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6.45pm ToryDiary: If you exclude North Sea oil and the City, Britain IS recovering
5.15pm Colin Bloom on Comment: Christian Conservatives can be proud of this Coalition's record but a lot more still needs to be done
ToryDiary: David Cameron celebrates hitting 0.7% overseas aid target in his Easter message
ToryDiary: Boris should seek to return to the Commons in 2015
Joe Armitage on Comment: The cheap populism and economic illiteracy of UKIP
Matthew Sinclair on The Thinkers' Corner: The three elements of good climate policy
Grant Shapps tells Patrick Hennessy that there's a 50% chance of the Tories winning a majority at the next election - The Sunday Telegraph
George Osborne faces a whispering campaign at the highest levels of the Conservative Party over his competence and judgment
"There are renewed calls for Mr Osborne to give up his role coordinating the party’s campaigning, as fears mount of disastrous results in May’s English local elections. Some critics are demanding that he should be replaced as Chancellor by William Hague, the Foreign Secretary... Concerns centre on what is perceived to be his failure to understand the middle classes, their values, and their economic struggle." - The Sunday Telegraph
Janet Daley launches a stinging attack on George Osborne: The Chancellor refuses to deal with arguments, interpreting every disagreement as an act of treachery or a personal attack - The Sunday Telegraph
Boris Johnson could quite reasonably seek a parliamentary seat at the next General Election - Matt d'Ancona in The Sunday Telegraph
878,300 people have dropped their claims for incapacity benefit rather than face the new medical tests introduced by Iain Duncan Smith - ITV
"As well as the 878,300 who chose to drop their claims, another 837,000 who did take the a medical test were found to be fit to work immediately, while a further 367,300 were judged able to some level of work. Only 232,000 (one in eight of those tested) were classified by doctors to be too ill to do any sort of job." - The Sunday Telegraph
Overall, nearly everyone is WORSE off
"The massive cost of austerity is shown in a report by the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies. It claims the £700 tax cut given to 25 million working people has been more than wiped out by other changes. Tax rises combined with cuts in benefits and credits since 2010 outweigh any boost in this year’s Budget. The average family will be £17 a week worse off — or £891 over the year — according to Labour analysis." - The Sun
The Tories condemn an inaccurate Labour advertising campaign which portrays the cut in the top rate of tax as a lottery-style windfall for millionaires - Mail on Sunday
Stay-at-home mums tell Cameron: ignore us at your peril - The Sunday Times (£)
Cameron said to back Celtic and Rangers joining English football leagues in bid to hurt SNP - Sunday Mirror
"Andrew Mitchell has launched a stinging attack on Scotland Yard over its inquiry into the 'plebgate' row. In a letter to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, he claims the force leaked contents of its own report." - BBC
One hundred Tory MPs want Commons vote on referendum pledge BEFORE election - Mail on Sunday
Former Archbishop's attack on 'anti-Christian' Cameron government is widely criticised - Independent on Sunday
> Lord Bates on ConHome yesterday: George Carey should worry a little bit more about global poverty and a little less about David Cameron
...meanwhile...
Big business and consumers form pressure group to head off coalition policies that will bring ‘soaring bills’ - The Sunday Times (£)
"An ambitious policy would see energy as a strong basis for job creation: unlike financial services or pharmaceuticals, it is not an industry that could disappear. But our policy vacuum is sending profits offshore. We are importing wind turbine blades from Denmark, solar panels from China and nuclear expertise from France, because there is not a sufficiently firm commitment to any technology to give companies the confidence to invest in Britain." - Camilla Cavendish in The Sunday Times (£)
The idea of a single financial regulator... central bank independence... inflation targeting... free capital movement - Dan Atkinson for ThisIsMoney on post-war economic ideas that are going out of fashion
The decision to back the NHS chief is morally wrong, and has lost the coalition a rare opportunity to gain trust on health - Ian Birrell in The Independent on Sunday
"Jeremy Hunt has [insisted] that the best way to cure the NHS is for nurses to focus on “hands-on caring”. You can tell the Health Secretary has never wiped a patient’s backside in his life, can’t you? Otherwise he would know that “caring” already forms a major part of nurses’ training, both at degree level and in practice on the wards." - Camilla Tominey in the Sunday Express
France's unpopular Socialist government is warning to Ed Miliband that you might win office without proposing an honest economic plan but trouble will follow - Andrew Rawnsley in The Observer
And finally... Labour's Lisa Nandy ran a sex casebook diary when she was a student - Mail on Sunday
> Please use the thread below to provide links to news topics likely to be of interest to ConservativeHome readers and to comment on political topics that haven't been given their own blog. Read our comments policy here.
