7.45pm ToryDiary: Boris Johnson WAS in favour of an In/Out referendum. No longer it seems…
6pm Tracey Crouch MP on Comment: Tories will be re-elected if they get the country out of the economic mess, not get themselves into the jungle
5.15pm WATCH: William Hague: "It is time for a huge effort on the Middle East peace process"
4pm Allie Renison on Comment: Cameron jockeys for position in Brussels – and finally wins one
3.30pm MPsETC: Theresa Villiers speaks at the DUP's conference – a further sign of improving unionist-Tory relations
2pm Cameron Penny on Comment: Britain must remain part of the EU and complete the single market, or become a footnote in history
12.15pm Spencer Pitfield on Comment: The Conservative Policy Forum is reaching out to communities across the country
ToryDiary: Cameron will not agree to statutory regulation of the press when Leveson reports next week
Also on ToryDiary from last night: George Osborne is planning for married couples' tax breaks in next year's Budget
Columnist Nadine Dorries MP: In the jungle, people finally saw a Tory MP who could relate to them. I have no regrets and would do it all again.
Chris White MP on Comment: The Chancellor could boost manufacturing and the economy by increasing capital allowances
Local Government: Victory for Bedford Free School in planning appeal
Cameron set to defy Leveson on law to allow state-controlled press
"David Cameron is heading for an explosive confrontation over press freedom this week by resisting calls to introduce heavy-handed new laws to police UK newspapers. But he will order them to ‘clean up their act’ immediately with a tough new watchdog – using the threat of sweeping legal action if they fail to do so." – Mail on Sunday | Independent on Sunday
> Today on ToryDiary: Cameron will not agree to statutory regulation of the press when Leveson reports next week
Gove criticises Rotherham council over "indefensible" decision
"Michael Gove… branded the move "indefensible" and ordered an investigation, while the council's Labour leader demanded a report by Rotherham social services by tomorrow. Mr Gove, himself adopted as a child, said: "Rotherham council have made the wrong decision in the wrong way for the wrong reasons. Rotherham's reasons for denying this family the chance to foster are indefensible." - Independent on Sunday
> Coverage from yesterday:
Budget preview: Osborne will finally introduce married couples' tax breaks
"Conservative ministers are drawing up plans to deliver tax breaks to married couples from next year in a move which will please their own MPs but spark a new clash with the Liberal Democrats. Senior Tory sources said the “likeliest option” for bringing in the long-awaited but controversial move – worth around £150 a year – was to include it in the Budget in Spring 2013." – Sunday Telegraph
> Yesterday on ToryDiary: George Osborne is planning for married couples' tax breaks in next year's Budget
Autumn Statement preview 1: Osborne to halt 3p fuel duty rise
"George Osborne is planning to freeze the planned fuel duty rise in his autumn statement, after coming under pressure from his backbenchers and receiving support from key Liberal Democrat colleagues. The chancellor is expected to delay the 3p rise in fuel duty scheduled for January, following a campaign by consumer groups and parliamentary colleagues." – Observer
> Today - Chris White MP on Comment: The Chancellor could boost manufacturing and the economy by increasing capital allowances
Autumn Statement preview 2: Treasury to crack down on offshore tax havens
"Radical plans to force the UK's tax havens to reveal the names behind hidden companies, account holders and trusts have been drawn up by the Treasury. The news has delighted tax justice campaigners, who predict that the move, which is expected to be unveiled in the chancellor's autumn statement and come into force in 2014" – Observer
Cameron to set minimum price for alcohol
"David Cameron risks a backlash from the drinks industry, health groups and members of his own Cabinet this week over his plans to tackle the scourge of binge drinking by raising the minimum price of alcohol to as high as 50p per unit. The Prime Minister is expected to publish the Government's long-awaited alcohol consultation on Wednesday" – Independent on Sunday
New rights for householders who attack burglars to be unveiled by Chris Grayling
