ToryDiary: David Cameron moved wisely but late to climb down over the '22 elections
Madsen Pirie on Platform: Why the Coalition should rethink its plan to raise capital gains tax
LeftWatch: The crucial questions on the economy which the Labour leadership contenders are yet to address
Local Government: Congestion Charge extension due to go by Christmas
ThinkTankCentral: Direct Democracy identifies a mix of decentralisation and centralisation in Queen's Speech
Jonathan Isaby on CentreRight update: Whose idea was it to scrap the ministerial cars?
WATCH: Vince Cable explains to Jeremy Paxman why he changed his view on the timing of spending cuts
"David Cameron's coalition government is due to outline what laws it wants to pass in the next year when the Queen's Speech is delivered to Parliament. Measures are set to include the repeal of ID cards, powers for parents to set up schools, reforms to policing and a referendum on the voting system." - BBC
"David Cameron will start to turn his "big society" rhetoric into reality when he uses the coalition government's first Queen's speech to promise to let 500 secondary schools and 1,700 primary schools have the freedom of city academy status by the summer." - The Guardian
"There will be few surprises in the programme, read out by the Queen at the formal launch of the new parliament, after the coalition published a detailed agreement last week. Any mystery was further dispelled when two Sunday newspapers published excerpts of a late draft of the speech, an unusual and embarrassing breach of protocol for the new government." - Reuters
> The weekend's ToryDiary: The Sunday Telegraph previews the Queen's Speech
David Cameron backs down over ministers voting at 1922 Committee
"David Cameron retreated from a damaging row with his backbenchers last night on the eve of a Queen’s Speech that will test the limits of his authority over Conservative MPs... Days after insisting that ministers be allowed to help to choose the chairman of the 1922 Committee — the backbenchers’ shop steward — Mr Cameron dropped the demand after furious lobbying from senior MPs." - The Times
"This is absolutely terrific. It shows real leadership from the prime minister who will now listen to reasonable arguments and, if necessary, change position. That shows real courage and self confidence by the prime minister who said: 'I've listened to those arguments, that's not a bad idea. I'll change my original thought.' That's really good for the country. Contrast that with Gordon Brown who, with the clunking fist, would carry on despite whatever argument was made." - Peter Bone MP quoted in The Guardian
> Last night's ToryDiary: Ministers will NOT be entitled to take party in the 1922 Committee election
Osborne trumpets transparency as he outlines £6.2billion spending cuts "George Osborne is to throw open the government’s books for the first time, detailing every line of public spending in an attempt to inform debate over the next steps in cutting the £156bn budget deficit. The chancellor on Monday set out plans for £6.2bn of immediate cuts, but wants to engage the public and business in deciding where the axe should fall in a more swingeing three-year spending review in the autumn." - FT
"At least 50,000 jobs will be lost as a result of the Government's £6.2 billion package of public spending cuts, economists have said. Treasury ministers said Monday's measures were "only the first step" towards repairing Britain's public finances and "even tougher" cuts would follow later this year. George Osborne, the Chancellor, and David Laws, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, unveiled the cuts, predicting that they would send a "shock wave" through the public sector." - Daily Telegraph
A breakdown of the savings department by department - The Independent
Government draws a line under the era of the chauffeur-driven car as ministers are encouraged to use public transport - The Guardian
Fears council tax will rise after £1.1bn squeeze on town halls - Daily Mail
£6billion in cuts is just the beginning, warns David Laws - Metro
Markets back George Osborne's spending cuts - Daily Telegraph
The Independent illustrates the scale of the debt mountain we have to climb (Click image to enlarge)
"Cuts of £6bn may be a necessary start to impose discipline in public spending but they are tiny in the context of a GDP running at more than £1,396bn a year. Indeed the boost to confidence from the knowledge that the Government is getting to grips with the problem should, if anything, increase demand in the economy. Not to have done anything would certainly have hit confidence at home and abroad... The Budget has to try to set out some sort of credible path towards eliminating the fiscal deficit over the next five years. That will be extraordinarily difficult." - Hamish McRae in The Independent
