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Today's top ConservativeHome features ToryDiary: Cameron has an opportunity to stop Alex Salmond charging English students attending Scottish universities. Will he take it? Columnist Jill Kirby: Retrospective legislation may produce applause today but it will damage Britain in the years to come Lord Lamont on Comment: A Lords elected by PR will give LibDems a huge, permanent, enhanced role in politics Harry Benson on Comment: A wise woman should think long and hard before proposing to her man this leap day Local government: Chesterfield abandons plans for Council Tax rise and Call for more cities for follow example of Boris Bikes WATCH: Chris Grayling insists work experience scheme is voluntary despite Channel 4 News claims Andrew Lansley tells BBC News that NHS BIll is all about putting doctors and nurses in charge ConHomeUSA: Mitt Romney celebrates victory in Michigan by turning fire onto Obama Today's newslinks "Mr Cameron is no nearer to persuading us to be a Conservative country again"; Must-read of the day from Benedict Brogan looking at how Britain changed a great deal under Labour "John Major may have imagined a country at ease with itself, but it was under Tony Blair that it changed socially to become more consciously tolerant – some would say modern – on issues of race, gender and sexuality. And there was more to it than that: the country was changed by Gordon Brown, too, who extended the grip of the state deep into the lives of citizens, vastly increasing dependence on state benefits, expanding the size of the public sector workforce, and creating a shadow state of organisations that aped private sector practice but relied exclusively or near enough on public contracts for their funding. Just as we became easier with each other, so too we became comfortable with Big Government." - Benedict Brogan in The Telegraph Government wants rewrite of ECHR to give more power to national parliaments James Landale at the BBC writes: "The draft that I have seen says the European Court should not be able to examine cases that are "identical in substance to a claim that has been considered by a national court"... The government also calls for people to have much less time to apply to the European Court - just two, three or four months, not six months as now, after a national court makes its final judgement." Theresa May plans to force skilled migrant workers to leave the UK after five years if they earn less than £35,000 a year "More than 40,000 skilled migrants a year are to lose their right to work beyond five years in Britain, in a move towards creating a temporary "guestworker" migrant labour force in the UK... Theresa May, will tell MPs on Wednesday that she is breaking the link between migration and settlement for the first time, by taking away the right to remain in Britain for more than five years from any migrant worker earning less than £35,000 a year." - Guardian The Daily Mail attacks Theresa May's plan to extend secret courts Former adviser to Andrew Lansley, Dr Sam Everington, and the host of his first speechas Health Secretary withdraws support from NHS Bill "In a letter to David Cameron, Everington warns that "your rolling restructuring of the NHS compromises our ability to focus on what really counts" and that improvements to NHS primary care could be made "without the bureaucracy generated by the bill." - Guardian | Telegraph Andrew Lansley insists that the Coalition is united - Independent My fellow doctors are putting greed before their patients, Dr Robert Lefever in the Daily Mail reacts to BMA threat of industrial action over pensions Not only is the Coalition's retrospective action against Barclays unjust; it should be anathema to a state that wants to create a predictable environment for business FT leader (£) The Government has justifiably cracked down hard on tax avoidance schemes operated by Barclays - Times leader (£) Business needs a flatter, simpler tax system - Telegraph leader Cable, Pickles and Spelman all criticised in Cabinet meeting for not doing more to support economic growth - FT (£) Creating a dynamic economy in Northern Ireland: Promoting enterprise, reforming welfare - Owen Paterson in the Daily Mail The Express joins the calls for lower fuel duty: "The RAC Foundation said in 21 million households people spend more than 10 per cent of their disposable income on transport – the measure used to define fuel poverty on energy bills" Don't expect an exciting Budget, predicts Nick Wood - neither the Thatcherites nor the Lib Dems will get what they want - Daily Mail Downing Street said to be underwhelmed by Boris Johnson's re-election plan "Downing Street is worried. When the mayor came in with his Australian election strategist Lynton Crosby last week, they thought their plans were “underwhelming” and