5.30pm LeftWatch: Labour should disown their candidate in Eastleigh
4.30pm WATCH: David Cameron: "There aren't nearly enough women around the Cabinet table"
3pm ToryDiary: Raising the personal allowance: in cooperation or in competition with the Lib Dems?
1pm ToryDiary: David Cameron’s trip to India – and two examples of change
10.30am WATCH: David Cameron in India – "the sky is the limit" when it comes to trade
ToryDiary: Dominic Raab asks this year’s £3.6 billion question: when are the troops coming home?
Martin Callanan MEP's monthly letter to ConHome readers: We’ve improved the Common Fisheries Policy and debated with Hollande – now it’s time to vote on the EU budget
Local Government: Council award ceremony makes false claim of approval from Pickles
The Deep End: Never mind the horsemeat, here’s the real danger on your dinner plate
Another NHS whistleblower speaks out against Sir David Nicholson…
"A whistleblower wrote to the head of the NHS to warn his trust was ‘slipping into Mid Staffordshire territory’. … David Bowles told Sir David Nicholson that United Lincolnshire Hospitals was being put under ‘huge pressure’ to meet non-urgent targets. … But the 63-year-old was hounded out of his job as chairman just like Gary Walker, the trust’s former chief executive, who risked a £500,000 pay-off to break a gagging order last week." – Daily Mail
…as it emerges that there could be prosecutions
"Police and prosecutors are examining new evidence about the Stafford Hospital scandal that could lead to criminal charges, The Daily Telegraph has learnt." - Daily Telegraph
Theresa May's battle with the judges rumbles on
"Mrs May will now pass a new law demanding that Article 8 of the Act – the right to a family life – should no longer be a bar to deportation. The change will not stop criminals lodging lengthy and expensive appeals. But it sends a clear message to judges that the human rights of criminals should not trump those of the public to be kept safe." – Daily Mail
"Senior legal figures have hit back at the Home Secretary after she accused them of making Britain’s streets more dangerous by ignoring rules aimed at deporting foreign criminals." – The Times (£)
David Cameron faces pressure over Pakistan as he visits India
"David Cameron will face accusations that he is favouring Pakistan, as well as coming under pressure to do more to investigate a controversial deal to buy British-built helicopters, when he arrives in India today. … Delhi was angered at Mr Cameron’s attempt to broker a deal between Pakistan and Afghanistan at Chequers this month and fears losing influence over Kabul if the effort succeeds." – The Times (£)
"Britain is to relax visa rules for Indian investors as David Cameron uses a trade visit to the subcontinent to ensure the UK does not lose out to European competitors in one of the world's fastest growing economies." – Guardian
And Mr Cameron admits that he has not appointed enough women to his Cabinet – Daily Telegraph
IDS attacks those who think they're "too good" to participate in Work Experience programmes…
"In a defiant intervention on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show yesterday, Mr Duncan Smith made it clear he would not back down. … Denying claims of ‘slave labour’, he said … 'Most young people love this programme and I am sorry but there are a group of people out there who think they are too good for this kind of stuff.’" – Daily Mail
> Yesterday, by Richard Royal on Comment: The Government should be doing more to help job-seekers into voluntary roles
…and wants to tighten the rules for immigrants claiming benefits
"Ministers will ‘shut the door’ to migrants wanting to come to Britain to live on benefits, Iain Duncan Smith claimed yesterday. … He said he was determined to tighten the rules around eligibility for welfare benefits before a predicted influx of migrants from Romania and Bulgaria next year." – Daily Mail
> Yesterday:
A troubleshooter has been brought in to help deliver the Government's benefit reforms
"One of Whitehall’s most powerful troubleshooters has been drafted in to take charge of the government’s benefits shake-up as ministers work to keep the Universal Credit project on track. … David Pitchford, executive director of the Major Projects Authority, which is charged with driving delivery across Whitehall, will on Monday take the helm of the scheme, which is thought to be on the government’s 'watch list' of potentially risky enterprises." – Financial Times (£)
Claims that the Government was warned about horsemeat two years ago
"Explosive claims that ministers were warned about horse meat two years ago are to be investigated. … Former Food Standards Agency manager John Young said he raised concerns in 2011. … He claims he told ex-agriculture minister Sir Jim Paice that horse flesh with possible drug residue could get into the human food chain." – The Sun
> Today on the Deep End: Never mind the horsemeat, here’s the real danger on your dinner plate
Michael Fallon moots a stock market floatation for Royal Mail
"A stock market float of Royal Mail is a leading option as the government finalises its plan to privatise the state-owned postal operator, a minister said. … Michael Fallon, the Conservative business minister, told the Financial Times that the buoyancy of the stock market could make an initial public offering attractive. … 'There are certain advantages in an IPO and it’s one of the leading options,' he said. 'The markets look pretty open at the moment – but they open and shut.'" – Financial Times (£)
Grant Shapps defends Maria Hutchings' remarks about state schooling
"Tory chairman Grant Shapps last night defended the party’s by-election candidate after she said she was considering sending her son to private school. … And he warned Nick Clegg against trying to exploit the comments by Maria Hutchings for political gain." – Daily Mail
Boris says London's cable car is "doing brilliantly", despite criticism – The Times (£)
Dominic Raab: The UK needs spending cuts and less red tape
"If Britain needs a stimulus, it must be paid for and targeted for maximum impact. The answer is further cuts that do not damage growth or reduce frontline public services … Options include cutting the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills … merging the two environment departments; returning international development to the Foreign Office; and abolishing the Department for Culture, Media and Sport." – Dominic Raab, Financial Times (£)
> Today on ToryDiary: Dominic Raab asks this year’s £3.6 billion question: when are the troops coming home?
