- David Cameron appoints Lord Young to reintroduce common sense into the operation of health and safety laws
- Harris poll suggests voters are divided on whether the Coalition will last
Sajid Javid MP on Platform: How to rebuild the British economy
Parliament: Claire Perry uses her maiden speech to highlight rural poverty as George Hollingbery and Hariett Baldwin raise the plight of pensioners in poverty
ThinkTankCentral: IEA report says true level of national debt is six times greater than commonly understood
Ken Clarke provokes fury over suggestion of sending fewer criminals to prison
"Thousands of criminals could escape being jailed in a drastic cost-cutting move. Justice Secretary Ken Clarke suggested millions could be saved from the £2.2billion prisons budget by jailing fewer offenders and slashing sentences. Indicating a major shift on prison policy, he questioned the need for the tougher sentencing that has seen the prison population nearly double since the early 1990s. His comments are surprising because when in opposition the Tories promised to create 5,000 more prison places if they got into power. Mr Clarke provoked further astonishment by claiming public fears over crime were overblown and d id not reflect the reality of life in Britain." - Daily Mail
Are the Tories going Liberal on crime? - Daily Mail editorial
New fiscal watchdog set to downgrade UK growth forecast
"The new UK fiscal watchdog is expected to downgrade the previous Labour government's growth estimates later. Analysts say the Office for Budget Responsibility will say ex-Chancellor Alistair Darling's 2011 forecast of more than 3% was too optimistic." - BBC
"Sir Alan Budd's Office for Budget Responsibility is likely to say that Alistair Darling overestimated Britain's ability to bounce back from the deep recession caused by the financial crisis and that there has been long-term damage to the economy's growth potential... The chancellor is expecting Budd's growth forecast for next year to be lower than the 3-3.5% predicted by Darling's last budget in March, and to trim the Treasury's estimates of growth for every year until 2014-15. Independent City economists have consistently said the Treasury's 2011 estimates were too optimistic and that a growth rate of 2-2.5% was more likely." - The Guardian
"When the Office of Budget Responsibility publishes a range of scenarios for growth and the public finances today, expect the Chancellor to seize on the worst case. The Tory plan is clear: use inflated fears of a debt and monetary crisis to justify massive public spending cuts and an increase in VAT; blame it all on Labour’s management of the economy; and use the resulting war chest to cut income tax before the next election." - Ed Balls writing in the Daily Telegraph
Soaring public sector pensions bill threatens attempts to cut deficit - The Times
Clegg to blame big cuts in spending on 'bankrupt' Labour
"Nick Clegg will defend the Government's plans for deep spending cuts today as its independent forecaster prepares to paint a grim picture of the state of the economy. In a speech in London, Mr Clegg will prepare the ground for a big squeeze on spending and some tax rises to be announced in next week's Budget – and seek to pin the blame on Labour. He will accuse Labour of being "in denial" about the public finances and taking the country to the brink of bankruptcy." - The Independent
Ministers 'prepare climbdown on capital gains tax' as fears rise over VAT hike - Daily Mail
Lib Dems in warning to Osborne on CGT - FT
Boris warns against cuts in the capital - City AM
Tougher Tory stance on immigration could have 'changed result of election', research shows
"Thousand more voters could have switched to the Tories, potentially changing the result of the election, if the party had adopted a tougher stance on immigration, according to a poll... The YouGov survey found that a tougher line on immigration was the single most important influence in influencing people who voted Liberal Democrat and Labour to switch to the Conservatives. Migrationwatch, which commissioned the research, said it showed that how adopting a tougher line on immigration "could have changed the result of the General Election". - Daily Telegraph
Cameron and Hague ready to fight EU over ‘show us your Budget' demand
"David Cameron is preparing for his first confrontation with the European Union later this week by rejecting demands that he should submit Budget proposals for the approval of Brussels... The proposal is likely to be discussed on Thursday when Mr Cameron attends his first European Council meeting as Prime Minister. William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, described the Government’s opposition as “trenchant” yesterday. “It is not a proposal that we can support,” he said. “The Prime Minister, the Chancellor and I have all made that very clear. The British Budget must be presented to the Britis h Parliament. That is a position we will argue for and we will maintain. The discussions on this have some way to go but our position is pretty categorical.” - The Times
David Cameron to set out Afghanistan policy this afternoon
"David Cameron will today set out a hard-headed new approach to Afghanistan that will raise hopes that British troop numbers in the country will be reduced in little more than a year. The Prime Minister will tell MPs that the Government was trying to accelerate the process that will allow forces to start coming home. Government insiders said Mr Cameron was keen to start winding down a war he inherited from Labour." - Daily Telegraph
Liam Fox refuses to rule out troop cut...
