6pm WATCH: Coalition for Marriage fringe meeting
3.45pm WATCH:
- Boris Johnson's interview on The World at One
- David Cameron's Conference Video Diary – Day Two
- David Cameron's Conference Video Diary – Day One
3.30pm LeftWatch: Union militancy is a problem for the Labour Party – it is an opportunity for the Government
1.45pm Ben Rogers on Comment: International Religious Freedom: A Human Right for Everyone
12.15pm WATCH: Boris tells Cameron: "If I'm a mop then you are a broom"
Noon ToryDiary: Party Conference policy announcements rolling blog
10.15am ToryDiary: Cameron offers his strongest hint yet that he will offer an EU referendum
- The Party Conference is helping a recovery in Conservative self belief
- William Shakespeare reports on Boris's speech to yesterday's Conservative Home rally
Columnist Jill Kirby: The benefits of a family-based social policy
Lord Ashcroft's Party Conference Diary (Day 3)
Local Government: Call to sell off "extravagant Police Authority building
The Deep End: Are the rich really paying more than their fair share?
WATCH: EU referendum: Now or later?
Chris Grayling to announcement stronger rights for home owners to resist burglars
"Householders who over-react when confronted by burglars are to get more protection in law, Justice Secretary Chris Grayling will say. Grossly disproportionate" force will still be against the law, but the bar will be set higher than the current "proportionate" force test. He will also tell the Tory party conference all community sentences should have a punitive element." – BBC
- "Grayling's move is designed to show that No 10 is heeding the concerns of key voters, hailed by ministers as "strivers", who fear the government is losing sight of law and order issues as it grapples with the fiscal deficit." – Guardian
- "The Government is changing the law so you will not be liable any more if you give an intruder a good hiding. The Sun welcomes this sensible and long overdue clarification of the law on self defence." – The Sun Says
Borismania hits Birmingham
"The Mayor of London blew into its conference in Birmingham, a hurricane of blond hair, media attention and other people’s speculation about his prospects of one day taking David Cameron’s job. His reception – in a city not noted for its Tory support – was more suited to a rock star than a politician, with crowds of passengers chanting his name at New Street station. At the conference centre, he was surrounded by a scrum of cameramen and photographers so intense that one was thrown to the floor and required medical attention." – Daily Telegraph
- "The mayor's appearance at the ConservativeHome fringe meeting – entitled "Boris 2012: Re-elected and Olympotastic" – was preceded by a promotional film entitled "Mission Imborrisible", featuring, among other things, footage of the London mayor trapped on a zip wire at an Olympic event in East London." – BBC
- "Boris Johnson shored up his position as the strongest successor to David Cameron as Tory leader when he delighted the Conservative conference by voicing support for the return of grammar schools." – Guardian
- "He said ‘some people object’ to the 11 plus, which divides pupils at that age, but he said it should be possible to select at later ages. And in a clear hint that he wants a wider national role, Mr Johnson concluded: ‘As far as party policy is concerned I’m not in a position to do this – yet.’" – Daily Mail
- Ken Clarke says Boris "is not serious enough" to be PM – Daily Telegraph
> Coverage from yesterday:
- WATCH: Boris Johnson takes part in video praising increase in Aid Budget
- ToryDiary: Will Boris blow a hole through the middle of the conference planners' grid?
