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Happy New Year everyone!

Forgive us but tomorrow's newslinks won't be live until close to noon.  Let us leave you with this image from the year about to end...

...and The Telegraph's Robert Winnett has just predicted that Labour will go bankrupt in 2008!

New Year's Eve 2007

1.45pm ToryDiary: Where are the Tories on the EU Treaty?

ToryDiary: Liam Fox welcomes ConservativeHome poll on national security

PlayPolitical: The ten best political videos of 2007 (UK)

BritainAndAmerica: An overview of Hillary Clinton's foreign policy priorities

Daniel Kawczynski MP on the Platform writes about how the Party should support the Belarus Popular Front:

"Margaret Thatcher's steadfast resolve in her dealings with the Soviets contributed in part to the fall of communism in Eastern Europe. Our generation has to show solidarity with the people of Belarus so that they too can find freedom and democracy."

Cameron "won't let matters rest" after EU constitution has been signed

"David Cameron has given his clearest commitment yet to tearing up the revised EU Constitution if he wins power, even if it has been signed. The Conservative leader told the Daily Mail he will "not let matters rest" if Gordon Brown succeeds in forcing the controversial treaty through Parliament and into law. His intervention ratchets up the pressure on Mr Brown over the document which is likely to dominate debate at Westminster in the New Year." - Mail

"The Conservative leader said that the treaty - which critics claim is a revamped version of the defunct EU Constitution - is "wrong" and that his party would "address the issue". In the coming weeks the Commons will debate the Reform Treaty, which was signed by Gordon Brown earlier this month in Lisbon." - Telegraph

More marginal seats to be funded by Lord Ashcroft - Times

Cameron would face revolt if he opposed pay rise

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"While Dave can't openly support the feeding frenzy of MPs filling their pockets, he has let it be known that he "will not stand in the way" of greedy politicians sticking their snouts in the trough until they choke. "David can't oppose a significant pay rise for MPs because he would have a full-scale mutiny on his hands," one veteran Tory MP told the Sunday Mirror. "Many of us will retire at the next general election and we need the increase to boost our pensions." Large numbers of the Tory old guard are standing down at the next general election to make way for Cameron's barmy blue army of Tofu-sucking, tree-cuddling, Notting Hill non-entities." - Mirror

Blairites starting to raise their heads above the parapet

"Leading Blairites have broken cover to urge Gordon Brown to stage a fightback as he was warned that David Cameron is now "resonating" with voters. Senior ministers David Miliband and Tessa Jowell warned that difficulties lay ahead for the Government unless it produced a clear vision for voters. Even Justice Secretary Jack Straw, a close ally of Mr Brown, told the Prime Minister to come up with fresh ideas after months of crises and dwindling public confidence." - Mail | Scotsman | FT

"Gordon Brown's biggest Blairite critics inside the Labour party have extended an olive branch to the Prime Minister in a bid to present a united front against the Conservatives." - Telegraph

Stability versus change

"The Conservatives have put forward policies from which large numbers of us would benefit: raising the inheritance tax threshold, allowing the creation of first-rate independent schools within the state sector, getting power back from Brussels and devolving it to local councils. But voters have not yet made the mental adjustment necessary to picture the Tories as governing ministers." - Telegraph leader

The West cannot afford cosy equivocation

"We must decide right now that this system of liberal democratic government, which has delivered almost everything that makes life in modern Europe and the Anglosphere so enviable that millions of people will risk their lives simply to set foot in those lands, is to be fought for and defended and disseminated throughout the world with every ounce of dedication that we can muster.Somehow we must get past the hideous obstacle of George Bush, whose bizarre misjudgments nearly succeeded in discrediting the whole concept of liberal interventionism: there is a sound reason why, in spite of Mr Bush, no serious contender for the White House (or for Downing Street, for that matter) will actually renounce the principle of free-world intervention." - Janet Daley in the Telegraph

It can only get better, can't it?

"The first is that it is extremely improbable that the next 12 months could be as embarrassing for the Government as were the past three months. There is (probably) no other Northern Rock lurking out there. There are a finite number of computer disks that any administration can misplace and these have been identified. The tally of curious individuals who have donated money to the Labour Party by dubious means has surely been exhausted." - Tim Hames in the Times

Paddick attacks Boris 'the clown' - Times

Hospitals admit 500 binge drinkers a day - Telegraph

Doctor calls for sex lessons for five year olds - Telegraph

Times writers recall their worst New Years Eves - Times

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary...

