ConservativeHome

ToryDiary:

• Michael Gove wants to reverse the decline and fall of the teaching of British history
• Cameron makes big promises on devolving power to citizens

Stephan Shakespeare on Platform has faith in David Cameron's vision of a post-bureaucratic age: "More people know the Conservative Party through [ConservativeHome's] pages than through the official party site. From David Cameron down, the party spends a little of every day right here. Yet this site is entirely independent. It criticises and annoys. It campaigns for some of their ideas, and against others. Occasionally it even insults them. And yet they cooperate, they write here, they answer our questions, they are willing for the party to make this their hang-out. I think that tells us something about how they will behave."

Seats and candidates: Who are the best candidates yet to be selected?

Local government:

• Plea to fund regeneration schemes on the "never, never"
  
• The only councillor in Waltham Forest to have been convicted of keeping their own child out of school has been put in charge of education
• Government penalise children from good schools

Watch: Cameron wants transfer of power from 'the elite to the street'*

Caroline Jackson MEP's expenses exposed in The Sun

Constant critic of David Cameron, Caroline Jackson MEP paid her husband - defector to Labour Robert Jackson - £22,500 to help her write a 15-page leaflet on "Britain's Waste" - The Sun

Expenses-gate (Day 19)

Julie Kirkbride's brother buys gadgets and they appear on her expenses - Telegraph

> Yesterday ConHome posted a video of Andrew MacKay's constituency meeting that proves he misrepresented its mood

Dennis Watts, husband of MP Meg Munn, paid for tax advice by ministers - Telegraph | Watch

Michael Ancram repays money for swimming pool maintenance - Telegraph

The Wintertons become the sixth Tory MPs to announce retirement in one extraordinary week

"A Tory husband and wife whose names became a byword for milking the Westminster expenses system announced yesterday that they will stand down at the next election. Sir Nicholas and Lady Ann Winterton, who claimed £80,000 in second-home allowances on a small London flat put in trust for their children, said they were quitting because they could no longer 'maintain the hectic pace' of political life. But Tory sources said the couple, who occupy adjacent safe seats in Cheshire, had finally 'seen the light' after years of public criticism of their expenses claims. " - Daily Mail

> Yesterday's ConservativeHome report: MPs Nicholas and Ann Winteron to stand down at next election

David Burrowes emerges as another expenses good guy

“There is no good reason for London MPs to have a second home paid for by the taxpayer,” he said. “Many of my constituents are commuters who work long hours and find it hard to accept that MPs should have a taxpayers’ perk of a London flat. I have not taken up the option of a second home allowance because it can’t be justified as a reasonable taxpayers’ expense and I prefer to go home to my family.” - Quoted in The Telegraph

You think British MPs are bad? - The Telegraph looks at other countries

"Labour and the Conservatives have been accused of collusion over plans to raise the threshold above which parties must report donations from £5,000 to £7,500." - Times

Alan Johnson’s proposals to reform voting system win Cabinet support - Times

"A second cabinet minister has urged Gordon Brown to hold a referendum on electoral reform to regain the political initiative. John Denham said designing a system in which "every vote counts" would help rebuild the trust between MPs and their electors following the expenses scandal." - Independent

"A campaign has been launched to give voters the power to sack MPs by signing a petition to "recall" them." - Daily Express | Campaign website

The Daily Mail: Darling is morally bankrupt

"Anyone else who tried to claim accountancy fees, stamp duty, or household bills as tax-free benefits in kind would be instantly fiscally roughed up by Mr Darling's own tax collectors. But politicians have developed a sense of entitlement which they think puts them above the rules that apply to the rest of us. For any MP this is highly damaging. For a Chancellor, it ought to be fatal. How can Mr Darling honestly ask us to tighten our belts and accept higher taxes - don't forget his vindictive 50p top tax rate - at this time of deepening recession, when we know that he is not prepared to make the same sacrifices himself? In terms of moral authority he is, quite simply, bankrupt." - Daily Mail leader

The unorthodox Frank Field and John Bercow

"The Conservatives' John Bercow and Labour's Frank Field are two of the front runners in the race to become the next Speaker. They are also the mirror image of each other. It is mainly Conservative MPs who support Field and their Labour counterparts who back Bercow. Quite a few Conservatives loathe Bercow, while some Labour MPs fume against Field. The fluidity of their support and the unorthodox nature of their careers make them the odd couple in British politics." - Steve Richards in The Independent

Are WE any better than MPs?

