10pm ToryDiary: Tories shocked by Ed Miliband's performance (when I spoke to them at 4pm) are now rediscovering their confidence
7.15pm WATCH:
6.15pm Frank Manning on Local government: Hammersmith and Fulham will not provide new council tenancies to those earning more than £40,200
4.30pm Andrea Leadsom MP on Comment: Better early years intervention can help create a generation of emotionally secure children
4.15pm LeftWatch: Ed Miliband's speech: nice delivery and a new "One Nation" theme – but no substance or indication of economic maturity
1.30pm ToryDiary: Tories unveil Party Conference slogan…
1.30pm Columnist Andrew Lilico: Higher unemployment could be a necessary condition for recovery
12.30pm ToryDiary: What questions should we ask in the pre-Conference survey?
Noon LeftWatch: Vocational education report author rejects Miliband's anti-Government attacks
11.15am WATCH: Labour members – in an unscientific Daily Politics poll – say no to holding a European referendum
ToryDiary: Another escalation in the battle against Whitehall’s permanent government
Columnist Peter Hoskin: Labour are up to something major on property ownership – the Tories should strike back hard
Nick de Bois MP on Comment: Taxpayers should not be asked to spend any more money on aid until it is proven to be well spent
John Bald on Local Government: The evidence shows phonics works – so why do the Left still resist it?
The Deep End: You are not a brain scan – challenging the rise of neurotrash: "At the heart of all of this, of course, are the intellectual forces of materialism. Having killed- off God (at least, to their own satisfaction), the abolition of the human soul is the next thing on their to-do list."
WATCH: Ed Balls in impromptu piano playing incident
Miliband keynote speech preview: personal history and education
"In a speech aimed at revealing personal experiences that have shaped his politics, the Labour leader will say: “My family hasn’t sat under the same oak tree for the last 500 years. My parents came to Britain as immigrants, Jewish refugees from the Nazis. I would not be standing here today without the compassion and tolerance of our great country, Great Britain, a country that my parents saw rebuilt after the Second World War.”" – Scotsman
"Ed Miliband will put himself on the side of the "forgotten 50%" on Tuesday by drawing on his state school roots and promising to reform an education system that he says fails half of Britain's teenagers by giving them second-rate vocational qualifications of little value to employers." - Guardian
"All pupils will have to study English and maths until 18, Ed Miliband will announce today as he sets out plans designed to give Britain the skills to prosper in the 21st century." – Times (£)
> Coverage from yesterday:
Double poll blow casts shadow over Miliband's big day
"Only two out of 10 people believe that Ed Miliband has what it takes to be a good Prime Minister, according to an opinion poll for The Independent which highlights the mountain the Labour leader still has to climb. ComRes found that almost twice as many people think David Cameron can be a good Prime Minister, and the Conservatives are more trusted on the economy than Labour despite the slide back into recession." – Independent
Balls says austerity would continue under Labour
"Balls warned the UK’s austerity measures would continue under Labour and ruled out a “post-election spending spree”, as the party conference voted against the coalition government’s public sector freeze. Mr Balls used his keynote speech in Manchester yesterday to suggest he would stick to the coalition government’s spending limits for the first year in power… Balls admitted Labour would have been forced to make cuts if the party had won the 2010 general election, as well as telling the conference that he could not promise to reverse the austerity measures imposed by the Conservative-led government." – Scotsman
> From today: Columnist Pete Hoskin: Labour are up to something major on property ownership – the Tories should strike back hard
> Coverage from yesterday:
Labour toys with backing an EU referendum – Times (£)
"I don't deny I'm ambitious" says Chuka Umunna - Independent
Lord Coe to address Labour conference over London 2012 success - Guardian
Johann Lamont set to portray Alex Samond as heir to Margaret Thatcher – Scotsman
Rachel Sylvester: Miliband and Labour haven't fully accepted they were rejected in 2010