lacked a simple “retail offer” for voters. Boris might irritate the Prime Minister but the Conservatives need him to stay in City Hall. They are even prepared to consider Boris Island, his plan for a new airport, if it helps his cause." - Alice Thomson in The Times (£) Ann Widdecombe wants nationwide referendum on gay marriage: "As this is the most fundamental change to society in centuries, let David Cameron ask the people what they want. If he insists on pushing ahead then I challenge him to hold a referendum. The redefinition of marriage is too big an issue for the state to foist on an unwilling population." - Express > Miss Widdecombe recently noted that she quit politics when 'I noticed I preferred Countdown to Question Time' A preview of the issues likely to dominate today's emergency debate on the EU Treaty - John Redwood > Yesterday's MPsETC: Could Irish voters say FU to the Merkozy plan to save the €uro? Number 10 silent on whether David Cameron used Rebekah Brooks' police horse - Telegraph Phone-hacking will be the single largest corporate corruption case for 250 years because 'cover up' went up 'to the very highest levels, says Chris Bryant - Daily Mail The Sun launches a campaign to expose welfare fraudsters "An average earner on £25,500 a year pays £2,080 towards the benefits bill through income tax. So he or she is being robbed of £16.64 by benefits cheats. Of the fortune stolen from the State in the last year, £150million was dole money, £220million Income Support, £140million pension credit, £300million housing benefits and £80million sick benefit and Disability Living Allowance." - The Sun Alex Fergusson, a senior MSP, and Peter Duncan, a former Scottish Tory chairman, gave their backing to ‘Devo Plus’, which could see Scottish ministers given control over nearly all taxes except VAT and National Insurance - Telegraph The Scotsman has a full report on the launch of the campaign for Devo+ Philip Blond calls for Scottish Parliament to have its own House of Lords -Scotsman Lord Steel of Aikenwood said broadcasters have told him that “SNP heavies” contact them so regularly trying to influence their coverage that it is verging on “intimidation” - Telegraph The People’s Supermarket, a Big Society project, visited by David Cameron on the day he told the nation that the policy was his mission, is at risk of “imminent closure” - Times (£) Tebbit criticises Meryl Streep for not mentioning Margaret Thatcher in Oscars speech - Sun Multi-millionaire Chris Huhne has claimed £17,000 severance pay from taxpayer - Guardian "Chris Huhne will pocket a taxpayer-funded payoff worth more than £17,000 today – despite being the first Cabinet minister in history to be forced from office by a criminal prosecution. The millionaire MP, who recently bought his eighth property, is being handed the tax-free sum after stepping down to fight charges of perverting the course of justice." -Daily Mail Labour will support 80% elected Lords but may not endorse use of parliament acts to force through change - Independent Union that bankrolls Labour calls for disruption of Olympics - BBC > Yesterday evening's LeftWatch: The union that bankrolls Labour wants to disrupt the London Olympics Chuka Umunna says we don't need to abolish the Business Department but to put it at the heart of Whitehall - Press Association French Socialist Francois Hollande will meet Ed Miliband today; the conservative leaders of Britain, Germany and Italy have declined to meet him - Reuters Want to be happy? Get married, retire, have a family and move to Northern Ireland: Survey finds the most satisfied people in the country - Daily Mail And finally... Puffed-out Cameron struggles on his morning jog... while his security staff and trainer barely break a sweat - Daily Mail Yesterday's highlights on ConservativeHome On Comment: Oliver Colvile MP: The critics of windfarms are wrong. Renewable energy provides good value for money. George Eustice MP says it's time to transform CAP: "The Common Agricultural Policy takes up 40 percent of the EU budget and has long been regarded by the public as a symbol of bureaucracy gone mad." MPsETC: Could Irish voters say FU to the Merkozy plan to save the €uro? LeftWatch: The union that bankrolls Labour wants to disrupt the London Olympics WATCH: Nadine Dorries MP says only childless and wealthy women tend to prosper in politics Local government: Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh saysGovernment plans for Business Rates too complicated and unclear to work Housing associations start to publish their spending Spelthorne is the 16th Tory council to propose a tax rise ConHome on Twitter and links PLEASE FOLLOW US ON TWITTER. Homepage. ToryDiary. Seats and candidates. Local government. Parliament. Platform. CentreRight. International. Think Tanks. LeftWatch. PlayPolitical videos.