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| Our top five most read articles this week. 5 - Stitch up: Former Tory minister put on board to select new prison inspector The search to find a replacement to Nick Hardwick as chief inspector of prisons is proving as controversial as his exit from the job. Hardwick felt hounded out of the job because he was too critical of the government. Now the process by which his successor is appointed – and in particular who sits on the selection panel – is coming under scrutiny. In the meantime, time was running out for the Ministry of Justice. 4 - Failure of scrutiny: How Grayling got his way with new prison inspector Continuing the above story – rather conveniently for this newsletter – came Thursday's development that Chris Grayling had pre-empted a critical report from the Commons' justice committee. Sir Alan Beith and co weren't even told that two members of the selection panel for the chief inspector job were active Conservatives. This story is now getting so bad it may result in changes to the rules governing ministerial appointments. 3 – The tactics Grant Shapps used to escape Michael Green The week began with embarrassment for the Conservative party chairman, whose concession that his denial of having had a second job had been "over-firm" introduced a new phrase to the lexicon of lying. Grant Shapps' bad day had been coming for some time – he'd been running away from this one, on occasion literally, for years. The expectation in Westminster is that while he can't be jettisoned so close to a general election, Shapps might be for the exit door as soon as the campaign is over. 2 - This is what sex in prison is really like Weird, reassuring, troubling - the Commission on Sex in Prison's report contained a whole range of findings. Like the time when officers gave an inmate porn instead of a Bible "to help you get to sleep". Or the prisoner unsure of his sexuality who was moved to a cell containing an openly gay man to help him "sort himself out". We picked out the most jaw-dropping highlights. 1 - Labour blames conspiracy theories for Scottish collapse Let's face it – what's going on north of the border could end up resulting in such a dramatic transformation of Scottish MPs that the nationalists end up deciding who actually gets into Downing Street. Labour is on the defensive and doesn't seem to have much of an answer – an impression reinforced by Douglas Alexander's comments about "angry" nationalist voters earlier this week. He says conspiracy theories about the result of the referendum aren't helping his party's cause, asking: "How do we engage with a very rapidly changing media landscape in which facts are not common and people have their own facts?" That is the question Labour must find a decent answer to before May 7th. Best of the rest...Comment: When will we treat anti-Gypsy comments like the racism they are? Until travellers start voting, they'll be an easy target for the irresponsible politicians who attack them Review: The Dream Shall Never Die by Alex Salmond The chief protagonist of the Scottish independence movement fails to provide much insight into its successes or failures Comment: Councillors aren't lazy We're too busy coping with cuts to think about how much we're paid. Ten bizarre Budget winners and losers Spy widows, Pacific fish, seagulls and people from Norway: here's the top ten oddest groups being made slightly more miserable - or cheerful - by George Osborne's sixth Budget: Comment: Cameron protects Blair from having to disclose business interests How much embarrassment will it take before we change the lax rules on former prime ministers' private interests? George Osborne has presided over the slowest recovery in history There remain fundamental weaknesses in the UK economy Report card: MPs lay out Grayling's failures ahead of election The full scale of the crisis in prisons was laid bare by MPs today, when the justice committee published a devastating appraisal of the performance of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) under Chris Grayling. How a flood of SNP MPs could lead to independence Nicola Sturgeon's focus on pacts and deals masks a broader agenda: flooding parliament with Scottish nationalists is only going to accelerate the drift towards independence. Why doesn't anyone ask the Tories to rule out a pact with Ukip? Labour is constantly asked to rule out a pact with the SNP - so why won't the Tories do so with Ukip? | CML and Which? report on progress towards greater mortgage transparencyThe CML and Which? today publish a joint progress report to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, as noted in today's Budget. IFAW calls for amendments to Hunting Act in light of another hunting prosecution being droppedThe International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is changing its position on the Hunting Act and calling for a number of necessary amendments in light of another prosecution being dropped. Engineers call on future Government to make UK a global leader in next generation communications networksThe IET has today launched its General Election Campaign, calling on the next Government to take steps to establish the UK as a global telecommunications leader. Budget: NARPO comment on widows pensionsNARPO note with interest that: “The government will ensure that all widows, widowers and civil partners of police officers and firefighters who are killed on duty will no longer lose their survivor benefits if they remarry, cohabit, or form a civil partnership.” Government claim that college of teaching will operate free from political interference is risible, says NASUWTChris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT: 'The NASUWT has never objected in principle to the creation of a dedicated professional body for teaching'. Affordable housing: issues for lendersAffordable housing comprises 18% of the UK’s housing stock, and is substantially funded by CML members, both through direct investment and as providers of residential mortgages. |
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