"A large number of parliamentarians were just as aware as their greedier colleagues were of the possibilities for unscrupulous financial gain provided by the way in which Westminster's fees office operated; but their consciences would not allow them to behave in this way. In very rough terms, it seems as though about a quarter of the MPs were able to resist all such temptations. I leave it to the individual readers to estimate what proportion of a cross section of the general public would show similar high-mindedness, particularly if they were sitting in safe seats for decades." - Dominic Lawson in The Independent

Are MPs like gipsies?

"So our MPs demand second homes? Fine. Stick them in a caravan on an illegal gipsy site. The gipsies and our crooked MPs should get along just fine together. Both think they are above the law. Both think rules are for other people. Both dodge paying their taxes. Both treat honest hard-working taxpayers with sneering contempt." - Fergus Shanahan in The Sun

Family of Winston Churchill slams BNP over far-right party's attempt to hijack wartime leader's legacy - Daily Mail

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

6.45pm Tim Montgomerie on CentreRight: An honest BNP leaflet

6.30pm AmericaInTheWorld: President Obama has called North Korea's nuclear testing today a 'reckless action'

3.50pm Seats and candidates: MPs Nicholas and Ann Winteron to stand down at next election

1.30pm Parliament: League tables published for openness of Britain's MEPs

12.45pm WATCH: Alistair Darling and other Cabinet ministers use allowances to compile tax returns

11.15am Graeme Archer on CentreRight: "Nothing else is of importance - nothing else, literally, can be of importance - until this malfunctioning House is shut down and rebooted. Candidate re-selection followed by General Election: now, please."

9.45am Seats and candidates: Video from inside special meeting reveals that Andrew MacKay was monstered by constituents that he claimed were in his favour

ToryDiary: Boris Johnson v Alan Johnson on proportional representation

Keith Marsden on Platform: Gordon Brown has not learnt from his past economic mistakes

Seats and candidates: More Tory candidates declare their attitude to expenses... 'I won't even claim for a packet of HobNobs'

Local government:

• Caroline Spelman exposes Labour's council tax overcharging for 700,000 households
• Oxfordshire Lib Dem hypocrisy over Gurkhas

Peter Whittle on CentreRight pays tribute to Britain's Got Talent:

"During this time of political and economic crisis, this show is the most effective booster of national morale we have. The clue is in the title: Britain. The set is unashamed in its use of the Union flag. The prize for the winning act is the chance to sing in front of the Queen. It has the feel of an old-fashioned variety show, and generates a warm kind of patriotism..."

WATCH: Nick Clegg defends his party's decision to keep a £2.4m donation from a man who was later convicted for fraud

David Cameron announces search for more Tory candidates

"Why I want to open up Tory candidate selection" - David Cameron in The Telegraph

"David Cameron has put out a call to absolute political beginners to apply to become Conservative MPs. He wants outsiders like Joanna Lumley to be added to his party's list of candidates, in a drive to restore confidence in Parliament." - Independent

"The new “independent” Tory candidates will not be exempt from the party whip if they are elected, Mr Cameron admitted. “Politics is a team game. We’ve still got to play as a team [and] you have got to sign up to the package,” he stated. But he promised that a Conservative government would allow more free votes – where MPs are not expected to vote along party lines – on non-manifesto issues." - FT

"On the Tory side, suspicion is growing that David Cameron is taking advantage of the ever more ludicrous claims for moats, swimming pools and duck-houses to get rid of the old guard and replace them with modernisers in the Notting Hillbilly mould.  His invitation yesterday to people with no background in Tory politics to stand as Conservative parliamentary candidates re-enforces that impression." - Melanie Phillips in the Daily Mail

