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ToryDiary: Should the Government be doing more for the Churches... or vice-versa?
Jesse Norman MP on Platform: The Banking Commission report is hugely welcome
Lord Flight on Platform: A stable family and the opportunity of attending a selective secondary school are key to promoting upwards social mobility
ThinkTankCentral: The Bow Group argues that AV will bring an end to conviction voting
John Bald on Local government: The Left's war on grammar and phonics
Seats and candidates: Jane Hunt seeks your help in the Leicester South by-election campaign
WATCH: The full three parts of tonight's No2AV referendum broadcast
Banking Commission recommends separation of "riskier" trading arms from taxpayer-protected retail arms
"UK banks' retail operations should be "ring-fenced" from their investment banking arms, the Independent Commission on Banking has recommended. However, in its interim report the commission stopped short of recommending to two should operate as separate entities... The commission said that banks needed to hold more cash in reserve to protect against future crises, and that creditors, not taxpayers, should be liable for any losses." - BBC
"Some of the most controversial recommendations from Sir John Vickers’ interim report will regard measures to inject competition into retail banking, a highly concentrated market where Lloyds Banking Group provides almost one in three current accounts. Although a reversal of the Lloyds TSB and HBOS merger will be ruled out, the panel will raise the option of its selling more branches than the 600 it is already having to divest under state aid rules." - FT (£)
Reuters notes George Osborne's reaction: "I welcome the excellent analysis in this interim report and look forward to receiving their final report later this year."
"It ought to be made easier to change bank. Account numbers ought to be made portable, just like mobile phone numbers. Switching bank should be almost instantaneous." - Allister Heath in City AM
Gordon Brown has admitted he made a “big mistake” in the way he tackled financial regulation - Telegraph
George Osborne finds £100m extra for defence
"It is estimated that the Treasury will give the Ministry of Defence an extra £100million to keep the forces at strength. RAF fighters, pilots and transport aircraft, as well as Navy frigates, will all be protected from the cuts detailed in October's defence spending review." - Telegraph
50p top tax rate may be scrapped as early as 2013 - Daily Mail
Danny Alexander says UK ready to take legal action to retrieve Iceland billions - Express
Nick Clegg adviser, Norman Lamb, threatens to resign over rush to reform NHS - Guardian
If we get this reform wrong, patients are going to suffer - Norman Lamb in The Independent
"Andrew Lansley must be regretting one of his first acts as health secretary last May when he blocked Norman Lamb, his Liberal Democrat counterpart, from becoming a minister in his department. Lansley and Lamb, two of Westminster's greatest experts on the NHS, had had an almighty falling out in the run up to the general election over the financing of long term care for the elderly." - Guardian
> Yesterday's ToryDiary on Norman Lamb's intervention
- Royal College of Nursing say 40,000 NHS jobs face cuts in next three years - Express
- Cutting cancer treatment waiting times and maintaining the number of police on the streets are the top two priorities for Scotland in the Holyrood elections - BBC
Theresa May rules out burka ban in Britain
"It is not for government to say what people can and cannot wear. Such a proscriptive approach would be out of keeping with our nation's longstanding record of tolerance. Accordingly we do not support a ban on wearing the burka." - Quoted in The Independent
- Cuts in patrols are inevitable, says West Midlands police chief - Times (£)
- More than 30,000 police jobs ‘to be lost in next 4 years’, warns Labour - Metro
Despite all that Coalition tough talk... Now half of Britain has lost its weekly bin round
"A survey of 117 town halls revealed that 59 per cent have switched to fortnightly collections. They are acting in clear defiance of Communities Secretary Eric Pickles, who said it was ‘a basic right’ for the public to have their rubbish collected every week." - Daily Mail
In a leader the Mail accuses Mr Pickles of falsely raising local people's hopes: "If Mr Pickles was unwilling to force councils to reinstate weekly collections — and he is not, on the basis that he believes in local decision-making, or ‘localism’ — he should not have falsely raised people’s hopes."
The Conservative Middle Eastern Council's links to Syrian regime under scrutiny - The Times (£)
While we pull in our belts at home, our leaders get carried away abroad. It's time we turned our backs on our imperial past - Jackie Ashley in The Guardian
Dan Snow: The Tories didn't use AV, so why should the UK
"Under good old First Past the Post, David Davis would be leader of the Tory party, having won the first ballot of MPs with 31 per cent of the vote. And they say AV benefits the fringe candidates? No wonder David Cameron sounds like such an unconvincing “No” campaigner." - Dan Snow in The Times (£)
The public is right to be appalled about phone hacking but surely News International weren’t the only culprits - Boris Johnson in The Telegraph
- Sir Gus O'Donnell, the cabinet secretary, blocked attempt by former PM to hold judicial inquiry into phone-hacking allegations - Guardian
- A leading lawyer claimed that up to 7,000 people may have had their phone messages intercepted by the News of the World - Independent
Labour should make big gains next month
The FT (£) publishes a graphic noting that Labour is performing about 16% better than in 2007, when this year's set of local and other elections were last fought.
"Harriet Harman was facing accusations of hypocrisy over internships last night amid claims that she used her contacts to get a job for her son." - Telegraph
Ann Widdecombe's verdict on not getting into the Lords: David Cameron “just doesn’t want me around” - Liverpool Daily Post
John Howard’s career – and his book – are invaluable guides to anyone interested in how conservatism today can win - Charles Moore in The Telegraph
And finally... Cameron urges Sun readers to hold Royal Wedding street parties
"I know that there have been stories about petty bureaucracy getting in the way of party planners. But people who want to come together to celebrate with their neighbours should go ahead. We've done our bit by ripping up red tape and many councils have done the same. There are already around 4,000 street parties planned across Britain and there's still time to organise many more. Samantha and I will be holding one in Downing Street and bringing together local people and charities. It's incredibly simple. All you need to do is to get in touch with your council if you need to close the road. They'll let you know if there are any issues." - The Prime Minister writing in The Sun
The William and Kate wedding guest list is full of the Royal family's business connections - Melanie Phillips in the Daily Mail
WATCH: Norman Lamb's full interview with Jon Sopel on the NHS reforms
On Comment:
- Christina Dykes: AV would result in a House of Commons filled with “miserable mediocrity”
- David Cowan: The current division inside the Conservative Party is between the “Old Whigs” and the “High Tories”
- Martin Cakebread: Is it time for the functions of the RAF to be transferred to the Army and Navy?
- John Phelan: Why I'm proud to call myself one of Thatcher's children
Local Government:
- Bin police powers curbed
- Councils still recruiting "non-jobs"
- Medway cuts union funding to pay for more library books
- Glyn Gaskarth: What are Conservative councils offering the C2s?
- Mark Henderson: Creating Community Capital
- Community Right to Buy could help save pubs
Parliament: Robert Halfon defeats Labour MP's bid to regulate the internet during elections
ThinkTankCentral: Respublica proposes that supermarkets should be taxed to subsidise traditional high street shops
International: Stephen Harper puts eliminating the deficit at the heart of his re-election campaign in Canada
LeftWatch: Green London Assembly Member and Mayoral candidate says squatting is "an excellent thing to do"
Seats and Candidates: Final list of nominated Conservative candidates for the Welsh Assembly election
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