8pm WATCH: David Cameron: Britain's economy is facing "very difficult" times with a big budget deficit
5pm Local Government: Fisking Melissa Benn's Guardian article on free schools
4.30pm WATCH: That controversial George Osborne GQ Awards speech – slammed this afternoon by Nadine Dorries as "tacky" and "immature".
3.30pm Cllr Phil Taylor on Comment: Well done, Harriet Baldwin. But it's time Cameron delivered for England.
2.30pm Andrew Lilico on Comment compares a Times columnist to Saddam Hussein's former Minister of Information – whose "shameless, straight-faced denial made him a popular figure in the West, earning him the nickname "Comical Ali"…It is in this spirit, I think, that we must take Philip Collins' remarkable article in today's Times - "How weird is this Tory sovereignty obsession?" European federalism and "Comical Collins"
1.15pm ToryDiary: Cameron stresses elitism as he backs free schools
12.30pm WATCH: George Osborne says Britain's deficit reduction plan "is the rock of stability" on which the UK's economy is built
Noon ConHomeUSA: Today's top Republican and American political news
11am Sean Garman on Comment: Cities are key for economic growth
ToryDiary: Will Cameron really square up to Clegg over the ECHR?
Also in ToryDiary: What should happen to Britain's relationship with the EU?
Andrew Murrison MP on Comment: Ministers must put right the state's share of responsibility for Baha Mousa
Local Government: CPRE back "garden grabbing" – in defiance of their own members
Parliament: Liam Fox's Commons Baha Mousa statement in full
Gazette: TRG North to be launched this evening
WATCH: Obama jobs plan speech plea: "Pass this bill"…"pass this bill"…"pass this bill"
Cameron demands school "elitism" as World Economic Forum ranks UK schools 43rd in the world in maths
"The Prime Minister will today warn that Britain needs a return to ‘elitism’ and a ‘complete intolerance of failure’ in its schools. The country must improve standards to compete with the rising economies of India and China, he is expected to say in a major speech. ‘We want to create an education system based on real excellence, with a complete intolerance of failure,’ Mr Cameron will add." – Daily Mail
PM "risks coalition rift with plan to let MPs overrule human rights court"
"Britain would be able to ignore human rights rulings from Europe if MPs voted to override them, under proposals submitted to Downing Street. The idea is the most far-reaching being considered by a Government panel exploring reforms to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Others include calling in retired judges to help to whittle down the vast backlog of cases, allowing the Strasbourg court to issue advisory opinions only, and allowing it to consult national parliaments before ruling." – The Times (£)
A mockery of justice that must be stopped – Daily Mail Editorial
Clarke to outlaw "cash for crash" insurance racket – Daily Mail
New commission will make West Lothian question probe
"Constitutional reform minister Mark Harper announced in a statement to MPs that a formal proposal for the commission's work, and its terms of references, will be announced soon after Parliament returns from the party conference season. It will be made up of a small group of non-partisan experts with constitutional, legal and parliamentary expertise." – Daily Mail
Northern Ireland's MPs facing voting bar on Scots and Welsh matters – Belfast Telegraph
May says gangs may seek to disrupt Olympics
"Senior Scotland Yard officers believe that gangs in London may seek to disrupt the Olympics. Theresa May, the home affairs secretary acknowledged there was a possibility that gangs prevalent in the London's East End will use the Olympics as an opportunity for criminality. She said the team preparing the Olympics policing were now looking again to see what they could learn from the riots. A former police officer made the claim in private evidence to the home affairs select committee." – The Guardian
Latest Cameron/Boris confrontation…is a sporting one for International Paralympic Day
"Trafalgar Square stood in for Wimbledon's Centre Court and grass was replaced by carpeting as the two political heavyweights exchanged backhands in front of hundreds of spectators. Not surprisingly the intensely competitive Mr Cameron – who represented his university at the sport – appeared to get the better of his portly opponent during the contest." – Daily Mail
> Yesterday: WATCH – Grudge Match? Cameron and Boris spar at tennis
