Chris Gilson takes a look at the week in political blogging.

Weekend

David Herdson at politicalbetting.com looks at the barriers faced by the Labour party to its own renewal, while Mike Smithson at politicalbetting.com suggests that Ed Balls may now be king-maker in the Labour leadership race with his second-preferences being key.

John Redwood talks defence, and Jonathan Isaby at ConservativeHome is relatively unconcerned that government is not representative of the wider population, while Peter Hoskin at Coffee House talks on the possibility of the Tories sending a representative to the upcoming Liberal Democrat party conference; Mike Smithson at politicalbetting.com wonders if it will be William Hague.

Guido disagrees with Simon Hughes’ desire to end the ‘right to buy’ scheme for council houses, and David Blacknurn at Coffee House indicates that an end to ‘lifetime’ tenancy in council houses has widespread support. Guido also muses on whether or not the recent announcement that the government will cut milk for the under-5’s is a ruse. Later, on Sunday, the government quickly u-turns on the policy, with a dismissal from Number 10.

Peter Hoskin at Coffee House examines some of the difficulties that some departments are facing in coming up with 40% cuts in their expenditures, as John Redwood looks at the renewal of the nuclear deterrent and finds that it is fairly inevitable. Sunny Hundal at Liberal Conspiracy says that Michael Gove may face legal challenges from cancelled school building programmes.

Jim Pickard at the FT’s Westminster Blog says that support for AV is taking a ‘nosedive’.

Monday

Mike Smithson at politicalbetting.com has four possibilities as to the exact nature of the coalition.

Mr Eugenides talks about choice and government services, while Iain Dale says that the government should have stood fast over the abolition of free milk for under-5’s. Tim Montegomerie at ConservativeHome thinks that the government was correct in its u-turn over free milk, while Dave Semple at Though Cowards Flinch thinks that it may have been a ‘stunt’, and Iain Martin at the Wall Street Journal calls it a ‘very British idiocy’.

Mike Smithson at politicalbetting.com asks if Vince Cable has won the battle over the graduate tax now that the coalition is in favour of it, though James Forsyth at Coffee House asks if the Conservative right will oppose it, and George Eaton at The Staggers says that it is under fire from the left and right. Asa Bennett at Party Lines Blog asks if Cable is ‘building a fairer Britain’ with the tax. Guido reckons that Cable may have resigned if the tax did not go through.

George Eaton at The Staggers looks at how likely Vince Cable thinks a double-dip recession might be and Mark Carrigan at Liberal Conspiracy looks at how the coalition might have been influenced by right wing think tanks since the election and before.

Tim Montegomerie at ConservativeHome ponders if David Laws will be returning to the front benches this autumn. Jeff at SNP Tactical Voting calls Chris Huhne a ‘hypocrite’ over his support for new nuclear power stations; Joss Garman at Left Foot Forward has more.

George Eaton at The Staggers says that Tory support in Scotland is slipping, and Labour may well take back power from the SNP in the next election, while Luke Akehurst at Luke’s Blog is unsure if Labour should be focusing on radical public service reform as it has done in the past.Tom Watson MP, blogging at Labour Uncut, looks at how many Ministerial cars have actually been cut.

Tuesday

Daniel Smith at the Adam Smith Institute’s blog outlines several reasons why the proposed Graduate Tax may not be a good idea in practice and Tony Dolphin says that there are some early signs that Osborne’s Emergency Budget has had a negative effect on the economic outlook.

Tim Montegomery at ConservativeHome says that David Cameron must focus on pathways out of poverty as well as on welfare reform, while Peter Hoskin at Coffee House has questions on Cameron’s crackdown on benefits. Hopi Sen says that the promise of cracking down on fraud is much more easy than the reality, while Tom Harris MP at And another thing…maintains that cutting fraud is definitely a good idea. Shamik Das at Left Foot Forward says that the Tories are ‘at odds’ over university funding.

Kiran Stacey at the FT’s Westminster Blog looks at campaign emails and MPs often desire to ignore them as ‘spam’. Mark Pack has some thoughts as well. Iain Dale looks at the Cabinet’s biggest ‘growers and shrinkers’.

George Eaton at The Staggers looks at four reasons why the ‘No campaign may be likely to win the AV referendum next year.

Jeff at SNP Tactical voting says that the Lib Dems are adopting Labour’s policies.

Wednesday

Peter Wrigley at Keynesian Liberal says that tax evasion is a problem 15 times as large as benefit fraud, while Alex Barker at the FT’s Westminster Blog says that the complexity of the benefits system actually saves government money in the short term.

