Brown to face the Chilcot Inquiry today – 8 in the morning, March 5th

8am

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

* Gordon Brown is set to face the Chilcot Inquiry today, and will be questioned over cuts to the defence budget during the war.

* The Tory lead has been cut to 2% in seats Labour won by 6-14% in 2005.

* Evening Standard owner Alexander Lebedev is now also the owner of the Independent.

* New school diplomas are too easy for the brightest children, Ofqual warns.

* A Met Office review shows that evidence for man-mdae climate change is stronger now than it was in 2007.

* Lord Ashcroft is accused of “exploiting his offshore status to avoid paying VAT on opinion polls he commissioned for the Conservatives”.

* MPs have voted overwhelmingly in favour of new reforms to reduce the authority of whips and give more power to backbenchers under a new committee.

* Progress have launched a new campaign – “David versus Goliath” – to raise money by small donations “to counter the Ashcroft millions”.

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