> Yesterday, by Dominic Raab MP on Comment: We need to arm the little guy to take on big business
"The Tories aren't meant to be the nice party, they are meant to be the competent party" - Geoffrey Wheatcroft, Guardian
Tim Montgomerie: All good Tories should support a mansion tax…
"A modern conservatism will, in other words, have big ambitions to rebalance society and the economy. It will respond to the crisis of capitalism; it won’t hide away from it. It will ally itself to the rising class; not to the vested interests. To those earning income; not to those sitting on unearned wealth." – Tim Montgomerie, The Times (£)
But Boris disagrees
"At last we can see exactly what kind of a Labour leader Ed Miliband proposes to be – and he is taking his party right back to the politics of envy and nihilistic class war that kept them out of office for a generation. The proposal for a new tax on people’s homes is ill-thought-out, unjust and un-British. It is colossally unfair on Londoners, since the vast majority of homes that would currently qualify are in the capital…" – Boris Johnson, Daily Telegraph
While Vince Cable says: We'd vote with Labour to get a mansion tax
"Liberal Democrat ministers may join forces with Labour in a Commons vote calling for a £2 million mansion tax, Vince Cable revealed yesterday. … The Business Secretary’s provocative suggestion – which could split the Coalition – came as it emerged that the Lib Dems are considering widening the scope of their mansion tax proposals to include second homes and buy-to-let properties." – Daily Mail
"Liberal Democrat activists have challenged Nick Clegg to propose a series of new taxes on the rich as part of a tougher assault on wealth in the party’s 2015 manifesto." – The Times (£)
> Yesterday on MPsETC: Lib-Con relations are fracturing – in Eastleigh and elsewhere
Nick Clegg to warn that Britain's economy is too dependent on London
"In a stark assessment of the country’s predicament, Mr Clegg will warn that in contrast to our competitors the UK does not have cities outside London that meaningfully contribute to economic growth. He will call on the City to do much more to support the wider British economy and spend less time concentrating on being a global financial centre separate from the rest of the country." – Independent
The FT reckons that Labour has yet to earn trust on the economy
"It may be wise tactics to hold back on publishing policy initiatives until closer to the election, yet Mr Miliband will only make the case for a Labour government if the groundwork has been done. Voters need to know what kind of economy Mr Miliband envisages for Britain and how it will be sustained. Initiatives that tinker at the margins will not suffice." – Financial Times leader (£)
> Yesterday on LeftWatch: The Sun is starting to shine on Labour
Sadiq Khan questions whether cautions are being used effectively
"Thousands of crooks let off with cautions have become prolific offenders, alarming figures show. … Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan, who unearthed the stats, said: 'The public will rightly ask whether cautions are being used effectively.'" – The Sun
"The Left should learn about plain speaking from George Galloway," says Owen Jones
"Gorgeous George is one of the most charismatic politicians of our time, but also one of the most divisive, and still manages to win over the audience. You don’t have to like him; but, if you want to change the world, you do have to learn from him." – Owen Jones, Independent
Only one-in-three people wants the UK to remain in Europe, according to FT poll – Financial Times (£)
> Today, by Martin Callanan MEP: We’ve improved the Common Fisheries Policy and debated with Hollande – now it’s time to vote on the EU budget
Britain is selling £millions-worth of arms to Sri Lanka, reports the Independent
"Britain is selling millions of pounds worth of small arms and ammunition to Sri Lanka despite the country’s dire human rights record, The Independent can disclose today. … Figures taken from the Government’s own database show how the authorities in Colombo have gone on a buying spree of British small arms and weaponry worth at least £3m." – Independent
Brighton and Hove council is to open "gender neutral" toilets – Daily Mail
"Train company bosses are enjoying huge salaries at a time when six out of ten passengers are dissatisfied with their train company, damning new figures reveal today" – Daily Mail
"The use of bed and breakfasts to house homeless families beyond the legal time limit has risen by 800% since the coalition took office" – Guardian
Five senior executives at RBS are in line for a £6 million share windfall - Daily Mail
"Anjem Choudary yesterday claimed his 'Jihad Seeker’s Allowance' rant had been misunderstood — then hailed Osama bin Laden his hero" – The Sun
"Will I, or won't I? I don't know" – Paul Ryan on whether he'll run for the Presidency in 2016 – Daily Mail