11am LeftWatch: Three unions have given £25 million to Labour – and have now secured more than 100 parliamentary candidacies

10.30pm WATCH: Jeremy Hunt talks about the Conservatives' Technology Manifesto

ToryDiary: Should David Cameron be more angry about Labour failures and failings?

Also on ToryDiary: Coulson and Hilton join forces as Tory machine prepares for final lap

Yousuf Miah on Platform: The system of student visas needs a complete overhaul

LeftWatch: Treasury Minister claims there would be "no new tax rises" if Labour were re-elected

Seats and Candidates: Victoria Ayling in Great Grimsby ditches the Soap Box in favour of a Fish Box

Glyn Gaskarth in Local Government: A strategy for reducing the power of quangos

Also in Local Government: Who would Lib Dem councillors favour in a hung Parliament?

WATCH: Sajid Javid, the recently selected candidate for Bromsgrove, introduces himself and sets out his stall to the electorate

David Cameron to meet Nicolas Sarkozy in London today

"French President Nicolas Sarkozy will hold separate talks in London later with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Conservative leader David Cameron… Mr Sarkozy is expected to examine the Tory leader's position on key issues in the event of a change of UK government in the general election. European defence is likely to be high on the agenda during their talks. The French president and the Conservative leader last met in 2008." – BBC

"Mr Sarkozy's officials and senior party colleagues are keen to establish a dialogue with Mr Cameron's team to find out where they stand on financial regulation, defence and the EU, and to explore the potential for co-operation. A speech by Mr Cameron late last year, in which he abandoned a promised referendum on the Lisbon treaty and relegated as a priority his demand for a repatriation of powers from the EU, has helped ease, though not erase, French fears that Mr Cameron is a Eurosceptic ideologue bent on picking a fight with the EU." – FT

YouGov daily tracker has 3% Tory lead – The Sun | Last night's ToryDiary

Theresa Villiers: Labour have betrayed our vision of high speed rail

"The owners of 440 homes face having their properties demolished to make way for the first stage of a 250mph rail line from London to Birmingham and northern England… Lord Adonis unveiled a detailed blueprint for the line as far as Birmingham and then outlined proposals for two lines further north… But Theresa Villiers, his Tory shadow, poured scorn on the plans. “Labour have betrayed the vision we set out three years ago for high speed rail. In leaving out Heathrow and setting out plans that give no firm guarantees north of the Midlands, Labour’s plans are flawed both by lack of ambition and undermined by their inability to grasp the basic truth that high speed rail should an alternative to a third runway not an addition to it," she said. " – Daily Telegraph

> Theresa Villiers MP on Platform yesterday: Conservatives started – and continue to lead – the debate on high speed rail on which Labour's vision is misguided and unambitious

Tories promise superfast broadband

"The Conservatives have launched a technology manifesto that aims to increase broadband speeds and improve access to government data as the government's digital economy bill moves quickly through parliament. The manifesto pulls together a number of technology proposals that the Conservatives have floated in the runup to the general election, including promising superfast broadband connections of 100Mbps to most Britons and opening up data on contracts and public sector salaries." – The Guardian

> Stephan Shakespeare on CentreRight yesterday welcomed the commitment to a Right to Government Data in the Conservatives' technology manifesto

Tories insist that City has faith in Osborne – City AM

Tories boycott "blatantly political" Commons inquiry into Ashcroft peerage

"A Westminster inquiry into the row over Lord Ashcroft's peerage was thrown into turmoil when the Tory MPs on the committee walked out and said they were boycotting it permanently. In what is understood to be an unprecedented move, Conservative members have withdrawn from the public administration select committee, some following discussions with the party whips." – The Guardian

Black Tory candidate Loanna Morrison defends saying that "Britain is full"

"I was just articulating what a lot of people have been telling me on the doorstep, a lot of them minorities," she says of the piece which ran on the website Conservativehome. "People say the country just doesn't need any more immigrants. White voters tell me I can say the things they can't. I tell them that I am as annoyed as anyone else." – The Guardian

> Loanna Morrison on Platform: It is Labour's failure to control immigration and its obsession with promoting "multiculturalism" that has allowed the BNP to re-emerge

Ministers rule out ban on BNP teachers – The Guardian

David Cameron re-iterates promise to ban Islamic extremists from Britain

"A Conservative government would ban extremist Islamist groups, refuse visas to hate preachers and insist that universities identify and root out radicals promoting violence, antisemitism and other racial intolerance on campus… He said recent visitors to Britain such as Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the influential Egyptian cleric who supports suicide bombing against Israeli targets, and Ibrahim Moussawi, Hizbollah's "media relations officer", would never again be allowed into the country. He also confirmed that a Tory government would ban the virulently anti-Zionist group Hizb-ut-Tahrir." – Jewish Chronicle

