Teatime newslinks for Tuesday 22nd November 2011

EDUCATION

• Ofsted warn that nearly a third of schools are 'not good enough' - Telegraph
• Nick Gibb: “We will not let mediocre performance continue unchecked and we are clear that there will be no hiding place for schools that are not making the progress they should” - Times (£)
• Leading independent girls' schools reject calls to sponsor academies - Times (£)
• Yesterday's education Topical Questions: 'Michael Gove, our mutual friend' - MPsETC
• David T Breaker: "We need the educational tug of war to end, and both sides to realise each other's merits as well as faults, and the failings of both, to develop a system that is strong on learning and on the development of individuals" - Platform

PARTY FUNDING REFORMS

• They won't happen, says James Forsyth, "the Tory party - which was for a while attracted to additional state funding - has now ruled it out completely. Unlike Clegg's statement saying it shouldn't be done while economic times are so tough, the Tory rejection of it is not time limited" - Spectator
• Priti Patel MP: 'State funding of political parties cannot be morally justified to the public and to party members' - Platform
• Sir Christopher Kelly warns that another party funding corruption scandal is inevitable unless the political parties show some leadership and back radical changes in funding - Guardian

THE ECONOMY & FINANCE

• UK public borrowing lower than expected in October - BBC
• Ruth Porter: "Osborne is displaying worrying traits of control freakery ahead of next week’s Autumn Statement" - Telegraph
• Fraser Nelson: Osborne chooses more debt over more cuts - Spectator
• Banks are to stop charging customers up to £25 for going a few pence overdrawn – but not until 2013 - Daily Mail
• Vince Cable: 'Executive pay must be linked to performance' - Telegraph
• Daniel Knowles: 'Sorry, but tackling executive pay isn't equivalent to Communism' - Telegraph
• Graeme Archer: 'Why even Tories should worry about the explosion in chief executives' salaries' - Telegraph

JUSTICE

• Crown Prosecution Service suggests that courts should sit in the evening to ease pressure on the justice system - Telegraph
• Tom Gash on police chief candidates: "Parties and government need to act now. Party leaders (not the junior ministers and shadows wheeled out so far) should make high-profile calls for public-service motivated individuals to come forward" - Guardian
• 140 Iraqis imprisoned by British troops have won a court of appeal battle for a public inquiry into their allegations that they were subjected to serious mistreatment - Guardian

OTHER TORY & POLITICAL NEWS

• Damian Green, answering questions on the Borders Agency controversy, says "very relevant information was kept from him" - BBC
• In certain areas the UK Border Agency is "not good enough" says Damian Green - Independent
• William Hague writes that the case for a strong bilateral partnership between Britain and Turkey has never been stronger - Telegraph
• Hospitals patients face Andrew Lansley on loop on their televisions - Guardian
• Lansley tells Radio 4: If you want to turn me off, turn on the radio - PlayPolitical
• Dominique Jackson: 'All rape is serious. Ken Clarke should know better than to incur the ire of the Mumsnet voters' - Daily Mail
• Shipping Minister Mike Penning revelas revised cuts to UK coastguard centres - BBC
• Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan is favourite to be next out of the Cabinet - Wales Online
• Prosecutors are close to making a decision over Chris Huhne's speeding penalty claims - Guardian
• Fresh embarrassment for John Bercow, as wife Sally confesses to owning a sex toy - Daily Mail