Sunday 30th December 2007

9.15pm BritainAndAmerica: The American Soldier

1.15pm ToryDiary: Peter Ainsworth publishes the environmental heroes and zeroes of 2007

ToryDiary: Tory lead narrows in YouGov poll and Our picks of the year (II)

BritainAndAmerica: In the second look at the foreign policy priorities of the leading presidential candidates, we turn to Barack Obama

Jack Straw on the "resonating" policies of David Cameron

"A senior cabinet minister has admitted David Cameron’s campaign is “resonating” with the public and the government must “adapt” if it is to keep power.  After a disastrous autumn for Gordon Brown, in which the Tories took a convincing lead in the opinion polls, Jack Straw accepted in an interview with The Sunday Times that there had been “problems” that must be put right next year and that “clear progress” must be made."

Stephen Byers urges Blairites to support Brown

"'Tony Blair is history,' the former Blairite cabinet minister Stephen Byers writes in a remarkably frank article in today's Observer. 'He is the political past and will not be part of the future of domestic politics in our country.  '2008 will be a tough year. With Tony Blair gone from domestic politics, the task of leading Labour to victory falls to Gordon Brown. It is the responsibility of all of us who want to see a fourth election victory to give him our support.'"

Gordon Brown promises "serious" change in 2008 - BBC

"Brown tells Britain to prepare for 'global financial turbulence' in 2008. 'Our strong economy is the foundation,' Brown writes in his new year message. 'With unbending determination in 2008, we will steer a course of stability through global financial turbulence. The global credit problem that started in America is now the most immediate challenge for every economy.'" - Observer

The Independent on Sunday reports that the Government's programme will include the green light for nuclear power.

Full text of Gordon Brown's message.

PDF of David Cameron's New Year message.

Brown offers co-operation to Clegg

"Gordon Brown has offered to hold talks with the new Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, on constitutional reform in a move that is likely to fuel speculation of a new Lib-Lab pact to freeze out the Tories." - Observer

Party funding

"The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is to study a Tory dossier that claims the unions are “ripping off” members by asking for inflated fees that are creamed off into Labour coffers... Jonathan Djanogly, shadow solicitor general, who sent the dossier to the OFT, said: “The Labour party is cashing in from shoddy fund-raising practices.”" - The Sunday Times

"A Finnish billionaire who inherited a fortune from the arms trade and has extensive gambling interests in Las Vegas has emerged as one of David Cameron’s major financial backers." - Sunday Times

David Davis steps up campaign to scrap ID cards

"If Gordon Brown picks one failure from his first six months to learn from, it should be the loss of 25m people’s personal details. If he makes one resolution for 2008, it should be to scrap his reckless plan to introduce compulsory ID cards." - The Shadow Home Secretary writing in The Sunday Times

Liam Fox outlines the building blocks for a real and lasting peace in Afghanistan - Sunday Telegraph

The political year should not pass without a proper tribute to Lord Gilmour, one of the most trenchant Tory critics of Thatcherism - Alan Watkins in The Independent on Sunday

Catholic bishops called before MPs to explain their "doctrinaire" approach to education

"Roman Catholic bishops are to appear in front of a powerful committee of MPs amid fears that they are pushing a fundamentalist brand of their religion in schools. Bishops have called on parents, teachers and priests to strengthen the role of religion in education. In one case the Bishop of Lancaster, Patrick O'Donoghue, instructed Catholic schools across much of north-west England to stop 'safe-sex' education and place crucifixes in all classrooms." - Observer

Concern at Catholic policies comes at a time when the Government's approach to teenage pregnancies is shown to have failed - Sunday Telegraph

AND FINALLY...

Q. What's better than kissing a baby for a politician?
A. Helping baby lambs to be born.

The Mail on Sunday has the story of David Cameron helping a local farmer with a pregnant ewe.

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary...

Saturday 29th December 2007

11.15am ToryDiary: The Guardian-isation of Christmas?

ToryDiary: Our picks of the year (I)

In the first of a series of daily posts, BritainAndAmerica will be summarising the key foreign policy recommendations of the leading candidates to be America's 44th President.  We begin with John McCain.

PlayPolitical: World leaders react to Benazir Bhutto's assassination

From yesterday evening: Lynton Crosby returns to help run Boris Johnson's campaign

Profile of Grant Shapps MP: "Mr Shapps's energy has caught the eye of Mr Cameron. He has recovered from the setback of being the man who ran the Ealing Southall by-election for the Tories last July. It was one of the staging posts of Cameron's Summer of Discontent, along with the row over grammar schools." - Telegraph

Doubts raised about MPs deciding when Britain goes to war

"Parliament must not be allowed to decide when Britain goes to war, two former defence chiefs insist today.  Strong opposition to a war powers act, modelled on the US statute and being considered by the Brown government, is voiced by Lord Guthrie, chief of the defence staff under Tony Blair, and Sir Kevin Tebbit, former permanent secretary at the Ministry of Defence." - Guardian

