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Today's top ConservativeHome features ToryDiary: The downside of a Con/UKIP pact is bigger than the upside - for the moment, anyway Also on ToryDiary: Andrew Mitchell may be a bruiser but let's not forget that the Police Federation has an agenda Martin Parsons on Comment: The future of Afghanistan (part 1) - the West must aim at the restoration of an Afghanistan similar to that prior to the Soviet invasion LeftWatch: EXCLUSIVE YOUGOV POLL for ConservativeHome finds Vince Cable bests Clegg in FIVE of FIVE leadership tests Local Government: Right to buy sales sluggish so far Today's ConservativeHome newslinks David Cameron visits Manchester to pay respects after police deaths "During a visit to Greater Manchester police headquarters the prime minister said: "I think the whole country is profoundly shocked by what has happened and it is right we praise the work that they did and remember all they have done."" - Guardian > From yesterday - WATCH: David Cameron pays tribute to Pcs Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes Police call for Mitchell sacking over "outrageous" abuse "Andrew Mitchell apologised yesterday for his outburst at Downing Street police officers... Downing Street accepted Mr Mitchell’s assurance that he had not used the words “pleb” or “moron”. But last night, the officer involved was said to be adamant that he had. And John Tully, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said that Mr Mitchell should “resign as soon as possible”." - Times (£) "Andrew Mitchell threatened to have a policeman sacked for stopping him cycling through the gates of Downing Street, it was claimed last night. In a foul-mouthed rant, the Tory chief whip allegedly told the armed constable: ‘I’ll have your ****ing job for this.’" - Daily Mail The "cop he subjected to a furious rant was a woman." - The Sun 'Thrasher' Mitchell: The stern disciplinarian and quintessential Tory - Independent How Andrew Mitchell turned his anger on me - Daily Telegraph Andrew Mitchell can apologise all he wants, but he’s done his bit to retoxify the Tory brand - Matthew Norman for the Daily Telegraph Andrew Mitchell’s tantrum deserves criticism - Times editorial (£) > Coverage from yesterday: WATCH: David Cameron: What Andrew Mitchell said and did was wrong, and it's right that he's apologised MPsETC: Andrew Mitchell apologises for his altercation with a Downing St police officer Lib Dem conference bonanza 1: Agree to mansion tax or we block cuts, threatens Nick Clegg "Nick Clegg will not sign up to another round of Government spending cuts without new taxes on the wealthy, he will announce at the Liberal Democrat conference next week. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Simon Hughes, Mr Clegg’s deputy, says that the party will unveil its position on a second spending review this week and that further welfare cuts are not acceptable without tax rises." - Daily Telegraph Nick Clegg interview - FT (£) Simon Hughes interview: Labour would find us good partners - Daily Telegraph This is not make-or-break week for the Liberal Democrats or Mr Clegg. But the party has to recover its credibility - Guardian editorial Politics should resist the tyranny of apology - Janan Ganesh for theFT (£) Lib Dem conference 2: Nick Clegg to veto plans for benefit freeze "Nick Clegg will veto George Osborne's demands for a two-year freeze in most state benefits from next April and a further £10bn of welfare cuts. The Liberal Democrat leader said: "It is not realistic to assume you cannot have any further cuts and savings. Where they fall is an entirely different matter. The Conservatives appear to be saying they want it all to fall on welfare. That's totally unacceptable to me. They are not going to take all of that £10bn out of welfare."" - Independent Clegg gets party set to chart different course from Tories - Times (£) Nick Clegg still has time to make a gracious exit as Liberal Democrat leader - with head held high - Mary Ann Sieghart for theIndependent Lib Dem conference 3: We need to review non-doms tax system, David Laws says "The Liberal Democrats may look again at the tax system for non-domiciles living in Britain to prevent an “easy ride” for the very wealthy. Outlining the idea, the Schools Minister, David Laws, questioned whether the coalition had done enough to make non-doms pay a “fair contribution”. He also suggested that people should be free to move to tax havens if they cut ties with the UK and stop using the NHS and the British school system." - Times (£) Full Laws interview - Times (£) "David Laws, the new Liberal Democrat schools minister, will announce on Saturday that the pupil premium paid to schools for every child they take from a disadvantaged background will rise from the current £619 a pupil to £900 in September 2014." - Guardian Lib Dem conference 4: Danny Alexander - Tories must stop trashing green agenda "Danny Alexander... has accused his Conservative coalition partners of waging a "constant war of attrition" on green issues, warning that it is endangering billions in green investment, as well as the whole government growth strategy. Alexander describes how the government is having to deal with Tory backbenchers – including those he calls "luddite" climate change deniers – opposing green technologies such as windfarms." - Guardian We can find resources for the elderly, says Alexander - Guardian 'Plan V': Secret plot to make Cable the Chancellor in a Lib-Lab coalition "Vince Cable would be made Chancellor in a Lib-Lab government under explosive plans being discussed by senior Liberal Democrat and Labour politicians. The secret proposal – nicknamed ‘Plan V’ (for Vince) by Westminster insiders – will enrage both Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, who wants to run the Treasury." - Daily Mail Political conference season: Forget the speeches, let's make money "There is widespread consensus that it might make sense, and involve less time off and less cash spent on hotel and bar bills, to transform their extended gatherings into US-style rallies across a weekend. But that is not going to happen any time soon for one persuasive reason: cash." -Independent Party funding is a plague on us all. The politician or party brave enough to fix the system will be well rewarded - Matthew Parris for the Times (£) Economic recovery is on the