"With public debt increasing at a rate of £3 billion a week, the monumental task of paying it off can only succeed if the Government is honest about the sacrifices that lie ahead. Yesterday it made a good start, but it was only a start. The savings identified are a pinprick, less than one per cent of total government spending" - Daily Telegraph editorial
"We actually ran out of our own money, thanks to Labour’s profligacy several years ago. Now we have run out of other people’s money as well. Thirteen years ago, when Labour took over from the Tories, the national debt stood at a comparatively modest £350billion. Over the past decade that has doubled to just over £700billion. Tragically, under Treasury projections, that sum is set to double again over the next five years to around £1.4trillion. Even these unimaginable sums of money hugely underestimate the scale of the problem." - Peter Oborne in the Daily Mail
"It was an especially impressive part of yesterday’s announcement when Mr Laws stated matter-of-factly that public borrowing is only taxation deferred. That insight demonstrates the inherent flaw of the argument still being put by the Labour Party." - Times editorial
The UK embarks on an age of austerity - FT editorial
We need cuts to liberate enterprise - Allister Heath in City AM
That was easy. The real cuts will spell trouble - Rachel Sylvester in The Times
These cuts won't hurt a bit. Unless you're young or poor - Polly Toynbee in The Guardian
> Yesterday's ToryDiary: Osborne and Laws take the first steps on the path to deficit reduction
> Yesterday on ThinkTankCentral: Think tanks give generally positive verdict on the Coalition's first cuts
> WATCH: George Osborne unveils immediate plans for cutting £6.25 billion of wasteful public spending
Voters indicate support for the Coalition in new poll
"Voters approve of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat government so far, according to the first Guardian/ICM poll to be published since the general election... But today's poll suggests the Lib Dems have suffered some damage after deciding to join the Tories in government, with almost a fifth of those who backed the party this month saying they might be less likely to do so in the future... Overall, 59% of voters say they approve of the decision to form a coalition and 32% oppose it." - The Guardian
> Last night's ToryDiary: Tory lead 7% in first ICM poll of the Parliament
Geoffrey Robertson: Cameron and Clegg must now do their moral duty and save Gary McKinnon
"The first acid test for Britain's new government is not the economy, but whether it is capable of an act of simple humanity. Can it deliver on its repeated promise to end the torment inflicted by the state on Gary McKinnon, the hacker with Asperger's syndrome, whom the home Office wants to send to lengthy imprisonment and likely suicide in a U.S. jail?" - Geoffrey Robertson QC in the Daily Mail
Newlove widow to be Tory peer after drink campaigns - BBC
Ed Miliband is first Labour leadership contender to secure 33 official nominations - Press Association
Diane Abbott charged fee for Mandela tribute
"Wannabe Labour leader Diane Abbott charged £300 to film a TV obituary tribute to her hero Nelson Mandela. Ms Abbott, a black rights campaigner who keeps a photo of Mr Mandela in her office, recorded her tribute as part of an ITV bulletin to be broadcast when the 91-year-old former South African president dies." - The Sun
I am not Old Labour or New Labour, just Labour - John McDonnell writing in the Daily Mirror
Green MP Caroline Lucas explains how she wants to turn her ideals into reality - The Independent
And finally... It’s so great to beat the Aussies, admits Cameron
"David Cameron gave England’s cricket heroes a big thumbs-up for their World Twenty20 success, admitting: It’s great to get one over the Aussies. Cameron invited the victorious squad, led by captain Paul Collingwood, to show off their trophy in the sun-drenched garden of Number 10 yesterday... Looking ahead to the Ashes series in Australia this winter, Cameron joked: “I’m frantically thinking of all the reasons for a very large UK-Australia summit around Christmas time. Beating another team is one thing, beating the Australians is something else.” - City AM
ToryDiary: Boris pays his first visit to David Cameron in Downing Street
Local Government: Conservatives take over West Somerset Council
LeftWatch: Lords Mandelson and Adonis "quit" Labour's shadow cabinet
WATCH: Boris unveils 'Nelson's ship in a bottle' for Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth
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