Labour Outlook

Sunday 18th May 2008

Updates:

Column: Ed Miliband on Sky News (video)

David Miliband to take Brussells role? - Reuters

Crewe & Nantwich by-election: Today's News

Polls

National Times Poll: Con 45, Lab 25, Lib 18

Crewe & Nantwich News of the World Poll: Con 45, Lab 37, Lib 14

National Independent Poll: Con 43, Lab 26, Lib 19

"Gordon Brown's attempt to relaunch his government has flopped, according to a poll for The Sunday Times, and his unpopularity is on a par with the worst days of John Major" - Times

"Gordon Brown's attempted fightback has failed to win over voters ahead of this week's crucial Crewe and Nantwich by-election, according to a new poll.

Labour is 17 points adrift of the Conservatives, the ComRes survey for The Independent on Sunday shows" - Independent

"An exclusive poll for the News of the World among voters in Crewe and Nantwich puts the Tories EIGHT points ahead, on 45 per cent against Labour's 37 per cent" - News of the World

Gordon Brown

"Senior Labour figures have warned that Gordon Brown could face a delegation of “men in suits” pressing him to resign if the party loses the pivotal Crewe by-election this week" - Times

Cameron or Brown - who will end up with a Crewe cut? - Andrew Rawnsley, Observer

If Brown is slain by the press, who is its next prey? - John Rentoul, Independent

Defeat at Crewe will stop Labour in its tracks - Matthew d'Ancona, Telegraph

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill

Why I believe stem cell researchers deserve our backing - Gordon Brown, Observer

MPs must give scientists the power to save lives - Leader, Guardian

"Gordon Brown has called on MPs to back stem cell research using human-animal embryos in a Commons vote on Monday" - BBC

"Gordon Brown today mounts a passionate and personal defence of scientific research using animal-human hybrid embryos as an 'inherently moral endeavour' that could save millions of lives" - Observer

"Seven government ministers, including Ruth Kelly, the transport secretary, and Des Browne, the defence secretary — both Roman Catholics — are expected to join about 200 MPs backing a lower time limit on abortions for non-medical reasons" - Times

"Gay campaigners criticised the Conservative Party last night after its health spokesmen attempted to force women to give the name of their sperm donor before being allowed IVF treatment" - Independent

Burma

"Gordon Brown has raised the prospect of Britain carrying out unauthorised emergency aid drops into Burma as a last resort if its government continues to exclude foreign help" - Observer

Car Tax

"Gordon Brown is facing a fresh revolt over tax after government plans to penalise thousands of less-well-off motorists were pushed to the forefront of this week's critical Crewe by-election" - Observer

Sir Ian Blair to be ousted

"The embattled Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, has been told that his contract will not be renewed and that he should start planning for retirement, senior police officials have disclosed" - Times

Saturday 17th May 2008

Update:

Column:  New polls show Labour behind 20pts nationally and 8pts behind in Crewe & Nantwich

 

Update:

Iain Dale is reporting that a poll in one of tomorrow's papers will show that party support in Crewe & Nantwich is currently: Con 45%, Lab 37%, Lib 14%.

Updates:

The New Statesman's 'Best of the Blogs' section says that, having scoured the Labour supporting blogosphere, "it has proved nigh on impossible to find any defence of the "toffs and foreigners" campaign" in Crewe & Nantwich - New Statesman

Labour must find its faith - Roy Hattersley, New Statesman

Labour gets to grips with future policies as amendments appear - Tribune

New deal on the cards for agency rights - Tribune

Unite backs Collins for new Labour general secretary - Tribune

Crewe & Nantwich by-election: Today's News

MPs expenses

"The House of Commons has lost its High Court battle against a decision to force disclosure of MPs' expenses" - BBC

"The Speaker and the House of Commons' authorities have lost their case to stop the release of details of MPs' expenses on their second homes, after spending nearly £150,000 of taxpayers' money to fight the action in the high court" - Guardian

