ToryDiary: Damian Green promises "smart immigration policy" that ensures only the brightest and best students and workers enter Britain
Karl McCartney MP on Platform: People should not have to rely on their MP to prod the state to get them the support or services which they should be getting anyway
James Bethell on CentreRight: Sending Nick Griffin to jail would hand the BNP a lifeline
ThinkTankCentral: Britain will not be able to stop EU ministers ganging up to impose damaging new rules on City of London
Parliament: Ten Tory MPs vote against AV Referendum Bill
In his answers to ConservativeHome's Twenty Questions Aidan Burley explains why he is a Conservative: "I’m a Conservative because… I’m middle class and I think it’s about time politicians stood up for the dutiful tax-payers, the law abiders and those who aspire to a better life for themselves and their children. They are too often forgotten, yet they are middle Britain and they are the majority of Britain. Their concerns, needs and aspirations are just as important as those of the poor and those of the rich.”
Local government: More Labour fudging on localism
International: Australian Labor cling to power
Theresa May seeks new powers to prevent extradition of Britons like Gary McKinnon
"An independent review of agreements with the US and European nations is to be announced by Theresa May, the Home Secretary. It follows widespread concern that the current system is biased against Britain and follows cases including that of Gary McKinnon, the alleged hacker wanted by the American authorities. Under the review, which could be announced as soon as Wednesday, the Home Secretary’s hand could be strengthened and foreign authorities could be required to provide more evidence before British courts grant a request." - Telegraph
"Janusz Lewandowski, the EU budget commissioner, told German business newspaper Handelsblatt “the British rebate has lost its original justification”. He said the structure of the EU budget had “changed substantially”. The refund from Britain’s EU budget contributions is expected to be worth £3.2bn in 2010-11, but its significance is more than financial; some Tory MPs regard it as one of the totems of their Eurosceptic faith. Downing Street said: “We think the rebate continues to be justified. In the absence of the rebate, we would pay double what France pays and that would be unacceptable.”" - FT (£)
Tory former Cabinet minister John Redwood told the Daily Mail: "We have negotiated a sensible rebate in the past and we should be telling Brussels to keep its hands off. Instead of asking for more money the EU should be leading the way and cutting its own spending, which is less important and less desirable than core domestic spending on things like schools and hospitals."
Pressure is growing for a full judicial investigation into allegations of phone-tapping at the News of the World - Times (£)
"By appointing Mr Coulson [David Cameron] tarnished a pledge to bring integrity and transparency to No 10." - Philip Stephens in the FT (£)
> Yesterday's ToryDiary: On Andy Coulson, the BBC is dancing to Labour's tune
Lord Browne to recommend higher tuition fees"Student debt is poised to rise to an average of £25,000 under funding proposals that favour higher tuition fees over a graduate tax. The expected recommendation from Lord Browne of Madingley would lead to undergraduates finishing their education with debts 25 per cent higher than the present £20,000 average." - Times (£)
Recruitment of HSBC's Stephen Green as Trade Minister would be "genuine coup" for David Cameron - Mark Kleinman on Sky
Polly Toynbee: Is the cut in number of MPs worth the hassle? "In the coming months Cameron may wonder whether this fight was worth the candle. Cutting 50 seats, according to the independent Democratic Audit, would have lost Labour 25 seats, the Tories 13 and the Lib Dems 7. But it would not have tipped the balance enough to gain a Tory majority. There will be an almighty row over this – and the opponents will not just be Labour: there will be equally distraught protests from Tory and Lib Dem voters. Usually the Boundary Commissions plod along re-ordering constituency sizes with consultation on local sensitivities and a system of public appeals. Cameron is swee ping all that away. A strict numerical equality takes precedence over crossing every regional, county and even ward boundary. MPs may straddle two local authorities, may be half in a city and half in a county, crossing natural divides with no recognition of fierce local identity." - Polly Toynbee in The Guardian
Liberal Democrats lose four-tenths of their voters
"The Liberal Democrats have lost the support of almost four in 10 of the people who backed the party in May, according to an opinion poll for The Independent. More than one in five people who voted for Nick Clegg's party at the general election say they would now vote Labour, the ComRes poll shows. Only 62 per cent of those who voted Liberal Democrat would do so again were another election held today." - Independent
Tony Blair cancels book signing "Tony Blair yesterday took a last-minute decision to cancel his key book signing in central London because of security fears, after unrest at a signing in Dublin saw the former prime minister pelted with eggs and shoes. Blair said he was cancelling the event, due to take place tomorrow at Waterstone's bookshop in Piccadilly, central London, "to avoid the inconvenience to the public it would have caused"." - Guardian
Times leader (£): "On the face of it, Mr Blair’s suggestion that he has no need to do the signing to promote the book and that he has chosen to avoid causing the police what he calls “a lot of hassle” seems reasonable enough. Actually, the policing required to ensure that a former prime minister can sign a book for someone who has bought a copy is a lot more than “hassle”. It is an important aspect of living in a free country that acts such as book signings are not prevented by the threat of violence."
Alex Salmond has emailed SNP members about his decision to shelve his plans for an independence referendum - Telegraph
Taxpayers urged to rebel against Inland Revenue's incompetent tax demands"Around 1.4million Britons are being urged to stage an unprecedented revolt over plans to claw back up to £3.8billion in under-paid tax. It follows the botched introduction of a new computer system by the taxman which has left millions of bills in chaos. The first batch of 45,000 letters demanding cash to be repaid will start to arrive on Tuesday - with the rest sent out over the next four months. But accountants said recipients should act swiftly to use a little-known loophole which forces HM Revenue and Customs to abandon 'out of the blue' demands and effectively write off the money." - Daily Mail
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