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Today's top ConservativeHome features ToryDiary: The Conservatives are on the march in Wales where Labour are "in deep trouble" Sarah Macken on Platform: At a time when we may need more Reservists, Labour's misunderstanding of the role of the Territorial Army is alarming Stanley Johnson in Seats and Candidates: If All-Women shortlists are on the agenda, then why not All-Over-60s shortlists too? Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens in Local Government: Boris fails to tackle Islamic extremism Also in Local Government: Nick Seaton: In defence of the teacher taken to court for hauling a disruptive pupil out of a lesson Alex Deane on CentreRight: You are no longer trusted to run your own credit card LISTEN: Gordon Brown's latest podcast on the state of the economy Today's newslinks Voters agree with David Cameron that the State is too big "Two-thirds of voters back David Cameron’s call for the size of the state to be slimmed down, a ComRes survey for The Independent discloses today... Sixty-seven per cent said they agreed with the Tory leader that “the Government has grown too big and needs a major overhaul to make it smaller”. Just 28 per cent disagreed, with his call for a smaller state supported across the social spectrum. Andrew Hawkins, the chief executive of ComRes, said: “The Conservatives are on to a winner with this campaign line.” - The Independent > Last night's ToryDiary: ComRes for The Independent puts Tory poll lead at 13% Whitehall mandarins face sacking threat under Conservative plans "Whitehall mandarins face an unprecedented threat of sacking under Tory plans to end the "job for life" culture of the civil service. The Conservatives are drawing up plans that would allow ministers to dismiss permanent secretaries, the senior officials who run Whitehall departments. No permanent secretary has been formally dismissed for more than 70 years. Francis Maude, the shadow Cabinet Office minister overseeing the Tories’ preparations for power, wants to end the “job for life” culture at the top of the civil service and make officials directly accountable for the performance of their departments." - Daily Telegraph Eleanor Laing survives deselection attempt "Eleanor Laing, the shadow justice minister who paid back £25,000 in expenses, has survived an attempt to have her deselected as a Tory candidate at the next election... "I'm absolutely delighted," said Ms Laing. "I'm very much looking forward to going forward to the general election... It was a very difficult meeting... I've been scrutinised. I have been questioned and I have answered all the questions and my critics accept that." - Daily Telegraph > Last night in Seats and Candidates: Eleanor Laing MP wins confidence vote of Epping Forest Conservatives Liam Fox: Government TA proposals are "a shambles" "Defence chiefs last night went into retreat on controversial moves to halt TA training. They had intended to ban all drill for vital reservists to claw back £20million. But the Ministry of Defence has now decided that training can continue - though for only one night a month... Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox accused the Government of plotting to strip the TA's core budget of £43million. He said: "These proposals are a shambles. They must be reversed. For many the TA is a habit. Break the habit, break the TA." - The Sun > Yesterday in Parliament: Liam Fox challenges Government over its position on the Territorial Army George Osborne's warning on bankers' bonuses gets a mixed press "Bankers reacted angrily to a Conservative party pledge to ban end-of-year cash bonuses announced as part of the party's attempts to stimulate lending. In a speech at Canary Wharf earlier today the shadow chancellor, George Osborne, expanded on heavily trailed plans to force the regulators to ban high street banks from giving big cash payments as rewards, seen by many as incentives to risk-taking and wrongful remuneration during a downturn." - The Guardian “It would be much better for [Mr Osborne] to be wiser, in terms of finding the right approach, rather than adapting a more headline grabbing one,” said Miles Templeman, director-general of the Institute of Directors... The London Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that “not for the first time this year, the City feels that politics is unfairly shaping pay and remuneration policy”. George Magnus, the senior economic adviser to UBS, questioned the direct link between the cash used by the banks for bonus payments and their levels of lending. “If it was as simple as that, they’ve got enough cash already to have expanded their loans,” he told the BBC." - FT "The Federation of Small Businesses said it welcomed the proposals to “ring-fence money for small businesses and hard-pressed families that would otherwise have been handed out in bonuses for bank staff.” - Daily Telegraph "Mr Osborne's proposed interference in the free market may sit uncomfortably with true Conservatism, but these banks - which would not exist if billions in taxpayers' money had not been pumped into their coffers - are no longer part of that free market. We applaud Mr Osborne's courage in making himself unpopular with the City in order to tackle this scandal." - Daily Mail editorial "There was no need to appease the bonus-bashing mob and inflame anti-City sentiment further. Mr Osborne would have won fewer headlines for such an announcement, but he would have been advocating the sort of policy that separates a chancellor-in-waiting from a shadow chancellor." - FT editorial > Yesterday's ToryDiary: Osborne warns banks that they'll lose state