"Parliament’s attempt to block disclosure of the expenses that MPs claim for their second homes has been thrown out by the High Court in a damning judgment that dismissed the Speaker’s case as unrealistic" - Times

Gordon Brown

"Gordon Brown will return to his spiritual home today when he addresses the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh - the scene of one of the most controversial political speeches delivered in Scotland" - Times

Agency workers

"Hundreds of thousands of agency workers would get new pay rights after working for an employer for 12 weeks, under a government-brokered deal that was on Friday the subject of last-minute wrangling between employer and union bodies" - Financial Times

42 day detention

"Labour rebels yesterday stepped up their campaign against government plans to allow terrorist suspects to be detained without charge for 42 days by tabling an amendment to a Commons bill to block the change" - Guardian

Labour party finances

"The Labour Party is on the verge of insolvency after a collapse in donations so acute that it is struggling to pay staff.

The funding crisis has raised fears that auditors will be unable to sign off party accounts next month because of Labour's £21 million debt" - Telegraph

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill

"The abortion limit will almost certainly be cut to 22 weeks when Parliament votes next week, Labour whips have warned Gordon Brown" - Telegraph

Scottish referendum

Scotland: one year closer to breaking away as SNP momentum continues - Andrew Grice, Independent

Alex Salmond's success is taking Scotland closer to independence - Leader, Independent

Plastic bags

"Plans to ban or charge for single-use plastic bags are a diversion from the real environmental issues, one of the government's own advisers has said" - BBC

The Guardian profiles Caroline Flint - Guardian

Friday 16th May 2008

Crewe & Nantwich by-election: Today's News

Tory donor scandal

"Senior members of the Shadow Cabinet have been accused of potential conflicts of interest after their offices were shown to be funded by companies that have direct interests in their policy portfolios" - Independent

"The scale of secret cash links between senior Conservatives and wealthy backers was revealed yesterday after George Osborne was told that he should have declared how his office was being funded. The Shadow Chancellor was the subject of a parliamentary investigation after it emerged that he failed to register almost £500,000 in donations. Donors had given the money to the Conservative Party but asked that it be used to bankroll Mr Osborne" - Times

"Shadow cabinet ministers have attempted to cover up "potential conflicts of interests" over donations, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has said" - BBC

What you won't have read about the Tory donations ruling - Michael White, Guardian

Gordon Brown

"Gordon Brown emerged from his toughest week in politics yesterday insisting time and again that he was the right person to guide Britain through the economic storms ahead" - Times

"Economic and political credibility are interlinked. Just as Gordon Brown’s reputation as Chancellor and his succession to the premiership rested on his claims to prudence, so his standing now depends on this record being sustained. Questions about the fiscal rules are not arcane issues for economists, they are crucial politically" - Peter Riddell, Times

"A defiant Gordon Brown yesterday dismissed as "rumours and gossip" speculation that his premiership was under threat as he insisted that he was "best placed" to steer Britain through the economic slowdown" - Guardian

42 day detention

"Gordon Brown has sanctioned a last-ditch move to secure a deal over the proposed increase in the period of detention without charge to 42 days after deciding he would rather compromise with Labour's rebels than risk a further loss of authority by being defeated on the issue" - Guardian

ID cards

"An official report has warned that the government's plans for ID cards may put poorer people at greater risk of fraud, and that ministers are failing to coordinate implementation of the 10-year programme" - Guardian

Judges

"Freedom to set jail terms for criminals will be reduced under Government plans to ease the crowded prison system by imposing more community sentences" - Telegraph

Housing waiting list

"One million more people in England could be on the waiting list for social housing within two years, council leaders are warning" - BBC

MPs expenses

"The High Court will decide later whether MPs can keep details of their second home expenses private" - BBC

"The High Court will rule today on whether the House of Commons has won its bid to overturn an information watchdog's decision to force disclosure of MPs' expenses" - Independent

