ToryDiary: Why it's time for the Tory left to be out, loud and proud
Blair Gibbs on Platform: The case for directly-elected Police Commissioners
Roger Helmer MEP on CentreRight: Conservatives and Labour MPs should work together to defeat Chris Huhne's green zealotry
Glyn Gaskarth on Local government: Don't ask, don't tell policy on council services?
International: Australian Liberals put tax at heart of election
Ministers are ready to hand sweeping Big Brother powers to EU states so they can spy on British citizens
"The move will spark a damaging row with backbench Tory MPs opposed to giving such draconian powers to Brussels. The Tories were opposed to the directive in opposition, saying it showed a ‘relish for surveillance and disdain for civil liberties’. But ministers have made a dramatic U-turn since joining the pro-EU Lib Dems in government, and the wide-ranging powers are due to be approved later this week." - Daily Ma il
"There is a deep contradiction between the coalition Government’s stated aim of curbing the Big Brother state and its apparent support for a new EU directive empowering foreign police officers to carry out surveillance on, and join in the arrest of, people living in Britain." - Daily Mail leader
Cable prepares carrots and sticks to increase bank lending
"Business Secretary Vince Cable says banks are "not acting in the national interest" and measures may be needed. He has suggested dividends and bonuses could be a target as part of a "carrot and stick" approach to boost lending." - BBC
Tensions within the 'Brokeback Coalition' ^ Photoshopping by the Mirror
Cameron and Clegg attempt to persuade restive MPs and activists that the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition can deliver for both parties - FT (£)
Tory backbenchers unite to challenge coalition 'sell-out' - Daily Mail
Lord Ashdown: Top civil servants think Clegg would make a better Premier than Cameron - The Sun
"Over the summer, the Coalition will have to devote considerable energy to working out how to protect the Lib Dems against the onslaught that is coming from the new Labour leader. Any further erosion in the Lib Dem poll rating could well destabilise the government." - James Forsyth on The Spectator's Coffee House
" Mr Cameron needs to show as much commitment to maintaining the coalition that is the Conservative Party as he does to maintaining the Coalition that is the Government, for there will inevitably come a time when he will need all the support he can muster." - Telegraph leader
"Mr Cameron should also take note of the risks to his right. The temper of some of his MPs will not be improved by Lib Dem electoral reform proposals, or bounces in Lib Dem support. The prime minister must improve his lines of communication with his party now, while the going still looks good for the Tory backwoodsmen." - FT leader (£)
Cameron still searching for a trade minister"As the Financial Times reported a fortnight ago, Mr Cameron has seen a succession of business leaders decline his offer to become minister for trade. Britain last had a coherent export strategy when Michael Heseltine was president of the Board of Trade. Since 1997 there has been, on average, one minister of trade a year. Everyone has been tried, from political nonentities to non-political heavyweights. Only Mervyn Davies achieved success." - Sir Richard Needham in the FT (£)
David Cameron's big India trip may be 'undermined' by immigration policy "Britain is sending "contradictory messages" to India by imposing new immigration restrictions on entrepreneurs just as David Cameron hopes to open up a new chapter in relations by leading the largest ministerial delegation to the sub-continent in recent history. On the eve of the visit, designed to herald the dawn of a special relationship, a member of the prime minister's delegation warned that the government's cap on non-EU immigration could jeopardise links." - Guardian
RAF’s Tornado fleet or the Navy’s Harriers 'will be scrapped' - Times (£)
Liam Fox defence promotiopn visit to Saudi Arabia cancelled at last minute because of “unavailability of key [Saudi] participants” - Times (£)
Rape charge anonymity pledge dropped after protests by MPs"Crispin Blunt, the justice minister, has said the government will instead negotiate with the Press Complaints Commission to persuade newspapers and websites to grant anonymity to suspects." - Guardian
The Sun welcomes the end of speed cameras
"Speed cameras have blighted motorists' lives for nearly 20 years - and for what? Introduced in 1991, GATSOs actually slowed down an already dramatic drop in road casualties. When Swindon scrapped theirs last year, safety campaigners feared deaths would soar. But they fell... Unlike the police patrols Britain used to have, they make no allowance for circumstances or conditions. Nor do they catch the genuinely reckless or incompetent. The Government says it is ending this war on the motorist. It can't happen quickly enough." - The Sun Says
Jeremy Hunt hints at fee for using the BBC's iPlayer - The Sun
Calling my constituents yokels was foolish, says Rory Stewart - Guardian
The Coalition must do more to defend its aid budget - Madeleine Bunting in The Guardian
Patrick Mercer accused of leaving mistress with £8,000 bill - Telegraph
Ann Widdecombe fighting to save sight in left eye
"Ann Widdecombe will not, after all, be packing her black mantilla and taking up her post as Her Majesty’s ambassador to the Holy See. For I learn the unmarried 62-year-old has been obliged to decline the plum job in Rome for health reasons. Miss Widdecombe has suffered a detached retina and required emergency surgery to save the sight in her left eye." - Richard Kay in the Daily Mail
Unite union backs Ed Miliband for Labour leader - Telegraph
And finally... Jeffrey Archer on an Iraq that is 'booming' in the right way
"News from Iraq has been spasmodic of late, with few suicide bombs to grab public attention. The most recent exploded the day after I left Baghdad last weekend, a city where security no longer appeared to be the biggest problem. Today it is a boom town, rather than a bomb site. If I were a young man, looking to make my fortune, I would be off to Iraq like a shot. Plenty of other young men are there already — Russians, French, Germans, Swedes, Chinese of course, even Turks and Lebanese. As one local politician remarked, when the Lebanese arrive you know there is money to be made." - Jeffrey Archer in The Times (£)
ToryDiary: Could the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats merge to fight the next election as a single force?
Dr Madsen Pirie on Platform: Tax Simplification should follow simple rules
- Darling: I'd rather have raised VAT than national insurance
- Brown's first TV interview since losing general election
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