7.30pm WATCH: Cameron answers "frustrated" Dorries
4.30pm ToryDiary: No thank you to mandatory quotas
3.30pm Parliament: Duncan Smith, Fox and Paterson back Dorries/Field amendment
3pm WATCH: Jeremy Hunt: BSkyB decision "was a decision I made on my own"
1pm ToryDiary: Nadine brings a dozy PMQs to life
Noon ConHomeUSA: Today's top Republican and American political news
ToryDiary: Why should a failed LibDem candidate hold sway over the Department of Health?
Jonty Olliff-Cooper on Comment: If the Prime Minister is serious about fixing the "Broken Britain", he should create a dedicated Ministry of Social Justice
Local Government: Councils should not be sex snoopers
Parliament: Douglas Carswell introduces his bill to make different currencies legal tender
WATCH: Osborne – We can remain masters of our own destiny
Economists push Osborne to junk 50p tax rate in F.T letter…
"George Osborne should drop the 50p top rate of income tax “at the earliest opportunity” to boost growth, according to 20 high-profile economists. “Only by returning to an internationally competitive tax regime will Britain enjoy long-term sustainable economic growth,” the economists write in a letter in the Financial Times. The signatories include many figures not usually associated with conservative causes, such as Bob Rowthorn of Cambridge University, and two former members of the Bank of England’s policy committee, DeAnne Julius and Sushil Wadhwani." – Financial Times (£)
…While he warns of "Great Contraction" as Britain faces slow growth
"The Chancellor gave his clearest signal yet that official forecasts for recovery will have to be downgraded later this year, admitting: ‘We have all had to revise down our short-term expectations over recent weeks.’ Mr Osborne blamed Labour’s mismanagement of the economy – arguing that the ‘overhang of debt’ meant the recovery from the financial crisis was ‘slower and choppier’ than recoveries from other kinds of recession." – Daily Mail
"We are concerned that Britain’s 50p income tax is doing lasting damage to the UK economy. It gives the UK one of the highest personal tax regimes in the industrialised world." – Economists' letter to the F.T in full
Government's new planning laws already in force
"Official inspectors, who have the power to approve local developments, were given the fresh guidance by the Planning Inspectorate last week. It told them to start abiding by the new draft planning framework, which campaigners fear could lead to unchecked development in rural areas, because it represents the Government’s “direction of travel”. The issuing of the guidance comes despite the Government insisting that changes could still be made to the draft framework, which is not due to come into force for several months." – Daily Telegraph
Cameron defies MPs over vote on Europe
"David Cameron has opened a rift with the Tory MPs he welcomed into Parliament last year after ruling out a prompt public vote on Britain’s relationship with Europe. A new group of more than 80 Eurosceptics from the 2010 intake will meet next week to press the Government to recast Britain’s relationship with the EU from the debris of the eurozone crisis. But both the Prime Minister and George Osborne, the Chancellor, said yesterday that there was no need for a referendum for years." – The Times (£)
Another win for Clegg: this time over police commissioner elections timing
"The Deputy Prime Minister has fought a coalition battle to stop the first elections for police commissioners being held next May, coinciding with local elections. Conservatives claim that he was worried that Lib Dem councillors could suffer if the focus of the campaign rested on law and order. The first ballot for commissioners outside London will now take place in November next year instead." – The Times (£)
Lib Dem report blames Clegg for debacle over lost AV referendum – The Independen
Justice Ministry tears up Labour's plans for live-in couple rights
"Live-in couples will not be given the same rights as those who have married, ministers ruled last night. In a victory for family campaigners, plans to give a raft of new legal entitlements to unmarried couples have been abandoned. The Law Commission proposals, published under the last Labour government, were condemned for undermining the institution of marriage." – Daily Mail
Boris backs Clarke on rehabilitation
"Boris Johnson, the London mayor, has warned that rioters should not be “abandoned” in prison but educated and rehabilitated to prevent further offending, in evidence to the home affairs select committee on Tuesday…High quality global journalism requires investment. Mr Johnson backed suggestions by Ken Clarke, justice secretary, that the perpetrators of the riots were a “feral underclass” who had been repeatedly let down by a “broken” penal system." – Financial Times (£)
"Once or twice, Mayor Johnson lost a grip on the next word and started to say ‘ab-dab-dab-dab’, guppy-fishing for time. Then the desired phrase would stray into range and Boris would leap on it, like a Canadian bear grabbing a fat salmon." – Quentin Letts, Daily Mail
> Yesterday ToryDiary: Should the Party run candidates for election as Police Commissioners?
Labour MPs claim abortion vote will be close
"Today's parliamentary vote on changes to abortion counselling services has been deemed "too close to call" by senior Labour MPs…Ms Dorries claims these not-for-profit clinics have a financial motive to encourage abortions. She wants GPs and independent specialist organisations, some of which regard reducing abortions as an integral part of their religious, anti-abortion agendas, to be paid by the NHS to counsel women instead." – The Independent
Why I can't support my friend Nadine on her abortion amendment – Iain Dale
> Yesterday: Ann Widdecombe on Comment – A question of conscience
Make squatters criminals and let an Englishman's home become his castle again
"I know from my own discussions that homeless charities are fed up with the anti-social behaviour of squatters, which reflects so badly on the homeless because of their association in people’s minds. What squatting needs is increasingly severe punishments, including imprisonment, for serial offenders. Perhaps then, fewer homeowners will come back from a trip away to find they’ve been locked out of their own house." – Mike Weatherley MP, Daily Mail
Daniel Kawczynski under fire for hosting Assad's cousin – The Times (£)
Alistair Darling loses a small fortune after leaking of his memoirs – Wintour and Watt, The Guardian
No debate on Commons petitions yet – The Independent
Political News and Comment in Brief
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