Peter Oborne's 2008 Almanac

• February: "Gordon Brown's Government suffers heavy defeat in the Commons over plans for detaining terror suspects without charge for 42 days, following a huge rebellion by Labour MPs."
• March: "Labour's standing in the polls collapses to 28 per cent - 20 points lower than the Tories and worse than under the leadership of Michael Foot."
• May: "Labour loses hundreds of seats in local elections. Massive victory for Conservatives after Boris Johnson, to widespread amazement, sweeps to victory as London mayor."
• August: "Nick Clegg loses his job."
• August: "Hillary Clinton's presidential bid collapses amid chaotic scenes at the Democratic Convention in Denver, after her party concludes she is unelectable."
• December: "Tory MP Quentin Davies, who defected to Labour when Gordon Brown became Prime Minister, unsuccessfully attempts to rejoin the Tories."

Read Peter Oborne's other predictions in today's Daily Mail.

Andrew Grice offers some advice to Gordon Brown (as if written by Tony Blair)

"Don't let Prime Minister's Questions dominate your whole week. I never watch it these days, but I thought you got the measure of Cameron in the last session before Christmas. I know it's against your instincts, but try a bit of self-deprecating humour in front of the mirror beforehand. If it worked for me, it can work for you!" - Independent

"Don't write Brown off yet" - The Daily Mail proves its Editor's continuing openness to Gordon Brown with today's leader

Tom Kelly, Alastair Campbell's successor, honoured - BBC

"Gordon Brown has, in effect, ended the Prime Minister's right to nominate people for peerages and issued a New Year honours list that sticks with recommendations made by committee." - Independent

Questions raised over Speaker's wife's £4,000 taxi bills - Times

Why do the Brits shy away from leading the Anglosphere? - John O'Sullivan in The Telegraph

Soldiers are to be offered interest-free Government loans to help them get a foot on the housing ladder - Daily Mail

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary...

Friday 28th December 2007

6pm LondonMayor: Lynton Crosby returns... to help with Boris campaign

6pm PlayPolitical: Four new 'race for the White House' videos have been uploaded

5.30pm CF Diary: CF4B is no more

1.30pm ToryDiary: Where will the biggest decisions affecting Britain be made in the next few years - the White House or Downing Street?

As part of our coverage of Benazir Bhutto's murder yesterday we had a rolling ToryDiary on the reaction to it, and a Platform piece from Pakistan expert Ben Rogers on the situation. Today on the Platform, Nirj Deva MEP says that Western governments have blood on their hands.

Also on the Platform today, Peter Cuthbertson writes about this year's Non-Jobs report from the TPA:

"Almost invariably taxpayer-funded, the number of jobs advertised for November suggested an annual total of almost 16,000 such positions, at a cost to taxpayers of £585 million. These are examples from one newspaper among many publications that advertise state sector positions, and they give only a slice of the cost."

ToryDiary: Newspeak

Dan Hamilton on BritainAndAmerica: "It appears that Iowa Republicans are set for an exciting photo finish between Mitt Romney, the flip-flopper from Massachusetts and Mike Huckabee, the big-government preacher from Arkansas."

Have you voted in our December survey? Have your say on constitutional reform and who you would like to see in the Shadow Cabinet.

Damian Green's immigration review

"Controversial 'bribes' to persuade failed asylum seekers to return home are likely to be kept by a Conservative government, it emerged last night. The party will also resist the reintroduction of the last Tory administration's hardline policy on migrants seeking to enter the UK on the grounds of marriage." - Mail

"Brits sponsoring visas for foreign relatives who then refuse to go home should be jailed, the Tories will say today. The party also promises a crackdown on sham marriages – in their new plan to tackle immigration. Instead of spending millions of pounds on translating official documents into dozens of languages, they say they would use the cash to teach migrants English." - Sun

Reduced NHS spending in Wales

"A row has broken out after the Tories claimed spending per head on the NHS in Wales was set to be £157 less per person than in England by 2010-11. They also said real annual spending growth, after inflation, for the Welsh NHS would hit a low of 0.3% in 2009-10. But the Welsh Assembly Government said it "did not recognise figures provided for NHS expenditure for Wales"." - BBC

Vote for a change

"The Conservatives will appeal to Scottish voters at the next general election by telling them the Tories offer the only chance of a new UK government, the shadow Scotland secretary has said... David Mundell said that May's victory for the Scottish National Party was an anti-Labour vote that could be replicated in UK-wide elections." - ePolitix interview