Lib Dems warn Clegg against a deal with the Tories

"Nick Clegg is being warned that an attempt to strike a formal deal with a minority Tory government after the next election risks dividing the Liberal Democrats. At his party’s spring conference, which begins in Birmingham today, Mr Clegg will once more outline policies that he said would form the basis for negotiations if the Lib Dems held the balance of power in a hung Parliament. Senior party figures, including some close to the leadership, have told The Times, however, of concern over how far he could carry the party into an alliance with David Cameron." – The Times

"Labour will today warn 300,000 wavering voters who are tempted to support the Liberal Democrats that they could let David Cameron into Downing Street by the back door. Labour strategists have identified this key group of swing voters in 28 Labour-Conservative marginal seats. They will be bombarded with personalised letters this weekend appealing to them to support the progressive cause by voting Labour to keep the Tories out." – The Independent

Nick Clegg is also interviewed in today's Economist

> Yesterday's LeftWatch: Nick Clegg unveils four demands for a post-election deal in a hung Parliament – as he praises Margaret Thatcher and claims Lord Tebbit's support for his tax policy

Chris Grayling: The tragic David Askew case underlines the need for a proper zero tolerance policy

“Just how many of these tragic cases are we going to have to see
before this government and the police adopt a proper zero tolerance
approach to antisocial behaviour? We need to get tough with trouble
makers, punish them when they offend and not let them get away with
it." – Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling quoted in the Daily Telegraph

How useful is the political spouse on the campaign trail?

"While Sarah Brown and Samantha Cameron are both likeable women and potentially more popular than their husbands, it is questionable how useful their support will actually turn out to be. It may well suggest to the public a lack of self-confidence by a party leader to make his wife campaign on his behalf. None of our most successful prime ministers – Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee, Harold Macmillan, Margaret Thatcher, even Tony Blair – have resorted to this tactic." – Alexander Chancellor in The Guardian

> Yesterday's ToryDiary: Samantha Cameron breaks her silence with first interview as she prepares to hit the election campaign trail

Martin Wolf: Both sides deserve to lose the election

"At a time of crisis, the UK has to choose between a government about which it knows far too much and an opposition about which it knows far too little. Neither side is convincing, given not just the scale but also the complexity of the challenge that lies ahead. But governments always lose elections. This one deserves to do so." – Martin Wolf in the FT

Labour peer Baroness Uddin could face charges over expenses – Sky News

And finally… Porn film director selected as Lib Dem candidate

"The Liberal Democrats have selected a pornographic film-maker as their parliamentary candidate for Gravesham in Kent. Anna Arrowsmith, who is the managing director of Easy on the Eye Productions, was selected by constituency members on Wednesday evening. Mrs Arrowsmith, who works under the pseudonym of Anna Span, was the only Lib Dem candidate presented to the constituency for selection… A spokesman for Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, said yesterday: “Mrs Arrowsmith’s job isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, but it is not illegal and we welcome and respect people from different backgrounds.” – The Times

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary and visit PoliticsHome.com for breaking political news and views throughout the day.

11.15am Parliament: Sir Patrick Cormack calls for large shops to be forced to close on Remembrance Sunday

ToryDiary: Samantha Cameron breaks her silence with first interview as she prepares to hit the election campaign trail

Theresa Villiers MP on Platform: Conservatives started – and continue to lead – the debate on high speed rail on which Labour's vision is misguided and unambitious

LeftWatch: Nick Clegg unveils four demands for a post-election deal in a hung Parliament – as he praises Margaret Thatcher and claims Lord Tebbit's support for his tax policy

Seats and Candidates: Labour's sole remaining Old Etonian to quit the Commons

Local Government: Rossendale and Ryedale freeze Council Tax

ThinkTankCentral: The Conservative Environment Network is launched

CentreRight: The launch of the CEN is the next step in a centuries-old tradition of Conservatives caring for the environment

WATCH: Lord Guthrie hits back at Labour over cheap "They're all Tories" jibe

Andrew Lansley says the time for cross-party talks on social care is over as Labour moots 10% death tax

"Andy Burnham, the health secretary, announced he is considering three options to pay for a new "national care service" including a progressive estate levy. But the first cross-party debate on the issue, where he had spoken, ended in acrimony with the Conservatives rejecting overtures from both Labour and the Liberal Democrats to resume consensus talks over how to provide for the aged… Tory health spokesman Andrew Lansley said: "We have had 13 years of a Labour government with absolutely no reform or help for elderly people. The time for talking is over. Each party should set out their policies and let the people decide in the general election which is the best approach. The choice is clear: five more years of Gordon Brown dithering over helping older people or real reform under the Conservatives." – Guardian

"Millions of middle income families are facing a 10 per cent 'death tax' levy to pay for social care of the elderly. Health Secretary Andy Burnham yesterday said he wanted to see those with bigger houses pay more to provide for the old. Up to 17million families would be forced to pay the tax – whether or not their loved one had required any care. A 10 per cent tax raid would leave the relatives of middle income earners with estates worth £500,000 with a £50,000 bill when their relatives die. This would be on top of an inheritance tax bill of £70,000." – Daily Mail

