Newslinks for Wednesday 11th May 2011

10.30am Parliament: David Willetts sets out his position on off-quota university places, and Labour members retreat to old-fashioned class war insults

ToryDiary: Ten observations about the state of public opinion on the Coalition's first anniversary

David Cameron on Comment: Conservatives should take some pride in what we have achieved these past twelve months

Local government: Defections give Labour control in Rochdale, Lib Dems hang on in Stockport

ThinkTankCentral: At least £3.3 billion of taxpayer’s money is not being spent on genuine healthcare needs

WATCH: Cuts, scrapping ID cards, NHS reforms, fewer quangoes, £9,000 tuition fees, welfare reform, immigration control, bank levy, Libyan air strikes, defeat of AV – the BBC reviews the coalition's first year

Benedict Brogan: Coalition has achieved more in one year than Blair achieved in a decade

"By any measure, the Coalition has had an easy first year. Luck has played a part – and he is a lucky politician to have the ineffectual Ed Miliband against him – but so, too, has the determination of both he and Mr Clegg to make it work, often in defiance of their parties. In the process they have achieved more than Mr Blair managed in a decade. But the clear winner is Mr Cameron, who has shown adaptability and drive, and acquired stature as a result." – The Daily Telegraph's Ben Brogan

Clegg had no choice but to join Coalition – The Independent's Matthew Norman
One year on and the cracks are starting to show for David Cameron – Daily Mirror
An A-Z of the coalition's progress – The Independent
The Westminster coalition – after one year – Western Mail
Coalition challenges after year one – BBC
The Liberal Democrats want to end the coalition’s self-imposed cap on spads – ministers’ special advisers." – FT (£)

> Yesterday's ToryDiary: A year on, this is still the Pushmi-Pullyu Government. And despite last week's drama, it will remain so

One year of coalition: The verdict of the Mail and Telegraph

"Was it really only a year ago tomorrow when David Cameron and Nick Clegg tied the Coalition knot in the rose garden at Number 10, billing and cooing as they announced the ‘new politics’ that would mean the end of confrontation? How distant that afternoon seems today, as Lib Dems hurl insults at the Prime Minister (‘toffee-nosed slimebag!’) and vow to stand up against his ‘ruthless, calculating and thoroughly tribal’ party. But as we reflect on where it all went wrong, shouldn’t we also remember the Coalition’s achievements — and consider what could go right if the name-callers recover their sense of national purpose?" - Daily Mail

"It remains striking, one year on, just how much popular support the Coalition commands. Despite the Liberal Democrats’ slump, the two parties together consistently poll over 50 per cent, an approval rating rarely achieved even by the most popular single party governments. Last week’s AV referendum has proved a pivotal moment. The Prime Minister’s personal intervention raised the No campaign from its deathbed and turned the vote into a personal humiliation for Mr Clegg." – Daily Telegraph

Nick Clegg to boast of the Conservative policies he has blocked

"The Deputy Prime Minister will say that David Cameron has been forced to abandon pledges to cut inheritance tax, replace Trident in this Parliament, build more prisons and reform the Human Rights Act. He will claim that being in coalition has been tougher on the Conservatives with the Lib Dems “punching well above our weight”." – Daily Telegraph

"Nick Clegg is to begin the delicate process of distancing himself from the Conservatives' embrace in the wake of last week's election results, by asserting that "this is a coalition of necessity and not conviction"." – The Guardian

New blow for Clegg as Laws set for "serious" reprimand

"David Laws will not make a rapid return to government after the publication tomorrow of an investigation into his expenses. The Liberal Democrat was forced to resign as Chief Secretary to the Treasury after it emerged that he was claiming for rent while living in the house owned by his gay partner. John Lyon, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, is understood to have found Mr Laws in breach of six different rules. A source close to the Standards and Privileges Committee said that that the matter was regarded as “serious”." – Times (£)

Health reforms "will benefit the most vulnerable in society"

"In a letter published in The Daily Telegraph, 42 family doctors, who together lead 1,100 practices across England, call on the Government to press ahead with the Health and Social Care Bill, and not withdraw support for Andrew Lansley, the embattled Health Secretary. They argue: "The reforms have received a very bad press lately but much of the criticism has been noticeably misinformed."" – Daily Telegraph

"Patients are being betrayed. Don’t retreat from reform" – Ian Birrell in the Times (£)

Ministers to review privacy laws

"We are in a situation where technology and Twitter is making a mockery of the privacy laws that we have. I do strongly believe that it should be Parliament, not judges, who draw the line on our privacy law." - Jeremy Hunt, quoted in the Daily Telegraph
Zac Goldsmith calls for privacy law – The Guardian
Privacy laws to be "overhauled" - The Times (£)
David Cameron blames Parliament - Daily Telegraph

"Cameron is to tell Ken Clarke to toughen up"

"He will halt Mr Clarke's plan to scrap minimum sentences for knife murderers. Good. What about the Tory promise of jail for anyone caught with a knife? The PM says punishments will be more creative. That sounds like liberal waffle." – The Sun Says

The richest students will NOT pay for extra places at universities

"The Prime Minister was forced to deny yesterday that the Government had any plans to allow wealthy students to buy places at the country's most elite universities, following a proposal floated by the Universities minister." - The Independent

