8.15pm MPsETC: 34 Conservative MPs write to Andrew Lansley to express "serious concerns" about plain tobacco packaging
6.30pm ToryDiary: Cameron and Osborne announce parliamentary inquiry into banking industry
5.30pm ToryDiary: Cameron tells the House the British people should give "fresh consent" to a "fresh deal" with the EU
2.45pm MPsETC: Backbench Tories urge more action towards a referendum commitment from the Government
1.30pm ToryDiary: Tory members say an elected Lords is too high a price to pay, in order to deliver the boundaries review
12.45pm WATCH: Stewart Jackson MP: "UKIP is a major threat to the Conservative Party at the general election"
11.15am ToryDiary: Liam Fox returns to the frontline with a rallying call for Britain to "rise to the challenge" of freeing ourselves from "ever closer union"
10.30am Columnist Andrew Lilico: What an inquiry into the banking crisis probably wouldn't tell us – six reasons why it happened
9.45am LeftWatch: Labour say it's too soon to hold a referendum, but also say Cameron is wrong to say it's too soon to hold a referendum
ToryDiary: Conservative leadership opens door to third runway at Heathrow
Columnist Bruce Anderson: David Cameron and Liam Fox. Two different speeches on Europe. But a similar view.
Dr Eamonn Butler on Comment: Why have an inquiry into the banks when the politicians are to blame?
Local Government: Radicalism in Staffordshire
Deep End: A proven formula for growth: Beat the Germans and slash government spending
Leaving Europe should hold no terrors for Britain, says Liam Fox
"Dr Fox will become the most senior Conservative to raise the prospect of the UK quitting the EU if it cannot negotiate far looser ties with Brussels. Branding the euro an ‘economic tragedy’, he will also warn of the dangerous ‘historic resonance’ of Berlin forcing austerity on other countries, predicting it will encourage the rise of far-Right and far-Left political parties." – Daily Mail
> Yesterday on ToryDiary: Liam Fox's referendum intervention makes life difficult for Cameron
Cameron's caveats on EU vote leaves Tory sceptics fuming
"Eurosceptics complained that Mr Cameron's and Mr Hague's words offered nothing new. John Baron, who organised the letter calling for legislation that guaranteed a referendum, said: "It's encouraging he is talking about a referendum but he has made no firm promise. His tack, that now is not the time for an 'in or out' referendum, is an Aunt Sally. It's time for a proper, informed debate to address the credibility gap with the public."" – Independent
> From yesterday:
Tim Montgomerie: Eurosceptics may be close to forcing a referendum but they will need leadership if they are actually going to win it
"The person best placed to bring these disparate groups and arguments together is Matthew Elliott. … Liam Fox’s intervention yesterday… suggests he might join an “out” campaign… He might be joined by other senior Tories, including Iain Duncan Smith, Michael Gove, Justine Greening, Philip Hammond and Oliver Letwin… Two other Tories to watch will be Boris Johnson, who will probably join the “outers”, and George Osborne… [Osborne] could easily back an exit if he concluded that the terms of continuing membership were unsatisfactory." – Tim Montgomerie for the Times (£)
> Yesterday on ToryDiary: Seven reasons why the Eurosceptic movement faces an uphill battle to win any referendum
Boris Johnson: I like Bob Diamond, but heads need to roll after Libor scandal
"I am a fan of Bob Diamond and his philanthropic work, and will stick up generally for banks and financial services for as long as they create jobs for hundreds of thousands of Londoners. But it does seem odd that so far no one has had their collar felt in the Libor scam. Cook up a way of fixing interest rates to boost your own profits – in what is clearly a corrupt swindle – and no one gets arrested." – Boris Johnson for the Daily Telegraph
> From yesterday:
Lord Strathclyde admits elected Lords will not be accountable
"Lord Strathclyde, the leader of the Lords, has said peers elected to the upper house under the government's reform plans would not be accountable to voters… Strathclyde spoke in favour of the plans in an interview… but undermined one of the main arguments used by supporters of reform, namely that having elections would make the chamber accountable to voters." - Guardian
> From yesterday - WATCH: Lord Strathclyde: A Lords referendum would simply be asking the people "to agree something the political parties have already agreed"