Chris Grayling says Labour will cut uniformed police numbers

"The Conservatives say ministers are planning to reduce the number of front-line police, despite a pledge to protect them from spending cuts. A Home Office study of nine forces has concluded that savings could be made by using more civilian staff… The Tories say that any increase in civilian staff would automatically imply a reduction in uniformed officers because the government has promised merely to maintain current spending, not increase it." – BBC

Chris Grayling, the shadow home secretary, said: "The hypocrisy of this Government is just breathtaking. They have made a deliberate point of claiming in their pre-election campaign that they will retain the current number of uniformed police officers. Now it turns out that they have been privately working on plans that will lead to big reductions in the number of police officers." – Daily Telegraph

The City would prefer Ken Clarke as Chancellor to George Osborne  

"Clarke would make a better chancellor than George Osborne, according to our panel of City A.M. readers. Clarke, who held the job between 1993 and 1997 and is now shadow business secretary, topped the vote with 36 per cent and pushed Osborne – the official shadow chancellor – into second place. The City A.M./PHI Panel, which has been specially recruited to represent a cross-section of London’s financial and business community, were asked to pick their top choice from a list of six possible candidates for chancellor." – City AM

…but Bernard Ingham is convinced

"George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, is not a schoolboy. He may sound and even look like a lower sixth former but he is going on 39. He has been Shadow Chancellor for nearly five years after a short spell as Shadow Chief Secretary whose job is to learn about public expenditure control. He has also shadowed the Economic Secretary in the Treasury and has had experience of employment issues as Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary. If anyone has served an apprenticeship to the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer, he has. What is more, Osborne has grasped certain basic truths, which elude our tragically deluded Prime Minister, if not his Chancellor." – Bernard Ingham in the Yorkshire Post

Michael Gove announces "hitlist" of schools where management would be changed within 100 days of taking office

"Last night Michael Gove, the Tory education spokesman, announced a “hitlist” of 75 primary and secondary schools that an Ofsted report showed to have been in special measures for more than a year. He promised that those running these schools would be removed in the first 100 days of a Tory government with the aim of their being reopened next year as academies. Providers of academies are said to be poring over the list to decide which schools they want to take over. The Conservatives insist that this would be only the “first tranche” of decentralising reforms." – The Times

…as he rails at how Whitehall targets skew headteachers' priorities

"The grim truth about Labour’s education policy was laid bare yesterday after it emerged the number of schools branded “inadequate” more than doubled in just six months. Ofsted inspectors classed one in 10 in the lowest category last autumn compared to one in 25 in the previous inspection. And the number of “outstanding” state schools in England plummeted, from 19 per cent to 9 per cent… Conservative Shadow Education Secretary Michael Gove said the culture of Government-set targets was “skewing” headteachers’ priorities." – Daily Express

Cameron's fury at Labour MPs' "Tory" jibe at military top brass

"Fury erupted in the Commons yesterday as Labour MPs attacked military heroes for criticising the PM. Angry David Cameron demanded an apology following claims that top brass spoke out on war budgets "because they are Tories". Banging his papers on the dispatch box, the Tory chief thundered: "Oh, it's because they are Tories, is it? "That is what this tribalist, divisive Government thinks of people who serve our country. It is a disgraceful slur." – The Sun

> Yesterday's ToryDiary on PMQs

Benedict Brogan: The Conservatives must show the killer instinct that comes naturally to
Labour

"The Tories need to stop wondering in private about the unfairness of
the media or the brutishness of Peter Mandelson. They need to come out
and fight fire with fire, show the kind of ruthless killer instinct
that comes naturally to Labour. But rather than match Mr Brown's
dishonesty, they need only remind us every minute of every day why,
when he tells us that "for better or for worse, with me: what you see
is what you get", what we see is truly terrible, and far, far worse
than any alternative." – Benedict Brogan in the Daily Telegraph

March 24th Budget signals May 6th election

"Gordon Brown has given the clearest indication so far that he has decided on a 6 May election, revealing that the Government will set out what could be its last Budget just two weeks before he formally asks the Queen to dissolve Parliament. In a politically charged speech on the economy yesterday, made in the City of London, the Prime Minster confirmed that the Budget will be held on 24 March. It means that a snap election in April, which ministers had warned until recently could not be discounted, is now extremely unlikely." – The Independent

"Now Gordon Brown has finally stopped dithering and announced a budget date he should follow suit and announce a date for the election. Of course, given the stranglehold the union barons have on the party he may be waiting on Charlie Whelan to give him the green light on a date." – Party chairman Eric Pickles MP quoted in The Scotsman

Latest YouGov poll has Tory lead at 5% – The Sun | Last night's ToryDiary

Are we heading towards a hung parliament, and how would it work? – The Independent

Three Labour MPs and Tory peer due in court today on expenses charges – BBC

A fifth Labour MP is being investigated over expenses - Daily Telegraph

And finally… Brown turned down for Match of the Day 2 appearance

"Gordon Brown asked to be a guest on Match Of The Day 2 – only for the BBC to give the idea the boot, it was revealed yesterday. The PM scored a spectacular own goal when the BBC2 show's team dismissed the idea as "inappropriate". They ruled it was too close to a General Election and that the Beeb had to maintain impartiality. Match Of The Day fan Mr Brown had hoped to talk about England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup." – The Sun

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary and visit PoliticsHome.com for breaking political news and views throughout the day.