> WATCH: Cameron: "There's no chance of people being able to buy their way into universities"

Coalition to review employment laws

"The coalition will pledge on Wednesday to review three areas of employment law that are worrying business in an effort to counter accusations that it is not doing enough to reduce regulation. George Osborne, the chancellor – who addresses the Institute of Directors’ annual convention – and Ed Davey, employment relations minister, say the government will examine the case for reforming compensation in discrimination cases at employment tribunals." – the Financial Times (£)

FT: Calm down, Boris

"The problem is that Mr Johnson’s colourful language (he has called ministers “lily-livered” for not legislating) and championing of a single case is unhelpful. The government is engaged in complicated negotiations with public sector workers over employment and pensions. These would be jeopardised were it to appear to embark on an anti-union crusade. Transport for London, which runs the Tube, may not be blameless in its handling of the dispute. While there was a crying need to amend the UK’s labour laws a quarter of a century ago, it is now more a case of fine tuning. This debate calls for cool heads. Mr Johnson should simmer down." – Financial Times editorial (£)

William Hague to boost Foreign Office presence in China and India

"Mr Hague, who will set out the details in the House of Commons, is expected to tell MPs there will be 50 extra British staff in China and 30 more in India. New embassies are planned for five countries including El Salvador, Kyrgyzstan and South Sudan. A string of new offices will open in provincial cities in the two countries, and across the world's fastest growing economies including Brazil, Mexico, Turkey and Indonesia." – BBC

Cameron won't interfere with the SNP independence referendum

"The Westminster government will not stand in the way of a referendum on independence, and will not bring forward one itself, ministers have confirmed. UK ministers agreed on their response to the SNP's seismic Holyrood victory at their weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday, following a weekend of confusion. Many Scottish Tories, including departing leader Annabel Goldie and former Scottish secretary Lord Forsyth, had called for an independence referendum to be held as soon as possible." - The Scotsman

Meet Alex Salmond, next year’s Nick Clegg - Alice Thomson in the Times (£)

> Yesterday's ToryDiary: Should Cameron force an early vote on Scottish independence?

Supporters to bankroll Annabel Goldie's deputy, Murdo Fraser, for the leadership election

"Scottish Conservative deputy leader Murdo Fraser has received offers from party supporters to help bankroll a leadership bid to succeed Annabel Goldie. There was also a strong hint from John Lamont – one of only three Tories to win a constituency seat at Holyrood – who said supporters had told him the party "needs a winner" to make progress in Scotland. A leadership contest will be held this autumn involving the party's members across Scotland, after Miss Goldie resigned in the wake of a disappointing Holyrood election for the Conservatives." – The Scotsman

Coalition in brief:

PM boost for troops – The Sun
Benefit tests find sick fit to work, say charities – BBC
Nine out of 10 Free School applications fail to pass first test – The Independent
Oil and gas industry's trust in coalition at "all-time low" – The Scotsman
On-the-spot fines planned for careless driving – BBC

Cameron told to drop the Flashman act

"David Cameron is to try to rid himself of his "Flashman" image by being more polite to MPs during Prime Minister's Questions. Mr Cameron's senior aides have told him the characterisation of the Prime Minister as the fictional schoolboy bully Flashman from Tom Brown's Schooldays is gaining resonance with the public. As a result Mr Cameron will try to give his Commons performances a "makeover" so they are "less aggressive" and "more prime ministerial". The move has been triggered by a series of recent incidents when the Prime Minister appeared to lose his temper in the House." - The Independent

Simon Heffer: Why do we only get referenda on issues that suit the politicians?

"It is interesting that we rush to have a referendum on something the Lib Dems feel strongly about, but there is no scope for one on matters that aggrieve a substantial, and not exclusively Conservative, number of people in this country. Scotland has sent a strong signal to England about what it feels about us. Why should that traffic – like the money – be all one way? Referendums are a powerful means of participating in democracy, but they happen only when it suits those who rule us. They fear what the rights of majorities, if exercised on important issue s, would mean to them and their power. Yet the exercise of such rights would be mainly to try to undo the mess that venal and incompetent politicians have created. That process has not even begun; but who can say the people will not, one day, will it to do so?" – Simon Heffer in the Daily Telegraph

Daniel Finkelstein: "Cool" lost in the AV vote

"The AV defeat is more than simply organisational, indeed it is perhaps more than simply political. It is also cultural. A campaign led by Eddie Izzard with the support of Colin Firth came a cropper against one led by Margaret Beckett and David Cameron. The Yes campaign’s “Let’s all be cool about this” appeal failed utterly." – Daniel Finkelstein in the Times (£)

> Read ConservativeHome's review of the AV vote.

Labour faces fight for survival as party of power, Ed Miliband warned

"Labour is facing a deep crisis that threatens its survival as a party of power, Ed Miliband will be warned, on Wednesday as he is told to avoid the "politics of protest" and to focus on establishing political credibility. In a bleak description of the challenge facing Labour, one of the main authors of its general election manifesto says it will become a serious contender for power only by facing "uncomfortable realities"." – The Guardian