Dividing lines
‘David Cameron is playing the public for fools and, frankly, the centre-left have let him get away with it too long. We must now unite and turn our fire on the Tories. Every day we fail to do so plays into their hands. The Tories’ desperation to force an early election as a referendum on MPs’ expenses proves they want to campaign on anything other than a choice between policies and priorities.’ – Ed Balls, The Guardian
‘Conservative plans to scrap the Standard Assessment Tests taken by 600,000 children at the end of primary school every year were attacked by ministers yesterday who claimed the move would leave parents without a trustworthy source of information to help them choose between schools in their area.’ – Polly Curtis, The Guardian
‘He rounded on Tory spending plans, but said Labour would clarify its
own intentions before the election. “They will be credible and clear.
We will come to that in an open and honest way.”‘ – David Miliband interview, Patrick Wintour and Nicholas Watt, The Guardian
Speaker hustings
‘MPs who would like to be the next Speaker of the House of Commons are due to make their case at the first-ever election hustings for the post.’ – BBC
‘Almost a dozen contenders have so far confirmed their attendance at a hustings event in Westminster, ahead of the vote a week from now. They will also be rushing to appearances on BBC radio, Newsnight and Channel 4, to win over any undecided voters.’ – Michael Savage, The Independent
‘John Bercow, the Conservative MP who is the frontrunner in next week’s election for a new Commons speaker, might be overthrown if the Conservatives win the general election.’ – Nicholas Watt and Toby Helm, The Guardian
Tories in disarray over Lisbon Treaty
‘Shadow business secretary Ken Clarke says the Tories will not reopen negotiations on the Lisbon Treaty if the Irish back it in a new referendum.’ – BBC
‘Mr Clarke risked angering Tory eurosceptics by saying he envisaged only “sensible discussions… in limited areas” about the division of responsibilities between Westminster and Brussels.
Tory leader David Cameron has promised a referendum on the treaty – which replaces the failed EU constitution – if he reaches office before ratification is complete.’ – Andrew Woodcock, The Independent
Iranian elections
‘Iran’s leading opposition candidate, Hossein Mousavi, last night signalled his determination to resist what he described as a “coup”, and called on the international community not to recognise the official results of Friday’s presidential election.’ – Julian Borger and Ian Black, The Guardian
‘Iran’s defeated moderate candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi has cancelled a big rally amid unrest over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election.
The interior ministry had declared planned protests illegal.’ – BBC
Netanyahu speech
‘The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, last night said for the first time he would accept an independent Palestinian state, but only on condition it was demilitarised and that the Palestinians recognised Israel as the state of the Jewish people.’ – Rory McCarthy, The Guardian