Paul Goodman at ConservativeHome looks at the culture change in departmental spending that the new government has brought with I, while Richard Murphy guest blogging at Liberal Conspiracy says that Cameron’s cuts will fail if he continues to treat the country like a company. Will Straw at Left Foot Forward says that newly downgraded GDP figures from the Bank of England show that the coalition’s cuts are leading to slower growth – George Eaton at The Staggers has more. Nicola Smith at Left Foot Forward looks at the latest unemployment stats to see which direction the labour market recovery is going in.

Mark Valladares at Liberal Bureacracy says that it’s important for the Lib Dems to have robust policy debate, Mark Pack looks at party finances, and Anthony Wells at UK Polling Report examines government approval by party since the election.

Paul Goodman at ConservativeHome discusses the coalition’s launch yesterday of their political push to examine ‘Labour’s legacy’ – including the request that ex-Labour Ministers repay their severance pay. Guido calls the joint Lib Dem/Conservative press conference ‘surreal’, and Jess Freeman at Party Lines Blog has a more critical commentary, as does Will Straw at Left Foot Forward. Sunny Hundal at Liberal Conspiracy says that these new attacks on Labour are a result of the coalition’s recent drop in the polls (Gordon MacMillan at Harry’s Place calls the attacks ‘desperate’).

Jeff at SNP Tactical Voting asks if we should think about ‘ditching’ domestic flights for rail travel, as Mike Smithson at politicalbetting.com looks at whether Ed Miliband can expect some union’s campaign resources in the weeks leading up to the Labour leadership election.

Thursday

Mike Smithson at politicalbetting.com is interested to see what yesterday’s anti-Labour joint Tory/Lib Dem press conference will do to Chris Huhne’s chances of re-election, while Adam Lent at Liberal Conspiracy asks if Labour is really to blame for the deficit. Labour Uncut has a ‘where are they now’ round-up of what ex-MPs are doing now. Samira Shackle at The Staggers has the news that Jack Straw now backs David Miliband in the Labour leadership race, while Guido talks donations, as does Asa Bennett at the Party Lines Blog. Kiran Stacey at the FT’s Westminster Blog says that Labour has an ‘uncertain’ attitude to Vince Cable.

Nigel Hawkins of the Adam Smith Institute’s blog pushes for cost savings in welfare now, and reform later, while John Redwood warns against a ‘clumsy’ debate about cuts, and also makes the point that overall public expenditure will actually rise over this parliament. Paul Goodman blogs on David Cameron’s latest comments on a minimum price for alcohol and Dr Eamonn Butler of the Adam Smith Institute’s blog says that inheritance tax should be scrapped.

James Forsyth at Coffee House says that the Lib Dems and Tories are reaching a ‘compromise’ on how to fund higher education, but John Bernstein at The Staggers ponders if this was the week that the Clegg/Cameron honeymoon came to an end. David Taylor at Left Foot Forward looks at the shift in DfID’s focus from ‘input’ to ‘output’ based development measures.

Mike Smithson at politicalbetting.com takes a look at what the seat spread would have been like in the election if parliament had been reduced to 600 seats – the Tories would have been six seats short rather than 19.

Friday

Harriet Green at The Adam Smith Institute’s Blog discusses a minimum price for alcohol, recently mooted by David Cameron. Jess Freeman at Party Lines Blog has some questions about Liam Fox’s upcoming defence review. Peter Hoskin at Coffee House says that Fox’s speech this morning was ‘curious and intermediate’, and Jon Bernstein at The Staggers says that the battle between Fox, Osborne, and Trident is ‘not yet over’. John Ashmore at The Staggers is very alarmed at the huge cost, revealed today, and the future implications of hospital PFI projects.

John Redwood blogs, encouraging Wiliam Hague to ‘speak up’ for the UK at the EU. Tom Harris MP at And another thing… is critical of what he sees as some Liberal Democrat supporters’ ‘fanatical’ support for the coalition.

Today sees the appointment of Sir Phillip Green as the government’s efficiency ‘Tsar’, according to Conor Ryan at Connor’s Commentary and Vince Cable has held his tongue over the appointment according to James Williams at Party Lines Blog.

Dan Hodges at Labour Uncut and Hopi Sen look at what the fate of the ‘Brownite’ inner circle may now be – they certainly are not going away, with some clustering around Ed Miliband and others, Ed Balls.

Sarah Mulley at Left Foot Forward talks immigration and employment figures.