstein, The Times
William Cornick is the only student to have killed a teacher in a British classroom. Now, at 16, he has been deemed so dangerous that the judge said he may never be released. Not one paper picked up that line in a front-page heading, and few used his "fine and dandy" quote,  even though most had more than enough space in straps and subdecks.
SubScribe This week's papers
Thursday 25 September Judges for the Editorial Intelligence comment awards announced their shortlists today, with ten nominations for the FT, nine for the Times, five for the Guardian, four for the Independent - and two for SubScribe. 
The Times and Sunday Times scored a clean sweep in nominations for the main award of commentariat of the year, which will be decided between David Aaronovitch, Camilla Cavendish, Daniel Finkelstein and last year's winner Caitlin Moran.
Guardian's Jay Rayner was shortlisted in the food writer category, but said that he did not wish to be considered as that award is sponsored by Tesco. 
The awards will be presented on November 25. 
See the full shortlists here
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