10.15am Latest Seats and Candidates news:

• Scott Seaman-Digby selected for Hayes and Harlington
• Belinda Hacking selected for Dunfermline and West Fife

ToryDiary: Should the Tories be the party of reassurance or rescue?

Alan Duncan MP on Platform: How a Conservative Government would not only reform prisons but also address the underlying causes of our broken society which lead people to offend in the first place

Local government: Warning that Laming proposal could put more children at risk

Michelle Donelan on Seats and candidates: Labour's Housing Minister may think repossession can be the best option but in standing against him I want to highlight Conservative plans to encourage home ownership

Neil O'Brien on CentreRight proposes 'The Renewal of Government':

• We need to phase out national pay bargaining…
• We should end automatic annual promotion up national salary scales…
• We must make it possible to remove under-performing workers…
• We should stop loading secondary objectives onto public services…
• We need to improve industrial relations in the public services…
• We need to reform public sector pensions…
• We should review the growth of management positions…

Tories are 4% and 8% ahead in two new polls – Yesterday evening's ToryDiary

""We have had a bit of a battering in the past few weeks but we hope the polls have now bottomed out," one Tory source said last night. The Tories point out that the three polls of marginals suggest they would have more MPs than Labour, allowing David Cameron to head a minority government, and do not measure their battle with the Liberal Democrats in their other target seats. Feedback from the front line is said to give Tory officials cautious optimism for winning an overall majority." – Independent

William Hague confirms that a Conservative government wants to avoid confrontation with the EU

"William Hague said on Tuesday that the Conservatives had made “a strategic decision” not to pick a fight with Europe if they won the election, insisting that a Tory government would be “highly active and activist in European affairs from day one”. The UK shadow foreign secretary said the priority was to sort out Britain’s fiscal crisis, which he claimed had diminished the country’s standing in the world, adding: “We have enough on our hands without an instant confrontation with the EU.”" – FT

"Chris Bryant, Europe minister, claimed Mr Cameron had “failed to
change the DNA” of his party and that his MPs were “still the same old
Europhobic, dogma-driven obsessives that they have always been”…
“Cameron is not in charge of his own destiny in relation to Europe but
in hock to his backbenchers,” Mr Bryant said in a speech to Progress,
the centre-left pressure group. “Even if they had a majority of 60 –
which looks very unlikely – there are at least 30 Tories who would
scupper any vaguely sensible policy on Europe.” – FT

"Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has raised the prospect of new EU treaty only months after the Lisbon Treaty took force. Mrs Merkel said that a new EU accord would be required to create a new European Monetary Fund able to bail out crisis-hit members of the euro like Greece." – Telegraph | Guardian leader

Conservatives promise new National Security Council will end blight of 'sofa government' – Telegraph

Hague: Ashcroft has never tried to influence Tory policy

"“The really important point is that he, and others like him, the donors to the party, have never in all my experience tried to influence a policy,” Mr Hague said. “I’ve never in the more than 10 years that I’ve know him found him trying to change a policy.” He refused to be drawn further on the matter, saying: “I’m not going into all of that again.”" – William Hague quoted in the FT

In an interview for The Express Mr Hague warns that Britain will be "ruined" if Brown stays in power.

The contract between the generations is broken – David Willetts in The Telegraph

Patrick Cormack MP raises questions about Tory-UUP alliance – Guardian

David Cameron's environmentalism will succeed where Labour's failed – Ben Caldecott and Gavin Dick in The Telegraph

Sir Trevor McDonald to make hour-long, behind-the-scenes programme about David Cameron

"Sir Trevor McDonald is preparing to gain unprecedented access to the life of David Cameron as he works to uncover the public and private man who hopes to lead the next Government… Sir Trevor will follow the Conservative leader over the coming days and observe the politician in his day-to-day activities in the run-up to the General Election." – STV

Home Secretary attacks Chris Grayling's new crime statistics

"The home secretary, Alan Johnson, today tried to escalate the political row over "broken Britain" by urging the UK Statistics Authority to censure the Tories for new claims that violent crime has risen since Labour came to power. Johnson dismissed unpublished Conservative-commissioned calculations by the House of Commons library showing violent crime has risen by 44% since 1997 as a "concocted deception"." – Guardian

> Yesterday's ToryDiary: Chris Grayling vindicated as independent evaluation concludes violent crime has risen by 44% under Labour

"Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, claimed the Tory leader was more interested in civil liberties than catching and punishing offenders. He criticised Conservative positions on the DNA database and CCTV cameras and joked that prisoners would be more likely to back the Conservatives if they had the vote." – Telegraph

