Cummings makes the weather as a hard rain falls on Sedwill

Three cheers for three reforms: of the civil service, of Ministers and of one that this Government tends to avoid – of public services.

Neil O’Brien: The New Puritans want to tear down our liberal settlement. Here’s what they think – and why they must be resisted.

Countries need a balance of self-criticism and self-confidence. People are often called on to act for a greater good. But if Britain is shameful, why bother?

Rob Sutton: Introducing the top 50 Conservative MPs on Twitter

Four members from the 2019 intake make the top 50, beating longer-serving and higher-ranked colleagues.

Our survey. By a wafer-thin margin, a plurality of our Party member panel says that Jenrick should resign

Though it also says that if he won’t walk then Johnson shouldn’t force him to do so.

Chris Skidmore: Churchill, Colston – and the new polling which shows that most of us are proud of our history. We need to study it more.

Those who don’t want to study or debate the past but tear it down should be strongly resisted.

The ‘Peelian Principles’ do not prohibit much tougher public order policing. They mandate it.

‘Policing by consent’ has never meant that of the vandal and the rioter. Today’s conflict-averse senior officers are out of step with the British tradition.

Neil Shastri-Hurst: Turkey and Hungary cannot be allowed to continue to contravene the principles of NATO

There is a Russian bear sitting behind the desk of the Kremlin; we must not let its cubs play in our midst.

Don’t rule out a second lockdown

The combination of shutdown fever, furlough, Black Lives Matter, summer and the fledgling test and trace system don’t bode well.

Iain Dale: The Jenrick row. What grudge could the Daily Mail possibly have against the former owner of the Daily Express?

But if you sup with Desmond, use a very long spoon. Plus: Remainer mania remains. And: Masked, I prepare to take the train.

Maria Higson: The Coronavirus has already changed the NHS. Now it can be transformed for the better. Here’s how.

Service innovation has suddenly become possible at break-neck speed. We need to shift further the mindset of politicians, professionals, and the public.

The big speech Johnson makes next week should be about education

Parents need to be persuaded to send their children back to school – and until that happens life chances will be blighted and economic growth lessened.

Stephen Booth: While UK-EU talks gather momentum, Britain should continue to diversify its trading relationships.

Deals with the US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand will prepare the country for future EU-related bumps in the road.

David Skelton: Snobbery against the white working-class is all too common on the Left

In many cases, they are ridiculed, stereotyped and portrayed as somewhere between bigoted and racist.

Friends of Cummings: “A hard rain is coming.”

“Dom is a decentraliser,” we were told.  “But he’s resistant to decentralising to people who he thinks aren’t up to the job.”

Profile: Robert Jenrick, who rose without trace until he hit two bumps in the road

If the Housing Secretary is to survive, he will have to learn the art of sometimes saying no to property developers such as Richard Desmond.