Jesse Norman MP: This mess of a Lords reform Bill will pile a constitutional crisis on to an economic one
"The government has pledged to increase political accountability, but the bill will create power without accountability. Free-floating senators with no constituencies and no pressure for re-election mean a politics of pure ideology and party line. It also means fewer women, fewer people with disabilities, and fewer minority ethnic people in frontline politics." - Jesse Norman MP for the Guardian
Chris Grayling launches benefits tourism crackdown
"Employment Minister Chris Grayling is hosting a meeting in London for his EU counterparts to discuss a crackdown on “benefits tourism”. … Mr Grayling said: “The EU institutions seem to be taking us to a position where the members states are obliged to open their benefit systems to people coming from other countries – and that is not what any government wants at a time when budgets are tight."" – Daily Express
Amid Coalition split, Government delays Heathrow expansion decision
"The Conservative leadership has decided to make a decisive switch away from the party’s outright hostility to a third runway at the west London airport by making no mention of Heathrow in its general election manifesto… That would clear the path for a majority Tory government to proceed with the project after 2015." – FT (£)
Despite being seen together, Cameron denies speaking to Coulson at festival
"Downing Street sources last night denied that the Prime Minister had spoken to Mr Coulson. But a fellow guest in the VIP area said: “Cameron and Coulson were definitely together. They spent a few minutes chatting, and seemed to be just saying hello and exchanging pleasantries.”" – Daily Telegraph
Nick Clegg paternity leave plans to be re-written after opposition by business
"Ministers have been forced to rethink plans to allow parents to share leave after the birth of a child… The plans… would see maternity leave end at 18 weeks and allow fathers up to six months’ paid paternity leave. … But businesses said the proposals would result in a ‘nightmare’, increasing red tape because workers could take their leave in ‘chunks’ of weeks or months." – Daily Mail
Lib Dem MP forces a vote on Osborne's plans to relax tax dodging rules - Independent
Douglas Alexander: Should there be a referendum on the European Union? It is too soon to say
"When David Cameron is in trouble, he always throws his right flank a bone. But as prime minister, he can no longer afford to make deals with his backbenchers at the expense of making decisions in the national interest. The truth is that Britain today needs an effective Europe strategy – and a referendum may be a policy, but it is no substitute for a strategy." – Douglas Alexander for the Guardian
> From yesterday - WATCH: Douglas Alexander: Cameron's referendum comments are more to do with internal difficulties "than the interests of the country"
Labour MPs at risk as union plots challenge
"Britain's sixth-biggest union has voted to fund anti-austerity candidates in parliamentary elections where it thinks the Labour candidate is not sufficiently opposed to spending cuts. The 292,000-strong Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), which is not linked to Labour, is the first major union to have a policy of backing candidates who stand against the party." – Independent
Eurozone summit fails to solve growing debt crisis
"Eurozone leaders made only a few small steps towards easing the pain caused by the sovereign debt crisis, and remain far away from targeting the root causes of the currency area’s problems… Politicians agreed last week to make plans for a “single supervisory mechanism” for Eurozone banks, probably run by the European Central Bank (ECB) – a key step towards creating a banking union, and a change which could allow the ESM bailout fund to recapitalise troubled banks directly." – City AM
Discrimination against armed forces could become illegal – Guardian
How to fund care for the elderly – that is Britain's most urgent challenge – Jackie Ashley for the Guardian
GCSE chief defends exam – The Times (£)
Delay female bishop law, urges Church of England cleric – Scotsman
Tax clamp down threatens five-a-side football – Daily Telegraph
And finally 1… How student radical George Osborne railed against MI5 – Daily Telegraph
And finally 2… Tory MP Claire Perry red-faced over vivid on-air description - Scotsman
> 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.