Jonathan Freedland: The Tories haven't really changed

"For all the new packaging, the Conservatives are the "same old Tories" after all – from the expected 50 Tory MPs in the next parliament to be drawn from the City or the financial services industry all the way to the "no entry" signs on country estates their families have owned for more than 500 years." – Jonathan Freedland in The Guardian

Tories think that the job of changing their party’s image is complete. It isn’t — and complacency could be fatal – Daniel Finkelstein in The Times

Brown set to warn economic 'storm' is not yet over – BBC

Reacting to a new warning from a rating agency that progress on the deficit needed to be more rapid, George Osborne said: “Here is the clearest possible warning from a credit rating agency that the government’s plan is not enough to protect Britain’s credit rating. The red light is flashing over the British economy.” Quoted in City AM.

Dyson's Tory innovation plans are 'too narrow' says CBI – Telegraph

Public sector pay has risen 15% more than private since Labour came to power – Daily Mail

And yet… Public sector staff are striking fifteen times more than those in the private sector

And finally… Craig Brown in The Daily Mail ridicules George Osborne's evasive answers to questions.

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary and visit PoliticsHome.com for breaking political news and views throughout the day.

ToryDiary: Chris Grayling vindicated as independent evaluation concludes violent crime has risen by 44% under Labour

Michael Gove on Platform: The Conservative plan to improve school standards

Local government: The Government's banal money saving tips – from Manchester and Lewisham council leaders and a look at entryism of Islamic extremists into Tower Hamlets Council via the Tower Hamlets Labour Party

LeftWatch: 'Labour has betrayed Jamie Bulger's mum' says The Sun

Stephan Shakespeare on CentreRight: This election is about the economy

Sally McNamara on CentreRight: Unknown EU foreign minister wants her own airplane now

Tories 5% and 7% in two new national polls and on course for a majority in marginals poll

Yesterday evening's ToryDiary

61% of voters say that they don't have faith in any of the three main parties' policies on immigration – Express

> Last week's ToryDiary: CCHQ approves strong immigration message for campaigning in marginal seats

David Cameron says Tories no longer reliant on big donors like Lord Ashcroft

"I have sorted out the funding of the Conservative Party. I have made it a lot less reliant on a few wealthy people. I've broadened its base. I've paid off loans, including a very large loan to Michael Ashcroft so the party is not in his debt one piece." – David Cameron quoted by the BBC (includes video)

Lord Ashcroft's interests in ConservativeHome and other media organisations – Guardian

Ken Clarke says Cameron's shadow cabinet does not make many decisions

"When asked whether Mr Cameron makes decisions in shadow cabinet, Mr Clarke replied: 'Not a lot.' He added: 'They keep the Cabinet informed and the things that come to Cabinet you discuss are things that just need to be resolved at that level.'" – Daily Mail

Ex-President Bush in Tory phone plea on NI devolution

"Ex-US President George W Bush has asked David Cameron to try to get the Ulster Unionists to back devolution of justice and policing in Northern Ireland. The NI Assembly is due to vote on the transfer of the powers from Westminster, a day after the UUP confirmed it would reject it. The Conservatives have an electoral pact with the UUP, prompting Mr Bush's call to Tory leader Mr Cameron." – BBC

"Not the least of the entertainments* between now and polling day will be seeing how the Guardian manage to keep up their exhausting warnings of the dire consequences that will inevitably follow any Conservative victory. Nothing but nothing will be too trivial for the paper and that's fine: free press and all that… Today's effort is only marginally less ridiculous. Apparently the Northern Ireland "peace process" will be wrecked if the Tories get in…" – Alex Massie in The Spectator

> Yesterday on CentreRight, Marc Glendening noted that The Guardian faces financial ruin if the Conservatives win

Unions threaten to "unleash hell" on incoming Tory government

"Britain is in the grip of a wave of militancy by millions of public sector workers as unions threaten to 'unleash hell' on an incoming Conservative government. Alarming figures reveal the number of days lost to strike action in the public sector is now 15 times higher than in the private sector, prompting concerns about the growing readiness of union leaders to flex their muscles. These figures are particularly startling as it is private sector workers that have so far borne the brunt of the recession, taking the vast majority of pay cuts, pay freezes and redundancies." – Daily Mail

Rachel Sylvester uses her Times column to examine Labour's reliance on the unions: "Like Lord Ashcroft, Unite has been generous financially, contributing £3.6 million to Labour last year, nearly a quarter of the total donations the party received. Since March 2007 it has given more than £11 million. Two years ago Labour was able to get its accounts signed off and avert bankruptcy only by getting a written guarantee from Unite that it would continue to provide significant funding. It has been there for the party in its darkest days, just as Lord Ashcroft was for the Tories."