Midnight ToryDiary: David Cameron celebrates hitting 0.7% overseas aid target in his Easter message
1pm Lord Bates on Comment: George Carey should worry a little bit more about global poverty and a little less about David Cameron
ToryDiary: Cameron may not be a great leader but he CAN still win the next election and he shouldn't be ousted
Philip Booth on Comment: Some Christian objections to the NHS
LISTEN: John Hayes talks to Radio 4 about his new role advising the PM
UKIP to offer personal allowance of £13,000 and transferable tax allowance for married couples
"The UK Independence party is to broaden its electoral message beyond its usual campaigns against Europe and immigration with a new tax strategy aimed squarely at swing voters in middle Britain. Godfrey Bloom, the party’s economics spokesman, wants to create a flat rate of income tax at 25 per cent with a personal allowance of £13,000, a policy which he accepts will bring particular benefits to middle earners. Meanwhile, in another attempt to chisel support away from the Conservatives, Mr Bloom also wants to allow non-working parents to transfer their tax allowance to a working spouse." - FT (£)
Ministers are looking to raise up to £3bn before the end of the year through the sale of the government’s 33% stake in Urenco, the uranium enrichment company, in one of the biggest privatisations in years - FT (£)
George Carey claims David Cameron has done more than any other recent prime minister to feed Christian anxieties - Daily Mail
"The Government risks entrenching a very damaging division in British society by driving law-abiding Christians into the ranks of the malcontents and alienated – of whom there are already far too many." - George Carey for the Daily Mail
Two-thirds of Christians now feel part of a persecuted minority - Sky News
Iain Duncan Smith has admitted that he is no longer seeking to cut Britain’s benefits bill and is simply “managing” the increase in handouts
"The Work and Pensions Secretary said that, unlike other European nations, the “reality is that this country is not cutting welfare”. He added that “all those on benefits will still see cash increases in every year of this Parliament”. He was speaking ahead of the introduction of Universal Credit, which will begin to be rolled out next week and which will initially involve spending more on out-of-work benefits." - Telegraph
Thousands taking jobs 'because of Iain Duncan Smith's benefits cap'; Welfare Secretary claiming that his policies are already working in encouraging people back to work - Daily Mail
The Daily Mail comes to Iain Duncan Smith's defence: "Three pilot schemes for the universal credit have been delayed until the summer, to make sure the fiendishly complicated IT system required to administer it does not collapse. But this hardly justifies yesterday’s hysterical claims by Labour – reported with relish by the BBC – that the entire reform is in ‘crisis’. The truth is Labour will do or say anything to avoid confronting the need to reform Britain’s morally broken, unaffordable welfare system."
> Yesterday's ToryDiary: Labour gambles on Universal Credit failing
Teachers threaten Gove with strikes over pay and pensions - Daily Mail
A YouGov poll for the NUT finds that 8% of thought the coalition had had a positive impact on the education system, while 44% said the impact had been negative - Daily Mail | Guardian
> Yesterday's LeftWatch: The NUT Conference shows how badly the Gove reforms are needed
Michael Gove is right that children should learn things by heart - Charles Moore in The Telegraph
Jeremy Hunt has defied the central recommendation of the Mid Staffordshire inquiry, that the rights of patients be formally enshrined at the heart of the NHS - Telegraph
David Willetts complains that Oxbridge and other leading universities aren't doing enough to expand their undergraduate numbers
"[The Universities Minister] said that it was disappointing that the University of Oxford, in particular, was held back from expanding by a limit on student housing in the city. But his comments reflect a wider exasperation that few leading universities have so far used the Government’s higher education reforms to grow." - Times (£)
Environment minister Richard Benyon admits slower progress in defending marine life because of cost pressures - BBC
John Hayes says his appointment as parliamentary adviser to David Cameron move shows the Prime Minister "cares" about the views of his backbenchers - Huffington Post
John Hayes insists Mr Cameron was an “exceptional leader” and “more than capable of leading across the party” - Scotsman
> Listen to John Hayes' six minute interview.
David Cameron is beginning to realise at last that he needs the Tory Party rather more than it needs him - Macer Hall in The Express
"The biggest divide in our party is not Left versus Right; it’s safe versus marginal" - Matthew Parris in The Times (£) talks to Tory MPs in marginal seats about the direction of the Conservative Party.
