7.30pm MPsETC: Afzal Amin selected as Conservative PPC for Dudley North
1.30pm LeftWatch: The über-loyalist of the day is Mr Ed Davey
1pm Ben Harris-Quinney on Comment: Cameron still has time to create an international legacy that can win him the next election
MPsETC: Second Eastleigh poll gives 3% lead to Liberal Democrats
Tim Loughton MP on Comment: Here’s some legislation on the family we can all rally round – a ‘presumption of shared parenting’
Roger Scruton on Thinker's Corner: The Health And Safety Culture Is killing volunteeering and the benefits of risk
Higher inheritance tax will help fund social care
"On Monday the government is expected to set out plans to cap the cost of social care in England at £75,000 from 2017… To help pay for this ministers will freeze inheritance tax thresholds at £325,000 for individuals and £650,000 for couples for three years from 2015." – BBC | Mail on Sunday
"The Treasury stresses that the inheritance tax blow will affect far fewer people than the number who stand to gain from the plans to increase support for the elderly" – The Sunday Times (£)
Cameron launches latest effort to keep Scotland in the UK — "Britain works. Britain works well. Why break it?” – Scotland on Sunday
Cameron quoted by the BBC: "As one of Scotland's two governments, the UK government has a duty to help inform people with hard facts. So we'll be providing expert-based analysis to explain Scotland's place within the UK and how it might change with separation – and our first paper is published tomorrow."
Read full text of David Cameron's statement.
"Mafia-style gangs were last night suspected of being behind the
horse meat scandal. The spotlight fell on organised cartels as
Environment Secretary Owen Paterson raised fears of an “international
criminal conspiracy”." – The Sun
"Owen
Paterson, the Environment Secretary, and the Food Standards Agency
(FSA) said tests being held this weekend may well find more beef
products contaminated with horse meat." – The Sunday Telegraph
Animals slaughtered in Britain for consumption in EU contaminated with drug harmful to humans – Independent on Sunday
> Yesterday's ToryDiary: "It's not just horsemeat. Food may be about to become very political."
Gove aims to put competitive sport back at heart of schools
"The move
to put physical education at the heart of every child’s schooling will
also drive Britain’s elite sporting success… The Government’s new PE
curriculum will see pupils from the age of seven comparing personal
bests at the running track and learning to swim at least 25 metres using
a range of strokes. They will also take part in competitive football,
netball, cricket, hockey and tennis matches as part of a normal school
week." – Sunday Express
A Mail on Sunday poll puts the Liberal Democrats 3% AHEAD in Eastleigh – Survation
"I pick up considerable jitters among Tory ministers that Maria Hutchings could turn into a liability. She has begun her campaign being forced to deny quotes from the past, which is never a terribly good start, and quarrelling with David Cameron on Europe, gay marriage and abortion." – Andrew Rawnsley in The Observer also insists Labour can win in Eastleigh.
In The Sunday Times (£) Paul Goodman examines what's at stake in this blue v yellow by-election: "For while a core of irreconcilables would like to see Cameron buried beneath a car park for several hundred years, like some latter-day Richard III, he has no obvious successor — in the Commons, at least (although Boris Johnson lurks outside). However, poor results in the local elections in May could put the prospect of a leadership challenge back on the table."
23% say gay marriage debate has made them view Tories more negatively while 20% say more positively – The Sun
Tory rebels may scupper gay marriage in the Lords – The Sunday Telegraph
Gerald Warner in Scotland on Sunday protests the hurried nature of the reform: "The conventions of the British constitution, so unprecedented an intervention in so fundamental an institution demanded certain minimal processes. A royal commission to examine marriage would have been the least that could have been expected. Thereafter, a general election manifesto commitment, a thorough public consultation process, a green paper, a white paper and finally draft legislation would have been the due procedure."
Michael Fallon explains how the party can put the gay marriage split behind them in the run-up to 2015 – The Sunday Telegraph
Is the Tory leadership "talented but fundamentally unserious"? – Janet Daley in The Sunday Telegraph
William Hague has branded Argentina’s claim to the Falklands a “fantasy” – and vowed never to hand over the islands – The Sun
Chris Grayling suggests that some rapists could be given cautions if their victims were unwilling to give evidence in court – Independent on Sunday
We need to restructure our acute healthcare services, which will involve district general hospital closures – Dr Philip Lee MP for The Sunday Telegraph
Nigel Farage described the EU budget reduction negotiated by David Cameron as 'a rotten deal for Britain' – Mail on Sunday
Adam Afriyie builds alliance with Trevor Phillips
"The multimillionaire Tory backbencher Adam Afriyie, who hopes to succeed David Cameron as Conservative party leader, has been secretly consulting Trevor Phillips, the equalities expert, on how to win the black vote. The MP has won the support of the former head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, who believes he has been wrongly overlooked by the current leadership." – The Sunday Times (£)
Labour candidate working for IPPR attacks Tory aid policy… Does this tell us more about the IPPR than Tory aid policy? – Observer
German Education Minister Annette Schavan has resigned after a university stripped her of her doctorate for plagiarism – Sunday Express
And finally… Alastair Campbell is working in the Downing Street press office…."
"This news caused more than one No 10 aide to spill his coffee last week… Order was restored when it was established that although the name was correct, it wasn’t that Alastair Campbell. His namesake is helping out with ethnic minority media, I’m told." – James Forsyth in the Mail on Sunday
And finally (2)… Boris jokes at Huhne's expense…
"Unsurprisingly, Boris Johnson had the best Huhne joke, telling a Chartered Institute of Housing dinner: ‘My lords, ladies and gentlemen, in the immortal words of Chris Huhne to Vicky Pryce, there are three points I want to get across to you tonight darling…’" – Mail on Sunday's Black Dog
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