7.30pm Lord Flight on Comment: After Lady Thatcher’s funeral, the political lessons are clear
7pm WATCH: Theresa May suggests that Abu Qatada could be prosecuted in Britain
3.30pm Stephen O'Brien MP on Comment: Let's steer our development resources towards combating malnutrition
2pm ToryDiary: Yesterday’s jobs figures were foreseeable but still troubling
Noon ToryDiary: Take part in our survey on the Conservative Party post-Thatcher
10.15am LeftWatch: Thank you, Gordon Brown
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ConservativeHome starts today with two responses to Margaret Thatcher's funeral:
And, on Comment, Andrew Lilico asks the question: So where next? "With departure from the EU imminent and inflation and mass unemployment the great coming issues, the age of the Whig is passing, and the age of the Tory is to come."
Cllr Peter Jones on Local Government: If a new project is right, then don't be put off by noisy well-funded protests
The Deep End: The lost tribes of British politics – day 4: the high liberals and the libertarians
WATCH: Two clips of Charles Moore discussing Margaret Thatcher's funeral:
Margaret Thatcher's funeral 1): The funeral she wanted
"Traditional, proud, patriotic, martial and uncompromisingly British: this was the funeral Margaret Thatcher wanted; and in death, as in life, what she wanted, she got. … Every bar of music, every soaring hymn, every prayer, every guest, and every shaft of sunlight pouring through the windows of St Paul’s Cathedral, seemed to have been summoned in testament to a woman who, as the Bishop of London observed in his funeral address, had become “mythological” long before she died." – Ben Macintyre, The Times (£)
Margaret Thatcher's funeral 2): Thousands of well-wishers, an absence of protestors
"….yesterday, in a swathe that stretched nearly three miles through London, the ordinary people of Middle England turned out in their tens of thousands for Margaret Hilda Thatcher. … There were dissenters, of course, but this was one day when the jeers were massively overwhelmed by the cheers." – Daily Mail
> Today on ToryDiary: Whose Britain is it? Yesterday's restrained, dignified mourners? Or the outnumbered protesters?
> Yesterday's videos to WATCH:
Margaret Thatcher's funeral 3): The Right Rev Richard Chartres' address
"One of us: a phrase that defined the divisive politics of the 1980s, a phrase that will forever be associated with Lady Thatcher and her demand for loyalty. … Yet in the hands of the Right Rev Richard Chartres, it became stripped of politics, less a phrase of division than a plea – after all the polemic and strife of recent days – to consider her humanity." – The Times (£)
"Conservative MPs have showered praise on the bishop of London, Richard Chartres, for 'a terrific address' that humanised Lady Thatcher and challenged the perennial claim that she believed there was no such thing as society." – Guardian
> Today, Adrian Hilton writes the latest Culture Column: Music, Hymns, Poetry and Scripture – the solemn majesty of Lady Thatcher’s funeral
> Yesterday:
Margaret Thatcher's funeral 4): Praise for Amanda Thatcher
"Speaking at the funeral of a loved one can feel like an impossibly daunting task. … To do it aged only 19, with millions watching around the world, is even more remarkable. … Margaret Thatcher’s granddaughter displayed a steely composure worthy of the Iron Lady herself as she addressed St Paul’s Cathedral yesterday – and then told a politician who complimented her performance that it was ‘in the blood’." – Daily Mail
> Yesterday's video to WATCH: Amanda Thatcher's reading
Margaret Thatcher's funeral 5): David Cameron claims that "we are all Thatcherites now"
"David Cameron made a direct pitch for the mantle of Margaret Thatcher yesterday, shedding years of political discomfort about her legacy and declaring: 'We are all Thatcherites now.' … The Prime Minister said her big reforms were now overwhelmingly accepted and that she had created 'a new consensus' in Britain." – The Times (£)
Thatcher privatisation policies fall flat with today’s voters, suggests poll – The Times (£)
> Yesterday:
Margaret Thatcher's funeral 6): George Osborne's tears
"An emotional George Osborne wiped away a tear during Margaret Thatcher's funeral as the great and the good gathered at St Paul's Cathedral to bid farewell to the Iron Lady. … The Chancellor was visibly moved during the early stages of the service paying tribute to Britain's first female Prime Minister." – Daily Mail
> Yesterday's video to WATCH: George Osborne sheds a tear
Margaret Thatcher's funeral 7): It will cost "much less" than £10 million, says Francis Maude
"The minister, who has been overseeing the funeral arrangements, said the state would always pay the costs of the funeral and memorial service of a former prime minister. He added that Lady Thatcher's family would be bearing some of the cost. … 'The costs will be a fraction of what is being bandied around,' he said." – Daily Telegraph
Margaret Thatcher's funeral 8): Quentin Letts on the potentates who gathered in St Paul's