Andrew Mitchell has been sounded out by David Cameron on whether he would like to become Britain’s next EU commissioner - FT (£)
Andrew Mitchell should focus on police, not the press - Andrew Gimson for The Guardian
The Guardian would like Boris Johnson to do a David Miliband and leave UK politics for a charity job - Guardian leader
We will lose a sense of memory and history if MPs rise and fall as fast as David Miliband - Chris Mullin in The Times (£)
Ed Miliband brings forward key announcements on economy
"Some Shadow Cabinet members want to spell out specific cuts to show Labour is serious about tackling the deficit. They have been blocked by Mr Balls. But with many opinion polls showing Labour trailing the Conservatives on economic competence, the Labour leadership is discussing issues such as whether to accept the Coalition’s spending ceiling." - Independent
The Labour leader tells Andrew Grice why his party has ditched 'command and control' politics for old-style doorstep campaigning - Independent
Sir Andrew Motion of Campaign for Rural England wants heavy taxation of second homes to force "townies" out of countryside - Times (£)
Louis Susman, departing American ambassador to London, warns US would frown on further budget squeeze by its greatest ally - Telegraph
The Council of Europe's human rights commissioner, Nils Muiznieks, accuses Britain of shameful rhetoric on migrants - Guardian
One in seven families on homeless benefits are foreign migrants - Express
Victims' Code criticised by ombudsman as Justice Minister prepares to overhaul it - BBC
And finally... Basil Fawlty is back
"History shows it is, always, only a matter of time before Germany ends up dominating Europe. After years of refusing to assert itself, Germany’s time has come again. The Fourth Reich is here without a shot being fired: and the rest of Europe, and the world, had better get used to it." - Simon Heffer in the Daily Mail
> From the ConHome archive: Can we talk about Germany without resorting to WWII imagery?
> Please use the thread below to provide links to news topics likely to be of interest to ConservativeHome readers and to comment on political topics that haven't been given their own blog. Read our comments policy here.
6pm LeftWatch: The NUT Conference shows how badly the Gove reforms are needed
4.30pm ToryDiary: The next manifesto should include "new ideas" from the past
3.30pm ToryDiary: The next manifesto. The '22s policy committees start work. But where do they fit in?
2.15pm Andrew Lilico: An Easter Reflection - the Lordship of Creating over Testing
12.45pm Nick Pickles with this week's Culture column: Let’s move away from New Labour’s X-Factor politics11.30am Colin Bloom on Comment: Good Friday - the One Nation Party Agreement
10.45am LeftWatch: Backlash for Nick Clegg over immigration speech
ToryDiary: Labour gamble on Universal Credit failing
Tony Lodge on Comment says Why new rail franchises must not become new railopolies
Thinkers Corner: Roger Scruton writes on Conservatism and the EnvironmentLocal government: UKIP make county council elections hard to predict
The Deep End: Heresy of the week: There should be more than one National Curriculum
Mitchell to sue The Sun over Plebgate....
"Ex-cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell has said he is suing the Sun over claims he swore and called police officers plebs. Mr Mitchell has repeatedly denied the claims, first reported in the Sun, but he later resigned as chief whip. His lawyer confirmed a libel writ had been issued, while a source said he wanted to address "the campaign of vilification by the Sun against him". A spokesman for the Sun newspaper said: "We stand by our story and will defend this claim vigorously." - BBC
....while CPS given "no evidence" that the police officers lied
"A police file passed to prosecutors on Thursday on the so-called "plebgate" affair contains no evidence that officers lied about an altercation with the former chief whip Andrew Mitchell in Downing Street, the Guardian understands. The Crown Prosecution Service will examine the file to decide if any officers should be charged. However, on Thursday night, the CPS indicated it was unhappy with the file it had received from the Metropolitan police and was awaiting more evidence." - The Guardian
"David Cameron has conducted a surprise mini-shuffle ahead of the Easter break, bringing a controversial rightwing energy minister into Downing Street. John Hayes will be replaced at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) by the business minister Michael Fallon, who will straddle the business department while taking on some of his predecessor's responsibilities." - The Guardian
>Yesterday:
Boris "would wipe out Labour poll lead"
"Boris Johnson would wipe out Labour’s lead in the polls if he took over from David Cameron as Conservative leader, a new survey has revealed.The research suggests the London Mayor’s popularity increased after he was grilled by the BBC about an alleged extra-marital affair and other misdemeanours live on air this week. A YouGov poll for the Evening Standard showed the Conservatives would be neck-and-neck with Labour in the polls on 37 per cent of the vote if they were led by Mr Johnson." - Daily Telegraph
IDS delays Universal Credit pilots to July
Gove stands firm on performance pay for teachers
"The row between Michael Gove and major classroom unions escalated today when the Education Secretary refused to bow to activists’ demands over pay and pensions. In a move that makes school strike action almost inevitable, Mr Gove insisted that the Government’s stance on both fronts was “now fixed”...Mr Gove’s intervention promises to stoke tensions between the two sides on the eve of both unions’ annual conferences this weekend and paves the way for a series of strikes later this year." - Daily Telegraph
