Britannia Radio

Today's top ConHome features ToryDiary: The enemies of the next Conservative government Stuart Carroll on Platform: How David Cameron should go about reforming the NHS quangos Seats and candidates: The Tory Party is NOT being taken over by Old Etonians On Local government Harry Phibbs defends Harrow's plans to recruit 2,000 "Neighbourhood Champions" to report instances of such problems as graffiti and fly-tipping International: Snapshot of European opinion Yesterday's highlights on ConHome Today's must-read: All banks are not the same "British banks are divided into two groups: strong, private firms that have continued to generate profits during the crisis; and weak players that had to be bailed out. It is simply wrong to claim that all banks are the same." - Allister Heath in City AM Ken Clarke: Labour victory would be better than hung parliament "Britain's problems are now so acute that a Labour victory at the next election would be preferable to a hung parliament in which no one party has the power to take urgent decisions, the veteran Conservative shadow minister, Kenneth Clarke said." - Guardian "The Shadow Business Secretary said the public wanted strong governments, particularly in a time of crisis, and would be bewildered at the prospect of a governing party unable to wield decisive power." - Times "The Tory leader blasted the "moral failure" of Government that rewards teen mums with homes and cash - and pays people more to stay on benefits than work." - The Sun Cut ministers by a third and MPs by 150, urges Sir John Major - The Times "Sir John Major is considering a surprise return to frontline politics if the Tories win the next election." - Daily Mail Editorial reaction to David Cameron's 'Big society' speech "Full marks to David Cameron for identifying the greatest moral evil of broken Britain - the way in which the welfare state has eroded the incentives of the poorest members of our society to build better lives for themselves." - Daily Mail leader "There was almost no discussion of money. It is as if Mr Cameron believes solving poverty is a spiritual mission that can be achieved through some sort of collective goodwill, and that it is mostly government that forces people to be poor. The truth is that whether the state spends or someone else does is secondary: what matters is what is spent. On that, Mr Cameron was not reassuring. He offered hope and philosophy, but an alarming absence of hard cash." - Guardian leader "It was the failure of charities and voluntary groups to reach all those in need that originally prompted state involvement in welfare. Yet it is true that government agencies do crowd out some charitable and voluntary groups and it would be good to expand their role. Mr Cameron has set out a worthwhile aim: the next step is the practicalities." - FT leader "Inequality was stable in the 1970s and then began to rise considerably in the 1980s under the Thatcher government. New Labour managed to keep a lid on it through a system of tax credits (fiscal transfers, through the tax system, from the rich to the poor). Yet Mr Cameron is largely hostile to tax credits, pointing out the disincentives and distortions they create. They do indeed have undesirable social side effects. But Mr Cameron will find that dismantling the tax credits system will make it extremely difficult for him to prevent inequality from rising. If the Conservative leader is serious about reducing poverty it makes little sense for him to decommission his most potent weapon." - Independent leader > Yesterday's ToryDiary: David Cameron explains how he wants to "use the state to remake society" Secret inquests are unacceptable - David Davis in the Daily Mail David Cameron is howling in the night because the other 26 EU countries are not about to exhume the corpse of national sovereignty - Simon Heffer in The Telegraph Douglas Carswell MP to continue his campaign for EU referendum - Guardian South West Norfolk Chairman now backs Liz Truss - Eastern Daily Press | Yesterday's ConHome entry "Primaries have great potential to open up our system of politics and wrest control back from the SW1 people" - Janice Small in the Yorkshire Post Three more drugs advisers quit Government advisory body - BBC Ben Bradshaw blasts Emma Thompson after she accused his Exeter constituency of racism - Telegraph Britain needs to reform the civil service to open it up more to people with business experience says Rolls Royce chief - FT Highlights from yesterday's ConHome ToryDiary: David Cameron explains how he wants to "use the state to remake society" Lee Rotherham on CentreRight: Life after the European Union - How it would benefit the British fishing industry Parliament: John Gummer calls for changes to postal voting rules to help Save General Election Night WATCH: Gordon Brown reiterates his apology to Jacqui Janes at his monthly press conference AmericaInTheWorld: The untold story of the surge that saved Iraq

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