> Yesterday's ToryDiary: Cameron re-opens candidates list to fill vacant seats

Tory says he will accept £10,000 hike in MEPs' pay

"Tory MEP Struan Stevenson said the Conservatives would be sticking to the approved new deal: "When we signed up to the new pay deal we were in effect taking a pay cut because the pound was so strong. However as a result of Gordon Brown's disastrous handling of the economy the pound has weakened and we are going to get a pay rise."" - The Herald

The "big" BBC has a growing number of critics within the media sector

"Among media people of every hue one increasingly hears the complaint that the BBC is “too big”. Whereas, in the past, one expected to read diatribes against the BBC in the Daily Mail (occasionally written by me) or the Daily Telegraph, one now comes across quite critical pieces in The Guardian or The Economist. Liberal-minded broadcasters who work in the commercial sector are also increasingly unsympathetic." - Stephen Glover in the Independent

What do Conservatives want to do with the BBC? - The Guardian

Gaining votes in Lancashire will be key challenge for David Cameron - Times

The Chancellor was among nine members of the Cabinet who used publicly funded expenses to pay for an accountant to complete their personal tax returns - Telegraph

"Husband- and- wife Cabinet members Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper claimed £30,000 for car and train journeys, including £4,100 for their four young children." - Daily Mail

Ed Miliband sets out constitutional change ideas

• "More power for parliamentary select committees to scrutinise legislation.
• More power to be devolved to local government.
• The language of the chamber – such as calling MPs "my right honourable friend".
• The ceremonial garb of Commons officials.
• The amount of time the Commons sits during the year. Miliband said he would be open to the idea of September sittings.
• The format of PMQs."

Quoted in The Guardian

Suspected benefits cheats are keeping £150million a year of taxpayers’ cash because the Government fails to fight their appeals - Daily Express

Funding formula for Scotland 'lacks any basis in equity or logic', say MPs - Telegraph

BNP rejects church boycott call - BBC

Stop talking up the comical BNP - Telegraph leader

"The streets of Luton descended into violence yesterday as hundreds of anti-Islamist protesters clashed with police.  The crowds in the town centre hid their faces behind balaclavas, brandished England flags and chanted at officers." - Daily Mail | Video of protest

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

7.45pm ToryDiary: The thirty cheapest Conservative MPs

4pm Seats and candidates: Cameron comes to defence of Julie Kirkbride

11.45am CF Diary: Young Tory activist expelled for Hitler moustache photo

10am ToryDiary: Cameron re-opens candidates list to help fill vacant seats

ToryDiary: Expense-gate jokes

Parliament: "By far the most expensive piece of legislation ever to go through Parliament" is uncovered by Peter Lilley MP

George Freeman on Platform: How a new type of regional infrastructure building society could get the economy moving again

Seats and candidates: What is Jonathan Djanogly hiding behind those gates?

Local government: Worthing is introducing a Street Pastor scheme where Christians in high visibility jackets patrol the streets after dark

WATCH: Republican ad targets Obama's confusion on Guantanamo

Today's must-read: Do S&P have faith in the Conservatives?

"Look at the exact words of the warning from Standard & Poor’s. It states: “The rating [of the UK] could be lowered if we conclude that, following the election, the next government’s fiscal consolidation plans are unlikely to put the UK debt burden on a secure downward trajectory over the medium term.” Now, which party is thought almost certain to be in power “following the election”? That’s right: Standard & Poor’s is in effect saying that it has considerable doubts about whether the Conservatives will “put the UK debt burden on a secure downward trajectory”. This is not so surprising, really. David Cameron abandoned his cherished policy of matching Labour’s spending commitments “until 2011” only at the end of last year. Although the Tory leader repeatedly charges Brown with not mending the roof while the sun was shining, his own policy at the time was to say that there was indeed no need to mend the roof. Like Brown, he thought that the sun would keep on shining – even if he didn’t share the view that it was Gordon who actually made the weather so splendid." - Dominic Lawson in The Sunday Times

> Thursday's ToryDiary: Where is the debt reduction plan?