> Yesterday's LeftWatch: No, Lord Mandelson, the unions have you by the balls

Conservative-endorsed report calls for science boost

"The profile of science in the UK must be raised to help diversify the economy and boost growth, a report endorsed by the Conservatives has urged. The report's author, entrepreneur Sir James Dyson, called for more support for science teachers and tax breaks for high-tech firms to conduct research." – BBC

Michael Gove's plans for 'socially comprehensive' schools are simply a way to offer public funds to ailing private schools – Melissa Benn in The Guardian

Tories will change name of Wales Office to Welsh Office – Western Mail

And finally… Grant Shapps' fourth child was born on Twitter… except it wasn't

"Welwyn Hatfield MP Grant Shapps’ phone was red-hot last week, with well-wishers keen to join in the celebrations on the birth of his and wife Belinda’s fourth child. However, there was one small but rather vital thing missing – a baby…" – Read how a Tweet from Grant Shapps created a welter of good wishes for his 'fourth child'…

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary and visit PoliticsHome.com for breaking political news and views throughout the day.

Like many I suspect, maybe even the silent majority, I am appalled by the media circus surrounding the allegations against Jon Venables. Let’s be quite clear; our legal system is based on the presumption of innocence, not guilt. This is a central tenant of a fair legal system in a democracy; painful though it maybe mass publicity of the allegations against Venables would prejudice a trial. One caller to a phone-in on the BBC’s Radio 5 Live expressed this by the saying they would not presume guilt in a case where the defendant was anonymously but if they knew it was Venables they would presume guilt.

In this situation governments exist not to appease victims nor the mass media nor even the majority of public opinion. They exist to be objective; to raise above the fray and to stay true to the values that underpin civilisation even if that means defying the majority and protecting a barbarous individual. While the pain of the victims is understandable it is not the thing that should be appeased by a sitting government. So, while on a personal level we may empathise and even want to act on this that is not the right response of government ministers and the government as a whole who cannot indulge the luxury of personal feeling in a situation like this; in that vein I fully support Jack Straw’s decision to keep quiet about the circumstances of Venables rearrest.

Straw is right because as illustrated above Venables would not be guaranteed an impartial jury were the circumstances released and given that the chances of a successful prosecution would collapse, if guilt can be proven. Venables would then be free and those clamouring for information would have to suffer the indignation, if he were to offend again, that it was paradoxically their demand to know that prevented him being once again imprisoned and left him at large.  

The media is already playing a dangerous game with its speculation. In this atmosphere Straw would be reckless in the extreme to release more information. It’s going to be tough but Straw deserves our support…

11.15am LeftWatch: Ed Balls asks first-time voters: How did you vote at the last general election?

10.15am Charlie Elphicke on CentreRight: Conservatives and hi-tech campaigning

10am Seats and Candidates: Gareth McKeever reports on how campaigning is
continuing apace in Westmorland and Lonsdale after his campaign office
was burnt to the ground in a suspected arson attack

ToryDiary: The CBI and IoD back the Conservatives on early spending cuts

Also on ToryDiary: Boris Johnson's capitivating belief in human progress

LeftWatch: No, Lord Mandelson, the unions have you by the balls and Labour pours another £11bn of poison into the wells

Peter Snowdon on Platform: The Conservatives may have come
back from the brink of annihilation – but the party now faces the
closest election battle in decades

Local government: Mark Wallace of the Taxpayers Alliance suggests a rewards scheme for council staff who some up with efficiency saving ideas

Also on Local government: Cllr David Meikle, a Conservative councillor on Glasgow City Council, reports on the resignation of the Labour council leader Steven Purcell follow a storm of allegations about chemical dependency and more

Tories offer to take private schools into state system

 "The Conservatives yesterday vowed to reduce the number of private schools by offering them a route into the state system. A David Cameron government would create a new breed of state-funded independent school with freedom to vary the national curriculum as well as teachers' pay and conditions." – Daily Mail

"Schools that opt to leave the Local Authority umbrella will be free in virtually every other respect, says Gove. “They will not be bound by the national curriculum, they will be free to pay good teachers more, they will be free to hire their own architects and builders, free to choose their own IT, free to shape pay and conditions in interest of their staff.” But the government will continue to have control in one important respect: admissions. “They won’t be free to select by ability,” says Gove “They will have to be comprehensive.”" – Michael Gove is interviewed for City AM

City AM's Editor describes Mr Gove as "an unusually gifted and principled politician."