"Britain is at ‘significant risk’ of a double-dip recession as the recovery in the world’s powerhouse economies falters, a leading international watchdog warned yesterday. The UK economy will barely grow in the second half of 2011 after virtually flat-lining during the previous nine months, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development." – Daily Mail
Osborne defends austerity measures – Financial Times (£)
> Yesterday: ToryDiary – Who speaks for the unemployed? Britain needs a jobs movement
Conservative Councillor sacked after riot race web jibe – The Sun
Hague: My vision for the Foreign Office
"William Hague declared on Thursday that he was planning to restore the role of the Foreign Office as a self-confident institution at the heart of government. Announcing what he said would be “a central part” of his mission as foreign secretary, Mr Hague revealed a programme to make the department “a revived and reinvigorated” body, one that can bring about “a permanent and well-entrenched improvement in Britain’s ability to project its influence overseas”. – Financial Times (£)
Gaddafi rants from hiding at "scumbags, germs and rats" – Daily Mail
> Yesterday: ToryDiary – Hague's plan to revive the Foreign Office (and a stuffed anaconda called Albert)
Health reforms face new challenge from Lib Dem rebels – The Guardian
Blair wants regime change in Iran
"Tony Blair backs regime change in Iran and Syria and warns the West of a long and hard struggle to defeat terrorism and the flawed ideology that supports it. The former Prime Minister, in an interview with The Times to mark the tenth anniversary of 9/11, blames Tehran for helping to prolong the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan long after the allies’ initial victories. He suggests that the West must be ready to use force against Iran if it pursues its nuclear ambitions." – The Times (£)
David Miliband concedes "negatives outweigh positives" of Iraq war – The Guardian
Cruddas pushes Miliband to make Labour more democratic – The Guardian
Fox fury over Baha Mousa
"Liam Fox last night vowed to break the ‘conspiracy of silence’ by soldiers involved in the ‘violent and cowardly’ beating of an Iraqi detainee who died in British custody. Up to 14 serving soldiers are facing suspension for their alleged involvement in the death of Iraqi hotel worker Baha Mousa in Basra in 2003. The Defence Secretary is particularly angry that soldiers have chosen to remain silent." – Daily Mail
> Yesterday: WATCH – Cameron: Baha Mousa abuse was "a truly shocking and appalling incident"
Damian Green: Don't sub-contract caring to the Liberal Democrats
"The Conservatives will once again become known as the nasty party if they listen to a “seductive chorus” of voices urging they lurch to the right and “sub-contract moderate and progressive politics” to the Liberal Democrats, David Cameron is warned by one of his senior ministers today…Damian Green said that retreating to the party’s “comfort zones” would suggest that swing voters were considered 'not our people." – The Times (£)
Fee threat to village greens over planning reforms – Daily Telegraph
Sajid Javid: They’ll hate it, but banks need fencing off
"British banks naturally oppose these changes, and I would expect nothing less. They are right to argue that the proposals would make them less competitive and less profitable. But that is a price worth paying for a safer banking system. Without ready access to depositors’ money, the investment banking arms of UK banks will no longer be able to operate securely in the knowledge that, if all goes wrong, the taxpayer will pick up the tab." – Sajid Javid MP, The Times (£)
BBC breakfast girls Amess botox blast – Daily Mail
Centre for Policy Studies paper urges Government to get ruthless on public sector pensions – Daily Express
First repatriation ceremony is held outside Wootton Bassett at Carterton, Oxfordshire – Daily Mail
Other Political News and Comment
And finally…Now Sir Stuart Bell claims it's too dangerous for him to hold surgeries
"When I did hold surgeries I had to have a policeman there, and now it's a different world," he said. 'So you deal with constituents in a way that is effective and positive for them and they don't complain, believe me.' Sir Stuart said all inquiries were dealt with 'promptly', adding: 'We've three full-time staff who answer telephone inquiries." – Daily Mail
> Please use the thread below to provide links to news topics likely to be of interest to ConservativeHome readers and to comment on political topics that haven't been given their own blog. This thread is moderated but during working hours (that's 6am to 10pm for ConHome) comments will usually be delayed no longer than sixty minutes. Read our comments policy here.