Lessons from A Christmas Carol

"It may be coincidence that Dickens's classic has been flogged so hard this year, or it may be that its message about the need for personal benevolence has particular resonance at a moment when forgotten hardships may be about to return... As the financial crisis unfolds in 2008, with all sorts of unforeseen consequences and victims, market players should contemplate the responsibilities that attach to the power of making profits from moving prices; and they should not kid themselves that it can all be made OK by dabbling in philanthropy on the side."  - Martin Vander Weyer, The Spectator's Business Editor, in the Telegraph

97% of the Hilton inheritance to go to charity - Telegraph

National Archives release reveals Thatcher's Fawlty Towers-esque experience in Texas

"Margaret Thatcher may have been not for turning, but the handle on a lavatory door that she encountered in America proved equally stubborn. A hitherto private account of the Iron Lady’s visit to the US in 1977, written by an official at the British consulate-general in Texas, records that both she and her husband, Denis, had to be rescued from the lavatory during the trip... The problems began with a “failure to provide either a hairdresser or someone to press Mrs Thatcher’s dress” and continued when a secretary had to take the future Prime Minister’s clothing home to wash because there were no laundry facilities." - Times | Guardian | FT | Mirror

Callaghan's diplomatic efforts with the Saudis preluded Thatcher's arms deals - FT

Queen blocked publication of Richard Crossman's diaries (inspiration for Yes Minister) - Telegraph

Review of the year that was for Cameron's Conservatives - Andrew Grice in the Independent

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary...

Thursday 27th December 2007

6pm: Back to work? Plan your political diary with our updated Events section

5.45pm PlayPolitical: Fourth Cameron in China video uploaded

Watch all of the webcameron videos of the Cameron-Osborne visit.

4.20pm: Ben Rogers, an expert on Pakistan, reviews the volatile situation on the Platform:

"Benazir Bhutto’s murder plunges one of the most strategic and volatile countries in the world into deeper chaos. Pakistan is a country where terrorism, Islamist ideology, nuclear weapons, human rights and liberal democratic values meet at a crossroads. No one who believes in liberal values – of all shades – can be anything other than appalled by her death. And all of us need to take militant Islamism – both in its ideological and its violent forms – seriously."

2.30pm ToryDiary: December readers' survey is online

2.15pm ToryDiary: Benazir Bhutto killed in bomb blast

11.45am ToryDiary: Spending other people's money

Columnist Louise Bagshawe writes her final column for ConservativeHome: In praise of Margaret Thatcher

Mark Brooks on Platform: Why are male victims of domestic abuse ignored?

Concepts of 2007: Über-modernisation

The newslinks for today cover the last 72 hours because of ConservativeHome's Christmas break.

More than 250,000 qualified teachers no longer work in schools, according to research by the Conservatives - BBC

Liam Fox questions reports (Telegraph) of MI6 talks with Taliban

“We cannot negotiate with people who are killing our troops.  If there are former Taliban fighters or commanders who want a peaceful and democratic Afghanistan, naturally this is welcome but we can cut no compromise with those who are currently killing our troops and civilians.  The whole strategy is disjointed. We need a single co-ordinator to ensure things are properly joined up between the military and politicians. This is because while the military can win the war, it is the economy that will win the peace – and only then can we isolate the Taliban.” - Press statement issued by the Shadow Defence Secretary

Britain cannot rule out talking to the Taliban - Telegraph leader

Criminal charges are "imminent" in police investigation of donorgate - Telegraph

David Maclean is co-ordinating activities of 30,000 hunt supporters in Tory marginals

"With the average age of Tory activists close to 64, the deployment of thousands of young hunt campaigners has provided a huge fillip both to sitting Tory MPs and to candidates who have been chosen to fight the next election. In the marginal seats where the repeal of hunting is not an issue, the volunteers do not mention field sports on the doorstep.  The operation is being co-ordinated within the Tory party by David MacLean, a former chief whip and the MP for Penrith." - Telegraph

300,000 took part in Boxing Day hunts - Times

Nick Herbert and Greg Barker are top Tories on list of influential gay politicians

"His closeness to the Tory leader – Barker, as the party's environment spokesman, accompanied Dave on his Arctic adventure – is the reason he is rated above other gay Shadow Cabinet members." - PinkNews

Tories cry ‘spin’ as 4000 foreign prisoners are deported

"More than 4000 foreign nationals held in British prisons have been deported this year, 50% more than last year and exceeding the target set in the summer by Gordon Brown.  But the Conservatives decried the announcement by the Home Secretary yesterday as "cynical spin", saying it was an artificial target that would merely compensate for those allowed to stay in the country because of a ruling that people serving less than 12 months should be allowed to stay." - Herald

