Chris Gilson, Paul Rainford and Amy Mollett take a look at the week in political blogging

Coalition politics

As David Cameron picks Fathers’ Day to attack stay-away dads, the Coffee House suggests that he may have trained his sights on the wrong target. thetorydiary also shows that the PM is facing growing rebellion within his party.

The Staggers comments on David Cameron’s admission that he would be pushing for a harder line on immigration and welfare if he didn’t have to work within a coalition.

John Redwood muses on the future of Scotland.

Samira Shackle at The Staggers wonders if all the coalition’s recent u-turns are damaging David Cameron, while Shamik Das at Left Foot Forward has a round-up of ‘damning verdicts’ on Cameron.

Tim Montgomerie at thetorydiary praises Cameron’s recent stronger line on law and order. Mike Smithson at politicalbetting.com wonders if this tougher line will convert voters to the Tories. Andrew Neilson at Left Foot Forward says that the sentencing u-turn is at least partially due to ‘tabloid rage’,

Linda Lee at The Staggers says that Ken Clarke’s Justice Bill is fatally flawed.

Mark Pack has a short look at the Liberal Democrats’ influence on the coalition.

Education reform

The Coffee House blogs on a hyperactive Michael Gove as George Osborne gets fully behind education reform.

The economy

Richard Murphy welcomes HMRC’s moves to tackle tax evasion but warns that any initiative is doomed to fail without sufficient numbers of people trying to enforce it.

The FT’s Westminster Blog notes some problems with the government’s deregulation drive.

Peter Wrigley at Keynesian Liberal makes the point that Greece’s economic problems are not shared by the UK, while John Lansman at Left Futures reckons that Labour should oppose the Greek bail-out.

Nigel Meager at the TUC’s Touchstone blog says that it is too early top start talking about a labour market recovery, despite recent falls in headline unemployment figures.

Dominic Browne at Left Foot Forward says that David Cameron’s government has a ‘plan B’ for everything other than the economy.

Richard Excell, guest blogging at Liberal Conspiracy discusses the decline in workless households since the 1990s.

The Staggers casts its eye over the Liberal Democrats’ new property tax plan, which may see the 50p tax rate eventually replaced with capital gains tax on profits from first homes above £1m.

Pensions

Labour List provides a video of Ed Balls warning unions against falling into the government’s strike trap’, as Left Foot Forward notes that the public are split on pensions reform.

Kiran Stacey at the FT’s Westminster Blog covers Labour’s proposals to delay the raising of women’s state pension age from 65 to 66, while Hilary Evans of Age UK says that women will be disproportionately affected by the Pensions Bill.

House of Lords

Liberal Democrat Voice notes Lord Strathclyde’s appreciation of the difficulty facing supporters of House of Lords reform

Ed Miliband and shadow cabinet decision

Labour leader Ed Miliband surprised many this week when he announced that he will abolish elections to the shadow cabinet. The Coffee House predicts that if the measure passes, Miliband will be keen to promote fresh faces who are more responsive to his needs.

The FT Westminster blog remarked that this move will cement Ed’s power base, and that he can now swiftly remove any challenges to his authority. The Staggers noted that David Miliband seemed to approve of the decision however, as he tweeted: “Well done to Ed for grasping nettle of Shadow Cabinet elections.”

Blue Labour

As part of the site’s larger debate on Blue Labour, Craig Berry at Our Kingdom considers whether the identification with conservatism is misguided and sets Ed Miliband up for failure.

Sunny Hundal at Liberal Conspiracy covers Helen Goodman’s criticism of Blue Labour. The MP for Bishop Auckland worries that Blue Labour “will be hijacked by those whose real agenda is to destroy the welfare state on which so many people depend”.

Craig Berry at Left Foot Forward contemplates the difficulty for Blue Labour in endorsing a version of conservatism.

And finally…

Robin Wilson and Jon Bloomfield at The Staggers look at how to use progressive politics to build a ‘good society’.

UK Polling Report shows Labour and Tories neck and neck on 37%, according to the most recent ComRes poll.

This week a coalition of women’s organisations called upon education secretary Michael Gove to embed prevention of violence against women in the education system, as covered by Liberal Conspiracy.