Tories and Lib Dems publish the agreement that will underpin their coalition government This document sets out agreements reached between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats on a range of issues. These are the issues that needed to be resolved between us in order for us to work together as a strong and stable government.

The Gary McFarlane case highlights the fact that employees should be bound by rules of impartiality and equality I welcome Henry Porter’s toleration of ex-Relate counsellor, Gary McFarlane ’s “right to resist the new secular orthodoxy”. (” A little bit of religious bigotry is tolerable in a healthy society “, Comment). I take issue, however, with the words “religious bigotry”. McFarlane’s distinction between giving advice to homosexual couples and offering them sex therapy does not prove intolerance of those who differ with him. Porter is also unfair to cite the McFarlane case as ruling homophobia “out of order”. The author’s is an over-inclusive use of the term; people of religious conviction or none can be opposed to homosexual practices without possessing fear, hatred or contempt of gays or lesbians. Robert Gamble South Croydon, Surrey Henry Porter’s view that Relate should have “worked around” a counsellor who wouldn’t work with gays is just wrong.

It would be sign of US failure to engage with Tehran diplomatically, says President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after addressing world disarmament conference in New York President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday brushed off the threat of a new round of UN sanctions over Iran’s nuclear programme. The Iranian leader said fresh sanctions would mean that Barack Obama had given up on his campaign to engage Iran diplomatically. “While we do not welcome sanctions, we do not fear them either,” Ahmadinejad told reporters in New York.

Run down and overpriced, motorway services can be the low point on a long journey. But look closer and you will find all of modern Britain here – good and bad. Fifty years after the first one opened, comedian Alex Horne confesses to a lifelong infatuation with our “airports of the road” The service station at Newport Pagnell on the M1 is overflowing with curious, jubilant, patient people. Some have waited two hours to be served a cup of tea, but no one seems to mind. They can’t believe they’re at a service station at Newport Pagnell on the M1. It’s only the second motorway services to open in the UK and the novelty is astonishing. It’s 1960. By the time I arrive at the M5’s Bridgwater Services just before midnight 50 years later, the excitement has died down. This may be the only service station in Britain to boast a multistorey car park, but people have moved on. Four lads (three extremely drunk) are buying chips, but otherwise the place is empty.

Quakers oppose detention of migrants’ children, and so should a new government Quakers believe in the unique value of every individual. From this follows a sense of equality that animates Quaker thinking today. The right to asylum becomes a legal counterpart to the religious insight of the common humanity of us all. Refugees are the human face of international injustice.

Thinktank says big increase necessary to protect country from the next financial crisis as the turmoil continues across Europe Britain should raise income taxes by 6p in the pound to make bigger inroads into its huge deficit or risk being vulnerable to the next financial crisis, according to a leading thinktank that advises the Treasury. Current plans by the political parties to reduce spending and pay down debt would not be enough to prepare the country for a collapse like that of Lehman Brothers and a deep recession, said the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR). The hard-hitting criticism of plans by all political parties to cut the deficit, and especially the reliance on “mythical” efficiency savings, came as Europe was convulsed for a second day by the aftershocks of Standard & Poor’s decision to downgrade Spanish government debt. Stock markets were described as volatile with many shares yo-yoing throughout the day as traders attempted to assess the damage from the decline in creditworthiness of Spain and Greece.

Former US president writes about ‘never-before-heard detail’ of 9/11, his alcoholism, and mistakes and achievements while in White House The autobiography of George W Bush will go on sale in November, offering the former US president’s take on the September 11 terrorist attacks, as well as personal issues such as his battle with alcoholism. The cover of the book, entitled Decision Points, features Bush standing alone in the White House’s rose garden colonnade holding a presidential briefing book. Bush has said the book will not be a memoir but an account of key decisions in his presidency and personal life

Author and activist Bill McKibben says planet should be renamed ‘Eaarth’ to reflect environmental changes caused by humans • Blog: Should we change Earth’s name? Humans have changed the planet so drastically that it needs a new name, claims one of the first environmental campaigners to warn the public about climate change. “Eaarth” is the name being suggested by author and activist Bill McKibben , and is the title of his latest book

Most senior gay member of Conservative party sent to Poland to encourage EU allies to abandon homophobic views David Cameron is to dispatch the most senior gay member of his frontbench team to Poland to encourage the Tories’ rightwing allies in the European parliament to abandon their homophobic views. In a move designed to defuse criticism in tonight’s leaders’ television debate that the Tories have allied themselves with extremists in the EU, Cameron has revealed that the shadow environment secretary, Nick Herbert, will attend a gay rights march in Warsaw in July. Cameron told the Guardian that Herbert’s trip to Poland is designed to persuade the highly conservative Law and Justice party to embark on a “journey” to moderate its views on sexuality. The party was founded by the late Polish president Lech Kaczynski, who died earlier this month in a plane crash in western Russia. Kaczynski banned gay rights marches in Warsaw when he was the city’s mayor. Nick Clegg, who supported British membership of the euro, and Gordon Brown are expected to use the second TV debate tomorrow night to embarrass the Tories by highlighting the party’s links with hard-right groups in the European parliament

Presence of lava suggests ice that was generating the ash cloud has largely melted, say Icelandic authorities The plume of volcanic ash produced by the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland is showing signs of subsiding, scientists have said, as aviation authorities announce plans to begin reopening British airspace. Iceland’s weather office said there was less ash in the cloud from the volcano and the plume was less than 1km high. Helicopters operated by the national coastguard in Iceland have confirmed that lava has begun to flow in the volcano basin, suggesting the eruption is calming down. The ash plume is caused by hot magma breaking through the Earth’s crust and meeting ice, which turns into vapour and shoots upwards. The sight of lava suggests much of the ice responsible for the plume has melted, meaning there is less explosive force pushing ash into the sky. Kristin Vogfjord, a geologist at the Icelandic weather office, told the Guardian: “That’s a good sign. It means there is probably less ice in contact with the magma, so it’s not able to generate these explosions that spew ash all over Europe.” Icelandic forecasters are continuing to monitor the eruption. “It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s over,” said Vogfjord. “We hope that it does but we can’t be sure.” Andrew Hooper, a volcanologist at Delft University in the Netherlands, said: “There’s still a lot of ice there, so depending on how the eruption develops more ice could come into contact with the magma again and we may see a resumption