7.30pm WATCH: David Cameron's speech for the Olympics victory parade
6.45pm ToryDiary: Dave and Boris go about celebrating the Olympics in their own divergent ways
5.15pm WATCH: Boris hails "the most successful team of athletes this country has ever assembled" — and the crowd loves it
3.30pm LeftWatch: The “general strike” threat in perspective
2.15pm WATCH: Appearing alongside Games Makers on Downing Street, David Cameron celebrates Britain's "golden summer"
12.15pm Local government: Adonis highlights the need to act against union "pilgrims"
10.30am ToryDiary: The Boris Manifesto looks to be taking shape
10.30am Local Government: Bob Neill to be become Conservative Party Vice Chairman for Local Government
ToryDiary: J Alfred Prufrock MP tears up a PRU letter
Bruce Anderson takes on Boris Island (and Boris) in his latest column:
Chris Skidmore MP on Comment: Five steps to tackle foreign citizens' abuse of the NHS
Cllr Andrew Johnson on Local Government: Freeing local authorities to deliver additional homes and expand home ownership
The Deep End: Next time let's reshuffle the system not just the ministers
WATCH: Ed Balls: "I could work with Vince"
The week of post-Olympics, pro-business measures starts with a focus on health and safety regulations
"Ministers will reveal today, at the start of a week of pro-business announcements, that companies making efforts to comply with health and safety rules will be protected from 'US-style' compensation claims. … They will also pledge to slash at least 3,000 regulations that businesses complain have been holding them back. … However, the idea of a 'fire at will' law has been killed off by Vince Cable, the Business Secretary." – The Times (£)
"Mr Cable told the Telegraph: 'After such an outstanding summer of British success for both TeamGB and ParalympicsGB the public are riding high on a wave of optimism. … We need to tap into this feel good factor and renewed confidence in being British to help us fight economic gloom and create a healthier economy.'" – Daily Telegraph
Manufacturers' group accuses ministers of lacking plan for growth – Guardian
> Yesterday:
"We've had an extraordinary summer of sport," says Lord Coe
"The former Olympian said: 'The real challenge is to maintain sustainable and meaningful change. … I would like to think that by extending the excitement from the Olympic Games into the Paralympic Games and that exhilaration has led to a greater education. I think people will leave zz\aunderstanding a great deal more about the world they are living in.'" – Daily Telegraph
And Boris repeats the point in his Daily Telegraph column, saying that the Games represent "the best £9.3 billion that a government has ever spent"
"There have been many wonderful things about this summer. Think about the messages we have been sending round the world. Think about it from an investor’s point of view. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee showed a nation that was profoundly politically stable, with a huge and unexpected reservoir of support for the constitutional settlement. The Olympics showed that we can carry out the most difficult logistical operation demanded of any country in peacetime, and do it with efficiency and style. The Paralympics have shown that Britain remains a beacon of enlightenment." – Boris Johnson, Daily Telegraph
But what's this? The Mayor of London will hold his own inquiry into airport capacity (and it won't consider a third runway at Heathrow)
"In a move designed to highlight what Mr Johnson has described as the Prime Minister’s 'fudge-orama' over the future of aviation, the inquiry will last between nine and 12 months – reporting two years earlier than the Davis Commission which Mr Cameron set up to investigate the same issue. … Its findings will be presented to the Davis Commission, which will not conclude until after the next election but which Mr Johnson has reluctantly decided to cooperate with because of the 'realities' of the situation." – Daily Telegraph
> Yesterday on Comment, by Luke Bozier: Boris should fight for London to be open on Sundays
The Coalition's latest lending scheme could be having an effect
"Since the Bank of England launched its Funding for Lending scheme in mid-July, banks’ funding costs have fallen by 0.5 percentage points, according to one measure. … But there is so far little sign of banks passing on lower costs to borrowers. The average best interest rate for three-year fixed rate mortgages has fallen just 0.1 percentage points since Funding for Lending was launched, according to moneysupermarket.com." – Financial Times (£)
