Lord Ashcroft: My public sector pay poll finds large majorities for lifting the cap

Most Labour voters think their party should support strike action if pay demands are not met, and most voters think private sector wages are higher.

Liam Booth-Smith: The lifting of the public sector pay cap is bad policy and worse politics

Ministers should remain focused on delivering on their promise to cut the deficit, even if it means paying the iron price to do so.

Public sector payback time

Its awards consume roughly a quarter of public spending. It is hard to see where the tax hikes or spending scaleback to fund them will come from if the Chancellor sticks to his guns.

Row over university pay arises because we expect them to be two things in one

Without America’s clear split between elite institutions and public service providers, vice-chancellors are caught between very different sets of expectations.

Howard Flight: So who’s to blame for our productivity problems? Step forward, Gordon Brown

Between 1997 and 2005, public sector spending rose from £336 billion to £517 billion a year. But its output has increased little, so its productivity has fallen dramatically.

Taxpayers are entitled to action over fat cat college pay

Claims by universities to be financially independent are nonsense.

Hugh Byrne: The NHS must do more to respect patients’ individual autonomy

Charlie Gard’s case highlights how the culture of the Health Service can make it deeply resistant to the legitimate wishes of patients.

Andrew Gimson’s PMQs sketch: Corbyn does May a good turn

By forcing the Prime Minister to talk about Economics for Beginners, the Leader of the Opposition has pushed her onto favourable ground.

James Frayne: No, lifting the pay cap isn’t a priority for voters. Ministers should follow the evidence.

Indicating higher taxes, pledging potentially massive costs on retired people and raiding middle class welfare all played in the election result.

Iain Duncan Smith: My message to these panic-stricken, self-indulgent Cabinet members. Pull yourselves together.

To save this country from the dangers of Corbynism requires us to keep our heads, hold our nerve, and be disciplined.

Richard Short: There is a way to lift the pay cap – without caving in to Labour’s plan and putting jobs at risk

We should look again at appreciating the added value that the public sector brings to the wealth of the economy – and lift the cap for low earners.

Market sentiment

Some Ministers and Conservative MPs are so spooked by Corbyn that they are in danger of losing their heads.

Retail – and why the Conservatives should turn their focus to how Corbyn would plunder your purse, wallet and savings

May has a campaign for the country. She must complement it, as best she can, with one for you and your family.

Lord Ashcroft: In the West Midlands, the heads of my Labour-background focus group battle with their hearts

“I just feel worried. I don’t know if I would a hundred per cent want to vote for the Conservatives, because still emotionally I’m attached to Labour.”

Andrew Laird: A new Conservative Government can show that fairness is the route to productivity

One place where there is unlikely to be any dithering is the West Midlands. The prospect of someone like Andy Street becoming mayor is hugely exciting.