Unison to ballot members for 'sustained strikes'

"Refuse collectors, home helps and social workers are threatening “sustained strikes” this summer as unions prepare for a wave of industrial action over below-inflation pay deals" - Times

20mph speed limit

"The speed limit on thousands of residential roads will be reduced to 20mph under government moves designed to cut road deaths by a third over the next decade" - Times

"The blanket 20mph speed limit imposed on traffic in Portsmouth, one of two cities chosen in a government pilot scheme, is neither effective nor enforceable, residents said yesterday" - Times

Comment

Goodbye, good times. Now Labour has to show just whose side it is on - Polly Toynbee, Guardian

He appears to have robotic self-discipline. But inside, Brown is a ferment of emotion - Dominic Lawson, Independent

Brown's Labour party needs a new vision - John Kampfner, Telegraph

Thursday 15th May 2008

Crewe & Nantwich by-election: Today's News

Draft legislative programme

Bills of the draft Queen's Speech - Times

Rewards for good hospitals, action on failing schools - Guardian

"Gordon Brown pinned his hopes for his and Labour’s recovery on a package of strongly Blairite reforms to hospitals, schools, police and welfare yesterday" - Times

Gordon Brown: words and deeds - Leader, Times

"David Cameron yesterday claimed the draft Queen's speech had been stolen wholesale from the Conservative party, as Gordon Brown launched his last full legislative programme before the next general election" - Guardian

"Gordon Brown has promised to create an "opportunity-rich Britain" in which everyone could reach their full potential as he tried to escape the political doldrums yesterday" - Independent

10p tax rate

"An embattled Alistair Darling today stressed that he had not "re-written the Budget" - despite announcing tax-cuts for 22 million people to end the row over the abolition of the 10p tax rate just two months after the last financial statement" - Times

"Gordon Brown was warned by one of his closest advisers against scrapping the 10p tax rate before the 2007 Budget, The Times has learnt" - Times

Mervyn King comments

"Gordon Brown is likely be quizzed later on the state of the British economy, after Bank of England chief Mervyn King warned that "the nice decade" was over" - BBC

"Gordon Brown's drive to recapture the political agenda with a programme of new laws to create "an opportunity-rich Britain" was badly shaken yesterday by a warning from the governor of the Bank of England that the economy is heading towards a recession" - Guardian

"There was more grim news yesterday about Britain's economic prospects, with a warnings of resurgent inflation, rising unemployment and possible recession" - Independent

42 day detention

"Gordon Brown should abandon plans to take the "extraordinary step" of detaining terror suspects without charge for up to 42 days because the proposals are fundamentally flawed, a committee of MPs and peers advised yesterday" - Guardian

Lord Adonis

"The Conservatives stepped up their efforts to split the Labour party yesterday by issuing the schools minister Andrew Adonis an open invitation to serve in a Tory government under David Cameron" - Times

Comment

Economy is key to revival of Gordon Brown's fortunes - Peter Riddell, Times

Analysis: Blair would approve of Brown's relaunch - Philip Webster, Times

Cameron is leaving Brown to hang himself – but he must still show what he'd do instead - John Rentoul, Independent

Wednesday 14th May 2008

Crewe & Nantwich by-election: Today's News

10p tax rate

"Gordon Brown took the biggest political gamble of his premiership yesterday when he unveiled a surprise £2.7bn package of tax cuts designed to end the rebellion over the abolition of the 10p tax band" - Guardian

"Alistair Darling's mini-budget to compensate 5 million people for the abolition of the 10p tax band will add to the red tape burdens of small business, push public borrowing towards £50bn this year and put the government's fiscal rules in jeopardy, economists said last night" - Guardian

FAQ: Formula that bought off the Labour rebels - Guardian

"Alistair Darling cut taxes yesterday for 22 million people to make good the losses of only 4 million in the biggest financial and political U-turn of modern times" - Times