Philip Hammond expected to announce that the Government has sold off Ark Royal as scrap metal for £3 million
"Tory MP Patrick Mercer said: ‘This is an immensely sad day for the country and especially the Royal Navy. There has been an Ark Royal in the fleet for centuries and now the name seems to have perished along with all her achievements.’" – Daily Mail
The Government is discussing whether the UK's security services need to rebalance their efforts towards new threats such as cyber espionage
"'The issue on ministers’ minds was what the security scene would look like in, say, 2025,' a Whitehall figure said. 'Will we look back and say that, in the decade after the Olympics, the jihadist threat remained the central security preoccupation for the UK? Or will the next decade come to be dominated by other issues, like the return of state-on-state challenges from Russia and China.'" – Financial Times (£)
Newspapers making hay out of the fact that Grant Shapps edited his own Wikipedia page
"But sources close to Mr Shapps, 43, insisted the changes were simply made to correct inaccuracies, many of which had been added by 'mischief making' opponents." – Daily Telegraph
Legal advice commissioned by the Coalition for Marriage suggests that teachers could be sacked for refusing to endorse gay marriage – Daily Telegraph
Chair of the UK Commission on Employment and Skills calls for a move to employer-led training – Financial Times (£)
Ken Macdonald QC: As Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling must rise above politics and have the guts to say "you're wrong"
"Because central to his brief is the stewardship of our courts, of fair and impartial adjudications between citizens in bitter dispute and, perhaps more importantly, between individuals and a State intent upon locking them up. The Justice Secretary’s job is clothed in the rule of law and he has to show that, when it comes down to it, he can reach for non-partisan judgment and be trusted to do the right thing." - Ken Macdonald QC, The Times (£)
Gaby Hinsliff: Rampant bulldozing isn't a growth strategy
"Other countries don’t put up with this dithering, barked David Cameron, which is true enough. China didn’t build two new power stations a week by fannying around with parish councils. But somehow the idea that we can build ourselves out of recession, in defiance of a eurozone debt crisis, one mock-Tudor semi at a time doesn’t feel plausible." – Gaby Hinsliff, The Times (£)
> Yesterday's column by Nadine Dorries: It's time to defend the green belt
Melanie Phillips is unimpressed with Anna Soubry, whom she describes as "Mr Cameron's latest nightmare" and the "Minister for Death" – Melanie Phillips, Daily Mail
And, unsurprisingly, the Independent's Owen Jones doesn't much like Jeremy Hunt, either - Owen Jones, Independent
According to Andrew Pierce, the new Tory group being launched tomorrow is regarded by many as "a snub" to Mr Cameron's leadership – Andrew Piece, Daily Mail
Casting ahead to the 2015 election, no party leader likes what he sees – Gavin Kelly, Guardian
Vince Cable and Ed Balls get chummy on the Andrew Marr show
"Mr Cable confirmed that he favoured higher taxes for the wealthy. Asked about his idea for a mansion tax on expensive properties, which Labour now supports, he added: 'I was delighted that Ed Balls has signed up. I have not been embarrassed to call myself a person of the centre left.' … Mr Balls said: 'Vince should be listened to on banking reform and on the economy. I could work with Vince.'" – Daily Telegraph
> Yesterday on LeftWatch: If Vince Cable wants to remain in Cabinet he must denounce Labour's economic policies in clear and unambiguous terms
The TUC conference is under way — and its participants are considering a general strike – Daily Mail
How much did Tony Blair make in three hours for brokering a multi-£billion mining deal? A cool $1 million – Daily Mail
On average, public sector workers work three hours a week less than their private sector counterparts, but earn £3 a week more, suggests the think-tank Reform – The Sun
A report by the Royal United Services Institute suggests that some Taliban leaders are ready to negotiate a ceasefire in Afghanistan, and accept a continuing US presence in the country – Guardian
And finally… Boris's former wife says that she "can’t help still loving him" – 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. Read our
comments policy here.