ToryDiary: For all the rhetoric about the cupboard being bare and an age of austerity the reluctance of the Tory leadership to make difficult decisions is becoming worrying
Simon Chapman on CentreRight wonders what Labour thinks of Freddie Flintoff using private medicine to be fit for today's Ashes decider: "Andrew Flintoff has been seeing lots of doctors recently. I have no direct knowledge, but would be absolutely astonished if any let alone all his recent medical treatment has been on the NHS. If it's alright for Flintoff and/or his employers at the ECB to pay for swift and expert treatment to get him fit for work as quickly as possible, rather than wait in line, why not the rest of us? I assume that most Labour politicians think it's a good thing Freddie is fit for the Oval tomorrow, but perhaps not?"
John Strafford on Platform: The decline and death of Party membership - Why should anyone now be a member of the Conservative Party?
Local government: Cllr Neville Patten on how Conservatives are renewing Wolverhampton after Labour's financial mismanagement
WATCH: Hillary Clinton condemns Scottish government for considering release of Libyan bomber
ToryDiary: Nick Bourne has been a 'progressive conservative' for a decade in Wales
Julia Manning on < href="http://conservativehome.blogs.com/centreright/">CentreRight: What The Times DID NOT say about the great man Lord McColl
Mark Wallace of The TaxPayers' Alliance reacts to Sir Patrick Cormack MP's call for allowances to be replaced by much higher basic pay: "Against the background of a recession in which huge numbers of ordinary taxpayers are losing their jobs, taking pay cuts or accepting pay freezes, a large jump in remuneration for MPs could only harm the already poor standing of Parliament. If the people think you are a bunch of greedy swindlers, the way to prove them wrong is not by demanding an extra £66,000 a year." Read all of Mark's seven objections to Sir Patrick.
"The Tory leader plans to stop supermarkets selling boxes of strong lager at rock-bottom prices - sometimes cheaper than the cost of bottled water. Late-night kebab shops and takeaways that sell booze to drunk customers in the early hours will be targeted too. Mr Cameron is also looking at radical plans to TREBLE taxes on alcopops and strong beers and ciders." - The Sun
"Tory health spokesman Stephen O'Brien said the Tories were keeping 'a close eye' on plans by the Scottish government to introduce a minimum price per unit of alcohol in supermarkets, shops and off-licences. It has been attacked by the drinks industry as unworkable and illegal." - Daily Mail
> Yesterday's ToryDiary: David Cameron promises to look at availability of "very cheap drink"
Police to delete Damian Green's profile profile from DNA database "The Tory MP arrested after obtaining leaked Whitehall documents has hailed a "small but significant victory for freedom" after police chiefs agreed to remove his DNA profile from a national database. The Shadow immigration minister Damian Green said the Metropolitan Police had made the "right decision" to remove his DNA but called for the records of thousands of other innocent people to be deleted as well." - Independent
"Mr Green is now calling for other records to be expunged and says, if in government, the Conservatives would follow the model of Scotland. There, out of those arrested but not convicted, only those questioned about sexual or violent offences have their DNA stored." - Laura Kuenssberg, BBC
The Sun does not even attempt to report Sir Patrick Cormack's comments fairlyConservativeHome made it clear yesterday that now is NOT the time for Tory MPs to be talking about higher salaries but we have some sympathy for him this morning. The Sun's report of the veteran MP's remarks makes no attempt to explain that the call for a £130,000 salary is in exchange for an abolition of allowances: "A top Tory grandee last night declared MPs' salaries should be doubled to £130,000 a year. Sir Patrick Cormack sparked fury by saying the rise was the only solution to the expenses scandal. And Tory veteran Douglas Hogg - who claimed taxpayers' cash for a moat - echoed his views by arguing that MPs should be paid £100,000 PLUS expenses. H e whinged: "A parliamentary salary does not support the lifestyle to which most professional and business classes aspire." David Cameron slapped down the comments through a spokesman, who stressed they were the views of "an individual, not the Conservative Party". But Chancellor Alistair Darling said the comments exposed the true face of the Tories. He said: "When everyone else is pulling in their belts, MPs cannot be treated any differently."
Voice of The Mirror: "Sir Patrick is so out of touch he must be living on another planet because in the real world real people will be spitting blood. We want MPs who stand to serve their constituents, not moaning money-grabbers."
"John Prescott uses Twitter to torture David Cameron about Lord McColl""John Prescott spent yesterday tormenting David Cameron on Twitter after The Times disclosed that a Tory health spokesman was a paid adviser to the UK’s first network of private GPs." - Times
> Julia Manning on CentreRight: What the Times didn't say about Lord McColl
KPMG warns Tories at unsettling impact of FSA changes but Price Waterhouse backs Osborne's restructuring - City AM
Fraser Nelson analyses declining Tory support for the Union with Scotland"If gossip in the bars of the Commons is any indicator, Tory support for the Union is draining. According to a recent survey of Tory candidates, 46 per cent say they would not be ‘uncomfortable about Scotland becoming independent’. It is all too clear that the SNP will use every tool at their disposal to undermine the Union. The question is whether a Conservative government will have the motivation or energy to fight back." - Fraser Nelson in The Spectator
Eleven years after they were both sacked by Tony Blair, Field praises Harman for giving Labour a 'real sense of direction' - The Guardian
Shamed MP Mark Oaten: I had a sexual affair with a man at the age of nine - Daily Mail
Ten days until Japan's landmark General Election?"Japan's opposition Democratic Party may be headed for a landslide election victory, trouncing the conservative party that has ruled for most of the past half-century." - Reuters
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