6.30pm ToryDiary: Can unions, Tories and advocates of proportional representation unite to defeat AV?
10.45am ToryDiary update: Graph showing decline of LibDem vote
ToryDiary: Liberal Democrats see trimming Trident as the "mother-in-law" test of Tory commitment to the Coalition
Zach Johnstone on Platform: Those seeking a power-sharing deal involving the Taleban cannot point to Northern Ireland as a blueprint
Local government: Surrey abolishes councillors' clothing allowances and freezes other allowances and Hastings Conservatives propose 40% cut in councillors allowances
WATCH: Demonstrators in Pakistan have burned an effigy of David Cameron
Liberal Democrats down to 12% in YouGov poll – Yesterday evening's ToryDiary
"Support for the Liberal Democrats has fallen to 12%, a third of the party’s peak during the election campaign and half its share of the vote at the election. Nick Clegg, the party leader and deputy prime minister, has suffered an even sharper slump in popularity, a poll for The Sunday Times reveals. After the first televised debate during the election campaign he had a popularity rating of 72 points, close to Winston Churchill’s at the height of his wartime popularity. Clegg’s rating is now eight points." – The Sunday Times (£)
"The electoral problem for the Lib Dems is this: however much they may genuinely support and help to facilitate these reforms, they will not get the credit for them. If the schools and welfare reorganisations succeed, it will be Michael Gove and Iain Duncan Smith who will be seen as the authors of the triumph. But if they fail, or are unpopular, the Lib Dems will share the ignominy. If the Coalition is broadly a success, it will be a Tory success." – Janet Daley in The Sunday Telegraph
Cameron needs to explain the practical benefits of his massive reform programme – Matthew d'Ancona in The Sunday Telegraph
"I get far more trouble from Ken Clarke, Liam Fox and Iain Duncan Smith than I do from Nick." – David Cameron overheard and reported to Andrew Rawnsley in The Observer
Osborne warns recovering banks to start lending to business
"In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Osborne said the Government "will not tolerate" banks piling the pressure on small and medium-sized businesses and said they had an "economic obligation" to lend. "Every small and medium-sized company that I have visited in recent weeks has had some problem with their bank – either they have found it difficult to renew their overdraft or they demanded additional collateral, often someone's house," the Chancellor said. "The danger is that, particularly next year, when there is a huge amount of refinancing required, that the small and medium-sized businesses suffer from a lack of access to working capital."" – The Sunday Telegraph
Fraser Nelson: Cameron must control Britain's borders or he'll get no political gain from economic growth
"What's the greatest threat that David Cameron faces? That the British economy recovers, but a new wave of immigrants take all the new jobs… On Friday IDS laid out his "universal benefit" that would replace all 50-odd benefits. His aim is that anyone who does more work gets to keep at least 40p in every extra pound they earn – not 4.5p. George Osborne, the Chancellor, backs welfare reform in principle. But his officials are telling him it's too much too soon. He and Cameron must overrule them. If they're serious about mending the 'broken society' they'll back IDS to the hilt. Welfare reform takes years. If Cam wants British workers in British jobs by the next election, there's not a moment to waste." – Fraser Nelson in the News of the World
David Cameron reviews his record on gay equality
The article for The Independent on Sunday includes this section on 'gay marriage': "As someone who believes in commitment, in marriage and in civil partnerships, my view is that if religious organisations want to have civil partnerships registered at their places of worship that should be able to happen. Last week the Equalities Minister held listening events with faith groups and representatives of the gay community, as we consider what the next steps are for civil partnerships and how we enable religious organisations to register same-sex relationships on their premises if they wish to do so. I think this is an important step forward and we will help to make it happen."
Leading Tories on the IoS' Pink List 2010: Michael Salter (Downing Street adviser, number 8), Nick Herbert MP (27), Margot James MP (30), Lord (Guy) Black (Telegraph executive and new Tory peer, number 65), Alan Duncan (77), Richard Barnes (Deputy Mayor of London, 79), Iain Dale (84).
Cameron is drawing up secret plans to replace the old-style Conservative constituency chairmen with a new breed of expert campaign organisers – Mail on Sunday
Michael Gove accused of exaggerating level of interest in establishing new schools – Observer
Coalition hyperactivity will rebound if Downing Street does not grip hasty ministers – Tom Clark in The Observer
YET another example of Labour cronyism
"Paul Farrelly, the Labour MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, had a Commons question for our new culture secretary last week. Would the rules governing impartial television news remain sacrosanct in coalition land? To which Jeremy Hunt could have said simply "Yes – I've no plans to change anything". But in fact he went on for a rather fascinating couple of sentences. "We will take no lessons on impartiality from the opposition," he said, somewhat brusquely. Then he added: "There are two people responsible for impartiality in British broadcasting – the head of Ofcom and the head of the BBC Trust. One is a former Labour councillor and the other is a former Labour special adviser."" – Peter Preston in The Observer
£6bn of the £8bn direct tax and benefit changes in Osborne's Budget will be paid by women – Yvette Cooper in The Observer
My new life as an MP – In The Sunday Telegraph, Rory Stewart reflects on his first three months
Peter Hitchens: Cameron is wrong on Turkey
"I can con fidently say that the Prime Minister does not know what he is talking about when he urges Turkish membership of the EU. He is both out-of-date and wrong. Turkey’s grim, Islamist government is more interested in links with Tehran and Damascus than in Brussels, anyway. And how he can claim to want to cap immigration and open our borders to millions of Turks, I have no idea." – Peter Hitchens in the Mail on Sunday
Con Coughlin: Why Britain needs to co-operate with Pakistan's intelligence services
"Pakistani cooperation is fundamental to the protection of British
interests, whether it is preventing Taliban attacks against British
forces based in southern Afghanistan or foiling Islamist terror plots
against the British mainland. Most of the Taliban's operations against
the British military in Helmand province are directed by commanders
located across the Pakistani border, near Spin Boldak. Meanwhile around
two thirds of the terror attacks against the British Isles have their
origins in Pakistan. Indeed, the Pakistan-based Islamist terror network
has now expanded its attacks to the US after Faisal Shahzad, an
American citizen of Pakistani origin, narrowly failed to detonate a car
bomb in New York's Times Square in May." – Con Coughlin in The Sunday Telegraph
Cameron's great-great-grandfather was a British cavalryman who mercilessly helped suppress the Indian Mutiny – The Sunday Times (£)
And finally… Your guide to 'DaveSpeak'
"If you want to make it in the new Government, you need to know the lingo. So civil servants have produced a guide to ‘speaking Cameron’ to help its employees adjust to life under the Coalition. The briefing note, drafted by officials in Michael Gove’s Education Department – but expected to be emulated across Whitehall departments – is headlined ‘language of the new Government’…" – Mail on Sunday
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