ConservativeHome: Sunday 14th September 2008

7.30pm CentreRight updates:

Lord Ashcroft funds Tories from Belize

"Lord Ashcroft, deputy chairman of the Conservative party, has channelled money into party funds from the Central American tax haven of Belize, despite a ban on overseas donations." - The Sunday Times

"Stargate has channelled £6m to the UK in the past three years, a large chunk of which appears to have ended up in the Conservative party accounts. The offshore company appears to have alighted on a lawful scheme that circumvents the banning of foreign donations to British political parties." - The Sunday Times

It's time the Tories went on the economic attack - Bill Jamieson in The Scotman

Samantha's firm uses photo of Cameron and son to sell £400-a-pack Christmas cards - Mail on Sunday

Ex-ministers join Gordon Brown rebellion

Cabinet ministers were last night being urged to force Gordon Brown from office after 10 former government members publicly demanded a leadership contest - The Sunday Times

Labour MP Joan Ryan sacked after open revolt against Brown - The Telegraph

Backbench rebels will attempt to erode the Prime Minister's position by demanding nomination forms - inviting MPs to withdraw their support - The Observer

Labour rebels must put up or shut up - The Telegraph

Advice for Labour: adopt the Coke strategy

The best way to take on the Tories would be to acknowledge they have changed, but urge progressives to stay with the Real Thing - John Rentoul in The Independent

Fury as BBC boss 'tells staff to lay off Labour'

"The BBC was at the centre of a political bias row last night over claims a senior executive told reporters to ‘go easy’ on the Labour Government now it is lagging behind the Tories in the polls." - Mail on Sunday

I’m no Tory, Lib Dem leader says. But he seems to have stolen Tory clothes - The Sunday Times

Leader facing revolt over tax cuts - The Sunday Times

Liberals ditch promise to join the euro

"In an interview with The Observer, Vince Cable, the Lib Dem treasury spokesman, abandoned the party's historic commitment to 'ever closer' European integration and its decade-long push for rapid British entry into the euro system.Prompting a furious response from the party's pro-European wing, Cable steered them on to a more Eurosceptic course in the hope of preventing a haemorrhage of votes at the next election to the traditionally anti-Brussels Conservative party." - The Observer

The Kingmaker: Don't laugh – Clegg may be Britain's key politician in 2010 - Jane Merrick in The Independent

The world needs Britain to step out of the US shadow - Nick Clegg in The Independent

Nick Clegg may send sons to private school - The Sunday Times

Clegg may be inadvertently giving a hand to Cameron

"The Clegg strategy makes the atmospherics of politics even more hostile to the government. When the Lib Dems join the Tories in deploring the level of taxation and decrying government waste, Labour is left looking isolated and less credible when it tries to defend its record. As if things were not dire enough already for Labour, they now face the prospect that the next general election will be two against one..."

"Nick Clegg's repositioning of his party is a perfectly understandable and entirely logical response to the collapse in support for Labour and the revival of the Conservatives. The irony is that the probable effect is to make it likelier that the Tories will win power. Without wanting to, Nick Clegg may be helping David Cameron across the threshold of Number 10." - Andrew Rawnsley in The Observer

Government sanctions the UK's first sharia courts

"Islamic law has been officially adopted in Britain, with sharia courts given powers to rule on Muslim civil cases. The government has quietly sanctioned the powers for sharia judges to rule on cases ranging from divorce and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence. Rulings issued by a network of five sharia courts are enforceable with the full power of the judicial system, through the county courts or High Court." - The Sunday Times

The average NHS dentist now earns more than £100,000, official figures will show this week - The Telegraph

American raids on Taliban and Al-Qaeda targets in Pakistan could provoke terror attacks in London, Pakistan’s high commissioner to the UK threatened yesterday - The Sunday Times

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