"Alistair Darling is trying to buy Labour out of unpopularity, but at a big long-term cost to financial credibility. The Brown Government is doing exactly what its predecessors did when they hit political trouble – throw money at a problem, as both Heath and Wilson did in the 1970s" - Peter Riddell, Times

Rebel backbencher Eric Martlew has his day after five weeks of panic - Times

"The Labour rebel Frank Field today apologised “without reservation” to Gordon Brown today for allowing his campaign over the scrapping of the 10p tax rate to “become personal”" - Times

"Seventeen million basic-rate taxpayers will receive a tax cut of £120 this year after Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, announced a £2.7bn handout to compensate the low-paid who were set to lose out over the abolition of the 10p tax band" - Independent

Draft Queen's speech

"Gordon Brown is set to outline his proposals for the year ahead, as he tries to move on from the 10p tax row" - BBC

Flint & Housing

"House prices are set to fall by 5 to 10 per cent "at best" this year – but ministers have no idea how badly the market could slump, according to confidential cabinet documents accidentally revealed by the Housing minister, Caroline Flint" - Independent

42 day detention

"Extending the pre-charge detention limit for terrorism suspects to 42 days is "wholly unnecessary", a cross-party group of MPs and peers has said" - BBC

Prescription charges

"Gordon Brown should announce the abolition of NHS prescription charges to outflank the Tories after Labour's poor performance in the local elections, the Fabian Society will urge this week" - Guardian

Tuesday 13th May 2008

Update:

Column: £120 for basic rate taxpayers - Labour bloggers reactions

Social care review

Fixing the holes - Leader, Guardian

"People may have to pay into a compulsory social insurance scheme to contribute towards the costs of care in old age under proposals floated by the government yesterday. The health secretary, Alan Johnson, said he would produce a green paper early next year on dealing with the long-term problem of providing adequate non-medical care for a growing number of vulnerable older people" - Guardian

"Gordon Brown proposed a new insurance-based system yesterday to fund care for the elderly, the cost of which is forecast to reach £24 billion in the next 20 years. The Prime Minister said he wanted to free people from the fear that they would be forced to sell their homes to pay for care, and called the current means-testing system unfair for those who had saved" - Times

"The Government ruled out proposals for free care for the elderly yesterday, sparking outrage from campaigners who accused Gordon Brown of adopting a short-sighted approach to one of the country's most pressing social problems" - Independent

10p tax rate

"Gordon Brown hopes to lift his flagging prime ministership over the next 48 hours by giving details of a 10p tax compensation package and setting out a draft Queen's speech. Bills from the communities department, justice ministry, Home Office, and health and education will offer new rights to the public to scrutinise and seek redress from public bodies" - Guardian

"Emergency one-off payments to low-paid workers who lost out from the abolition of the 10p tax rate are about to be announced by Alistair Darling" - Times

Crewe & Nantwich by-election

"David Cameron condemned Labour's determination to raise the spectre of class war in the Crewe & Nantwich by-election as “pathetic” yesterday" - Times

Will we never escape class in this country? - Dominic Lawson, Independent

Labour must be thanking its lucky stars for Tamsin - Guardian

More on the by election at the Labour Outlook Crewe & Nantwich page

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill

"Lesbian couples should be blocked from having IVF treatment unless they agree that a father figure would be involved in the upbringing of their child, the Tories said yesterday" - Guardian

"MPs have voted to allow controversial plans to update human embryology laws to continue to their next Parliamentary stage, despite deep splits among MPs" - BBC

"Gordon Brown was accused last night of forcing through measures to liberalise embryo research as one of his most senior colleagues refused to support him in the Commons" - Times

"MPs were deeply split last night over embryo research and abortion as they began debating hugely contentious reforms to the way the practices are regulated" - Independent

School tests

"The national testing system in English schools is being misused to the detriment of children's education, says a report from a committee of MPs" - BBC

