7pm WATCH: Diamond fends off Treasury Select Committee questioning
4pm ToryDiary: Which Conservative do grassroots members most respect on the issue of Europe?
3.45pm Local Government: Cllr Peter Golds: Tower Hamlets voter fraud – still nothing is done
3.30pm WATCH: PMQs in full: Cameron and Miliband clash over banking
2.30pm ToryDiary: The Conservative Party now has 81 leaders
1pm ToryDiary Miliband uses PMQs to exploit Cameron's uncertain Commons majority – on banks today as on Leveson previously
11.15am ToryDiary: 66% of Tory members agree with Cameron on timing of referendum. 77% agree with Liam Fox on timing of renegotiations.
10.30am ToryDiary: IDS, Gove, Hague, Pickles and Hammond top Cabinet league table
ToryDiary: Guess who David Cameron has started seeing in the mirror?
Columnist Jill Kirby: The disorder, infighting and confusion that is racking the Nursing and Midwifery Council
Simon Calvert on Comment: The Government should reform the public order act to restore free speech and stop wasting time on spurious offences
Also on Comment: Alex Deane – When has a public enquiry ever been a success?
The Deep End: What Cameron and co could learn from Tesco
WATCH: Mark Field MP predicts more banking resignations
Treasury Select Committee to Tyrie: We'll take charge of banking inquiry, thank you very much…
"Andrew Tyrie, the chairman of the committee, who was chosen by the government to chair the joint parliamentary inquiry, was requested by his fellow committee members to go back to the chancellor to hold further discussions. One committee source said: "Tyrie was not given a mandate to go ahead and chair the joint parliamentary inquiry. If there is to be parliamentary inquiry, we should do it…It is understood that Labour and Tory MPs are concerned by the way Osborne has sought to limit the scope and the membership of the proposed inquiry."" – The Guardian
Tyrie to Cameron and Osborne: I may head your inquiry or I may not. Downing Street mulls over appointing Peter Lilley instead. (Idea originally floated on this site)
"Mr Tyrie has told colleagues that he could not lead the inquiry if it does not have Labour support, fearing that it would it be seen as a “partisan” study into one of Britain’s most important industries…Mr Cameron expects to win Thursday’s vote in favour of a shorter parliamentary inquiry and the Liberal Democrats are fully behind the government position. But even if the government wins, Mr Tyrie may refuse to head a special inquiry unless it has full Labour support; in those circumstances, Downing Street may have to abandon the plan or find someone else to lead the inquiry. Peter Lilley, former Tory Cabinet minister, is being mentioned in government circles." – Financial Times (£)
Balls to anyone who will listen: I want a public inquiry and I want it now. The Commons will vote tomorrow.
"Labour refused to be drawn on whether it would co-operate with the parliamentary inquiry if it loses tomorrow's vote, insisting it could still harness public opinion to defeat the Government on the issue. Ed Balls, the shadow Chancellor, insisted he had not given up hope of persuading ministers to accept a judicial inquiry. He said: "We need as politicians to say: 'look we all got this wrong, there needs to be big change'." – The Independent
Tucker, King and former Labour Minister Baroness Vadera come under suspicion as Diamond claims that the Bank of England and Labour ministers were involved in rigging interest rates. He gives evidence to the Treasury Select Committee today.
"In a spectacular act of revenge, the fallen financial titan turned on the Bank of England, Whitehall officials and the last Labour government. His former bank Barclays published documents suggesting the Bank of England leant on him to push down the Libor rate that affects the price of loans and financial products everywhere. Senior Whitehall figures had expressed concern about the high rates being reported by Barclays and wanted them lowered, according to the memos." – Daily Mail
> Yesterday:
I feel lobotomised: astounding Clegg claim
"Nick Clegg said yesterday that working in government has left him feeling ‘lobotomised’. The Deputy Prime Minister claimed the ‘frenetic’ pace of the job means he has no time to think. Senior Liberal Democrat Lord Steel was seen rolling his eyes as his party leader made the remark in an address to business leaders, politicians and journalists in Westminster." – Daily Mail
Boris's latest difference with the Government: now he attacks home working during the Olympic. "Bludgers" will sit at home and gorge on cheese from the fridge.