- ToryDiary: Could this be the class of 2020? Boris as PM and the class of 2010 holding most of the big briefs
Osborne offers workers the chance to give up rights for shares…
"Workers will be asked to surrender employment rights in return for shares in their company under plans to boost enterprise announced by George Osborne. People who accept the shares will have to waive their rights to redundancy or to sue for unfair dismissal and will not be able to request flexible working hours. The Treasury will not levy capital gains tax when workers sell their shares, which can be worth between £2,000 and £50,000." – Daily Telegraph
- "Unions accused the Government of implementing the shelved Beecroft report by the back door. Brendan Barber, General-Secretary of the Trades Union Congress, said: "We deplore any attack on maternity provision or protection against unfair dismissal." – The Independent
- "If the coalition has decided that these rights are bad for jobs, because they increase the cost and risk of employing people, then why not reform them across the board? And if employee ownership is such a good thing, then why not incentivise it more radically? Why create this strange quid pro quo, in a clumsy attempt at ticking two boxes at the same time (ownership
and deregulation)?" – Allister Heath City AM - "Calls for bonfires of everything from maternity leave to redundancy pay were echoed by Osborne with his plan to let employers offer up to £50,000 worth of shares to buy out workers' rights." Polly Toynbee in The Guardian
…but not for turning on austerity
"George Osborne vowed yesterday to stick to his plans for repairing the economy as he attempted to rebuild public support for austerity. The Chancellor insisted that this was no time for turning and ruled out easing up the pace or scale of cuts. Invoking Margaret Thatcher, Mr Osborne told the Conservative Party conference that he would not buckle." – The Times (£)
- "The Chancellor said that to take the Labour route of borrowing more to get the economy moving would be to “gamble everything – our credibility, our financial stability, our low interest rates”. Mr Osborne was right to reassert this fundamental truth, and to commit himself to cutting the deficit with the same formula – 80 per cent spending cuts against 20 per cent in tax rises – that he has used hitherto. The problem, he said, is not that working people pay too little tax, but that government spends too much of their money." – Daily Telegraph leader
- "Mr Osborne reminded Britain of the values of a Conservative government, where — unlike Labour — hard work is rewarded and fairness and decency prevail. One basic Tory value is that idleness will never leave someone better off than going out to earn a living." – The Sun Says
- "At last! At the Tory conference yesterday, George Osborne made the speech he ought to have delivered 30 months ago. Putting the nation’s interests before Coalition compromise, he threw down the gauntlet to the Lib Dems, dismissing their plans to punish wealth-creators while vowing to press ahead with further cuts to the swollen welfare budget." – Daily Mail leader
- The knives were out for Osborne but he may have saved his reputation – Benedict Brogan Daily Telegraph
> Coverage from yesterday:
- WATCH: George Osborne says the 50p tax rate raised no money and drove away jobs
- LeftWatch: Another state funded "charity" indulges in a political attack on the Government
- ToryDiary: George Osborne says he'll keep on going — but will the Lib Dems follow?
- ToryDiary: The teenage George Osborne watched the A-team, listened to Madonna, and played computer games
- Columnist Andrew Lilico: Osborne's medicine may taste horrible but it's the best cure we have
- Lord Lamont on Comment: George Osborne is doing the right thing and history will judge him well
Francis Maude curbs full time union officials paid by the taxpayer
"Ministers will have the power to block paid trade union officials from government departments, cabinet office minister Francis Maude has said. Speaking at the Tory Party conference, Mr Maude promised to halve the cost of full-time union representatives. Paying civil servants to work solely on resolving workplace disputes and other union activities costs the government £30m a year, he said." – BBC
IDS says welfare needs a "culture shift"
"The government will bring about a "complete cultural shift" in its efforts to end reliance on benefits, Iain Duncan Smith has promised. The work and pensions secretary told the Conservative conference the country was on "a journey back from dependence to independence"." – BBC
Andrew Mitchell could still be forced out
"The chief whip’s position in the party is looking increasingly untenable amid suggestions that MPs have been contacting Graham Brady, the chairman of the backbench Tory 1922, committee expressing concerns about Mr Mitchell." – Daily Telegraph
Hammond heading for talks on BAE-EADS merger
"The defence secretary is to discuss a proposed merger between BAE and EADS with his French and German counterparts at a Nato meeting in Brussels later." – BBC
Osborne ahead of Cameron on modernisation
"From the outset, it had been Osborne who had grasped the scale of the problem the Conservatives faced. Modernisation became his mantra, as he sought to position his man at the top of the party. They had to persuade voters that the Tories were on their side on issues such as crime, the NHS and the economy. The future PM had been slow off the mark." – Janan Ganesh, biographer of George Osborne in serialisation in the Daily Mail
Waitrose boss says "stop sniping at business" – Daily Telegraph
Most councillors are "mediocre" says Ben Gummer – BBC
Lord Carey attacks gay marriage plans – Daily Telegraph
Redwood urges Eurosceptics to use moderate language – BBC
Osborne offers tax breaks for shale gas – Independent
Ruth Davidson says Scots are "paying with their lives" for free benefits – Daily Telegraph
Pickles says troops should not be discriminated against in the housing queue – BBC
> Yesterday on Local government: A conference star turn from Eric Pickles
And finally…Catherine Ostler in the Daily Mail asks:
"Can Samantha Cameron really get away with turning up to conference in a pair of skinny jeans?" – Daily Mail
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