ToryDiary: Andrew Lansley to announce fines for hospitals which have to readmit patients within 30 days as centrepiece of health reforms
Quentin Langley on Platform: What is the point of the Liberal Democrats?
Parliament: Endorsements for Michael Fallon, Douglas Carswell, Keith Vaz and Margaret Hodge to chair Select Committees
ThinkTankCentral: Cut MPs' pay - but let them earn outside the Commons, says Paul Goodman for Policy Exchange
George Osborne to consult public about spending choices
"George Osborne will call on the public today to identify services that should be cut as he begins a “once-in-a-generation” drive to rein in government expenditure. The Chancellor will start the ball rolling on a five-month review to set departmental budgets for the next three years under which swaths of Whitehall spending will be axed. People will be urged to attend meetings and respond with ideas online as the coalition tries to bind the public into decisions that David Cameron acknowledged yesterday could be felt for decades." - The Times
"Chancellor George Osborne is expected to outline the "framework" for future spending decisions at Treasury questions in the House of Commons later, and will also take part in a debate in Parliament on the economy." - BBC
> JP Floru on CentreRight yesterday: Why a public consultation on cuts would be a mistake
Star Chamber to judge which ministers get budget cuts
"Under the terms of the new "star chamber" system, designed to get better value from state spending, the Chancellor will allow "heavy hitting" ministers and civil servants to pose rigorous questions designed to "test the methods of delivery" of ministers' financial plans. A Treasury source claimed it would prevent the "old-style stitch-up" in which a minister would cut a deal with the Chancellor or, if dissatisfied with his spending review settlement, appeal to the Prime Minister for more money. The star chamber is designed to prevent splits between Cabinet colleagues, and chancellor and prime minister. Such splits have scarred previous regimes." - Daily Telegraph
> Yesterday's ToryDiary: What's the point of a Star Chamber?
Private sector expertise sought for Whitehall
"City headhunters are being used by the government to try to persuade senior business people to sit on Whitehall boards to drive through spending cuts, in an attempt to make better use of private sector expertise to eliminate public sector waste. George Osborne will on Tuesday back the use of business people to challenge departments on their spending plans. The chancellor is expected to cite a planned increase in business influence on Whitehall as an example of the wider increase in external scrutiny that the government wants to foster." - FT
David Cameron prepares the public for debt pain
"Britain will experience a "terrible, terrible waste of money" in the next five years as interest on the nation's debt rises to £70bn a year, more than the combined budgets for education, climate change and transport, David Cameron said yesterday. To illustrate the "painful times" Britain faces as the Treasury grapples with a record £156bn fiscal deficit, the prime minister said that a "staggering amount" would be spent on servicing debt unless tough action is taken. Cameron issued his warning as part of the government's preparations for its emergency post-election budget on 22 June, when Geor ge Osborne, the chancellor, will set out the overall level of cuts from next April." - The Guardian
"Unavoidable", "painful" and "inevitable": the public spending cuts planned by the Government will "affect our whole way of life", David Cameron declared yesterday, as Britain prepares to join the wave of austerity sweeping across Europe." - The Independent
The public finances are better than we thought - Edmund Conway in the Daily Telegraph
Cameron can't blame it all on Labour - Dominic Lawson in The Independent
> Yesterday's ToryDiary: David Cameron says the spending cuts will affect "our whole way of life" as the Coalition prepares to learn economic lessons from Canada
> WATCH: David Cameron's speech about how painful the spending cuts will be from yesterday in full
Housing minister Grant Shapps promotes home ownership
"Everybody should be able to buy their own home, the new Housing Minister is to announce today. Grant Shapps will pledge to help Britons on to the housing ladder by slashing red tape, promoting shared ownership schemes for key workers and making it easier for social housing tenants to buy their homes. In an address to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, he will promise “to help more people achieve their aspiration to become home owners”, saying: “The age of aspiration is back.” - Daily Express
Primary curriculum and academic diplomas to be axed
"The government will scrap Labour's new primary curriculum and its flagship "academic" diplomas, ministers said yesterday as they detailed a £359m programme of education cuts. Michael Gove, the education secretary, also said he would drop a proposed extension of pilot schemes offering free school meals to all primary pupils, although three existing schemes will continue to assess the case for increasing eligibility." - The Guardian