A leader in The Times worries about Michael Gove's plans to 'traditionalise' the curriculum and give schools more freedoms 

> Saturday's ToryDiary: Gove will invite best minds to draw up a traditionalist core curriculum for Britain's schools

Conservatives and Labour deny rumours of 'VAT on food' – Express

Liam Fox says Brown's £100m plan to buy 200 new armoured vehicles for troops in Afghanistan falls short of previous commitment to buy 400 – FT

"Dr Fox’s comments came as Conservatives also attacked Mr Brown’s visit to frontline troops, with former Tory prime minister Sir John Major claiming Mr Brown used the military as a ‘party political prop’.
‘To use our soldiers as a cynically timed pre-election backdrop is profoundly unbecoming conduct for a prime minister,’ he said." – Metro | ITN report

As a result of Brown's malfeasance, men have died who ought to have lived – Bruce Anderson in The Independent

Chris Grayling embarrassed by questions about his future

"Chris Grayling, the shadow home secretary, was forced to admit that, unlike some of his colleagues, he had not been told by Mr Cameron that he would stay in his post if the Conservatives won the election. There has been speculation that Michael Gove, the shadow schools secretary who is close to Mr Cameron, could be given the job in a Tory government. Asked on Sky News why Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary, had been guaranteed a job, when he had not, Mr Grayling insisted that the defence post was an important one, before looking embarrassed when it was pointed out that the Home Office was one of the great offices of state." – Telegraph

ConservativeHome comment: "More than two years ago David Cameron told the Today programme that Andrew Lansley would be his Secretary of State for Health. That very unusual commitment set a dangerous precedent and Mr Cameron has since given other commitments to other frontbenchers. The commitments to the likes of Osborne, Hague, Gove, Fox and Lansley have simultaneously undermined the likes of Chris Grayling (my top choice as Tory attack dog). Mr Cameron's desire to see individual frontbenchers master their briefs is a good one but it is best left unspoken."

Philip Johnstone: David Cameron will have to finally address English resentment over devolution

"Ever since Scottish and Welsh devolution in 1998, the absence of England from the constitutional settlement has been a grotesque omission." – Telegraph

Tories red-faced after 'Samantha for Labour' gaffe – Guardian | Saturday evening's ToryDiary

Meet Michael Farmer, the Tories' £2.3 donor – Telegraph

Liberal Democrats are willing to take seats in either a Tory or Labour Cabinet

"Until now, the Liberal Democrats had indicated that they would be unlikely to take part in a formal alliance with another party, suggesting that a hung parliament would result in a minority government. But in an apparent change of tack, Vince Cable, the deputy leader, said that he would even be willing to serve as a cabinet minister in an alliance government." – Telegraph

> Saturday's LeftWatch: Clegg fears Liberal Democrats will split if he backs minority Tory government

"I would have given my arm and leg to be part of a three-way leaders' debate" – Charles Kennedy talks to the BBC about the massive opportunity that election debates have given to the Liberal Democrats

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary and visit PoliticsHome.com for breaking political news and views throughout the day.

Some spoof Conservative posters courtesy of Andy Barefoot and my words:

I posted a piece on LabourList which linked to The Guardian’s story about the Conservatives links to the Young Britons Foundation using the term The Guardian used in their story to describe the YBF; ‘madrasa’. Immediately I was accused of ‘inverted racism’:

Meanwhile I find it a shame that you have chosen, along with the Guardian to use the McBrideesq language. Perhaps the use of Madrasa, despite years taking the asian communities vote for granted, will sound scary. Inverted racism is never pretty especially from someone who then proclaims to be progressive.

Shame on you.

No doubt the commenter also thinks the numerous people who re-tweeted the story using The Guardian’s language are ‘inverted racists’ as are the editors of Liberal Conspiracy who similarly use the term in their link to the story. Of course, none of the people involved are racists; ‘inverted’ or otherwise but the very fact the accusation was made highlights a problem: in some instances, ‘political correctness’ has become not about protecting the innocent but punishing the wicked and stigmatising views as ‘illegitimate’ and beyond the pale. In other words, free speech and free expression is curtailed and genuine prejudice is mixed-up with semantic debates about the ‘prejorative’ use of words.

Thus it becomes the negation of the sentiment that it intends to convey and becomes not protection but a weapon. This degrades the progressive lefts ability to fight genuine prejudice because as the New Statesman says of Greet Wilders:

It is precisely when people hear what Wilders has to say that they can draw the conclusion that he is crude and loathsome.

In other words, free speech is one of the strongest weapons we have in our armoury. Defending it, even when it is for people we (rightly) consider ‘loathsome’, is the most important thing the left can do.  Drawing-up lists of prescribed words and charges of ‘inverted racism’ only weaken the cause and strengthen genuine prejeudice.

UPDATE: Obviously, the commenter lacks a sense of irony. They have posted this:

As for driving down wages – Labour has done that by not handling immigration correctly. When I get my car washed do I go to someone british? No. If I want a plumber who do I call? If we want crops collecting do we contact the job centre? No.

It has to be said that the news that Iceland’s voters have rejected the idea of repaying Iceland’s debt to Britain and the Netherlands is not exactly shocking. The result was overwhelming:

With about 98 percent of the votes counted Sunday, roughly 93 percent of voters said no to the plan, in the first public referendum ever held on any subject in Iceland. Less than 2 percent voted yes, and the rest of the votes were invalid.