Philip Stephens, FT Political Editor, previews the year ahead and expects good things for David Cameron - FT

Gordon Brown is to appoint a "chief executive" to work alongside him in Number 10 in an attempt to shake up his faltering Downing Street operation - Telegraph

"We can dabble in parallel universes, but in the real one it's all over for Gordon Brown" - John Rentoul in The Independent

Only one-third of MPs support tougher terror laws - Independent | Guardian

Majority remain confident in their own financial circumstances

"55% said that they remain confident about their personal financial situation. That is only slightly down on ICM's findings in August 2006, when 59% were confident." - Guardian

More than 50% of MPs support introduction of a new public holiday - BBC

Churchill's old war office may be sold off for £35m - Independent

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary...

Boxing Day 2007

ConservativeHome's normal service will resume tomorrow but in a special Platform article Andrew Mitchell MP, Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, remembers the tsunami tragedy that struck three years ago.  Mr Mitchell argues that the world is still ill-prepared to mount effective and consistent responses to emergencies and natural disasters.  Read his article here.

Happy Christmas!

ConservativeHome is now taking its annual rest, for Christmas.  We return properly on the 27th although a reflection on the tsunami disaster from Andrew Mitchell MP will be published on Boxing Day.

In the meantime...

...the Christmas Eve newslinks are here...

...we've just posted a special guide to the ConservativeHome shields...

...and invite you to join the more than 6,000 people who have already voted in the 2007/08 Conservative Movement Awards by clicking here.

Until the 27th, Happy Christmas!

Tim and Sam

Christmas Eve 2007

Concepts of 2007: Decontamination

Uber-modernisation is the next in the series.  Love-bombing and Sat-Nav politics have already been defined.  Email us with any other terms that you think should be included in our 'Concepts of 2007' list.

ToryDiary: 48% of voters tell ComRes that 'it's time for a change'

Andrew Lansley calls for rethink of national NHS database

"Plans for a national health database of should be reconsidered after it emerged nine NHS trusts lost patients' confidential records, the Tories say.  It comes after the Department of Health admitted 168,000 people had been affected by the data losses.  Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley says the planned single database of 50 million patient details would be less secure than a network of local ones." - BBC

"The top security chief in Whitehall is to carry out a comprehensive review of data protection across the Government within a matter of weeks after the child benefit records scandal." - Times and Independent

Labour areas are beneficiaries of increased schools spending - Telegraph

Gordon Brown's £144bn spending spree could land each household with £5,500 more tax - Daily Mail

James Brokenshire: What's happened to Tony Blair's Respect agenda?

"James Brokenshire, the shadow home affairs minister, said: "It is extraordinary. The government has just airbrushed its whole Respect agenda out of existence, and seems to want to drop Asbos in favour of other interventions."  He criticised the government for failing to commission research into the effectiveness of Asbos, or less intrusive alternatives such as antisocial behaviour contracts." - The Guardian

Jacqui Smith apologises to David Davis for understating number of failed asylum seekers by half - Sun

Gordon Brown to rebuff higher pay for MPs

"Gordon Brown will order his whips to face down any attempt by MPs to back an inflation-busting pay rise worth as much as 10% over three years. Any recommendation is likely to be balanced by some tough proposals to reduce the ballooning cost of the MPs' pension fund." - Guardian

Iain Dale blogs in favour of better pay for MPs.

Clegg repeatedly attacks Tories in Telegraph interview "while hardly mentioning Gordon Brown"

"I will be returning over and over again to the fact that I think David Cameron doesn't understand contemporary families. He has this laughable policy of waving a £20 tax bribe at couples in the hope they will remain married." - Clegg quoted in The Telegraph

Bruce Anderson: The Tories have many reasons to be cheerful this Christmas but Cameron still needs to connect with 'the strivers'

"[Cameron] needs to find a political body language which will appeal to those who feel that they are having a tough time in a hard world. It is natural for politicians to deal in optimism, which is just as well for David Cameron. If gloom won elections, Gordon Brown would be in power for ever and ever. But the Tory leader ought to try to imitate that marvellous politician and president, Ronald Reagan. Especially in contrast to the misery-gutted, mean-spirited Jimmy Carter, Mr Reagan made Americans feel good about themselves and hopeful about their future. Yet he also persuaded Hank Hardhat and Joe Sixpack that he knew what it was like for them." - Bruce Anderson in The Independent 

Eat local produce, say Scottish Tories

"Scots Tories are launching a campaign to persuade people to eat more locally produced food, claiming this would help health and the environment." - The Herald

