6.45pm Columnist Andrew Lilico: Are we a "Christian country"?
6pm ToryDiary: Britain's premiere of 'The Iron Lady' takes place this evening
6pm Tim Montgomerie on International: Romney will be the Republican nominee and with Rubio as his running mate he can win
5pm newslinks: The sentencing of Stephen Lawrence's killers to life leads today's teatime newslinks
3pm WATCH: Thatcher wasn't able to replicate what Reagan did in the US because of the NHS, says Rick Santorum
2pm ToryDiary: The Lawrence family have led a "dignified pursuit of justice, they are a fine example to us all" says Boris Johnson
1.15pm ToryDiary: Gove labels Academies' critics "enemies of promise" who are "happy with failure"
12.30pm Local government: Labour councillor resigns from"pompous, idiotic, self serving" Party
11.45am WATCH: PCS Union leader Mark Serwotka: Labour is "not speaking for the bulk of working people"
11am ToryDiary: Spelman: This Government will stand up for rural communities which have suffered in the past
ToryDiary: David Cameron's praise for the Lawrence family – and the legacy of their son's murder
Columnist Jill Kirby: The taxpayer must not pay to repair toxic boob jobs
Martin Parsons on Comment: Stopping the spread of sharia should be central to British foreign policy
Local Government: West country councils oppose return to weekly bin collections
ConHomeUSA: All the best reactions and commentary on the Iowa Tie
WATCH: Doreen Lawrence says she cannot celebrate the convictions of Gary Dobson and David Norris for murder
Cameron praises the Lawrence family for their tireless fight for justice, after Stephen Lawrence's killers are found guilty after 18 years
"David Cameron issued a statement praising the Lawrence family for fighting "tirelessly" for justice. "Today's verdict cannot ease the pain of losing a son. But, for Doreen and Neville Lawrence, I hope that it brings at least some comfort after their years of struggle" - Guardian
Editor of the Daily Mail, Paul Dacre writes that as well as being a "glorious day for Neville and Doreen Lawrence" yesterday's verdict is good news for politicians and journalists alike
"It’s a glorious day for the politicians — particularly Jack Straw and David Blunkett — who, responding to the Mail’s campaign, commissioned the Macpherson Inquiry and reformed the centuries-old double jeopardy law, thus allowing the trial of two of the original suspects after a criminal action, private prosecution and an inquest had failed to secure justice for Stephen. And, finally, it’s a glorious day for British newspapers, proving that the power of journalism, courageous headlines and relentless campaigning can act as a huge force for good in society and make a major difference to countless lives" - Daily Mail
Since Lawrence's murder, "the story since 1993 is more good news than bad" for race relations in the UK, helped in part by changes in politics writes Trevor Phillips
An "institution that has changed recognisably since 1993 is politics. At the time of Stephen’s death, there were just four non-white MPs. Today there are 28, many representing seats where there is no significant ethnic minority electorate. One in three is a Conservative, and for the first time in history a Conservative Prime Minister calls a Cabinet to order with a Muslim, Baroness Warsi, at the table." - Telegraph
A Conservative party survey reveals that in some areas, only 3% of students are acheiving at least a C grade in traditional subjects, English baccalaureate (Ebacc) GCSEs
"Last year, for the first time, schoolswere measured by the proportion of their pupils who had achieved a C grade or more in these subjects in annual league tables. The Tories found that in Knowsley, Merseyside, just 3% of pupils achieved the Ebacc. In Tower Hamlets, east London, just 5.9% did. Both are among the most deprived parts of the country. In contrast, in affluent shires, such as Buckinghamshire and Wokingham in Berkshire, 33.2% and 26.5% of pupils achieved the Ebacc" - Guardian
David Laws says that it is not the job of private schools to deliver state education
Laws writes: “It takes a great deal of effort, time, commitment and passion to get out of young people, in any private school, the results that the parents expect, and are paying for. I don’t think it is reasonable to expect them to pay for education once in the state sector, twice in the private sector and then discover that half the people that they paid to do the job in the private sector are going off running state schools” - Times (£)
Danny Finkelstein predicts that this time next year the Coalition will look similar and be in a similar position as it is today - Times (£)
A report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies says families will be more affected by coalition tax and benefit changes, than childless couples - Guardian
Rural communities and businesses "have been left on their own to try to find solutions to the problems they face", writes Caroline Spelman
"There are many things that people in most cities and towns take for granted. If you want to make a phone call when you’re out then your mobile is guaranteed a signal. If your children need to file homework on-line then access to a decent internet connection is at your finger tips. But not if you’re in the countryside with a deadzone of mobile and broadband coverage. These are just some of the disadvantages that families living in rural communities face" - Telegraph
Climate Change Minister Greg Barker labels some green campaigners as the "environmental Taliban", saying they are wrong to accuse the Government of abandoning its low carbon agenda - FT
The Department of Transport is setting up a panel to consider the implemention of drug-driving laws in the same way as drink-driving legislation - Guardian
Bruce Anderson condemns europhiles to history, saying the people of Europe want a currency that will not "seize up"
"Money is like blood. If your blood is not working, nothing else will. If a country’s currency cannot work, the body economic will seize up. The peoples of Europe would like to work, earn, spend, save, invest. All they need is a currency that makes that possible. Italy has hardly grown for 10 years. Spain has five million unemployed. You do not have to be a Keynesian to believe that further austerity is not the answer" - Telegraph
The Iron Lady is neither "a leftie assassination job" or a "rightwing hagiography", writes Michael White: "for a film about politics, it is not very political"
"This is a personal, essentially feminist story, about how a shopkeeper's daughter conquered a very patrician world, how she was torn between ambition and family (ambition usually won), how hard it was to become the first woman ruler of Britain since Elizabeth I – who dispatched her own (female) rival, her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, to the block and instantly regretted it, as Thatcher might have done" - Guardian
Louise Mensch attacks the "trivilisation" of female politicans who are constantly judged by their appearance
"She told GQ it was sexist to ‘trivialise a woman politician based on her appearance’ and made reference to oft-used pictures of Home Secretary Theresa May’s distinctive shoes. 'Everything I had said was washed away under the fluffy-bunny thing of looks. It is Theresa May’s kitten heels all over again,’ she said. Interviewer Matthew d’Ancona points out that Mrs Mensch was happy to ‘co-operate’ with the photo-shoot but refused to be pictured in ‘skimpy outfits'" - Daily Mail
> Yesterday:
Jo Johnson becomes Private Parliamentary Secretary to Business Minister Mark Prisk- Times (£)
In the wake of faulty French breast implants, Professor Norman Williams, president of the Royal College of Surgeons calls for a mandatory database for all surgical implants - Times (£)
"Do any of Britain's leaders really think further economic sanctions will stop Iran's nuclear programme?" asks Simon Jenkins - Guardian
The Chairman of the Tory party in Northern Ireland, Lord Feldman says the UUP is wrong to reject merger - BBC
Sinn Féin looks likely to back an Irish campaign to pardon 5,000 men who deserted from the country’s forces to fight for Britain in the Second World War - Times (£)
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