"National Sats tests have distorted the education of millions of children, depressing their chances of going to university or getting a job, and should be radically reformed, MPs say" - Guardian

Frank Field

"Two Cabinet ministers have rounded on rebel Labour MP Frank Field, after he suggested Gordon Brown was "unhappy" as PM and would step down by 2010" - BBC

"One of Gordon Brown's closest allies has launched a ferocious attack on the Prime Minister's critics, as a growing whispering campaign suggested Mr Brown may not survive to lead Labour into the next general election" - Independent

Comment

Pride & prejudice: How the far right muscled in on middle England - Times

Monday 12th May 2008

Social Care reform

"Prime Minister Gordon Brown is outlining the need to reform social care for Britain's ageing population" - BBC

"A looming £6bn black hole in the funding of social care for older people in England was acknowledged last night by Alan Johnson, the health secretary" - Guardian

Crewe & Nantwich by-election

"Labour is persisting with a high-risk strategy of class warfare in Crewe & Nantwich in a desperate attempt to avoid losing the by-election and further destabilising Gordon Brown’s troubled leadership" - Times

Where now for Labour?

"Gordon Brown is preparing a string of initiatives to help parents, families and the low paid as he launches the Government's fightback against dismal poll ratings and a stream of damaging revelations by senior Labour figures" - Independent

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill

"MPs are to debate controversial government proposals to change the law on the use of human embryos" - BBC

"MPs will reject demands for tighter controls on abortion but are ready to allow new laws pushing back the boundary of research on human embryos, according to a survey carried out by the Guardian." - Guardian

"Huge fault lines will emerge across parliament as MPs begin debating fundamental questions about the sanctity of life and the ethical merits of allowing scientists to experiment with human embryos" - Guardian

This bill gives me hope - Geraldine Peacock, Guardian

"Consent provisions that would have banned stem-cell research on childhood genetic disease are to be dropped from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, The Times has learnt" - Times

"Anti-abortion MPs have told Gordon Brown to offer a free vote on all stages of new legislation governing embryo research, which starts its passage through the Commons today. They attacked the decision by ministers to whip votes on tonight's Second Reading of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, when MPs debate the overall principle of the measure, as well as the Third Reading, its final Commons stage" - Independent

Call for focus on ethnic tensions

"Councils must work harder to target "hot spots" caused by rising migration and diversity, the government will say" - BBC

Sunday 11th May 2008

Flexible working

"The Prime Minister will signal a major extension in the right to part-time working when he sets out his plans for the next parliamentary term and attempts to fight back from Labour's disastrous local elections showing" - Telegraph

"The mothers of all primary school children could be given the legal right to work flexible hours, as the Prime Minister begins a fightback after bruising local election defeats" - Times

Crewe & Nantwich by-election

"The seat of Crewe & Nantwich has been Labour for decades – but the Tories are set to seize it in a by-election. Ed Caesar and Jonathan Oliver report on a deadly threat to Gordon Brown" - Times

"The Tories are poised to achieve their first parliamentary by-election gain since the heyday of Margaret Thatcher, dealing a hammer blow to Gordon Brown's hopes of survival" - Mail

Trouble for Labour in 'safe' Crewe by-election - Telegraph

Observer Poll

"Gordon Brown has suffered a devastating collapse in his public standing, according to a new survey published in The Observer today which will put his leadership under intensified pressure" - Observer

Gordon Brown's reputation has collapsed on every front - Andrew Rawnsley, Observer

Times Prescott interview

Interview with John and Pauline Prescott - Times

"John Prescott says he urged Tony Blair to sack Gordon Brown at the height of their frequent rows – but the former prime minister was “scared” of his chancellor" - Times

42 day detention

"Sir Ian Blair, the beleaguered Metropolitan police commissioner, is said to have fallen out with Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, after he appeared to backtrack in his support for plans to jail terror suspects for 42 days without charge" - Times