Tony Blair faces heavy scrutiny for his journey to Rome

"John Smeaton, of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said: "During his premiership Tony Blair became one of the world's most significant architects of the culture of death, promoting abortion, experimentation on unborn embryos, including cloned embryos, and euthanasia by neglect.  "SPUC is writing to Tony Blair to ask him whether he has repented of the anti-life positions he has so openly advocated."  Former Tory minister Ann Widdecombe, herself a convert, raised Mr Blair's previous support for embryo research, gay 'marriage' and abortion, saying: "My question would be, has he changed his mind?"  Former Labour minister Peter Kilfoyle, a Catholic, said: "If he showed just one ounce of contrition over Iraq, then he would be closer to the body of morality that is the Catholic Church."" - Daily Mail

Why it's so hard to welcome Tony Blair to the Catholic faith with open arms - Katie Grant in The Daily Mail

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary...

Sunday 23rd December 2007

ToryDiary: If you come across a rough sleeper at Victoria Station tomorrow night, it might be a Tory MP

Greg Hands MP on Platform: How in New Labour’s world, football takes priority over national security - a must-read article about Liam Byrne treating the immigration case of a Watford football player much more seriously than a national security case from a Conservative MP

CF Diary: CF branches donate Christmas hampers to Salvation Army

Columnist Graeme Archer: Love, Actually

PlayPolitical: Mitt Romney "saw" his father march with Martin Luther King (but in the interpretation of "saw" that doesn't mean with your eyes)... It depends what you mean by the word "saw"

Political storm as MPs demand inflation-busting 10% pay rise - Mail on Sunday

The tug of war for Nick Clegg's heart begins

A leader in the Sunday Telegraph concludes that Cameron and Clegg both reject Brown's view of centralised public services and have a belief in more power for patients and parents.

In The Observer, Denis MacShane encourages Mr Clegg to "do business" with Labour on Europe.  Mr MacShane even finds time to pay tribute to the "beautiful" Mrs Clegg.

On yesterday's Today programme, Clegg said that his focus would be education - BBC

Another man with a passion for education is John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, who "is closely involved in the establishment of the Archbishop Sentamu academy, a Christian school for 1,550 pupils in east Hull." - The Sunday Times

Growing signs that Labour insiders recognise the weakness of Brown's electoral position

"One of Gordon Brown's closest allies, the Fabian Society, has said that the Conservatives are the favourite to win the next general election and called on the embattled leader to begin the fightback." - Observer

Full text of Fabian attack.

It's still the economy, stupid

"We know that what turns voters against governments is serious economic pain. Mr Brown has taxed and burdened us with big and wasteful government but he has not yet presided over a painful downturn. That is when incompetence does serious political damage and when trust in the government disappears, never to return. Such a downturn can be avoided next year but it is far from guaranteed. It is on the balance of that risk that Mr Brown’s future rests." - Sunday Times leader

Fear of crime has drastically increased since Labour came to power - Observer

Sayeeda Warsi: Christmas is for everyone to celebrate

"Christmas is a time to recognise the contribution that Christianity has made (and continues to make) to the nation, even if one does not share the religion. For too long, multi-culturalism has ignored the majority culture, which still is Christian." - Baroness Warsi writing in The Sunday Telegraph

Tory donor questioned

"The Labour MP Kevan Jones, who has been investigating Tory finances, said he would be writing to the elections watchdog to request more information after it emerged that the son of a controversial Guernsey-based donor has handed the party more than £500,000." - Independent on Sunday

Seb Coe accused of cashing in on Olympics - Mail on Sunday

'We have become a sports personality'

The Sunday Times notes that Margaret Thatcher's grandson is excelling at American football.

The Queen launches YouTube channel - here.

This amusing video - Queen Elizabeth II Will Leave Behind Long Legacy Of Waving - won't be on that channel!

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary...

Saturday 22nd December 2007

3.30pm PlayPolitical: David Cameron in China - Featuring speech at the Chongqing University

Noon ToryDiary: Poll shows Conservative commitment to human rights abroad

10.30am Columnist Cameron Watt: Five for the future

Platform: Mortgage broker David Castle urges the re-introduction of the "rent a mortgage" scheme

PlayPolitical: Amusing staged video of Bill Clinton's lame-duck days at the White House

National ICM poll tightens as research shows progress in the north

"A blue tide of Conservative support is spreading into Labour's heartlands, according to new analysis carried out by ICM for the Guardian. The data suggests that David Cameron may be beginning to build an election-winning platform by making progress in the Midlands and the north of England. The research comes as the latest monthly Guardian/ICM poll shows Labour has managed to recover ground since the low of last month's lost discs controversy." - Guardian

Yesterday's ToryDiary on the poll.

