      Tuesday, February 19, 2013 The five things you need to know on Tuesday 19 February 2013... 1) THE 'CON' Nick Clegg still wants a mansion tax. George Osborne still does not want a mansion tax. Ed Miliband is going to force a vote on a mansion tax to cause trouble. The Liberal Democrat leader has accused his Conservative coalition colleagues of blocking efforts to make the tax system "fairer" by imposing a levy. And he did not rule out joining with Labour MPs in a Commons vote calling for a tax on properties worth more than £2 million. Osborne dismissed Labour's policy as a "con" which would see state inspectors assessing the value of homes across the country. He told ITV's The Agenda: "In a time like this you expect the rich to pay more and actually we are forcing the rich to pay more and indeed cracking down on those who don't pay their taxes, but fairness is also about having a system where people who work hard and get on can get on in our society, fairness is about a welfare system that doesn't pay for people to stay at home. Clegg replied: "I for the life of me don't understand why the Conservatives think it's OK that an oligarch can buy a palace in Regent's Park for tens of millions of pounds and pay the same council tax as a three-bedroom family house in Lewisham." Miliband, presumably, rubbed his hands with glee and laughed a little bit. Today's Memo is edited by Ned Simons as, much like parliament, Mehdi Hasan is in recess. 2) TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE The Lib Dems are developing plans to allow MPs to job share in order to increase the number of women in parliament, The Guardian reports. The plan is expected to be presented at the party's spring conference next month and comes after David Cameron admitted he had not appointed enough female Tory ministers. But the prime minister also recently took a dig at Nick Clegg, telling House magazine he would have a word with the Lib Dem leader about the lack of diversity in his ranks. However a few immediate problems spring to mind. What if the two half-MPs disagree on a vote? Also given the Lib Dem poll ratings it's going to be hard enough for them to get one MP elected, let alone two. But we won't make that joke. It's to obvious and would be mean. 3) DORRIES HITS BACK One female MP who is fighting for women to have their place in parliament is Nadine Dorries. Yesterday she hit back at Ipsa after the expenses body announced it was launching an investigation into her activities. Denying the allegations she said she was being targeted for being famous and would stand up for women's rights. Also, she said Ipsa probably wanted her to kill her dog. "Because a woman died under the hooves of a horse in the quest of female emancipation and because Ipsa impact upon every single parent who is or wants to be an MP and because I refuse to allow a money hungry quango to compromise my right to work, be a mother and a pet owner, I am not allowing Ipsa to get away with this," she said. Dorries added: "I am quite sure the Ipsa solution to my being a single mum and lone carer of a family and a dog would be to have the dog put down and my child adopted, but I'd rather not." 4) NEW IRAQ WAR DETAILS According to The Independent: The BBC will revisit one of the greatest crises in its history when it broadcasts a controversial new Panorama investigation which promises to reveal fresh information about the intelligence deployed by the Blair Government to justify the invasion of Iraq. The programme is expected to reveal new information about claims, which turned out to be false, that Saddam Hussein's regime was actively pursuing weapons of mass destruction. WATCH: Iraq 10 Years On: The Huffington Post UK Debate with former Labour cabinet minister Clare Short, Tory MP - and former shadow defence secretary - Bernard Jenkin, Times columnist David Aaronovitch, the Independent's Owen Jones, HuffPost UK's Mehdi Hasan, Dr Ali Latif, chair of the Iraqi Prospects Organisation, Iraqi novelist Haifa Zangana and Shiraz Maher, a terrorism expert from King's College, London. BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR... Who Said It? Arsène Wenger Or Basil Fawlty? (QUIZ) 5) 'NAME AND SHAME' Tax dodgers should be "named and shamed" to discourage the rich and famous from exploiting legal loopholes to avoid paying billions to the Treasury, a spending watchdog recommended. Aggressive avoidance scheme promoters are "running rings" around HM Revenue and Customs, the Public Accounts Committee said. It warned that the taxman is losing the "game of cat and mouse" to clients and promoters as they deliberately take advantage of the time it takes HMRC to shut down a particular avoidance method to make their money. HMRC must start publicly listing promoters and those who use their schemes, the committee said. Ed Milband has said a Labour government would force companies operating in the U.K. to set out clearly how much tax they're paying on what income 140 CHARACTERS OR LESS @ShippersUnbound Cameron sounds very upbeat about the Indian relationship but PM Singh seems to say: if you want our business you need to shape up @samsteinhp oh yeah. Sarah Palin is gonna address CPAC this year 900 WORDS OR MORE George Bridges in the Daily Telegraph: "Manic activity makes for bad government. David Cameron and the Conservatives should embrace 'masterly inactivity' – it often yields better results." Kevin Maguire in the Daily Mirror: "Ed Miliband needs to strike home on the mansion tax. The red dividing lines of the 2015 general election are being drawn and the Tories are positioning themselves as defenders of privilege." Benedict Brogan in the Daily Telegraph: "Never mind the rich and poor, what about the middle classes?" Got something you want to share? Please send any stories/tips/quotes/pix/plugs/gossip to Mehdi Hasan (mehdi.hasan@huffingtonpost.com) or Ned Simons (ned.simons@huffingtonpost.com). You can also follow us on Twitter: @mehdirhasan, @nedsimons and @huffpostukpol BLOG POSTS
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