Britannia Radio

Thursday 30 October 2008 Britain's leading conservative blog Have your say in the latest ConservativeHome survey In addition to the regular tracker questions we are seeking your views on transport policy, membership of the Euro and fiscal policy.  Click here to have your say. Today's top ConservativeHome features ToryDiary: George Osborne's non-Treasury roles Local government: Should paving front gardens be allowed? Jeremy Lefroy on Platform: The independence of the Office for National Statistics Today's newslinks Tories accused of £8bn shortfall in NHS policy - Times Lawson says tax cuts are not solution to slump "Speaking at a House of Lords economic seminar, he said: "There is lots of bad news still to come and lots of bad debts yet to be revealed. I would be astonished if this is not at least as bad as the early 1990s. In fact I think it will be worse than that - and longer-lasting." The solution, he added, is "monetary policy, and very low interest rates which should be globally-concerted. A fiscal Keynsian boost would come too late and be damaging which would leave us with a hugely bloated public sector." - Telegraph Tories probe client rules to find out what would happen if a bank collapse wiped out client money held in a law firm's accounts - Law Gazette Chancellor pledges to borrow initially to see Britain through recession, then to rebuild public finances once it is over - Times Gordon Brown yesterday demanded that lenders who provide store and credit cards must change their rules to make it more difficult to repossess homes - Guardian Motorists face paying tolls to drive on hard shoulder "Within months, officials will draw up plans to create a faster lane for those willing to pay for a quicker journey on the country's busiest roads during the rush hour. Drivers would pay up to 42 pence a mile to avoid the jams under a model being considered by ministers." - Telegraph Ministers will reexamine the case for new high-speed rail lines - a year after the idea was rejected as too expensive - BBC Ministers accused of arrogance over 128-day parliamentary session Opposition politicians have accused the government of "arrogantly" misusing its oversight of parliamentary business, as it emerged yesterday that the number of days MPs would attend parliament in the next session would be the smallest since 1979-80 - Guardian A government initiative to improve prisoners' education "has not succeeded", the Commons public accounts committee says - BBC MPs say speed limits should be cut to 20mph in some areas to tackle "appalling" level of child road deaths - Guardian Ask parliament, not courts, when it comes to assisted suicide Two high court judges rejected Debbie Purdy's request for guidelines from the Director of Public Prosecutions on when assisted suicide cases would be prosecuted, saying it was a matter for parliament and not the courts. However, they granted an appeal on the grounds of public interest, which would be expedited because of Purdy's terminal condition - Guardian BBC fighting to save career of star presenter Jonathan Ross - Telegraph Deafness scourge of troops in Afghanistan Hundreds are returning from Afghanistan suffering from severe and permanent damage to their hearing - Times House prices have fallen for the twelfth month in a row and are now 14.6pc lower than last year, the latest figures from Nationwide show - Telegraph Norwich and Norfolk Race Equality Council tells schoolchildren to take pledge to 'be nice' to gipsies "The pupils, aged six to 11, were told to stand up and promise to "welcome newcomers" and not bully them. The incident happened at one of a series of workshops for children, hosted by South Norfolk Council as part of Local Democracy Week earlier this month. Villagers in Spooner Row are fighting against council plans to build a new travellers site with eight pitches. Council officers have insisted they knew nothing about the pledge and denied trying to "brainwash children" into accepting the controversial plan." - Telegraph Top conservatives to meet on rebuilding Republican party Senior Republicans are planning to meet at a rural retreat in Virginia within days of the election to discuss how to rebuild a party they expect to be badly beaten in the White House and congressional races - Guardian

http://www.conservativehome.com