“It is a Muslim, Ms Warsi, who has done most to confront this attitude – and to start the change now under way. When she became minister of faith, she agreed an agenda with Mr Cameron. The way the Government talks about religion had to change, she said: people of faith should not be spoken of as if they were oddities, minorities and foreigners. So they should aim for a “normalisation” of faith – Church of England charities should be able to win government contracts, just like other charities. She found in the Prime Minister a ready ally.” – Daily Telegraph
> Today: ToryDiary – The death and resurrection of Jesus is a much harder story than his birth
> Yesterday: ToryDiary – What Cameron can do next for the churches
“Mudasir Dean said he wanted to seize the Union Flag back from the Far Right and show children it was a symbol people from all backgrounds could celebrate. ‘My grandfather came to Bolton in the 1920s from India,’ he said. ‘He lived here all his life and he was the first Asian to settle in Bolton. Growing up in Bolton, I’ve seen less and less of the Union Flag. It’s been hijacked by the Far Right and it’s time we take that symbol back into mainstream British, Bolton life.’” – Daily Mail
“Last year town halls began threatening households with fines of up to £20,000 for renting out their driveways if they had not secured planning permission for a ‘change of use’. But the Communities Secretary announced yesterday that new regulations, which came into force two weeks ago, will prevent councils from making money from ‘resourceful and entrepreneurial families’.” – Daily Mail
> Today: Local Government – Five councils ordered to stop “Town Hall Pravdas”
“David Axelrod has been given the title of senior strategic adviser and told the Guardian that Labour’s political and economic analysis was similar to the central themes deployed in Obama’s successful re-election campaign…But he will not be as hands-on as his rival: he will first visit the UK in May, and Labour’s overall campaign structure, the subject of recent leaks and rivalries, remains unchanged.” – The Guardian
“A poll of 1,200 students in higher education institutions throughout the UK reveals it has fallen from a high of 50 per cent just before the last election, following leader Nick Clegg’s first TV debate of the campaign, to just six per cent in the latest poll. The result poses a serious risk to the party of losing seats in university cities or towns won at the last election, such as Cambridge and even Mr Clegg’s Sheffield Hallam constituency.” – The Independent
> Yesterday: Local Government – Which councils could the Lib Dems lose on May 22nd?
“On a visit to the isle of Lewis, the First Minister said the future of the range, which spans Benbecula, North and South Uist and St Kilda, would be stronger after independence. The Hebrides range was established in the 1950s and is Britain’s biggest missile test site. In 2011, the Ministry of Defence said the range was secure for the next five years. Around 200 staff work there. Defence contractor QinetiQ runs the site on the MoD’s behalf.” – Scotsman
> Yesterday: Columnist Brian Monteith – Farage’s challenge to Salmond reveals an opportunity for Scottish Tories
“Commons Speaker John Bercow has claimed that women MPs have stopped attending Prime Minister’s Questions because of the rowdy atmosphere…But defence minister Anna Soubry, who sits on the back row of the green benches among the ‘awkward squad’ of MPs, warned that Mr Bercow was perpetuating ‘old fashioned’ views of women by singling them out.” – Daily Mail
“The former Barclays banker, who was appointed to the Treasury by the Chancellor this month, is facing questions after it was disclosed that she had placed her shares in the property company into trusts for the benefit of her children – a move that is commonly used to avoid inheritance tax. Bandal – the buy-to-let firm created by the former City high-flyer, 50, and her husband, another ex-banker – also created charges over two of its buy-to-let properties in favour of the offshore branch of an investment bank.” – The Independent
“The deal, clinched after a dramatic extended meeting in Geneva, calls for the disarming of all illegal groups. In the next few days they would have to vacate all the government buildings and public spaces they have occupied over the course of the crisis. In return, the protesters in eastern Ukraine would be offered amnesty for all but capital crimes and the government in Kiev would immediately start a process of public consultation aimed at devolving constitutional powers to the provinces.” – The Guardian
> Yesterday: Lord Flight on Comment – The West must match Russian aggression with a military response, or re-run the 1930s
“Acting chief executive Richard Pennycook made a stark warning about the mutual’s future and admitted: ‘2013 was a disastrous year, the worst in our 150-year history’. He added: ‘This is a wake-up call that the Co-op does not have a God-given right to exist.’ The monumental losses follow the near-collapse of its banking arm, which had a £1.5billion black hole in its finances and nearly sank the whole group, which employs 90,000 staff in the UK.” – Daily Mail
> Yesterday: LeftWatch – A case for Miliband, Balls and Umunna – or maybe not
P.S: Apologies for absence of items from the Times, but its website is down as we publish today.