"Changes to the law to ensure householders who attack burglars will not be prosecuted unless they use “grossly disproportionate” force are to be introduced. … [T]he Department for Justice will move to amend the existing law which says only “proportionate” and “reasonable” force can be used by home owners and tenants who confront criminals. … Chris Grayling, the Justice Secretary, declared today that the changes will give householders the protection that they need – the confidence that the law will be on their side”." – Sunday Telegraph
Michael Gove announces 2,000 elite teachers to tackle Britain's toughest schools
"A multi-million-pound scheme to increase massively the number of elite teachers parachuted into Britain’s toughest schools will be announced by the Government tomorrow. … The money, to be unveiled by Education Secretary Michael Gove, is the latest tranche granted by the Government to the charity Teach First, which was set up to woo high-flyers to swap lucrative City jobs for the classroom." – Mail on Sunday
More than 150,000 forced off benefits after refusing to participate in Iain Duncan Smith's back-to-work scheme
"More than 150,000 jobless people have been stripped of benefits after refusing to accept help to get back into work. One in ten long-term unemployed on the Government’s flagship back-to-work programme opted to go without benefit rather than accept help to get them a job. And thousands more voluntarily stop claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance as soon as they are referred to the Work Programme." – Mail on Sunday
Mark Pritchard MP: Only an in-out referendum will do
"A repatriation referendum, or mandate referendum, would do nothing to address the systemic loss of British sovereignty and independence over four decades. As Nick Clegg correctly asserted in his recent Chatham House speech – the repatriation of powers back to Britain is a “false promise”. … Sooner or later a Prime Minister, hopefully a Conservative Prime Minister, will accept that an in/out referendum will be the only way of assuaging the British people." – Mark Pritchard MP for the Sunday Telegraph
The backlash against Lynton Crosby
"The move is understood to have alarmed Andrew Cooper, director of strategy at No 10 and Cameron’s personal pollster. Some observers have suggested that Crosby’s arrival may even prompt Cooper… to step down from his role early next year… Such are the sensitivities surrounding Crosby’s appointment that the Australian will work from the offices of his company, CTF Partners, in Mayfair, central London, instead of at Conservative campaign headquarters (CCHQ) in Millbank or at No 10." – Sunday Times (£)
Cameron to create 100 new peers
"[T]he prime minister is preparing to write to Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, and Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, asking them to draw up a list of nominees. The move has been met with incredulity by Lords reformers who accused Cameron of using taxpayers’ money to create more titles. Labour sources charged him with “gerrymandering” to manufacture more Tory support in parliament." – Sunday Times (£)
Nadhim Zahawi MP: We need to make council taxes fairer
"[T]here’s one area of our tax system that isn’t adhering to that principle: council tax. The highest council tax band in England is Band H – which includes any property that in 1991 would have been worth more than £320,000. Today, such a property in London would be worth at least £1.2million and in the West Midlands around £880,000. As a result, someone who has worked hard and saved their whole life to buy an admittedly very comfortable Band H home in Stratford-upon-Avon pays £3,000 a year in council tax. Yet the billionaire oligarch in his £25 million Band H pad in Chelsea pays just £2,150 a year" – Nadhim Zahawi MP for the Mail on Sunday
Oxford Tories seek minority status after being persecuted by fellow students - Sunday Times (£)
Gordon Brown's think-tank hit by theft – Sunday Times (£)
Independence campaigners tell Salmond to get rid of the Queen
"The Queen should not be head of state of an independent Scotland, the chairman of the pro-independence Yes campaign has said. At a Radical Independence Conference yesterday, former Labour MP Dennis Canavan criticised the Scottish Government’s proposal to keep the monarchy in place if Scotland backs independence." – Scotsman
> Yesterday on ToryDiary: Scottish Conservatives launch new logo and website at National Convention
Peter Robinson: A majority of Catholics supporting staying in the United Kingdom - BBC
3,000 Eurocrats earn more than British PM – Sunday Times (£)
Knives out at the Bank of England as race for top job hots up - Observer
Swathes of green belt land sacrificed for new housing developments – Sunday Telegraph
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