"Temporal power was given its customary rebuke. Political obsequies always do this. Under the vaults of some great church, sleek potentates gather, their fading predecessors a few rows back. … Then the coffin arrives — cold, clammy death — and all else dwindles. … Magnificoes, present and past, paraded at St Paul’s. We saw faces once familiar, now sunken and lined. … This was Thatcherdom’s (as opposed to Thatcherism’s) last hurrah." – Quentin Letts, Daily Mail
> Yesterday's video to WATCH: The funeral guests arrive at St Paul's
Margaret Thatcher's funeral 9): Further remembrance and comment
> Today, two clips of Charles Moore discussing Margaret Thatcher's funeral:
> Yesterday:
Away from St Paul's, rising unemployment…
"Pressure piled on Chancellor George Osborne as the jobless total rose 70,000 to 2.56million — the biggest three-month rise since 2011. … Youth unemployment also jumped 20,000 to 979,000 — while the number jobless more than a year in the period to February hit 900,000." – The Sun
…as the squeeze on living standards continues…
"The Office for National Statistics said the average worker is getting a pay rise of just one per cent, the lowest pay rise since its records began in 2001. … With the cost of living rising at 2.8 per cent, it means a worker’s pay is barely rising while their bills are rising at a rate which is nearly three times higher." – Daily Mail
…and economists row about austerity
"The overall effect is to leave the 2010 Reinhart and Rogoff paper looking like a shaky first effort at a result they have since spelt out in much greater detail – most academic work since then does suggest that growth slows down somewhat when public debt is very high." – Financial Times
Michael Gove wants more changes to teachers' working practices
"The Education Secretary has asked a review body to lift a series of restrictions on menial and administrative tasks that teachers can be ordered to perform. … The most sensitive is a requirement to take lessons on behalf of another teacher who is ill or absent, which currently must happen only 'rarely' – forcing heads to hire supply teachers." – The Times (£)
A "coalition of charities" takes on Jeremy Hunt
"A coalition of charities, including Marie Curie Cancer Care, Sue Ryder and Help for Hospices, have accused the health secretary of forcing them out of the NHS by resurrecting a plan to make doctors tender almost all services to the private sector." – Financial Times
And so it continues… Theresa May's latest effort to deport Abu Qatada
"The Home Secretary asked the Court of Appeal for permission to go to the Supreme Court to appeal against a decision that he could not be sent back to Jordan, where he was convicted on terror charges in 1999. … The move is the latest in an eight-year battle to deport a figure once described as Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe." – The Times (£)
Laura Perrins, who wrote for ConservativeHome earlier this week, again questions the Government's childcare policies
"The number of mothers who stay at home to look after their children has collapsed to the lowest level since records began, official figures reveal. Laura Perrins, the mother of two who last month confronted Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg about the benefit changes on his radio phone-in, said: ‘The Coalition is willing to support all care given to a child, other than that given by its mother.’" – Daily Mail
> From earlier this week, Laura Perrins on Comment: This Government's family policy is unConservative
Vince Cable warns about regional disparities
"Vince Cable, business secretary, will warn on Thursday of 'worrying high disparities' in performance and job prospects across the UK, admitting that the coalition is struggling to rebalance the economy. … The Liberal Democrat minister will say he does not believe in 'managed decline' for regions that are underperforming and wants to put more power and cash in the hands of local people." – Financial Times
Blue Labour guru Maurice Glasman advises Ed Miliband on what to do next
"By challenging prevailing orthodoxies, having the courage to defy the old consensus and define a new political position, and championing changes, Miliband has all the ingredients necessary to bake the cake. … I think it's time to put it in the oven and see if it rises." – Maurice Glasman, Guardian
Police commissioners caught up in expenses row
"Police and crime commissioners are flouting the law by failing to declare their expenses. Analysis by The Times reveals that more than half of the 41 commissioners in England and Wales have not published their spending despite legislation that requires quarterly disclosures. … It comes after Richard Rhodes, the Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner of Cumbria, was exposed by his local newspaper for spending hundreds of pounds on trips in a chauffeur-driven Mercedes." – The Times (£)
"The energy companies are as avaricious, selfish and remote as were the big banks before the crash" – Stephen Glover, Daily Mail
News in brief:
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