Standard & Poor’s warning that it could downgrade its rating for British government debt is unworthy of us as a nation, says George Trefgarne in The Sunday Telegraph

Will Julie Kirbride be the fifth victim of expenses-gate?

"Tory MP Andrew MacKay's political career is in ruins today after David Cameron ordered him to resign from the Commons over his expenses claims... Members of Mr MacKay's local association were furious to discover that despite representing the area since 1983, he had never lived locally - yet was still claiming a second-home allowance of £23,083 a year on the London home he shared with his wife and fellow Tory MP Julie Kirkbride, 48. At the same time, she was claiming a further £22,575 a year on a home in her constituency of Bromsgrove, Worcestershire." - Mail on Sunday

"The husband and wife Tory MPs who have been "double-dipping" expenses so the taxpayer funds BOTH their homes were last night caught up in a new scandal. Julie Kirkbride and Andrew Mackay are letting her brother live rent-free in their mansion flat that WE pay for, the News of the World can reveal."

> Yesterday's Seats and candidates: Andrew MacKay becomes fourth Tory victim of expenses-gate

Derek Conway claimed for £160 pigskin wallet... but was rejected

"Some of Mr Conway’s more surprising claims include £160 for a pigskin wallet from the Smythson luxury goods store on Bond Street, £165 for a rollerball pen from Mont Blanc in Sloane Square, and £84 for an engineer to retune the television at his London home.
All were rejected by Commons officials." - The Sunday Telegraph

Ex-Tory Quentin Davies claimed £10,033 for window frames

"Defence Minister and ex-Tory MP Quentin Davies claimed £10,000 of taxpayers' money for repairs to window frames at his "second home" - an 18th century mansion." - Mirror

Iain Duncan Smith and Philip Hollobone get good ratings for economy

"Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader, is one of the outer London MPs who is eligible for a taxpayer-funded second home, but he commutes from his Chingford and Woodford Green constituency rather than joining the gravy train. Last year he claimed nothing at all for his additional costs allowance. In previous years he had claimed for occasional hotel stays." - The Sunday Telegraph

A day in the life of Britain's cheapest MP, Philip Hollobone - Sunday Express

> Jonathan Isaby on how Philip Hollobone became Britain's cheapest MP

The Telegraph defends its publication of MPs' expenses

"The European and local elections in June may well lead to voters registering their disgust at what they see as the complacent political establishment by voting for the fringe parties. We hope that, if so, the beneficiaries do not include those parties, such as the BNP, that represent the negation of the values – tolerance, decency, openness and honesty – Britons should stand for. But the rejection of the main parties, if it happens, will have one positive and necessary effect: it will force MPs to do some very fundamental thinking about their own role, and their relationship with the people who elect them." - Sunday Telegraph leader

The Observer profiles Will Lewis, Editor of The Telegraph; "He could go down in history as the man who shook Parliament to the core".

MPs should "spare us the sob stories"

"Every single time a Nadine Dorries or Anthony Steen open their mouths to blame the media, the Freedom of Information Act, or simply state that it’s nobody’s business what they spend taxpayers’ cash on, they’re digging a political grave for every single one of them." - Wales on Sunday

Nick Clegg "says his party's misdemeanours are more "laughable and ridiculous" than "crooked and fraudulent"." - Independent on Sunday

Half of MPs likely to be new after General Election

"At least half of the House of Commons’ 646 MPs will be swept away at the general election, as voters take revenge on the political classes for the expenses scandal. The departure of 325 members of parliament as a result of forced resignations, retirement and defeat at the polls would represent the biggest clear-out of parliament since 1945." - The Sunday Times

John Bercow's Speaker bid under fire

"In a remarkable political role-reversal, Mr Cameron is determined to stop Mr Bercow being Speaker because of his New Labour links. During Mr Cameron's leadership campaign in 2005, Mr Bercow launched an outspoken attack on his credentials, saying 'Eton, hunting, shooting and lunch at Whites' made Mr Cameron the wrong man for the job." - Mail on Sunday

A leader in the Mail on Sunday attacks John Bercow's candidacy for Speaker: "It is low politics, plainly designed as vengeance on the Tories for bringing down a Labour Speaker."

