Philip Booth: Field is a great man and a great politician – but no, he is not a Conservative

It would be a mistake for the Conservatives to even try to recruit him. Instead, they should follow his lead of thinking – and saying – the unsayable.

Our survey. Are Tory members shifting towards backing tax rises? They divide over one to help fund the NHS.

41 per cent say spending should rise further and be funded by a specific hike, while 44 per cent oppose the idea.

David Willetts: The tuition fee system makes sense. The challenge now is to make it acceptable.

In his second piece on Higher Education, the former Universities Minister looks at how they might be tweaked – and why the alternatives are reactionary, expensive or both.

Universities. The Conservatives will be “stepping up our speaker programme”. Here are some suggestions.

Boles isn’t as well known as the star of our Moggcast, but he is well-briefed, independent-minded and can make waves.

Interview: Jo Johnson condemns the hounding of vice-chancellors over their pay

The Universities Minister takes on Lord Adonis, and insists the new regulator will control pay by insisting on transparency and the right benchmarks.

Willetts makes a powerful case for university expansion

The former minister upholds tuition fees, points out that these are good for the poor, and attacks academic resistance to competition.

George Freeman: We need a new Chairman and team at CCHQ to lead a radical programme of Conservative renewal

Let’s have Policy Board outside of the constraints of the Government machine – and a commission on what Britain should look like post-Brexit.

If I know Osborne, he will be thinking ahead – and mulling his chances of editing the Times

It is doubtless bad manners to ask, on day two of his new job, what he will do next. But posing the question and trying to answer it is irresistible.

Dominic Raab: With courage, Hammond could save billions

The first piece in our mini-series on reducing the deficit explores ideas from addressing ‘grey welfare’ to closing Whitehall departments.

Profile: Sajid Javid, whose quest to build more homes is also a fight for his political future

Macmillan’s efforts succeeded because Churchill backed him fully. The Communities Secretary is not in the same happy position with May.

Get ready to bust the triple lock

Hammond, Green, the Work and Pensions Select Committee – even Clegg. All agree that it needs reviewing at least. And not before time.

How the Conservatives are rebuilding their links with the Republicans – and will work with America’s President-elect

After a long chill, relations between the sister parties are thawing.

The Duke of Westminster helps prove the genius of capitalism

The fortunes of those older sons provided capital for investment. And it was that capital, applied to invention and ingenuity, which made the industrial revolution possible.

Nathan Fogg: Despite rising tuition fees getting a degree is still a steal

A university degree is perhaps the best conduit for social mobility.

Profile: the Resolution Foundation, suddenly in high demand as a critic of tax credit cuts

Led by former Treasury officials, this think tank has placed itself at the heart of the argument about how to help the low-paid.