MPs call for restriction on European immigration
"In an article for The Daily Telegraph, the joint chairmen of the cross party group on balanced migration, Frank Field, a former Labour minister, and Nicholas Soames, a former Conservative minister, say that David Cameron must do more to tackle “the elephant in the room” by restricting European immigration. The MPs, two of the most influential politicians in the immigration debate, suggest that draconian action should now be considered “during periods of high unemployment” — such as now — to protect low-skilled British workers struggling to compete with foreigners for jobs." - Daily Telegraph
Pickles gives council new powers to evict traveller camps
"Councils have been given new powers to remove traveller camps in time for the bank holiday weekend after Eric Pickles pledged to “stop caravans in their tracks”. Mr Pickles, the Communities and Local Government Secretary, will today revoke regulations that stop local authorities from issuing travellers with immediate temporary stop notices when they try to set up a new camp. Travellers and gipsies can currently use planning loopholes allowing them to avoid fines by designating caravans as their main residence." - Daily Telegraph
Damian Green says no plans to quit European Convention on Human Rights
"Ministers yesterday admitted they have no plans to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights. A humiliating court defeat for the Government over its attempts to kick out hate-preacher Abu Qatada has thrown the convention back into the spotlight. Home Secretary Theresa May and Tory vice-chairman Michael Fabricant both want to ditch it to make it easier to deport foreign terrorists and criminals. But Damian Green, justice minister and fellow Conservative, said no plans were being made to do so." - Daily Mail
Grayling tells judges to stop being soft on theft
"Chris Grayling, the Justice Secretary, said he wanted courts to stop treating theft “as a minor misdemeanour", with little recognition of the impact on business and jobs”. He said he wanted “our Courts to know exactly what the consequence of crime is, and to act accordingly”. Mr Grayling pledged to give business crime victims a new role in sentencing by forcing judges to take account of the impact of crime on jobs." - Daily Telegraph
Ed Miliband interviewed for Independent
"Ed Miliband has revealed that he never really believe his brother David would return to frontline politics once he had beaten him to the Labour leadership." - The Independent
BBC strike would end for death of Mandela but not Thatcher
"BBC staff who went on strike yesterday said they were prepared to return to their desks if Nelson Mandela died, however the staff's generosity stopped there. After news that the 94-year-old was in hospital broke, union leaders declared that in “the sad event of his death, and for BBC news coverage of that story only” the staff would postpone the strike. However when the strikers were asked whether the ailing Lady Thatcher, scourge of the unions in the 1980s, would be treated in the same manner, there was a marked change of approach." - Daily Telegraph
Polly Toynbee says Monday will see "avalanche of cuts"
"An avalanche of benefit cuts will hit the same households over and over, with no official assessment of how far this £18bn reduction will send those who are already poor into beggary.... From Monday, most of the poorest get a new bill of an average £138 for council tax. Landlords expect mayhem when tenants are paid rent directly every month: pilots show many fall into debt. Now add in these: disability living allowance starts converting into personal independence payment with a target to remove 500,000 people in new Atos medical tests." - Polly Toynbee The Guardian
Fraser Nelson attacks increased heating bills for the elderly
"Fuel prices have doubled over seven years, forcing millions to choose between heat and food – and government has found itself a major part of the problem. This is slowly beginning to dawn on Ed Davey, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. He has tried to point the finger at energy companies, but his own department let the truth slip out in the small print of a report released on Wednesday. The average annual fuel bill is expected to have risen by £76 by 2020, it says. But take out Davey’s hidden taxes (carbon price floor, emissions trading scheme, etc) and we’d be paying an average £123 less." - Fraser Nelson Daily Telegraph
Damian McBride threatens to spill the beans on Ed Miliband
"Damian McBride, the Labour spin doctor who resigned over a smear scandal, is to publish his memoirs – presenting Ed Miliband with a fresh headache. The book, which promises the truth about plots that tore the party apart during the Blair-Brown years, will coincide with the Labour conference in September." - Daily Mail
Council Tax increases to hit poorest
"More than two million people face significant increases in their council tax bills from next Monday, says a new study from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Research commissioned by the charity shows that 2.4 million low-income families would pay, on average, £138 more in council tax in 2013/14 owing to reductions in council tax benefit." - The Times (£)
Let schools make a profit
