9.45pm ToryDiary: Tories' schools revolution depends upon the involvement of profit-making businesses
4.30pm ToryDiary: David Cameron pays tribute to the last survivor of the WWI trenches, who died today
1pm Tom Greeves on CentreRight reflects on the victory of Chloe Smith, 27, and applauds youth in politics
10am LISTEN: Radio 4 discusses the £40,000 open primary ballot to choose the next Tory candidate for Totnes
ToryDiary: Tory honesty is rewarded and Labour's dishonesty is punished in Norwich North
Mark Lancaster MP on Platform: A glimpse at a project aiming to create jobs and avert an energy crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo
International on the bizarre poster campaign of the Conservative Party's Czech allies: Vote for the beach party?
Local government: Should local voters have the power to force their councils to hold referenda?
Tim Montgomerie on CentreRight: 'Harry Potter' uses interview for gay lifestyle magazine to come out… as a Liberal Democrat
WATCH: Obama in centre of race row after clumsy references to police arrest of black professor
Tories triumph in Norwich North
"A 27-year-old called Chloe swept the Conservatives to an emphatic
by-election victory over Labour yesterday, keeping the Tories on course
to win the next general election. Management consultant Chloe Smith
seized Norwich North from Labour with a 7,348 majority and a 16.5 per
cent swing. She will become the youngest MP in the Commons – the "Baby
of the House" – when she takes her seat." – FT
The Guardian
profiles Chloe Smith MP: "She got into politics when she left school by
working for Gillian Shephard, the then MP for South West Norfolk, whom
she describes as "a real mentor". After studying at York University,
where she got a first in English literature, she also worked for the
East Anglian MP Bernard Jenkin and is now registered as an assistant to
James Clappison, a shadow work and pensions minister."
"The Labour government is on a life-support system. What Norwich
North shows is that people are growing more and more impatient to
switch it off." – Telegraph leader
Tories plan to bring back O-level to boost exam standards
"Schools will be able to return to the O-level under Conservative
plans to boost exam standards. They would be given the freedom to offer
O-level courses which are
still studied around the world despite being axed in Britain 21 years
ago." – Daily Mail
Philip Hammond: I'll be nation's hate figure
"David
Cameron may be forced to stage a rapid post-election budget to calm the
markets and prevent a drop in Britain's credit rating in the first days
of a Tory government, Philip Hammond, the shadow Treasury chief
secretary, warns in a Guardian interview today. Anticipating an era of
deep short-term cuts in public spending, Hammond urges voters to give
the Conservatives a big majority so a new government can act boldly to
cut the public debt, warning that the public finances are in such a
state "the worst outcome for Britain would be an unclear political
result at the election". Hammond, destined to be the man to rein in
public spending if the Tories gain power, also concedes he is "likely
to become a great figure to pin up on the dartboard, and throw darts
at. I am sure there will be short-term pain and brickbats."" – Guardian
Charles Moore, in The Telegraph,
urges the Tories to steel themselves for confrontation with the public
sector: "At present, the huge power of public-sector Leftists – in
quangos, pressure groups, unions, the judiciary, green organisations,
local councils and the BBC – directs disappointed anger on to Labour.
After a Tory victory, all that will change. Like enraged addicts
undergoing cold turkey, without their huge doses of public spending,
they will trash the public space. Will the Tories have the tough
foot-soldiers needed to fight this culture war? Will they have enough
officers leading from the front? If voters spot this weakness in
advance, will they support them?"
25,000 more soldiers or a full scale Trident replacement?
"Lord Guthrie, who is an adviser to David Cameron, said that
Britain’s Trident nuclear deterrent should be scaled back and the money
spent on recruiting up to 25,000 more soldiers." – Times
Tracey Emin… Greta Scacchi… Tafari Hinds… The Times reveals the cultural stars being wooed by the Conservatives
"It helps that the personnel at the top of the Tory party are more
at ease with the arts world than in previous years. Mr Cameron has had
Tim Burton and Helena Bonham-Carter for dinner at his home, and his
wife is friends with the artist Sam Taylor-Wood. Mr Osborne comes from
a family of art collectors — he owns work by Emin — and hosts regular
dinners where recent guests have included the historian Anthony Beevor,
the critic Anthony Lane and the philosopher A. C. Grayling." – The Times
Dylan Jones, Editor of GQ, attacks the BBC and Guardian for their pursuit of Andy Coulson – Independent
Labour MP Andrew MacKinlay is quitting Westminster in disgust after
MPs failed to stop computer hacker Gary McKinnon's extradition to the
US – Daily Mail | Yesterday's Seats and candidates
Ed Balls attacks Labour leadership rival James Purnell – Telegraph
Brown is a "c**t" says Jeremy Clarkson
"The Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson is at the centre of a new
controversy after again making offensive comments about the prime
minister in front of the BBC2 show's studio audience. Clarkson, who
previously had to apologise to Gordon Brown in February after calling
him "a one-eyed Scottish idiot", described him as a "c**t" in
not-for-broadcast comments during the recording of this week's Top Gear
programme on Wednesday night." – Guardian
Sir Jonathan Porritt attacks Brown for seeing environment as "middle class stuff" – Independent
Equalities and Human Rights Commission head Trevor Phillips is
facing calls to step down after a fourth resignation over his
leadership in eight days – BBC
"Mr Phillips's real sin was to suggest that 'institutional racism'
at the Metropolitan Police no longer existed and that the term
'multiculturalism' needs to be dropped." – Quentin Letts in the Daily Mail
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