Ann Widdecombe sets out her anger at expenses abuse - Mail on Sunday

Michael Gove: We need to reduce the power of the whips

"One of the aspects of Commons life even the keenest outside observer will find hard to spot, but every member knows intimately, is the power of the party whips and the internal disciplines which constrain democratic life. So reform will have to see the whips, and the party leaderships, relinquish their control of Select Committees and other crucial aspects of Commons life so the independent-minded guardians of the public interest are freer to hold the powerful to account." - Michael Gove MP in Scotland on Sunday

Why do three out of four Tory candidates for becoming Welsh MEPs live outside Wales? - Wales on Sunday

Don't vote BNP: "Dr Rowan Williams and Dr John Sentamu said it would be "tragic" if people abstained or voted BNP at the local and European elections on 4 June." - BBC

Don't vote UKIP: Leader Nigel Farage boasts of his £2m in expenses - Observer

Brown calls Blair in to No 10 for secret talks as crisis mounts - The Independent on Sunday

Former Labour Chairman quits

"Former Labour party chairman Ian McCartney has also announced he will step down at the next general election because of "health problems". However, his decision comes just days after the disclosure that he returned almost £15,000 worth of his own expenses claims last year." - Sky

Peter Hitchens: We don't need a General Election now

"The last thing we need now is a General Election which would bury the real problem under the slurry of Lib-Lab-Con politics, with the three near-identical parties pretending to be different for a few noisy, dishonest weeks." - Peter Hitchens in the Mail on Sunday

Arsenal striker Andrey Arshavin leads revolt against Labour's 50p tax rate - 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.

10.30pm CentreRight: Alex Deane comes to Nadine Dorries' defence

9pm ToryDiary: Are we close to a turning point on expenses-gate?

7.30pm WATCH: Jonathan Djanogly says he 'acted reasonably' in claiming £5,000 for automatic gates at his Huntingdon constituency but is "voluntarily" repaying the money

4.30pm Seats and candidates: Andrew MacKay to step down

12.15pm ToryDiary: The Telegraph versus Nadine Dorries

Midday updates:

• John Glen: Protest votes will be uneven and temporary
• Stephan Shakespeare: MPs must stop the self-justification and focus on reform

9.30am ToryDiary: Which MPs do you have faith in?

ToryDiary: "Please give examples of things that people are saying to you about the state of politics"

Seats and candidates: Last night's post on Andrew MacKay is updated with a Sky reporter saying that the double claiming Tory MP was "disingenuous" in saying majority of people were supportive of him.

Marcus Wood on Platform: Could the expenses scandal mark the beginning of an entirely new era of democracy?

Local government: Redbridge Council control in the balance and Cllr Cameron Rose on Scots councillors expenses buried deep

Tim Montgomerie on CentreRight: The prescient Mark Field MP

WATCH: Nadine Dorries talks to the BBC about the way expenses-gate is 'torturing' MPs and their families

The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned the "systematic humiliation" of MPs is a threat to Britain's democracy - Times

The pursuit of MPs is becoming a witch-hunt - Independent leader

Tory MPs Anthony Steen and Nadine Dorries rebuked by David Cameron

"The Tory leader issued a final warning to Anthony Steen, the maverick MP who told the BBC this week that criticism of his expenses was motivated by jealousy among the public about his large house. Mr Cameron said: "One more squeak like that and he will have the whip taken away from him so fast his feet won't touch the ground. It was a completely unacceptable interview." Mr Cameron also rebuked Nadine Dorries after she said MPs were victims of a "McCarthy-style witch-hunt". She said there were fears that an MP could commit suicide and that the atmosphere at Westminster was "completely unbearable." Mr Cameron replied: "Of course MPs are concerned, but frankly MPs ought to be concerned about what their constituents think and ought to be worrying about the people who put us where we are." A senior Tory said her remarks were "completely wacky."" - Independent