"Schools are still going through the revolution begun by Kenneth Baker, accelerated by Andrew Adonis and picked up by Michael Gove. Education in Britain is hugely better than it was in “the golden age” that
animates so much conference rhetoric. Yet every Easter the teachers get hot and cross. But, rather than moan that we need more places, anyone who rules out the idea of profit in principle needs to give us their grand idea for finding the cash." - Philip Collins The Times(£)
Full time mothers "noble says Clegg - Daily Telegraph
Lord Ahmed apologises for anti semitism - Daily Telegraph
David Cameron welcomes start of electric car production - Financial Times
And finally...Painful skiing accident for Tory MP Graham Stuart
"It's a rather painful case of adding insult to injury. Tory MP Graham Stuart broke his pelvis, punctured his right lung and fractured several ribs – after slipping on ice just feet from a restaurant on the last day of his skiing holiday. The 51-year-old was on a four-day trip with a group of friends in Chamonix, the French Alps, and had spent the morning off-piste. He described the accident as ‘painfully ironic and very unheroic’." - Daily Mail
> Please use the thread below to provide links to news topics likely to be of interest to ConservativeHome readers and to comment on political topics that haven't been given their own blog. Read our comments policy here.
8.30pm WATCH: The Queen hands out Maundy money at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford
5pm ToryDiary: Give your view on the budget in ConservativeHome's monthly survey
3.15pm ToryDiary: Why Samantha Cameron went to Syria
1.30pm MPsETC: Mixed reaction from Conservative MPs to Cameron's micro-shuffle
11am Professor Guglielmo Verdirame on Comment asks: "Where has British liberalism gone? Labour’s liberal wing seems to have disappeared – crushed by two decades of New Labour conformism. Even left-wing intellectuals have largely gone quiet on the dangers of Leveson, perhaps reassured by the stance of The Guardian and The Independent." Leveson "ethics officers" - coming soon to a newspaper near you.
9.15am ToryDiary: Two of the Conservative Party's success stories get bigger roles: Fallon and Hayes
ToryDiary: "The average council tax bill has gone down in real terms by 9.7 per cent"
Henry Hill's Red, White and Blue column: Prohibition, SNP-style. Failing schools, Scotland-style. And secret agents of British imperialism revealed
Patrick McLoughlin on Comment: The future for railways is bright. That's why it's right to put the East Coast Mainline back in private hands
Local Government: Why is Eric Pickles still giving the Local Government Association £25.5 million of our money?
The Deep End: The poor should save more and the rich should save less
May loses Abu Qatada appeal
"The home secretary is now running out of legal options after three appeal court judges unanimously dismissed her challenge, ruling that “torture is universally abhorred as an evil” and that the UK cannot deport Abu Qatada if there is a risk that evidence gained through forced or violent confessions will be used against him in a trial. Successive British governments have battled for more than a decade to deport the cleric, who is wanted in Jordan on terror charges and has been in and out of prison since his first arrest in 2001." - Financial Times (£)
Dominic Raab: Abu Qatada is still here because our leaders rolled over
"The Home Office should have revived its deportation order and made a virtue of rejecting the Strasbourg ruling as a usurpation of British democratic authority. Our courts would have been unlikely to halt the deportation. Instead the Government rolled over. Theresa May, the Home Secretary, disclosed last December that “a decision was taken to adopt the test laid down ... by the Strasbourg court” because otherwise “it would be open to Abu Qatada to go back to Strasbourg”. That’s why his deportation was lost in the Court of Appeal yesterday." - The Times (£)
Treasury seeks to scale spending back by 10% more after next election
"The Treasury wrote to most of the Cabinet ahead of a spending review in June telling them they must prepare to find further savings, on top of those they have already made, as another £11.5 billion is cut from public spending. Protests from a so-called ‘national union of ministers’, who have complained they cannot countenance fresh cuts, appear to have fallen largely on deaf ears." - Daily Mail
"One in three councils ignore Pickles's plea to freeze bills"
"In total, 124 councils are increasing their bills – some by nearly 4 per cent. Many households will be forced to pay up to £50 more on their annual bills, despite the Prime Minister’s insistence that they should not go up. Councils must call a local referendum to get the approval of voters if they want to put bills up by more than 2 per cent, under rules set by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles." - Daily Mail
> Today:
Matthew Hancock says that the minimum wage should be strengthened
"Hancock, the skills minister and a former aide to George Osborne, said his party needed to be seen to be tackling the causes not just of excessively high pay, but also unjustified low pay. Speaking at a Resolution Foundation meeting in London, he said: "Not only are the centre right best placed to tackle low pay, but we need to shout it from the rooftops." He said it was an essential supply-side reform since it helped people currently on benefit into work by giving them an incentive to work." - The Guardian
> Yesterday: ToryDiary - What is causing the stagnation of wages? Matthew Hancock MP sets out a Tory agenda for the low-paid.
