Review of the Papers, Friday 27 July

**Government  **

• A squeeze on capital spending on schools, hospitals and other public infrastructure could be in prospect as billions of pounds worth of private finance initiative projects are poised to come back on to the government's balance sheet. The move - the result of the government's promise to adopt international financial reporting standards for public accounts from next April - is also likely to lead to Alistair Darling, the chancellor, rewriting one of Gordon Brown's key rules for running the economy. If only two-thirds of the £29bn of PFI projects that do not currently count as government debt come back on the books, the existing sustainable investment rule looks set to be broken. It will also lead to worries over a potential shortage of capital for big public building projects as the government loses access to the off-balance sheet funding that has allowed it build new hospitals and schools without having to find the cash up front. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/43c60750-3bda-11dc-8002-0000779fd2ac.html  
• Alan Johnson, the health secretary, told officials yesterday to improve a pay offer to nurses and other healthcare workers in an attempt to avert industrial action across the NHS in England in the autumn. They will tell union leaders when negotiations resume today that a better deal is available for the lowest paid members of the 1.3 million-strong workforce. The Royal College of Nursing is balloting on action in protest at the government's decision to withhold part of a 2.5% pay award recommended by the nurses' and midwives' pay review body. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk-news/story/0,,2135774,00.html  
• Greater Manchester is likely to opt today to become the first region outside London to introduce road pricing, with a scheme that could cost drivers up to £5 to take cars into the city centre and out again. It is claimed that the scheme would create the world's biggest charging zone and would be 12 times bigger than London's original congestion charge area. Its supporters see it as the only way to deal with a morning and evening commuter crawl that could lose the region an estimated 30,000 jobs over the next 15 years if nothing is done. http://www.guardian.co.uk/transport/Story/0,,2135772,00.html
• The taxpayer is paying £150m a year to finance the servicing of the nation's 646 MPs and their staff, according to figures released by the House of Commons. MPs' salaries work out at £54.9m a year. Some £95.48m pays for MPs' expenses and staff - a rise of £4.973m over the previous year. Of this figure, £57.9m goes on staff and their pensions and the remainder on allowances covering everything from mortgage interest on second homes to travel costs, and office and constituency surgery bills. http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,2135771,00.html  
• The use of cars by ministers has risen by nearly 8 per cent in the past year, according to government figures, at a cost to the taxpayer of £6m. The disclosures were part of an avalanche of announcements made in the last 48 hours before Parliament closed for the summer. Tory leaders accused Gordon Brown of dumping 76 announcements on the Commons to "bury bad news". The announcements ranged from the disclosure that Tony Blair had hosted dinners for celebrities at Chequers, including Charlotte Church, to the confirmation that Menwith Hill, the US listening base in Yorkshire, was to be used for the US missile defence programme. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2809194.ece  

**Conservatives  **

• A Conservative government should support new nuclear power stations to ensure security of supply, a Tory policy group said on Thursday, in seemingly direct contrast to David Cameron's insistence that nuclear should be a "last resort". The security policy group warned that security of energy supply "requires nuclear energy and renewables to form part of the picture", to reduce dependence on Russia and other gas producers. It also recommended a new energy department, to tackle the "urgent" need to strengthen the ability to withstand threats to its energy supplies from shortages or terrorist incidents. The recommendations further complicate the Tory signals on energy policy. Mr Cameron has come under fire from business for wooing the green vote by appearing reluctant to renew ageing nuclear power stations. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0c8de8b0-3bc2-11dc-8002-0000779fd2ac.html  

Lib Dems  

• Schools could earn about £1,500 a year for each disadvantaged child on their rolls and changes to the tax and benefits system could lift nearly 5 million people out of economic deprivation, the Lib Dems promise in a policy paper today. Families would gain about £5 a week in child benefit and means-tested pensioner benefits would be folded into the state pension because so many of those eligible fail to apply for them. The Lib Dems argue that Gordon Brown's pledges to help the deprived have been undermined by complex mechanisms such as the tax credits system, which has been beset by fraud and error. http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,2135779,00.html  

General

• Hopes are rising of a deal between Labour and the Tories over reforms to the way political parties are funded in the wake of the "cash for honours" affair. The proposed agreement could see more than £20m of taxpayers' money handed to the parties. In return, they would halt the "arms race" at elections and could accept an eventual £50,000 cap on individual donations to end their dependency on rich backers. Labour, the Tories and Liberal Democrats have held private talks this week with Sir Hayden Phillips, a former Whitehall mandarin who recommended a shake-up of funding in a report in March. Labour and Tory sources said yesterday the ending of the "cash for honours" affair without charges being brought a week ago had concentrated minds and highlighted the need to reform funding to restore public trust in politics. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2809198.ece