Lord Tebbit warns that David Cameron must not treat his friends differently (Mail) >>

Latest expense-gate revelations

"A Conservative MP claimed almost £5,000 to have automatic gates installed at his home. Shadow business secretary Jonathan Djanogly said they are security gates and were installed at his Huntingdon constituency home on police advice." - BBC

A comment from Nick Guyatt on ToryDiary: "The Telegraph today went a step too far. I have generally supported their position but their attack on Jonathan Djanogly's £5000 gates was wrong. I was a District Councillor in Huntingdonshire and was very aware of the threats made by animal rights activists to Huntingdon Life Sciences staff, District Council staff and so many others. This was an expense he incurred ONLY because he was the MP for Huntingdon. The editor should apologise."

"Bernard Jenkin, a Conservative MP, has claimed £50,000 on his expenses to rent his sister-in-law’s farmhouse." - Telegraph

"Patrick McLoughlin, the Conservative Chief Whip and MP for West Derbyshire, also faced the wrath of his constituents last night after revelations that he had claimed £3,000 for new windows and £4,000 to replace an old boiler in his constituency home." - Times

"Now is the time to obliterate the professional political class" - Charles Moore in The Telegraph wants politicians who are more independent of taxpayers

"Time spent outside politics is important if it is spent in business, unions, voluntary bodies, or academia. The House must have Members who can relate what they are asked to do to their own experience. If more MPs had worked outside politics, alarm bells would have rung over their expenses scheme. Selection committees should look to a candidate's experience." - Lord Young, one of Margaret Thatcher's Cabinet, in The Telegraph

"Like the 18th-century aristocracy, today's strutting political class has used its privileged position at the centre of power to steal from the taxpayer, thus enriching itself at the expense of the rest of us. It has evolved one set of very lax rules for itself and another for the rest of us. It is morally and financially corrupt." - Peter Oborne in the Daily Mail

80% of electors believe non-party candidates should stand against MPs caught behaving "unethically" - Independent

Two-thirds of voters want a General Election before Christmas - Guardian

"Ukip and the Greens are the fringe parties making the most capital from the political crisis caused by the expenses revelations, the Guardian ICM poll published today suggests, leaving the BNP in their wake." - Guardian | Last night's ToryDiary

Nigel Farage says UKIP won't stand against Conservatives at next election if Cameron holds referendum on Britain's membership of the EU

"If David Cameron were to come out and say that he was fighting the next general election on the specific promise that within the first year of government the British people would be given a fair referendum on whether we stay in this political union or revert to a relationship based on trading links, I would have no hesitation at all in saying to Ukip that in that election we should not contest against his party." - Telegraph

Brown faces Cabinet split on future of Hazel Blears as Caroline Flint backs fellow Blairite - Times

Simon Heffer hopes that expenses-gate could change Britain's attitude to the state

"The scandal has, I hope, been a wake-up call to those who rule us that we have rumbled the fact that so much of our money is squandered, and that debt is being racked up to pay for fripperies and other unnecessary indulgences. The party ought now to be over. This is not just about a few million filched by bent MPs; it is about billions extorted from us and put to no constructive use whatsoever." - Simon Heffer in The Telegraph

Conservative Way Forward wins campaign for Ronald Reagan statue in London - Times | Yesterday's Local government

And finally...

"They are the leaflets the British National Party hope will bring them success in the European elections.  They feature a doctor, a trio of builders and an elderly couple, proudly backing Britain and echoing BNP policies. But the pictures have been exposed as a sham.  Far from living up to the BNP slogan of 'British Jobs for British Workers', the 'voters' have been revealed to be Americans and Italians. Naturally they never uttered the words they are supposed to have said. " - Daily Mail | Daniel Finkelstein yesterday

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