6.45pm Gazette: Wealden Conservatives announce death of former MP, Sir Geoffrey Johnson Smith
5.15pm LeftWatch: Simon Hughes portrays Coalition as a loveless marriage and says LibDems must reassert equi-distance between Tories and Labour
4.45pm WATCH: Simon Hughes welcomes Alan Milburn's agreement to advise Coalition on social mobility
ToryDiary: The state of public opinion at 100 Days
LeftWatch: Alan Milburn set to become latest Blairite to get job advising Coalition
Also on LeftWatch: Greg Hands wins battle over Blair charity's 'vote Labour' emails
Parvez Akhtar on Platform: How David Cameron can dissipate the anxiety felt by the Pakistani community
Local government: Councils hike parking charges
Also on Local government:
Thérèse Coffey MP answering ConHome's Twenty Questions for the Class of 2010 reveals her earliest political memory: 'My parents, along with 30,000 other Liverpool City Council employees, being made redundant by Derek Hatton and his crew.
Cameron marks VJ Day
"We must never forget the sacrifices made and the dedication showed by those who served our country in the Second World War. They fought and suffered around the world in ferocious conditions. They witnessed incomprehensible horrors. They lost their lives – and many were imprisoned. And they did all this for us – to protect the freedoms we all enjoy today. VJ Day, the day the Second World War ended, is a time for this generation to reflect and show its gratitude to our veterans for their bravery, dedication and sacrifice." – David Cameron quoted in The Sunday Express
Nick Clegg: This Coalition government is confounding expectations
"So far, this coalition government has confounded expectations. First, we were told the coalition agreement couldn't be done. Then we were told that the coalition government wouldn't work. Now we're told it won't last. We intend to confound expectations again. One hundred days? That's not the prize. It's the next five years that count." – The Deputy Prime Minister writing in The Observer
With Cameron on holiday from tomorrow, Clegg becomes acting PM
"Tomorrow, Mr Clegg will take part in a 'virtual town hall' meeting at the London head office of internet giants MSN. He will answer questions from a live audience, as well as from members of the public responding via email and Twitter. On Wednesday, Mr Clegg makes a speech on 'opportunity and social mobility' at London's CentreForum and on Thursday he is off to Newcastle for another rally. He will spend Friday in his Sheffield constituency before travelling to Bristol on Saturday for yet another public meeting." – Mail on Sunday
Liberal Democrats raise annual membership to £60 to combat cash woes – Independent on Sunday
Latest voting intention: Conservatives 42%, Labour 37%, LD 13% – YouGov
"Liberal Democrats who campaigned on a manifesto promising a clampdown on the super-rich have expressed dismay at David Cameron's decision to ask Sir Philip Green, a billionaire, to "hand out P45s" to poorly paid public sector workers… The fashion mogul has a reputation for lavish birthday parties – one rumoured to have cost £5m – and a complex tax arrangement which sees his Monaco-based wife, Tina, named as the owner of his company Arcadia." – Independent on Sunday
Michael Howard leads call for full inquest into the death of Dr David Kelly – Mail on Sunday
Gove highlights Coalition plans to help children from disadvantaged homes
"We want to see great new schools established, such as the Kipp charter schools in America that have eliminated the black-white achievement gap in big cities. We want to see academy freedoms used more widely to improve standards, with the heads of outstanding schools working in partnership with weaker schools to help the poorest children. We want to learn from European nations such as Holland, Denmark and Sweden which are much more equal than our own and have higher quality childcare and a diverse, choice-based, school system. We want to get the best teachers into the poorest schools, which is why we're extending the reach of the Teach First programme in the teeth of Labour opposition. And we are working now to ensure a pupil premium gives more cash to poorer students so they can get the support they need to excel." – Michael Gove in The Sunday Times (£)
Gove invites Premier league football clubs to sponsor or start schools – News of the World
Gove gets 6/10 in Fraser Nelson's review of the Coalition's first 100 days for the News of the World. IDS also gets 6 but Ken Clarke scores just 2/10.
Matthew d'Ancona makes the case for a graduate tax
"I see a strong case for a levy on graduates to fund a higher education system that is truly globally competitive. The argument about graduate tax is usually conducted strictly with reference to student finance. But if we are to base the economic growth of the future on complex technologies, research and intellectual enterprise, then we are going to need universities capable of doing the job." – Matthew d'Ancona in The Sunday Telegraph
"A university education costs taxpayers money but it costs a darn sight less than paying for the children who leave school at 16 without a GCSE to their name and never do a day’s work in their lives. A graduate tax that punishes our brightest and best for working hard and doing well isn’t just unfair on students, it’s just plain stupid." – Julia Hartley-Brewer in The Sunday Express
Greg Barker: Renewable energy delivers climate change AND energy security
"I
am glad to say that the old debate of green energy versus energy
security has become increasingly irrelevant. That is because in the
21st century energy security and climate change are two sides of the
same coin. At a time when historic production levels in the North Sea
are declining, cutting Britain's dependence on expensive and volatile
imported oil, coal and gas will increase our energy independence and be
good for the environment. Renewable electricity, ranging from
small-scale CHP (Combined Heat and Power) to large-scale offshore wind
turbines, as well as new nuclear and clean coal, can help reinforce the
frontline of Britain's energy security defences as well as cutting
dangerous CO₂ emissions." – Greg Barker in The Sunday Telegraph
William Keegan: We shouldn't be so worried about financing Britain's debts
"As figures in the latest annual report of the Bank for International Settlements show, the UK is top of the league when it comes to the length of time before its debt has to be refinanced, with the average maturity of its debt at 14 years, compared with under nine years for the US and Germany." – William Keegan in The Observer
"What I know is that the success or failure of the spending round rests on the cabinet’s belief that the prime minister will not falter. The committee of senior ministers, known colloquially as the star chamber, will meet under the chairmanship of the chancellor, with Danny Alexander, chief secretary, acting as “prosecutor”. He will propose a level of cuts for each department and the responsible minister will argue that the Treasury plan would lead to failures in public policy and political damage." – Michael Portillo in The Sunday Times (£)
MPs get rebates on expenses paybacks – News of the World
This is the most selfish generation of homeowners in British history – Denis MacShane MP on 'nimbyism' in The Observer
Coalition ready to open fire on new Labour leader
"The Coalition believes that David Miliband will find it particularly hard to deny culpability for Labour's failures in office. His problem is summed up by a picture of him from the weekend before the 1997 Election, which shows him sitting at a table with the spin doctor Alastair Campbell and Tony Blair. Miliband was there at the beginning and the end. If he wins the leadership contest on September 25, expect to see this photograph all over the newspapers on the 26th." – James Forsyth in the Mail on Sunday
David Blunkett may join Centre for Social Justice – Mail on Sunday
Charles Kennedy missed his mother-in-law's funeral – The Sunday Telegraph
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