"The Government’s strategy was clear. More people should work from home this summer to avoid traffic chaos during the Olympics. But yesterday, it appeared that not everyone had received the memo. Namely, one Boris Johnson. The Mayor of London appeared to go spectacularly off-message during a speech in which he branded home-working a ‘skiver’s paradise’." – Daily Mail
Ken Clarke: We are losing the war against drugs
"Appearing before a committee of MPs, Mr Clarke also revealed that seven per cent of heroin addicts first tried the drug in prison. He admitted he did not have a “blinding insight” about how to tackle the scourge of drugs in the UK. He told the Home Affairs Select Committee: “We have been engaged in a war against drugs for 30 years. We’re plainly losing it.” But Mr Clarke insisted: “The Government has no intention whatever of changing the criminal law on drugs.” – The Sun
ConservativeHome survey finds that activists back Cameron on EU but are sceptical about his convictions
"Half of the survey respondents, 49 per cent, say that they “do not respect” Mr Cameron when dealing with questions connected with the European Union. More than half, 55 per cent, say that he has “lost control of the debate inside the Conservative Party”, while overwhelmingly handing the credit for this week’s shift to the rebellion by 81 Tory MPs calling for a referendum last November…it also reveals the nature of the new Tory faultline between the approximately four out of ten who want to leave the EU as soon as possible, and the rest who think that relations with the EU can change for the better and who take a more cautious approach." – The Times (£)
Five army battalions to go – Financial Times (£)
Paul Goodman: David Cameron is caught between a rock and an EU referendum
"But his cautious instincts will warn him against any such move. Suppose he makes the commitment, and the next election campaign is dominated by Europe, boosting Ukip’s vote. Suppose any referendum becomes not a referendum on the EU, but one on the Government’s popularity. Suppose he strides boldly into Europe, triumphantly elected, with his renegotiation demands, and the Germans tell him to get lost. What does he do then? Must he then hold the In-Out referendum that would split his party? And which way would he himself jump?" – Daily Telegraph
Cameron: We will close borders if the Eurozone collapses
"Britain is prepared to close its borders to people from countries like Greece if the eurozone collapses, David Cameron signalled yesterday. The Prime Minister vowed to do “whatever it takes” to protect the UK from a flow of migrants. He was asked by MPs at a hearing of the Commons’ Liaison Committee about the danger that Britain could be seen as a safe haven for migrants if the single currency imploded. He replied: “We obviously have contingency plans for all sorts of different eventualities. That is the right thing for a government when there is so much uncertainty.” – Daily Express
> Yesterday:
French police raid Sarkozy home – The Guardian
Maude probe finds the taxpayer stumps up £36 million for unions
"At least 6,800 civil servants are being paid from public funds to cover working hours on union duties. Much of their time has been spent fighting the Government’s drive to cut costs at Whitehall. An investigation found 248 civil servants work full-time on union business while being paid from public funds – 100 more than previously thought. Thousands more work part-time on union duties. The probe was ordered by Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude following concern at the spiralling cost. The £36million could fund the wages of 900 nurses." – Daily Express
Foreign police forces can snoop on your e-mails and texts as part of Home Office's controversial 'snoopers' charter' – Daily Mail
Don't let PC brigade bury ethnic links to sex gangs, warns Tim Loughton
"Social workers and the police must not let political correctness get in the way of investigating the grooming of vulnerable children, a minister said yesterday. Tim Loughton said ‘ethnicity’ had been a factor in the scandal of recent cases involving gangs of mostly Asian men grooming and abusing young girls. And he warned that many more cases are yet to be heard – with thousands of alleged sex abuse victims across the country." – Daily Mail
Yvette Cooper: allow religious same-sex marriages – Politics Home (£)
Lansley to make "state of the NHS" speech to Parliament today
"Increasing survival rates from cancer and improving patient experience in hospital will be among the key measures the Health Secretary will say the NHS will be judged upon. There will also be a focus on improving the care for people with long-term conditions such as dementia and reducing the number of preventable accidents in NHS hospitals. There will also be a new commitment to allow people to choose from a range of providers if they have waited, or are likely to wait, for more than 18 weeks for treatment." – The Independent
Lords 1) Two-thirds of voters want to see Lords reformed – The Independent
Lords 2) If we must have Lords reform, we should have a referendum first – Nadhim Zahawi MP, Daily Telegraph
Over a quarter of SNP voters want to keep the union – Herald Scotland
Leading Orange Order member speaks to Ireland's senate – Newsletter
Remember, Caesar, thou art mortal 1) Couple gain Prince Edward apology after they are "turfed out of their seats for Cameron – Daily Mail
Remember, Caesar, thou art mortal 2) Waitress tells unrecognised Cameron 'I'm in the middle of serving somebody!' before making him queue ten minutes for a coffee – Daily Express
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