“He said: ‘Let’s get our education system right so we are producing young people out of our schools and colleges who are fully capable of doing the jobs. Second, let’s reform the welfare system so that it doesn’t pay to be out of work. And third, let’s have sensible controls on immigration. ‘Crack those three problems together and we’ll create an economy that really generates wealth for all our people.’” – Daily Mail
>Today: ToryDiary: The decline and fall of full employment
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Unemployment: what’s the true picture?
“The review, commissioned by the Department of Health, was written jointly by Ann Clwyd, the Labour MP who broke down in the House of Commons last year as she described how her husband had died in hospital ‘like a battery hen’…Some of the evidence is damning. One relative said: ‘I went to the nursing station on one occasion to see the entire team bidding at the end of an eBay auction. I was kept waiting, ignored, until it was ended.’” – Daily Mail
“Ofgem has estimated that the wholesale cost of energy, which makes up half the total household bill, has risen 1.7 per cent over the past year. When Scottish Power became the latest supplier to announce an inflation-busting price rise last week, it claimed that its wholesale costs had leapt 7 per cent.” – The Times (£)
“Labour will today be accused of “playing politics with our prosperity” over the controversial high-speed rail line between London and the north. Speaking ahead of a key vote in the Commons on Thursday, the Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, will insist that the economic case for the HS2 network remains strong.” – The Times (£)
“Despite the party’s shrinking vote share, there are potential Tories at large in Scotland…The Conservative Party holds three main attractions for its target voters: they prefer Cameron as PM; they see the Tories as willing to take tough decisions; and they trust the Tory team over Miliband and Balls to manage the economy. At the same time, they see three big drawbacks…” – Lord Ashcroft, The Scotsman
>Today: Lord Ashcroft on Comment: How the Conservatives could gain traction in Scotland
“‘It is not a tax and it is wrong to describe it in this way.’…He added: ‘What should not happen, is for the BBC to adopt the language of the Labour Party without making it clear that the phrase is innately political and indeed, factually wrong.'” – Daily Mail
>Sunday: ToryDiary: Why is Downing Street floating BBC reform now?
“Now we have set ourselves this ambition: to be the unrivalled western centre for Islamic finance. This will not only create jobs in Britain, but it will also bring investment. London’s Shard building and the athletes’ village for the 2012 Olympic Games were made possible by Islamic finance.” – FT
>Today: Garvan Walshe’s Foreign Policy column: Without interests or values to share, why should we care about Saudi Arabia?
“The union official at the heart of the Grangemouth oil refinery crisis quit his job last night, piling more pressure on Ed Miliband to re-open an investigation into his conduct…Around 1,000 emails – now in the hands of police – appeared to link Mr Deans and other Unite associates to Labour’s selection of its candidate in Falkirk.” – Daily Mail
>Yesterday: Leftwatch: “How a union can hijack a constituency”: The Grangemouth emails reignite Unite’s Falkirk scandal
“The newspaper and magazine industry last night launched a legal challenge against plans to impose a Royal Charter written by politicians to regulate the Press. Industry bodies have filed an application for Judicial Review at the High Court over the Government’s rejection of proposals drawn up by publishers, and applied for an injunction to prevent the Privy Council approving the politicians’ charter before the case has been heard.” – Daily Mail
“Appearing at the Old Bailey on Monday as the jury selection for their trial got under way, they faced dozens of photographers and camera crews who had been waiting outside the court from early in the morning to catch a glimpse of them. Selection of the jury started on Monday, and will continue on Wednesday.” – FT
“The social services chief who failed to save the life of Baby P is to receive a payout of more than £600,000, it was reported last night…a hearing at The Court of Appeal concluded Shoesmith had been ‘unfairly scapegoated’ and that her dismissal in December 2008 by Ed Balls, the then Children’s Secretary had been ‘intrinsically unfair and unlawful’.” – Daily Mail