"The Defence Secretary, Liam Fox, has refused to rule out cutting troop numbers as part of the defence review. Dr Fox told the Politics Show that the review will mark a "step change" in Britain's military stance. He said it will result in changes to the shape and size of the armed forces." - BBC
...and denies sacking defence chief
"Defence Secretary Liam Fox has denied sacking Britain's top military chief because he was too close to Labour. He was speaking after it emerged Sir Jock Stirrup will be replaced as Chief of the Defence Staff in the autumn - six months before the end of his term." - Sky News
George Osborne under pressure to break up banks
"George Osborne faces growing pressure to break up the banks from a pincer movement of the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative right as he prepares to set out his vision to give the Bank of England a pivotal role in a reformed regulatory system." - FT
"The break-up of the UK's banks took a step closer yesterday as Vince Cable's office confirmed the government would take proposals for radical banking reforms seriously." - The Scotsman
> Yesterday's ToryDiary: Another financial crisis could break Britain, warns David Davis as he unveils comprehensive bank reforms package
Financial Services Authority under fire as George Osborne finalises shake-up - Daily Telegraph
Bloody Sunday inquiry a disaster, says Ken Clarke
"The Bloody Sunday inquiry has been a "disaster in terms of time and expense" and got "ludicrously out of hand", Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has said... Mr Clarke, a former barrister, criticised the expense and time taken to finish the inquiry in an interview with Sky News' Sunday Live. He said: "There's no doubt that the kind of sums we spend now on public inquiries have vastly exceeded anything we would have contemplated when I was in practice." - BBC
David Cameron is ‘not yet decided’ about prime ministerial pension
"David Cameron has not yet decided whether to give up his £66,451-a-year pension entitlement. The annuity for former Prime Ministers was renounced by Gordon Brown two years ago to set an example on public sector pay. His successor as Prime Minister has yet to follow suit." - The Times
Lib Dems must retain identity in Tory partnership, says Simon Hughes
"Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrats' new deputy leader, said yesterday that his party must be "equal partners" in the coalition Government even though the Conservatives have more than five times as many MPs. In a warning shot aimed at Nick Clegg, Mr Hughes said he must ensure that the Liberal Democrats are "fully consulted" in advance over Government decisions – even when they are highly sensitive. "There must be no surprises," he said." - The Independent
New expenses chaos as MPs clash with watchdog
"The supervision of MPs’ allowances following the expenses scandal is in chaos after the head of the new body in charge complained to party whips about abuse of his staff. Tensions between the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), headed by Andrew McDonald, and MPs are boiling over, with bitter complaints that the new system is failing. Nick Clegg will be dragged into the row later this week when politicians vent their anger at what they claim is an overly bureaucratic and poorly managed scheme in the Commons." - The Times
Tory peer Lord Trimble to be observer in Israel's flotilla probe - Daily Telegraph
Ed Balls speaks about childhood bullying over his name and his stammer - Daily Mirror
Sarah Brown to pen 'intimate' memoirs - The Guardian
Flemish separatists make big gains in Belgian election - BBC
- Cameron and Obama had "warm and constructive" talks over the phone as the President affirms that the oil spill has "nothing to do with national identity"
- Lord Ashcroft and Labour's campaign chiefs agree that election debates cost Conservatives a majority
- The Conservatives are back at 40% in new Sunday Times/YouGov poll as three quarters of the public think the international aid budget should be a victim of the cuts
- More coalition memorabilia...
- Stewart Jackson MP: Ed Balls is a cynic and opportunist on EU migration - but Conservatives would be unwise to shoot the messenger when his message is right
- Rupert Matthews: We did not need a 12-year inquiry to know what happened on Bloody Sunday
- Stoke proposes cuts in councillors
- Councillors in Queen's birthday honours list
- Despite cuts, councils are still recruiting for non-jobs
- "In very poor communities it is not a choice between Asda and an organic greengrocer, it is a choice between the fast-food outlet and tinned meals from the corner shop."
- The main beneficiaries of Labour's expensive Children's Plan are middle class parents
The Economist attacks Republicans as "fratricidal, increasingly extreme on many issues and woefully short of ideas"
- The Australian Liberals enjoy renaissance
Coverage of lots more maiden speeches in Parliament:
- Margaret Thatcher lauded in the maiden speeches of Mike Freer, Louise Bagshawe and Nick Boles (who also had a word or two to say about Quentin Davies)
- Tracey Crouch, Mary Macleod, David Nuttall and Jessica Lee all discuss tackling poverty in their maiden speeches
- Pauline Latham uses her maiden speech to explain that Labour spite politicised her in the 1980s and how she has taken an active interest in international development
- Newly-elected West Yorkshire Tory MPs Kris Hopkins and Alec Shelbrooke assert that ID cards would not prevent terrorism or illegal immigration in their Commons debuts
- Guto Bebb, Andrew Griffiths and Nigel Adams all back local industries in their maiden speeches
- Damian Hinds and Elizabeth Truss raise education issues in their maiden speeches
- Caroline Dinenage and Alun Cairns use their maiden speeches to back military ventures in their constituencies
- In their maiden speeches, Justin Tomlinson laments the lack of open spaces in new housing developments whilst Andrew Bingham has a money saving idea for local councils
Melanchthon on CentreRight:
- "The Conservative "right wing" - i.e. the core three quarters of the party - has not had any election remotely like 1983, in which its programme was offered and rejected."
- More on the "Conservative Right"
- Who are the allies and who the opponents?
Tim Montgomerie on CentreRight: I don't like the F-word
LeftWatch: The "hard left", "arrogant", "hypocritical" Diane Abbott isn't good enough to be Labour leader and David Miliband is "patronising" women by pretending she is
WATCH: William Hague talks to Andrew Marr about BP, the Eurozone crisis and the Coalition
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