9.45pm ToryDiary: Mr Bean posters
5.15pm PlayPolitical: Watch Cameron question Gordon Brown's integrity at PMQs and also up is John Howard's concession speech
4.45pm ToryDiary: Away from the Labour meltdown, Gove and Herbert are building the case for a Conservative government
3.15pm ToryDiary: Giles Chichester is new leader of Tory MEPs
11.45am ToryDiary: Live PMQs blog from noon - Cameron questions the integrity of the man Vince Cable calls Mr Bean
11.45am Seats and candidates: Jeremy Brier selected for Luton North
ToryDiary: November readers' survey is now live and Nominations for New Media
Patrick Cusworth on Platform: Free speech does not mean that we are therefore encouraged to promote or support those who preach a dogma of hate
Columnist Peter Franklin: We need a Cabinet Minister dedicated to delivering financial stability
These are difficult times for Labour supporters and to help them remember happier days here's a link to PlayPolitical's Collection of Tony Blair videos
BritainAndAmerica: Mark Steyn on Barack Obama
Donorgate
"Gordon Brown is facing the prospect of a criminal inquiry into Labour's fundraising scandal after he admitted that the party has received hundreds of thousands of pounds in "illegal" donations. The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed that it had been asked to look into whether there were grounds for a police investigation into £673,975 given to the party by David Abrahams, who used four go-betweens to hide his identity." - Telegraph
PlayPolitical: Video of Brown attempting to defend himself
"The woman named as the fourth go-between in the Labour donor row has spoken of her dismay that David Abrahams had used her name to give £25,000 to the party. Janet Dunn, a Tory voter whose husband Anthony has worked for Mr Abrahams in the past, said she was told only on Monday night that the donation had been made in her name in 2003." - Telegraph
"Harman was apparently so desperate for cash to pay off her campaign debts that she threw caution to the wind. The funding fiasco is going to cost cash-strapped Labour £650,000 in repaid donations. It may yet cost Harriet Harman her job.' - The Sun Says
PDF: Theresa May's 19 questions for Harriet Harman
"If this row had come out of a clear blue sky, it would be very bad news for the Prime Minister. Coming as it does after a series of catastrophic displays of government incompetence which have sent Labour crashing in the polls, it is potentially devastating." - David Hughes in The Telegraph
Telegraph: "Tony Blair regrets attacking the Tories so hard over allegations of "sleaze" in the final years of John Major's government." You bet he does!
Daniel Finkelstein predicts how things could get worse for Brown - The Times
How long before Labour MPs turn on Brown?
"George Osborne, shadow chancellor, claimed: "Everything Gordon Brown promised about his premiership - competence, honesty and change - has been blown away in the last few weeks." Mr Brown's response to claims his government is on the slide is to laugh. But with opinion polls suggesting otherwise and an election getting closer, his backbenchers may soon stop seeing the funny side." - FT
Good reviews for David Cameron's speech to CBI
"Compared to Alistair Darling's faltering performance in front of an audience best described as lukewarm, the leader of the opposition made all the right noises. He came over all business-friendly on enterprise, regulation, public spending, tax, education, infrastructure and the environment without ever really pinning his colours to the mast." - Business comment in The Telegraph
"Exploiting Government turmoil over planned hikes to capital gains tax, the Tory leader vowed to reduce the main rate of corporation tax if he wins the next election." - Daily Mail
Cameron shifts Tory emphasis on nuclear power
"David Cameron, the Conservative Party leader, signalled a key change of approach towards nuclear power yesterday by saying that it should be able to compete on a level playing field with other forms of energy. Previously, the Tories had said that they viewed nuclear as a last resort." - Times
"Four sites were earmarked for the new generation of nuclear power stations yesterday as Gordon Brown gave the clearest signal so far that he will give the go-ahead in the New Year for a major expansion of Britain's nuclear power output." - Independent
Has Team Cameron over-briefed the meeting with President Bush?
"The White House, although wary of some members of the Government such as Lord Malloch-Brown, the former British Ambassador to the UN, is determined not to upset the British Prime Minister who remains an important ally. One source in London yesterday suggested that Mr Cameronâs aides had been ordered to âshut upâ about the visit." - Times. This is a story which has Tom Baldwin's name attached to it. It should be treated with great scepticism, therefore.
Irwin Stelzer: Tories must be more different
"Voters are eager for an alternative to a tired Labour Party. The Tories' problem is that they won't have very much to offer when it comes to running the economy. Never mind that any good ideas - and even bad but popular ones such as reducing inheritance tax - will have been stolen by whoever replaces poor Alistair Darling. More important is the box into which the Tories have put themselves by promising to spend as much as Labour if they are entrusted with the keys to the Treasury. They have also promised not to lower taxes lest, and this is the risible excuse, lower taxes produce economic instability. They have promised to follow the same tax-and-spend policies that Brown has inflicted on a public groaning under the burden of successive tax increases, watching its money disappear without any significant improvement in public services." - Telegraph
New Labour, New Union Flag
"The culture minister, Margaret Hodge, has said she will consider a redesign of the union flag to incorporate the Welsh dragon. Her surprising commitment was made in the Commons during a debate on the frequency with which the union flag flies above public buildings." - Guardian
Rising immigration could double population of Britain by 2081 - Daily Mail
Seventeen years ago today, Margaret Thatcher left Downing Street - BBC
Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary...


