"Certainly some in the Shadow Cabinet are happy to bury their heads in the sand. I have heard one frontbencher argue, apparently without irony, that “the voters got it wrong — they will soon see sense and come round to our way of thinking”… They are ignoring the truth that their party lost badly in 2010. Too many people believed it had sacrificed economic credibility, run out of ideas and reneged on Tony Blair’s promise to create a “new kind of politics”. Labour will only regain the respect of the voters if it in turn respects them." – Rachel Sylvester for the Times (£)
Comment:
Keith Vaz faces inquiries by police and parliament over "suspicious" cash movements through accounts
"A Scotland Yard investigation found “significant amounts of cash” which were said to have been of a “suspicious nature”, according to reports yesterday. … Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said Mr Vaz should stand down from the committee he chairs until the matter has been fully investigated by the parliamentary authorities. He has also wrote to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner demanding an investigation into the payments." – Scotsman
Is Alistair Campbell planning a comeback? Former spin doctor could make return as MP – Daily Mail
Boris Johnson to challenge David Cameron on "nonsensical" airport delays
"David Cameron must speed up his decision on a new airport for London as current delays are "unnecessary" and "nonsensical", Boris Johnson will say this week. The London Mayor, a major rival to the Prime Minister, is disappointed at the Coalition's failure to support his plans for an airport on an island in east London and fears a u-turn over a third runway at Heathrow." – Daily Telegraph
> Yesterday on ToryDiary: It's too easy to challenge a Tory leader. It should be made harder
Osborne blocked cap on elderly care costs
"George Osborne blocked a plan to cap social care costs that had been due to be announced this summer after a row with Andrew Lansley… Mr Lansley had spent months drawing up a proposal to means-test people who receive care in their own homes, in the same way as those moving into a nursing home…. Mr Lansley’s plan was angrily rejected by the Chancellor during a meeting of the quad of senior ministers to discuss reform of social care." – Daily Telegraph
Maude pushes for civil service accountability
"Francis Maude will step up his drive to sharpen civil service accountability on Tuesday… In a speech at the Institute for Government… [he] will say: “At the moment our system works on the basis that ministers are accountable to parliament, which is quite right. But what must flow from that is civil servants are directly accountable to ministers. It sounds obvious but all too often it doesn’t happen.”" – FT (£)
> Today on ToryDiary: Another escalation in the battle against Whitehall’s permanent government
Allister Heath: Are we seeing green shoots or aren't we? Different measures indicate different stories
"The average forecast for UK GDP growth for 2013 has dropped from 1.8 per cent to 1.3 per cent in the last four months; this will probably fall further. By previous standards, such a performance would be pathetic – but compared to the dire figures seen in recent quarters, any growth could plausibly be taken as proof that the long-awaited green shoots are finally upon us. Welcome to the New Normal." – Allister Heath for City AM
The pension revolution: Shake-up for 11m workers as every employer is forced to provide staff retirement schemes
"The pensions revolution affecting up to 11million workers began yesterday. It is the biggest shake-up of pensions for more than a century and was hailed by ministers as ‘a truly radical social change’. For the first time, every boss will be forced to pay into a pension for their workers, who will be automatically signed up to the scheme." – Daily Mail
Independent Scots would have to apply to rejoin EU, says Lord Wallace
"An independent Scotland would have to negotiate its way back into the European Union as a new state, the coalition government’s top law officer north of the Border will say today. Advocate General Lord Wallace will claim Scotland’s obligations would be thrown into doubt after independence, with the country “likely” to find itself outside the EU." – Scotsman
Greek debt talks deadlocked as lenders demand new wage cuts – Guardian
Welsh government: Talks under way on £15bn draft budget – BBC
New school building designs hit by curve ban – Guardian
Nato withdrawal from Afghanistan could be speeded up, says Rasmussen – Guardian
BBC execs get £400k expenses – The Sun
And finally 1… in praise of Michael Gove's new glasses – Independent
And finally 2… "A rightwing insurrection is usurping our democracy"… George Monbiot concocts a link between Lord Lucan and the Free Enterprise Group - Guardian