4.15pm Local Government: David Cameron: Post offices can survive
3.45pm ToryDiary: New powers for Bank of England will be central to Tory economic proposals
3.30pm Peter Whittle on CentreRight: The real culprits for Britains broken society
12.30pm ToryDiary: Conservatives will announce "comprehensive plan" for economy at conference
11.30am Tim Montgomerie on CentreRight: Three cheers for Tesco, Ryanair and Sky
10.30am Greg Hands MP on CentreRight: Germany’s take on the financial crisis – blame the U.S.
ToryDiary: The state of grassroots opinion
Local government: Tories to find £121m to restore weekly bin collections
J P Floru on Platform: Putin is thrilled with EU foreign policy
Suli Shah on CentreRight reviews the first US Presidential debate: "It was notable how many times McCain said “you don’t understand” to Obama. Not sure how this will come across – will it help the Obama is inexperienced argument, or make McCain look like a lecturing granddaddy? Equally notable was how many times Obama said “John is right” – will it make Obama look like he’s a listener and bi-partisan, or confirm that McCain has better judgement?"
Two PlayPolitical videos:
Tory lead trimmed to 9% in ICM survey – Guardian | Our comment
Dominic Grieve launches attack on multiculturalism
"In an interview with The Guardian on the eve of the Conservative party conference, Grieve says that "long-term inhabitants" have been left fearful, while second- and third- generation immigrants have felt alienated and unsure what British values stand for. He also warns against downplaying Britain’s Christian heritage."
George Osborne leaps on Gordon Brown’s ‘Age of Irresponsibility’ remark
"Mr Osborne said: ‘Gordon Brown has now accurately described his time in office as the "age of irresponsibility". For ten years he presided over a debt-fuelled boom and failed to call time on debt. ‘The age of irresponsibility has now become the age of hypocrisy. This is an astonishing admission from which he can never row back.’" – Daily Mail
David Davis: Tories don’t yet have the range of policies necessary for financial crisis – Telegraph
Jonathan Freedland: Could Osborne steal Jon Cruddas’ tax idea?
"The talk of the Labour conference was MP Jon Cruddas’s neat proposal to take 580,000 people out of the top rate of tax, effectively leaving only those earning more than £50,000 eligible – a middle-class tax cut – paid for by taking more from those earning in excess of £175,000. Could Osborne steal that idea, adapting it so that it only squeezed the super-rich, say those earning more than £250,000 or even £500,000? I wouldn’t put it past him. It would prove that the Tories really had changed and that they dealt in action, not just talk. They could claim to be both popular and progressive – and they would leave Labour floundering." – Jonathan Freedland in The Guardian
Simon Heffer: Osborne must control spending or there’ll be crippling tax rises
"People, mainly in the public sector, will have to lose their jobs as the state does less. Big capital projects will have to be put on hold. Mr Osborne should warn that Labour’s probable alternative – a steep rise in taxation – would make everyone much poorer, with no appreciable improvement in living standards." – Simon Heffer in The Telegraph
"George Osborne will put reducing debt at the heart of a Conservative fight-back on the economy tomorrow when he reveals details of an independent body to limit public borrowing." – Times
David Cameron: I’m more experienced than Blair was
"And what of his own ‘experience’? He points to his time as a 26-yearold advisor in the Treasury on Black Wednesday and then working for Michael Howard in the Home Office as he successfully brought down crime rates, not forgetting his seven years at Carlton Communications, one of the UK’s leading media companies. ‘I mean, that is more experience of government than Tony Blair had, more experience of business than Gordon Brown had.’ He is scathing, too, about Mr Brown’s Downing Street operation." – David Cameron during a wide-ranging interview with the Daily Mail
Eric Pickles: Tory campaigning operation better than at any time since 1979
"On the eve of the Tories’ annual conference, Mr Pickles hailed a “golden age” for the electoral machine. The constituency-level networks of activists, on which every party relies to get the vote out, appeared at least the equal of the late 1970s." – FT
Birmingham is model for Tory renaissance says David Willetts – Telegraph
Reform of the Barnett formula could jeopardise Annabel Goldie’s modest success in Scotland – Alan Cochrane in The Telegraph
Profile of Chris Grayling: The Times asks if the Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is the Tories’ new Norman Tebbit?
Profile of Michael Gove: "Well expressed, modern, sweeping in its scale, thoughtful, and with a modesty of style that obscures the hardness that lies underneath." – Andy McSmith in The Independent compares the qualities of Michael Gove’s 7/7 book with the man’s character
"The Prime Minister is grievously wounded. Further assaults will leave the Tories looking sadistic and irresponsible." – Matthew Parris in The Times
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