way at last, says Bank of England "There is now "light at the end of the tunnel" for the UK economy, according to the Bank of England. Spencer Dale, one of the Bank of England's key rate-setters, made his prediction of a return to growth in the later part of the year, backing Governor Mervyn King's comments in a rare TV interview that there were definitely "signs of a slow recovery"." - Independent George Osborne’s debt target 22% off course - Scotsman > Yesterday on ToryDiary: George has a friend in Merv Cameron supports BAE/EADS merger "The prime minister is “broadly supportive” of the deal, according to political insiders, and sees no insurmountable barrier to BAE’s proposed link up with the European aerospace giant: “He sees the commercial logic,” said one. Mr Cameron is likely to discuss the issue with Ms Merkel and Mr Hollande in the coming days, officials say, focusing in particular on national security and the merged company’s governance structure. If Mr Cameron is satisfied with the outline of the deal, British officials expect he would then endorse the merger in a conversation with Mr Obama." - FT (£) "BAE Systems’ proposed merger with EADS has been branded “grand theft aero” by analysts who argue a deal would be “a steal” for the Franco-German owner of Airbus." - Daily Telegraph Cameron pressed to accept UKIP electoral pact offer by Tory MPs "Stewart Jackson, who resigned from his role as a ministerial aide to vote against the government on the previous referendum vote, said: “I think this is something the prime minister needs to very seriously consider. The arithmetic says we cannot win an overall majority on the present boundaries.”" - FT (£) > From yesterday - Columnist Andrew Lilico: It's time to promise a referendum and seek an electoral pact with UKIP Patrick O'Flynn: Even David Cameron sees he will have to call a referendum when the United States of Europe forms "I am told that he has realised the politics of such a stance are hopeless: he would be accused of betrayal, many more of his grassroots activists would defect to UKIP, his party would be smashed in the European Parliamentary elections of spring 2014, Tory MPs would agitate for Boris Johnson to be brought into replace him and – probably worst of all - he would be likened to Edward Heath." - Patrick O'Flynn for the Daily Express > From yesterday - Martin Callanan on MPsETC: European leaders think that a corner has been turned - it hasn't Cameron visits Corby ahead of by-election "The seat, held by the Conservatives since the 2010 General Election, is to be contested following the resignation of MP Louise Mensch. Mr Cameron said Corby needed an MP who "understands business", adding "we have that in Christine Emmett"." - BBC > Yesterday on MPsETC: Crime and welfare feature prominently in Tories' Corby campaign Planning revolt spreads to Nick Boles' back yard as his own constituency becomes latest to slam controversial rule change "The revolt against proposals to allow large extensions in back gardens spread to the planning minister’s back yard yesterday. ... [Y]esterday, Conservative-run Lincolnshire Council came out against the plans – warning that a ‘rash of extensions’ could increase the risk of flooding in the low-lying county. The councillor in charge of planning, Eddy Poll, urged district councils in Lincolnshire to follow the lead of Richmond Council in London, which voted on Tuesday night to oppose the plans." - Daily Mail Rory Stewart MP: Let's be honest about Afghanistan "In the best case, removing almost 200,000 foreign soldiers and civilian contractors may force the Afghan government to assume responsibility; allow the insurgents and neighbours to recognise their relative weaknesses; and provide a basis for a political solution. I believe Afghans can find such a thing. But it is not certain. What is certain is that foreigners haven’t, and now can’t." Rory Stewart MP forthe FT (£) Grant Shapps posed as web guru at $3,000-a-head Las Vegas conference "Grant Shapps, the Conservative party chairman, posed as a "multimillion-dollar web marketer" named Michael Green who spoke to reveal the secrets of his trade at a $3,000-a-head internet conference in Las Vegas while he was the Tory party candidate for Welwyn Hatfield." - Guardian John Major interviewed on his upbringing for the release of his new book on music hall - Guardian Charles Moore: The next Archbishop of Canterbury must be a man who connects with all of England’s people "But if there is any point in an established Church of England, it must be as part of the culture, not a sub-culture of its own. For peculiar historical reasons, the Archbishop of Canterbury is in a unique position to help bring God to the people of England, and to do so in a way which is not oppressive and fanatical, but benign and inclusive. Despite the weakness of organised religion today, the media have actually made this role even more important than in the past." - Charles Moore for theDaily Telegraph Graeme Archer: Planning restrictions have been relaxed, but you try getting the job done - Daily Telegraph Respect leader quit over abuse after George Galloway comments - Guardian Two MPs and two peers go to police over Twitter abuse - Daily Telegraph Nuclear new build programme faces uncertainty - FT (£) Alex Salmond appeals to councils as SNP Budget unravels - Daily Telegraph "Husband" and "wife" to vanish under new Scottish same-sex marriage law - Scotsman We need Britain's help to save us from the extremists, ousted Maldives leader says - Independent Yesterday on ConservativeHome Columnist Andrew Lilico: It's time to promise a referendum and seek an electoral pact with UKIP Glynn Brailsford on Comment: Red tape doesn’t just hold back businesses — it can also prevent access to medicine MPsETC:  Andrew Mitchell apologises for his altercation with a Downing St police officer Crime and welfare feature prominently in Tories' Corby campaign Local government: Council byelection results from yesterday WATCH: David Cameron pays tribute to Pcs Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes David Cameron: What Andrew Mitchell said and did was wrong, and it's right that he's apologised Keith Vaz MP, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, says that G4S should be put on a "high-risk register" Who will Homer Simpson vote for in the US Presidential election? WATCH this video for the answer