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Politics live blog: Tuesday 12 June Politics live blog: Tuesday 12 June
(40 minutes later)
9.44am: Matt in the Telegraph is particularly good today.
9.33am: For the record, here are the latest YouGov GB polling figures.
Labour: 45% (up 3 points from YouGov in the Sunday Times)
Conservatives: 31% (down 3)
Lib Dems: 9% (up 2)
Ukip: 9% (no change)
Labour lead: 14 points
Government approval: -38
This is the fourth time a YouGov poll has put the Labour lead at 14 points, the largest it has been since the general election.
9.11am: As Randeep Ramesh reports in the Guardian today, the annual British Social Attitudes survey has recorded the largest fall in public satisfaction with the NHS for a decade.
Simon Burns (pictured), the health minister, has been on BBC News this morning questioning the validity of the findings. According to PoliticsHome, he said patient surveys gave a different impression.
It doesn't tell the full story. If you look at the inpatient survey – that is, people who have been treated – which is going to be published later this week, it shows that 92% of people were very satisfied or thought that the service they got being treated was good. The survey you refer to, which is based on 1,000 people, was members of the public, not necessarily people who'd actually had any experience of the health service during the time.
Burns also said that the British Social Attitudes survey was carried out in the autumn of last year, when the row about the health bill was at its height. "A lot of things were thrown about that were totally inaccurate and there would have been an impact on people's views of the health service," Burns said.
The story is based on an analysis of the British Social Attitudes survey figures carried out by the King's Fund, the health thinktank, which you can read here.
Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary, has been responding on Twitter.
"@BBCr4today: #NHS survey "influenced by noises-off in political sphere" says Simon Burns" < he really needs to get that brass-neck seen to.
— Andy Burnham (@andyburnhammp) June 12, 2012
8.50am: The Leveson inquiry is taking us all on another ramble down memory lane this morning, with Sir John Major (remember him?) giving evidence. Neil Kinnock is normally cited as the political leader most viciously trashed by the tabloid press, but the last Conservative leader to win a general election must come a close second and it will be interesting to hear him tell his version of the Kelvin MacKenzie "bucket of shit" story. Back at Westminster, it's a patchy day, with lots of select committees sitting. And the Church of England's claim that gay marriage could undermine its status as the state church is leading the news. Crispin Blunt, the justice minister, has been playing down the significance of what its saying. According to PoliticsHome, this is what Blunt told BBC News.8.50am: The Leveson inquiry is taking us all on another ramble down memory lane this morning, with Sir John Major (remember him?) giving evidence. Neil Kinnock is normally cited as the political leader most viciously trashed by the tabloid press, but the last Conservative leader to win a general election must come a close second and it will be interesting to hear him tell his version of the Kelvin MacKenzie "bucket of shit" story. Back at Westminster, it's a patchy day, with lots of select committees sitting. And the Church of England's claim that gay marriage could undermine its status as the state church is leading the news. Crispin Blunt, the justice minister, has been playing down the significance of what its saying. According to PoliticsHome, this is what Blunt told BBC News.

As far as I can see the Church of England is split down the middle on this issue and, of course, what the government are proposing is around marriage in the eyes of the state. We're seeking to protect, indeed, proscribe religious organisations from offering gay marriage. That may be problematic legally, but the proposal the government are putting forward is that marriage should be equal in the eyes of the state whether it's between a same-sex couple or between a man and a woman.
As far as I can see the Church of England is split down the middle on this issue and, of course, what the government are proposing is around marriage in the eyes of the state. We're seeking to protect, indeed, proscribe religious organisations from offering gay marriage. That may be problematic legally, but the proposal the government are putting forward is that marriage should be equal in the eyes of the state whether it's between a same-sex couple or between a man and a woman.
The Church of England's full statement on gay marriage is available here (pdf).The Church of England's full statement on gay marriage is available here (pdf).
Here's the full agenda for the day.

9.30am: Nick Herbert, the policing minister, Tom Winsor, the government's preferred candidate for the next chief inspector of constabulary, and Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, speak at a policing conference.		Here's the full agenda for the day.

9.30am: Nick Herbert, the policing minister, Tom Winsor, the government's preferred candidate for the next chief inspector of constabulary, and Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, speak at a policing conference.
10am: Sir John Major, the former prime minister, Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, and Harriet Harman, the deputy Labour leader, give evidence to the Leveson inquiry.10am: Sir John Major, the former prime minister, Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, and Harriet Harman, the deputy Labour leader, give evidence to the Leveson inquiry.
10am: Remunertion experts give evidence to the Commons Treasury committee about City pay.10am: Remunertion experts give evidence to the Commons Treasury committee about City pay.
10am: Energy companies give evidence to a Commons committee about the draft energy bill.10am: Energy companies give evidence to a Commons committee about the draft energy bill.
10.30am: James O'Shaughnessy, Michael Jacobs and Duncan Brack, former special advisers, give evidence to the Commons public administration committee about their role.10.30am: James O'Shaughnessy, Michael Jacobs and Duncan Brack, former special advisers, give evidence to the Commons public administration committee about their role.
11am: Peter Fahy, the Manchester police chief constable, Colin Lambert, leader of Rochdale council, and others give evidence to the Commons home affairs committee about child grooming.11am: Peter Fahy, the Manchester police chief constable, Colin Lambert, leader of Rochdale council, and others give evidence to the Commons home affairs committee about child grooming.
11.30am: David Willetts, the universities minister, gives evidence to the Commons business committee about higher education reform.11.30am: David Willetts, the universities minister, gives evidence to the Commons business committee about higher education reform.
As usual, I'll be covering all the breaking political news, as well as looking at the papers and bringing you the best politics from the web. I'll post a lunchtime summary at around 1pm and another in the afternoon.As usual, I'll be covering all the breaking political news, as well as looking at the papers and bringing you the best politics from the web. I'll post a lunchtime summary at around 1pm and another in the afternoon.
If you want to follow me on Twitter, I'm on @AndrewSparrow.If you want to follow me on Twitter, I'm on @AndrewSparrow.
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