"At the same time, the Government said that state schools would be able to offer the International GCSE in core subjects for the first time. IGCEs are favoured by hundreds of private schools who often claim they are tougher than conventional GCSEs, but the qualifications were banned under Labour." - Daily Telegraph
William Hague wins European backing for Israeli raid inquiry
"William Hague condemned Iran’s plan to send aid boats to Gaza yesterday, warning that the move would deliberately aggravate an already tense situation. “It is not helpful, and probably it is not designed to be helpful,” the British Foreign Secretary said after meeting Franco Frattini, his Italian counterpart." - The Times
Terrorism law to be reconsidered
"Ministers are to reconsider powers to detain terrorist suspects without charge for up to 28 days. Senior civil servants will make several recommendations on the future of the controversial measure within weeks." - The Independent
Clegg indicates plans to introduce "55% rule" will be adjusted
"Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, today promised plans that require MPs to deliver a 55% majority to force an early dissolution of parliament will be adjusted to limit the risk of "limbo" in the Commons. In pursuit of a fixed-term parliament, the coalition has proposed that there would need to be a 55% majority before parliament could be dissolved, but the idea continued to draw protests from Tory backbenchers, including the former shadow justice minister Eleanor Laing." - The Guardian
Members of the public to rule on errant MPs - Daily Telegraph
MPs vote between 10am and Noon today for three Deputy Speakers
"Nine MPs are to contest the first ever election for the positions of deputy speaker of the House of Commons... The rules state that two deputy speakers will be elected from the opposite side of the House from the Speaker. As Mr Bercow was formerly a Conservative MP, this means that two of the positions will be taken by Labour MPs." - BBC
> Yesterday in Parliament: MPs should back Nigel Evans and Lindsay Hoyle in the election for Deputy Speakers
Pickles slams Suffolk County council over PR manager's salary
"A Tory minister has criticised a Conservative Suffolk council's decision to pay a public relations manager between £2,000 and £3,500 a week. Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said Suffolk County Council had not made a "compelling case" for offering its latest head of communications a "super salary". - Diss Express
> Yesterday in Local Government: Eric Pickles distances himself from Tory Council's decision to pay its spin doctor more than the Prime Minister
Councils still scrapping weekly bin rounds despite Tory pledge - Daily Mail
Outrage as Labour leadership hopeful boasts: I would kill Margaret Thatcher
"A Labour leadership contender provoked outrage last night by joking about his desire to go back in time and “assassinate” Margaret Thatcher. Veteran socialist MP John McDonnell won enthusiastic applause at a union-organised hustings with his shocking comment about the former Tory Prime Minister. Referring to what he would do if he could turn back the clock, he told the meeting: “I was on the GLC (Greater London Council) that Mrs Thatcher abolished. I worked for the National Union of Mineworkers and we had the NUM strike. I think I’d assassinate Thatcher.” His outburst was made in front of o ther Labour leadership contenders David Miliband, Ed Miliband, Andy Burnham and Diane Abbott. And fury intensified last night after none of them condemned the comments." - Daily Express
"Supporters of Diane Abbott are urging fellow backbencher MP John McDonnell to stand down from the Labour leadership race to give the left a greater chance of having a candidate on the final ballot.... McDonnell insisted his comment about the former prime minister was made as a "joke and it went down as a joke" but his comments were immediately seized on by rivals. MPs nominations close on Wednesday." - The Guardian
> Yesterday in LeftWatch: Labour leadership contender says he would like to revisit the 1980s and "assassinate Thatcher"
Nick Clegg signals possible rethink over rape trial anonymity - The Guardian
Alex Salmond pressing Cameron on more Holyrood powers - BBC
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates met David Cameron yesterday in advance of talks with Liam Fox today - Press Association
UK to deport child asylum seekers to Afghanistan - The Guardian
CGT hike will hit over 200,000 ordinary taxpayers, says IoD - Daily Telegraph
Government "likely" to sell half its stake in air traffic control - Reuters
Lots of maiden speeches to report in Parliament:
- Former soldier Dan Byles uses his maiden speech to highlight the issue of mental health care for veterans
- Dover’s new MP, Charlie Elphicke, uses his maiden speech to demand proper border security
- Andrew Bridgen uses his maiden speech to explain why he loves he Europe (up to a point)
- Mark Garnier, Simon Kirby, Julian Sturdy and Gareth Johnson all set out their scepticism about further European integration in their maiden speeches
- Mike Weatherley and Brandon Lewis use their maiden speeches to celebrate the British music and film industries and to promote renewable energy
Also in Parliament: Nadine Dorries to make the race to be Health Select Committee chairman a four-way battle
Andrew Lilico on CentreRight: Reform deposit-taking to incentivise boring banking
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