The five things you need to know on Sunday 19 May 2013...

1) SWIVEL-EYED LOONS, EH?

How many references to 'swivel-eyed loons' can you count on the front pages this morning?

"'Swivel-eyed loons' storm engulfs PM," screams the Mail on Sunday.

'Swivel-eyed loons' hit back at the PM,...

The ten things you need to know on Friday 17 May 2013...

1) A PRE-ELECTION DIVORCE?

With just two years to go till the general election, and the coalition in turmoil over Europe (see point 2, below) and civil liberties, among other issues, there's a rather tasty splash on the...

The ten things you need to know on Thursday 16 May 2013...

1) THE GREAT EU PROTEST VOTE

So, Dave, how are all those carrots and concessions on Europe working out for you? From the Telegraph splash:

"Half of all Conservative backbenchers have voted to criticise David Cameron's...

The ten things you need to know on Wednesday 15 May...

1) DAVE'S RED LINE

Today, the Commons speaker John Bercow will make a decision on whether or not to call a vote on the Tory eurosceptics' amendment to the Queen's speech (remember, the one which expresses 'regret' at the...

The five things you need to know on Sunday 12 May 2013...

1) TORY CIVIL WAR OVER EUROPE. PART 774.

Question: Which of these two Sunday newspaper splash headlines could have been penned anytime between 1992 and 1997?

"Tory civil war erupts over Europe vote" (Sunday Times)

"Tories...

The ten things you need to know on Friday 10 May 2013...

1) CRACKS IN THE COALITION

48 hours after the Queen's Speech, how coalitious is the coalition? Not very, is the answer, according to a story on the front of today's Guardian:

"[T]he coalition has...

The ten things you need to know on Wednesday 8 May 2013...

1) A MODEST SPEECH FROM HER MAJESTY

From the Times:

"The Queen will open a new session of Parliament by announcing a comparatively modest legislative agenda after Downing Street pared back its proposed list of Bills.

"Amid complaints...

The ten things you need to know on Tuesday 7 May 2013...

1) LET'S GET OUT OF EUROPE

Poor Dave. Last week, the Tories were trying to fend off the UK Independence Party surge in the county council elections and work out how to win back disaffected Europhobic voters from...

The five things you need to know on (bank holiday) Monday 6 May 2013...

1) DEPUTY SPEAKER STANDS ASIDE. FOR NOW.

From the Guardian:

"Nigel Evans is to stand aside on a temporary basis as deputy speaker of the House of Commons as he fights 'completely false' allegations...

The former chair of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), Adair Turner, has called on the government to be "more cautious" about austerity and expressed concerns that there could be another financial crash in the next "10 or 15 years".

Speaking to the Huffington Post UK's political director...

Is it too late to stop Syria's descent into hell? Since the uprising against the despotic Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011, 70,000 people have lost their lives, one million refugees have fled across the border into the neighbouring countries of Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, and four million Syrians -...

The ten things you need to know on Sunday 5 May 2013...

1) DEPUTY COMMONS SPEAKER ARRESTED FOR RAPE

It's Nigel Evans MP.

"Top Tory arrested for rape," declares the Sunday Mirror.

"Deputy speaker in rape arrest," says the Sunday Times.

"Top Tory arrested over 'rape',"...

The one thing you need to know on Friday 3 May 2013...

THE 'CLOWNS' STRIKE BACK

They were mocked and dismissed as "waifs", "strays", "fruitcakes", "closet racists" and "clowns". Their candidates kept getting caught making anti-Semitic, racist and misogynistic remarks online. Their policies were panned as extreme, incoherent and...

The ten thing you need to know on Thursday 2 May 2013...

1) DAVE'S EURO CAMBLE

Polling stations are now open across England for council elections and for a parliamentary by-election in South Shields. The big question in the world of politics, especially centre-right politics, is: does the prime minister/Tory...

The ten things you need to know on Wednesday 1 May 2013...

1) FARAGE IN THE FIRING LINE

"The unacceptable face of Ukip?" That's the headline on the front of the Independent, above a picture of a chuckling Nigel Farage. The paper has interviewed Marta Andraesen, the former...

The ten things you need to know on 30 April 2013...

1) COME 2015, IT'LL BE 'TIME FOR A CHANGE'

The right-wing media echo chamber keeps telling us that the public have accepted the Tory economic narrative and backed austerity.

Really? From the Independent:

"A majority of...

The ten things you need to know on Monday 29 April 2013...

1) 'A COLLECTION OF CLOWNS AND ANGRY PEOPLE'

Two things have become clear over the past 48 hours. (a) Ukip is starting to implode, as journalists begin to pay more and more attention to its leaders, candidates and...

The ten things you need to know on Sunday 28 April 2013 (aka 'Ed Balls Day', see below]...

1) GIVE US BACK YOUR BENEFITS (PLEASE)

From the Sunday Telegraph:

"Iain Duncan Smith says he 'would encourage' elderly people who can well afford to pay for their own heating...

The ten things you need to know on Thursday 25 April 2013...

1) TO DIP OR NOT TO DIP?

It's a big day for the Treasury and chancellor George Osborne. From the Guardian:

"George Osborne will discover today whether the UK slid into an unprecedented triple-dip recession in...

Whisper it quietly, but I quite like big government. These days, it's unfashionable to say so. From New Labour to Blue Labour, from compassionate conservatives to neoconservatives, the consensus is that big government is bad government: slow, inefficient, intrusive, bureaucratic, overbearing, anti-democratic and anti-growth.

"The era of big government is...