Jonathan Jones

Tomorrow, MPs will debate whether to prevent abortion providers from counselling women seeking an abortion. The motion – put forward by Tory backbencher Nadine Dorries as an amendment to the Health and Social Care bill – is being opposed by the government, and pro-choice groups are backing a rival amendment, which reinforces the status quo. The amendement's author, Lib Dem MP Julian Huppert says: "The present system which allows women access to evidence-based guidance works, therefore I cannot see why we need to change it. I do not want to see us opening the door to anti choice organisations which could prevent women making their own decision on such a momentus issue.

As Fraser has already observed, annual CPI inflation rose to 4.4 per cent in July, from 4.2 per cent in June. This means that it has been 4 per cent or more throughout 2011 and expectations are for it to reach 5 per cent before the year is out. Even stripping out tax increases (such as the VAT rise in January), prices have risen by 2.8 per cent in the past year. But looking at the more detailed figures reveals even more dramatic price rises. The biggest driver of inflation is rising transport costs, which account for 1.25 of that 4.4 per cent figure. "Fuels and lubricants" are 15.1 per cent more expensive than they were a year ago, air travel 12.5 and rail travel 9.3.

Judging by today's YouGov polls, the riots have pushed crime sharply up the national agenda: it now ranks second, behind only the economy. In all, almost half of Brits think crime is one of the top three issues facing the country, more than double the number who said so a fortnight ago. The effect has, unsurprisingly, been strongest in London, where around two-in-three now see crime as a major concern: As for the causes of the riots, the majority blame "criminal behaviour" and "gang culture". Contrary to what Harriet Harman may insinuate, just eight per cent blame the government's cuts, and this is largely the 16 per cent of Labour voters who put the blame at the Coalition's door.

Thanks to Guido and his co-conspirators, capital punishment is back on the political agenda. Here's what The Spectator, under the editorship of Ian Gilmour, wrote about the hanging of Ruth Ellis — the last woman to be hanged in the UK — some 14 years before the abolition of the death penalty in Britain: The execution of Ruth Ellis, The Spectator, 15 July 1955 It is no longer a matter for surprise that Englishmen deplore bull-fighting but delight in hanging. Hanging has become the national sport.

…or why the US cuts are actually faster than, and just as deep as, ours. Dear Will, We hope you don't mind us writing a letter-form response to your latest post on Left Foot Forward, which argues that the "coalition government's cuts are deeper and faster than the Tea Party's". But, as we see it, there are several problems with your figures which are easier to explain in a conversational format. Here they are, as best as we can express them: i) The first obvious problem comes when you say that Obama set out $83 billion of deficit reduction for 2012 in his March Budget. Actually, he didn't.

Boris may think next year's London Olympics will be "the most exciting thing that's happened in the eastern part of the city since the Great Fire", but - according to a slew of new polls - he's got some way to go to persuade the rest of the country. Here's an opener from YouGov:   In the same poll, there's also widespread scepticism over what benefit the Olympics the bring to Britain:    The clearest perceived benefit is for London's sporting facilities, with 54 per cent agreeing that they will be much better "not just for the games themselves but for years afterwards". However, when it comes to London's public transport, only 32 per cent think it will see significant improvement, while 41 per cent disagree.

For years, teachers have been increasingly reluctant to restrain unruly pupils — for fear of being slapped with a lawsuit. But now, it seems, the government is trying to ease those concerns. Its guidance today may not change any laws, but it does encourage schools to change their approach. Among the directions is that "schools should not have a 'no touch' policy": teachers can use reasonable force to restrain pupils, remove disruptive children from the classroom or prevent them from leaving the classroom when they shouldn't.

So it turns out the candidates vying for the Republican presidential nomination don’t like Barack Obama, his health care reforms, government bailouts, unions or abortion rights. Who knew? But it seems they do like tax cuts, states’ rights and... each other. The beleaguered Newt Gingrich didn’t even wait for the first question in last night’s debate to commence the Obama-bashing. “We need a new President to end the Obama depression”, he opened. And the others soon piled on. Mitt Romney said that “This President has failed” on jobs and the economy.