Patrick Wintour surveys the Tories at the end of 2007 and predicts a 'welfare and responsibility offensive' in 2008 - Guardian

Why are the Guantanamo three in Britain?

"The Tories have demanded to know why three freed Guantanamo Bay detainees were allowed to return to Britain when Spain wanted to extradite two on suspected terror offences. Jamil el-Banna, 45, Omar Deghayes, 38, and Abdennour Samuer, 33, enjoyed their first day of freedom on Friday after arriving back from Cuba on Wednesday night. Hours after touching down, they were rearrested in connection with alleged terrorism offences." - Telegraph

Blair intervened to stop Saudi-BAe probe for commercial reasons - BBC

Labour break 97/01 manifesto promise on mixed-wards

"Labour has abandoned its key manifesto pledge to eliminate the controversial practice of mixed-sex wards, it has emerged... Figures obtained by the Conservatives under Freedom of Information laws showed that nearly a third of hospitals are still treating men and women in the same wards." - Telegraph

Brown controls very little

"Whenever things go wrong, the minister who was meant to be in charge protests that he can hardly be expected to be on top of everything going on in his department. And he has a point: the bureaucracy is simply too big and ramshackle to function properly. So here is a New Year resolution for our MPs. Put yourselves back in control. Seize power from the gentlemen in Whitehall and Brussels. Scrap the quangos. Abrogate the human rights codes. Make yourselves once again a sovereign Parliament. When you're in a position to deliver what you promise at elections, people will no longer see you as parasitical." - Telegraph leader

The cult of modernisation

"I hope that the modernisers who dominate our three main political parties will use the Christmas holiday to reflect on the continuity and stability that has made Britain the envy of the rest of the world. The gimmicks, contrivances and stunts which obsess David Cameron, Gordon Brown and now Nick Clegg are utterly irrelevant to our sense of nationhood." - Peter Oborne in the Mail

Andrew Grice thinks Nick Clegg may surprise us all in 2008 - Independent

Merry Whitehall

"Christmas cards, parties and decorations have cost the Government nearly half a million pounds over the past five years, the Conservatives revealed yesterday. Ministers spent £127,000 on items such as baubles and trees in the past year. The figures, revealed in a series of answers to written questions, show that the Northern Ireland Office was the biggest spender, with £97,000 spent on festivities since 2002, including £37,000 on Christmas parties last year." - Telegraph

A summary of the Christian fervour, or lack of, of Britain's past Prime Ministers - Matthew Parris in the Times

Ministers ordered to assess climate change cost of all decisions - Guardian

Number of first-time buyers lowest since 1980 - BBC

Glenys Kinnock has "huge concerns" with Wales' Plaid-Labour coalition - ePolitix

Worst junks stats of 2007 - Times

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary...

Friday 21st December 2007

7.45pm ToryDiary: ICM puts Tories just 5% ahead

11am Events: We've started our 2008 listings, is your event there?

10.30am PlayPolitical: Boris Johnson talks to the London Jewish Forum

ToryDiary: Tories 12% ahead in YouGov survey

Roger Helmer MEP on the Platform: British government still backs Mad Mullahs over PMOI

"The British government has bowed to pressure from Iran's Ahmadinejad régime, and has proscribed the most prominent and effective opposition-in-exile to the Iranian government, the People's Mujahideen of Iran (PMOI), arguing that it is a terrorist organisation. Worse, it has persisted in its proscription despite adverse rulings in the British courts, and in the European Court of Justice"

Christmas cheer

"Gordon Brown's personal approval rating has slumped to an all-time low as a Daily Telegraph opinion poll today shows that Labour would lose 100 MPs if an election was held now. The YouGov poll indicates that the Conservatives go into the new year with a 12-point lead over Labour. In an election, the poll result would lead to David Cameron winning a "workable majority" in the Commons." - Telegraph

Non-story of the day

"A Conservative candidate in a target seat is under fire after using a breast cancer charity to attract local voters to an unrelated survey for party policies. Caroline Nokes, prospective MP for Romsey and Southampton North, carried out the survey with the permission of Breast Cancer Care." - Guardian / C4

Troubled group win welfare-to-work contract

"The Conservatives on Thursday raised doubts over the government’s award of welfare-to-work contracts to a troubled company whose shares were suspended in October. The questions came as ministers unveiled the latest stage of a welfare-to-work drive that will, for the first time, offer a choice of provider to people on incapacity benefit." - FT

Foreign criminals won't be deported after all

"Thousands of foreign drug dealers, sex offenders and burglars will be allowed to stay in Britain every year despite Gordon Brown’s pledge to deport them... The Conservatives claimed that this meant at least 4,000 foreign criminals convicted every year of offences such as theft, burglary, benefit fraud and drug dealing will be released at the end of their sentence." - Telegraph