Karl McCartney accuses IPSA of trying to ‘screw’ him
"MPs have been forced to borrow money from their parents because the Commons expenses watchdog is trying to “screw them into the ground”, a Tory backbencher claimed yesterday. Karl McCartney, 42, MP for Lincoln, said the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) was “incompetent” and accused it of trying to bully him into silence. He said he was “not proud” to admit that he had been forced to ask his parents for a loan when the regulator took five months to pay £25,000 in expenses claims." - The Times (£)
David Miliband: A nation mourns
"The former Foreign Secretary was showered with praise from friends, including Bill Clinton, and foes alike. “It’s a career change for me,” David insisted in a series of broadcast interviews. “I’ve not even left yet…I haven’t started my new job so the idea I would start thinking now about the job after this one would be wrong.”…His “sadness” at leaving Britain extended to the Blairites. Some believe David could be Prime Minister today if he had joined one of several botched coups against Gordon Brown in 2009 and 2010 while he was Prime Minister." - The Independent
Editorials:
> Yesterday: LeftWatch - David Miliband's flight from the Commons is a sign of the times
Peter Oborne (Never Knowingly Understated): David Miliband is "a greedy failure in a cosmic sulk"
"During his short, undistinguished career, Mr Miliband has done grave damage to British politics. He is part of the new governing elite which is sucking the heart out of our representative democracy while enriching itself in the process. He may be mourned in the BBC and in north London, but the rest of us are entitled to form a more realistic view. David Miliband has belittled our politics and he will not be missed." - Daily Telegraph
Other comment:
More Labour:
Frank Field says: ‘Brick up your doors, knock down the walls’ over the spare room subsidy/bedroom tax
"He said: “I feel so strongly about what the Government are doing to my constituents and similarly placed constituents around the country that I call on both social housing and housing association landlords to defy the measures, not by not operating them, but by doing what landlords did after the Nine Years’ War, when a Government similarly stretched for money imposed a window tax. “In many instances – we see it in older properties in our constituencies – landlords bricked up windows." - The Independent
Commons committee warns on devolution
"The political and constitutional reform select committee said a constitutional convention was also needed to develop a comprehensive, UK-wide strategy on devolution after the Scottish independence referendum in September 2014. Until now, devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland was being carried out piecemeal and without any overarching vision about the future of the UK: that risked leaving the union fragmented and disorganised." - The Guardian
Full-time mothers penalised by Government, says Bishop of Exeter
"The Rt Rev Michael Langrish, who sits in the House of Lords, said that his views represented those of a number of bishops who are concerned by the Government’s apparent lack of support for family life. Over the past few months, ministers have removed child benefit from wealthier families with one breadwinner and restricted financial help with child care to those mothers returning to work, yet repeatedly delayed a promise to bring in tax breaks for married couples." - Daily Telegraph
Boris to the rescue of scooter driver hit by car - The Sun
Darius Guppy to the rescue of Boris hit by Eddie Mair - The Times (£)
Guppy's piece in this week's Spectator
Samantha Cameron speaks of her horror during visit to Syrian refugee camp
"Mrs Cameron said: ‘As a mother, it is horrifying to hear the harrowing stories from the children I met today. No child should ever experience what they have. ‘With every day that passes, more children and parents are being killed, more innocent childhoods are being smashed to pieces.’ Mrs Cameron, who has been an ambassador for Save the Children since 2011, visited a camp in the Bekaa Valley on Tuesday and spoke to women and children caught up in the violence." - Daily Mail
News in Brief
And finally...Miliband's departure. BBC presenters mourn. Latest dramatic picture
> Please use the thread below to provide links to news topics likely to be of interest to ConservativeHome readers and to comment on political topics that haven't been given their own blog. Read our comments policy here.