However, despite the ‘no’ vote the Icelandic government will still repay the money. I have nothing but sympathy for the people of Iceland however who, ultimately, are being asked to repay a debt that is not their fault. In that vein; Britain’s strongarming of the Icelandic government is unacceptable and the right-wing Spectators celebration of the result is hypocritical considering it is the actions of bankers it usually lauds that has put Iceland in  this position.

The reaction of the right-wing is conditioned by the current occupant of Number 10 being from the Labour Party;were David Cameron in the hot-seat they would settle for no less than a full-scale invasion and annexation of Iceland. So, to answer the question posed by the House of Twits, should Iceland be forced to repay?

Of course, most people will say that yes Iceland should be forced to repay a debt caused by the collapse of an Icelandic bank. However,  is it really right to collectively punish an entire populace for the mis-deeds of those at the top and for a failure of regulation? Surely the answer has to be no. What really needs to be addressed is the lack of international protection and regulation that protects customers when banks like Icesave collapse.

What really needs to be addressed is the weakness of governments when it comes to standing up against the markets and this is something that Britain’s government is just as guilty of as Iceland’s. The debt Iceland owes represents nearly 40% of Iceland’s GDP; demands for repayment are punitive and therefore should be rejected. It is not right to cripple a nation because of the actions of its financial elites.

11am ToryDiary: It's time to stop apologising for being Conservative

9.15am Seats and candidates: John Bercow doesn't deserve Tories' automatic support, says increasingly independent Tebbit

LeftWatch: Guess what? The unions are spending more in the marginals than the Conservatives

Philip Booth on Platform: Why I have reservations about the "Nudge" philosophy

"No one is ever beyond the pale"; Melanchthon reflects on Jon Venables

Seats and candidates: Twenty good reasons to vote Conservative… in Halifax

Glyn Gaskarth on Local government: Eliminate the tiers but keep the same number of councillors

WATCH:

• Alex Salmond talks to Channel 4 News after launching the SNP's General Election campaign
• Boris Johnson shakes hands with a very large pint of London Pride

 Tory lead at 2%, 5% and 9% in two Sunday newspaper polls

> Yesterday evening's ToryDiary summarises the three polls

Michael Dobbs offers sound advice to the Tory leadership: "Above all,
the Tories must not panic. Leave that for Labour. If Cameron and his
Conservatives show belief in themselves, the country will, too." – The Sunday Telegraph

Did Samantha Cameron vote Labour?

Perhaps, says the Mail on Sunday; no, no, no says CCHQ and the original source, Ed Vaizey MP.

Cameron, Clarke, Hague, Gove and Hunt will be five main faces of Tory election effort

"The Tories deny that Mr Osborne or Mr Grayling have been snubbed. They say Mr Osborne will concentrate on his behind-the-scenes role as the Tories’ Election mastermind and will make occasional public appearances. However, privately, they admit that Mr Osborne gets low ratings in confidential Conservative polls and was damaged by reports of how he was entertained on Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska’s yacht in Corfu." – Mail on Sunday

The Sunday Telegraph describes Ken Clarke as the Tories' "secret weapon" as he becomes central to the Conservative Party's election campaign.

Tory candidates able to use immigration in election leaflets – The Sunday Express reports on Friday's ConservativeHome exclusive

Tory adviser, Sir Alan Budd, says Cameron cannot avoid raising taxes – Observer

How will David Cameron keep the lights on?

Neither of the main parties seems to have any idea how we are to meet the looming shortfall in power, warns Christopher Booker in The Sunday Telegraph

Lord Ashcroft plans to reinvent himself as a media tycoon – The Sunday Times

The Independent on Sunday speculates at the divisions within Team Cameron about Lord Ashcroft.

Nadine Dorries attacks Mark Oaten for taking £3,700 for appearing in Tower Block of Commons

"Shame on him. He was paid almost £1,000 per episode to cry and emote whilst living in the home of someone who lived on £150 per week." – Nadine Dorries' blog | Also see News of the World

David Cameron's body language more attractive than Gordon Brown's – The Sunday Telegraph

John Major accuses Gordon Brown of using armed forces as political props

"Gordon Brown was embroiled in a furious row when former prime minister John Major accused him of using British troops as a "party political prop" on a surprise visit to thank soldiers in Afghanistan. Major condemned Brown's decision and said he had orchestrated a "cynically-timed political stunt"." – Observer

WATCH Sky report of Brown's visit to Afghanistan | Yesterday's attack by Defence chiefs on Brown's underfunding of the military

Liberal Democrats would work with Labour but not Brown – The Sunday Times

'Try something new,' Nick Clegg tells Sunday Express readers.

And finally… On your bike, minister

"The Conservatives plan to tell their own frontbenchers to ‘Get on your bike’ under plans to slash the ministerial chauffeur budget if they win the General Election. In an echo of the tough message given to the unemployed by former Tory Minister Norman Tebbit in the Eighties, the Conservatives will ‘expect’ Ministers to cycle around Westminster in order to help cut the Ministerial car fleet by a third." – Mail on Sunday

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary and visit PoliticsHome.com for breaking political news and views throughout the day.