5.30pm WATCH: George Osborne gives a beginners' guide to the spending round
2.15pm Mohammed Amin on Comment: Don't shoot the messenger who reports on anti-Muslim hatred
11.15am MPsETC: Bone and Hollobone – the Bialystock and Bloom of the Conservative backbenches
10.45am "In too many corners of our NHS, we have become so numbed to the inevitability of patient harm that we accept the unacceptable. Only by ensuring that every person is treated as though they were our own family member will be realise the ambition of zero harm." – Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, on Comment: Addressing the silent scandal of our NHS
10.15am ToryDiary: The Prime Minister (Replacement) BIll? Read the full list of 40 rebel Bills in the Alternative Queen's Speech
ToryDiary: Whatever happened to the Tories' green agenda?
Iain Dale's Friday Diary: Did Merkel bring a change of underwear to the G8?
"My view [on the EU] is very clear. I'd like to make laws in our own Parliament." – Andrew Gimson interviews Owen Paterson
Laura Perrins on Comment: The betrayal of single-income families
Also on Comment, Julia Manning: After Morecambe, the sackings and reforms needed at the Care Quality Commission
David Skelton on MajorityConservatism concludes our series on the challenges of winning a Future Majority: The midlands and northern challenge – where we hold only 16 of 124 urban seats
Local Government: Who decides where new schools are "needed"? Politicians or parents?
The Deep End: Heresy of the week: Conservatism is not about keeping everything the same
Outrage grows over CQC cover-up scandal…
"Families and MPs demanded last night an investigation into how Jill Finney and Cynthia Bower — the two top officials at the Care Quality Commission — got their jobs, after an independent review concluded that they sanctioned the destruction of a critical internal report. In March last year Ms Finney, the former deputy chief executive, ordered a subordinate to “delete” a report that criticised the watchdog’s failure to act over the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Trust, where mothers and babies died." – The Times (£)
…as more evidence of public sector secrecy emerges
"At least 1,000 gagging orders have been signed by government departments and the NHS since the general election, costing taxpayers a ‘staggering’ £28million. An official report has uncovered at least 1,053 examples – one a day over the past three years – of the public sector paying off staff and buying their silence by getting them to sign confidentiality clauses. The highest payment of £266,000, which was described as ‘obscene’, was made by the Department of Health." – Daily Mail
Owen Paterson's bold campaign in support of GM crops launches a food fight
"Mr Paterson said that people needed to get over the idea of GM being risky or novel, because the economic, environmental and health benefits were now proven. “This isn’t some new, spooky innovation brought in by strange profs with wuzzy hair and flapping coats,” he said. “This is an absolutely established part of agricultural production in very large parts of the world. You have the biggest field trial in human history when you think of the colossal amount of GM material that has been eaten in all those countries that are growing GM food.” – The Times (£)
Summer of bank privatisation planning lies ahead for Osborne
"If it worked, the plan would free up the good part of RBS to be a more effective lender. A clean RBS should see an upswing in share price, too. But getting from here to there will be complex, with the good bank itself needing to be split to comply with the upcoming Vickers rules on ringfencing. Mr Osborne’s decision on whether to create a bad bank will be another landmark in what promises to be a long period of upheaval at RBS." – FT (£)
Backbenchers camp out for right to launch Alternative Queen's Speech
"Conservative MPs have drawn up an “Alternative Queen’s Speech” with radical policies such as bringing back the death penalty, privatising the BBC and banning the burka in public spaces. The 42 bills also include legislation to scrap wind farm subsidies, end the ringfence for foreign aid spending and rename the late August Bank Holiday “Margaret Thatcher Day”." – Daily Telegraph
Gove's revolution now cannot be reversed – Seldon
“We are now past the tipping point. There can be no turning the clock back now that heads have tasted the benefits of independence. A whole new generation of heads across the country are now the key drivers for change, and they are no longer hamstrung by old ideology or outdated attitudes. " – The Times (£)
Our influence apart will be less than our clout together, Hague tells Scots
"Asked what would happen to the “soft power” of the remainder of the UK (RUK), if Scotland voted ‘Yes’ next September, he said: “What the United Kingdom is together, bringing all the diverse talents and cultures and nations of the UK together, makes that hugely positive impact on the world. If that was to be fragmented, the total sum of that would be less. I think we have to confront that fact." – The Times (£)
Local government faces further cuts of 10%
"Eric Pickles has been forced to accept one of the highest cuts to his Communities department to protect spending on health, schools and overseas aid. Senior Whitehall officials said that he was still negotiating the details, which could include a transfer of cash from the NHS budget for social care, but the 10 per cent cut had been agreed." – The Times (£)
Anya Hindmarch, Government trade ambassador, attacks red tape
"Of her mostly female team of 50, a total of 13 had babies in 2011. But she added: ‘I think it [regulation] could end up working against women, unfortunately. ‘As a woman, a mother-of-five and an employer of a lot of women with children, it would end up making you make a choice between employing a man or a woman. You probably might pick the easier route because the regulation and consequential cost and eggshell treading would just be too onerous.’ She added: ‘I cannot say strongly enough that any more regulation will cripple this country. We are so over-regulated.’ - Daily Mail
"Nigel Farage last night admitted he opened an offshore trust fund to slash his tax bill. The leader of the UK Independence Party, who has been outspoken critic of tax avoidance, set up a scheme on the Isle of Man for ‘inheritance purposes’. But he claimed he never used it saying: ‘It was a mistake. I’m not rich enough.’" – Daily Mail
News in brief
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