MPs’ vote on expenses
‘Gordon Brown faces another Commons battle as he tries to get MPs to agree to his reforms of their expenses.’ – BBC
‘David Cameron has withdrawn his support over plans to force MPs to declare how much they earn from jobs outside Parliament.’ – Sam Coates and Francis Elliott, The Times
‘Adding to the Prime Minister’s woes, former Europe minister Denis MacShane today accused him of fuelling exploitation by MPs of the £24,000-a-year second home allowance.’ – Nicholas Cecil and Joe Murphy, Evening Standard
Hopes for recovery
‘Gordon Brown’s battered government was yesterday given the first glimmer of hope that the economy will stage a pre-election recovery as consumer confidence posted its third monthly rise to its highest level in a year.’ – Larry Elliott and Heather Stewart, The Guardian
Socially conservative
‘David Cameron will head a party dominated by MPs more socially conservative and less concerned with the environment than their leader, an analysis of Conservative parliamentary candidates suggests.’ – Francis Elliott, The Times
Humanitarian relief urgently needed
‘We visited Sri Lanka yesterday for a simple reason: time is running out for those trapped or displaced by the fighting. Our mission was simple too: to make, in person, the case for the humanitarian relief that the UN, the EU and the G8 have called for.’ – David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner, The Times
Gurkha vote
‘Twenty-seven Labour MPs voted against the Prime Minister and dozens abstained in favour of a Liberal Democrat motion that would give all Gurkhas who have served in the Armed Forces an equal right of residence.’ – Philip Webster, The Times
‘In reality, yesterday’s defeat was a bad wound rather than anything terminal for the prime minister – but it was extraordinary, and genuinely unprecedented.’ – Editorial, The Guardian