aid if they keep paying big cash bonuses Alan Duncan accuses Government of publishing misleading re-offending statistics "Ministers were last night accused of creating "total confusion" to hide the number of lags freed to re-offend. New statistics show a "snapshot" of the number of violent and sexual offenders under supervision on March 31 instead of totals for the year. Critics say this makes it impossible to compare with previous years how many are freed into the community... Shadow Justice Minister Alan Duncan accused the Government of a "shameful attempt" to mislead the public over the scale of re-offending. He said Labour had also failed to publish data on lower level offenders." - The Sun Heseltine predicts Tory retreat on European policy "David Cameron would be forced into a swift and humiliating retreat on Europe if he wins power, according to one of the elder statesmen from the last Conservative Government. Lord Heseltine, the former Deputy Prime Minister, predicts that Mr Cameron will have to rejoin the European People’s Party (EPP) soon after the election. He is understood to have warned the party leadership at a private meeting last week that its currently Eurosceptic stance would be deeply damaging to Britain’s foreign policy interests. He suggested that the Conservative leader would inevitably have to “reach an accommodation” with the EPP — even though that would be extremely difficult to achieve without losing face and enraging party activists." - The Times Chris Grayling questions Government motivations on immigration policy "The rate at which foreigners are swelling the population has increased by 50 per cent since a secret Government immigration policy document was written.  Critics said it was clear evidence that ministers had implemented the controversial Cabinet Office report.  This allegedly claimed mass immigration would make Britain more multicultural and allow Labour to portray the Tories as racists. Speaking in the Commons yesterday, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling said it would be 'utterly disgraceful' for ministers to base immigration policy on party politics. He asked Immigration Minister Phil Woolas: 'C an I invite you to put the record straight  -  what was the motivation behind the very rapid increase in immigration under this Government?'. Incredibly, Mr Woolas did not appear to know which report Mr Grayling was referring to." - Daily Mail Tebbit joins revolt against All-Women Shortlists “I think it’s a daft idea. We need to choose people entirely on their merits, whether they are brown, white, yellow, male or female... It will breed resentment because it just ain’t fair. Imagine the reaction if a party started saying that women shouldn’t become MPs?” - Lord Tebbit quoted in The Times The Guardian reports Rory Stewart's selection for Penrith and The Border "He's braved Indonesia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, and found time to teach both Prince William and Harry, but Rory Stewart's next challenge is almost certain to be navigating the backbenches of the House of Commons. On Sunday night, the former foreign office civil servant, writer, academic and tutor to royalty beat five other candidates to win selection to the safe Conservative seat of Penrith and the Border. He is now standing to become the MP for the constituency currently represented by David Maclean, who is suffering from multiple sclerosis and who is standing down on health grounds." - The Guardian > Sunday's Seats and Candidates post: Rory Stewart adopted for Penrith and the Border Bercow consults leaders on how MPs could question Mandelson and Adonis... "Speaker John Bercow has written to party leaders to discuss calls for peers who serve as cabinet ministers to appear in the Commons. The move, which could see senior figures such as Lord Mandelson directly questioned by MPs, was being "actively" discussed, a spokesman told the BBC. It was hoped that a "solution" could be reached soon, he added." - BBC > Recently in Parliament: MPs may soon get the opportunity to question Lord Mandelson and other ministers from the Upper House ...as the Speaker's unofficial biographer promises to lift the lid on his life "BBC news producer Bobby Friedman is currently interviewing friends and acquaintances of Bercow, for the unauthorised work, which he plans to release in time for the next general election. "What I want to look at is how someone can be so hated," Friedman tells us. "I've always followed his career. It's very obvious that so many within his party don't like him. How did someone with virtually no party support get in? I want to know why people hate him. The reasons are more complex than people make out." - The Independent Czech court to consider Lisbon reforms - Daily Telegraph Downing Street dismisses reports of push for "President Blair" - BBC Gun crime doubles in a decade - Daily Telegraph ID card plan "needs 28 million people to sign up to cover costs" - The Scotsman Employers under pressure to give all staff anti-paedophile checks - Daily Telegraph Yesterday's other ConHome highlights Parliament: Eric Pickles seeks official information about the extent of plans to switch general election counts to Friday CentreRight posts: Matthew Sinclair: A guide to the alphabet soup of semi-autonomous bodies runnig the country Charlie Elphicke: Will 2010 be the internet election? John Glen: Focus on the issues, not the dogma, Harriet! David T Breaker: If America wants a strong EU, America has got it wrong WATCH: Veteran Labour MP Austin Mitchell says that MPs require a pay rise or "cast iron" allowances to cover their second homes if they are to to the job properly