Social care

"Ministers are warning that England's social care system is heading towards a £6bn funding gap unless there is radical reform, the BBC has learned" - BBC

"Elderly people in private care homes will receive new protection from degrading treatment with a change to the law to give them legal redress against unscrupulous managers" - Times

Boris Johnson

Tory HQ team puts reins on Boris Johnson - A troupe of minders has been drafted in to guide the mayor in his first 100 days - Times

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill

"Single women and lesbian couples could lose the right to have in-vitro fertilisation treatments if pro-life MPs succeed in their bid to hijack the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill this week, lawyers have warned" - Observer

Cherie slams Labour on 'factory farm' jails

"Cherie Blair has attacked the government's handling of the criminal justice system by accusing Britain's jails of failing to protect the public. In an outspoken speech that has drawn a strong rebuttal from the Ministry of Justice, Blair, a judge and QC, said at a human rights seminar that Britain had a 'factory farm attitude to imprisonment'" - Observer

MMR

"Labour has insisted it has no plans for compulsory vaccinations, after an MP in a key policy group raised the prospect that children would not be allowed to start school unless they had had all their jabs" - Express

"Children will not be allowed to start school unless they have had the MMR jab, under controversial Labour Party proposals" - Telegraph

Scottish referendum

"Giving his most impassioned defence yet of the link between Scotland and England, the Prime Minister told the Telegraph that he was calling for pro-Union parties in Britain, as well as businesses, to join together to "expose the dangers of separation"" - Telegraph

"Labour’s beleaguered Scottish leader has backed away from her proposal for an early referendum on Scottish independence" - Times

"Senior Labour figures called on Wendy Alexander to change her leadership style as public support for Labour fell to its lowest level for 90 years in the aftermath of her disastrous handling of the referendum U-turn" - Times

NHS reform

"The government plans to close up to 5,000 beds on cancer wards in a reorganisation of the way patients are treated, according to a report by experts in the disease" - Times

Comment

The toffs are back - and, frankly, no one gives a damn - Catherine Bennett, Observer

A tax plan to save Labour - Stephen Byers, Times

Saturday 10th May 2008

Update: More comment from today's papers

Regroup, refocus, reprioritise - and that starts at the top - Martin Kettle, Guardian

Out-thought by the Tories - Jon Cruddas, Guardian

No masks, no daggers, no surprises - Matthew Parris, Times

What we need is a new chancellor - Peter Hyman, Times

Is Miliband the solution to Labour's problems?  - Simon Heffer, Telegraph

If you haven't done so already,                          make sure you take                                      the Labour Home                                            Labour Grassroots Survey

Crewe & Nantwich by-election

Crewe voters set to derail Labour's fightback - Independent

Cherie Blair interview and book extracts

Interview - Times

Book extract from Speaking for Myself by Cherie Blair (part 1) - Times

'The problem with me and Gordon is nothing personal' - Times

Ivan Lewis interview

"Gordon Brown and the Government should apologise to the country for "letting people down" in his first 10 months as Prime Minister, or face defeat at the next general election, one of his ministers has said" - Telegraph

Fertility Bill

"Pro-life MPs are confident they will defeat plans to extend embryo research when the proposals to change the law come before the Commons next week" - Telegraph

School tests

"The schools secretary, Ed Balls, will next week face new pressure to scale back Labour's school testing regime with the publication of a parliamentary report arguing that children are now being tested "excessively"" - Guardian

London mayoralty

Livingstone returns to City Hall - Guardian

Brown's son will go to local state school

"The Prime Minister's announcement came hours after David Cameron disclosed that his daughter would be attending a Church of England school two miles from his London home. The Tory leader and his wife chose it ahead of 15 others which were closer" - Telegraph

Eco-towns

"Tens of thousands of people, including scores of councils, aim to force the Prime Minister to halt the plans" - Telegraph

Government to roll out reading programme in schools

"Children who struggle to read at age six can catch up and overtake their peers with the help of specialist one-to-one tuition, according to a new research published today" - Guardian

Comment

After another fine mess, Mr Brown needs to show signs of conviction - Leader, Independent

Friday 9th May 2008

Reading Desk: Sonia Sodha writes about the the recently released 'Those Who Can?' report from the IPPR

Crewe & Nantwich: Goodbye to Gwyneth

Where now for Labour?

"The government must admit it has made mistakes if it wants to reconnect with the voting public, Cabinet minister John Denham has said" - BBC (full text of the speech here)

Yes, I lost. But still Labour must learn from London - Ken Livingstone, Guardian

New Labour is finished. The fight is over what replaces it - Seumas Milne

Denis MacShane publishes new Progress pamphlet on the future of the European left - Progress (pdf)

"Labour chiefs have until the end of this month to plug a £4 million hole in the party’s finances and avert the possibility of a formal declaration of bankruptcy" - Tribune

"Labour is in emergency talks to renegotiate more than £10m of loans from wealthy businessmen to prevent itself running out of money" - FT

"A second attempt to install a Downing Street-anointed candidate as Labour’s general secretary is to be made following the withdrawal of David Pitt-Watson.

Ray Collins, assistant general secretary of the union Unite, emerged as a runner early this week after the City financier’s announcement the day after the local election poll" - Tribune

Scottish referendum

"A row between Gordon Brown and the leader of the Scottish Labour party over an independence referendum intensified yesterday, amid deepening confusion over government policy towards a vote. As the Tories accused Labour of endangering the UK's future, Wendy Alexander appeared to defy the prime minister by intensifying demands for an immediate poll" - Guardian

"Alex Salmond yesterday dismissed Wendy Alexander's call for an early referendum on independence as the beleaguered Scottish Labour leader was ridiculed by all the party leaders in the Scottish Parliament over the chaos which has engulfed her party" - Times

"Gordon Brown and Wendy Alexander, Labour's leader in Scotland, have been taunted by political opponents over their split on whether Scotland should hold an early referendum on securing independence from the United Kingdom" - Independent

The Big Question: What would Scottish independence mean, and how would it work? - Independent

Scottish independence: too much, too late - Leader, Times

ASBO issue rates falling

"The slow death of Tony Blair's flagship measure against antisocial behaviour, the asbo, was confirmed yesterday by official figures showing the number of new orders issued had dropped by 34%" - Guardian

"One of Labour’s main policies to tackle yobbish disorder is facing a slow death after figures published yesterday showed a sharp drop in antisocial behaviour orders" - Times

Housing

"The Prime Minister is planning to extend shared equity schemes to make home-owning more affordable for first-time buyers as part of a range of measures aimed at helping those hit by the credit crunch" - Independent

NHS reform

"Plans for the biggest reorganisation of the NHS since 1948 will not require any controversial hospital closures until well after the next general election, according to proposals being unveiled by the government today. Lord Darzi, the health minister, will set out ground rules for NHS reform over the next 10 years, including a promise that no services will be withdrawn until new and better facilities are in place" - Guardian

Abortion Limits

"Survival rates for babies born before 24 weeks are extremely low and getting no better in spite of medical advances, according to an authoritative study which will be published today" - Guardian

Resist the medievalists. Women's right to abortion is a private matter - Polly Toynbee, Guardian

Abu Qatada bailed

"The home secretary, Jacqui Smith, last night expressed her "extreme disappointment" at the decision yesterday by three high court judges to order the release of the radical preacher Abu Qatada, who has been described as Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe" - Guardian

Brown furious as ITV asks about sick son

"An apparent attempt by Gordon Brown to show his "human side" led to a furious row yesterday between Downing Street and ITV after the Prime Minister was questioned about his youngest son's struggle with cystic fibrosis" - Independent