Advice for Clegg

"The impression that Clegg is an atheist is likely to endure, and one wonders if it will do him any harm. It might be a problem for him on Christmas Day if the media take it into their heads to establish whether or not he accompanies his Catholic wife to church." - Alexander Chancellor in the Guardian

"Nick Clegg should ask himself one simple question about everything he does and says: am I sharpening up the Liberal Democrats’ identity in the minds of voters? The great danger for all third parties is that they are ignored for most of the time." - Peter Riddell in the Times

"At the next election, a measure of success for Nick Clegg, the new Lib Dem leader, will be to retain the party's 63 MPs. That may be setting the bar very low, but Clegg knows that even such a low aspiration is going to be difficult to achieve." - Iain Dale in the Telegraph

Congratulations Steve

"They're the Tory power couple behind Cameron's throne and now they have a successor. Congratulations to Cameron's chief spin-doctor Steve Hilton and former aide to Michael Howard, Rachel Whetstone, who had a baby boy yesterday." - Telegraph Spy

Omagh acquittal

"If there is the remotest consolation in this saga it is that it is so firmly of the past, not the future. The Omagh assault was meant to be the “Real” IRA's call to arms, a warped protest against the mainstream IRA's willingness to enter the political process. It was intended to rally all dissident republicans to the hardliners' cause. It failed miserably." - Times leader 

"But it was not enough to persuade anyone who might have known who the real bombers were to come and take the stand. Political solidarity would have put that out of the question. Without human witness, the prosecution may always have been doomed to failure." - Mick Fealty in the Guardian

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary...

Thursday 20th December 2007

5pm ToryDiary: Live blog of tonight's documentary about Cameron

3pm ToryDiary: New LibDem team

12.45pm ToryDiary: Criticism with a smile - Cameron tells China to be more responsible at home and abroad

ToryDiary: Your chance to decide the winners of the Conservative Movement Awards 07/08

Interviews: Michael Gove answers your questions on Scotland, grammar schools and his fear of flying

Columnist Louise Bagshawe takes it all back: Save the Gordon!

Louisa Mitchell writes for the Platform about encouraging philanthropy in the financial services:

"In Britain we are willing to put our hands in our pockets when asked, but we do not tend to think about giving in a structured way. Changing from a reactive culture of charity to a more strategic culture of philanthropy is an important task which requires leadership. The State cannot do everything, nor should it; non-state providers can often do things better but they need capital and they need skills. Financial services professionals can provide both."

Cameron says we should lead the Green Revolution like we did the Industrial one

"Coal-fired power stations in Britain would have to be fitted with new technology under a Tory government to prevent carbon emissions being pumped into the atmosphere, David Cameron said in China yesterday. The Conservative leader, travelling with George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, pledged to ensure that all existing and new stations were equipped with devices that capture the emissions and store them underground." - Times

"The coal either has its CO2 removed, or captured after burning, to prevent it ending up in the atmosphere." - BBC

LibCon relations

"The new Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, has been widely characterised as a Cameron clone, but much less widely noticed is that Cameron's strategy has been quite specifically to target Lib Dem voters... This week's election of Nick Clegg is a mixed blessing for Cameron. He knows that with a Davealike leading the Lib Dems it will be harder for him to attract their voters." - Michael Cockerell in the Guardian

Michael Cockerell has a one hour documentary about David Cameron tonight at 7pm - BBC2

OsbCam relations

"Both men would obviously take the success that Mr Blair and Mr Brown achieved in winning three elections, but they want it without the tension... They do not deny that they have the occasional disagreement but decline to reveal what they are... Mr Cameron believes his sidekick is the man to tackle the Chinese threat and today confirms that Mr Osborne will be Chancellor if the Conservatives are elected." - Full Telegraph interview

Link for Daily Mail interview coming soon...

Yesterday's ToryDiary on their denial of a Granita pact

Conservatives are capable of winning, they just need more specific policies

"...the accusation will surface once more next year that there is a vacuum where there should be a programme. And forget ideology for a moment: the Tories are currently less prepared for government than they have been at any time since the First World War. Incoming Conservative PMs and their teams usually had experience at senior cabinet level. William Hague was Welsh Secretary, and several others were ministers, but that is about it. Tricks of the trade are going to have to be learnt somehow." - Iain Martin in the Telegraph

Clegg declares atheism, refuses to deny taking drugs

"Nick Clegg, the new leader of the Liberal Democrats, declared yesterday that he did not believe in God but refused to say whether he had taken drugs. Neither of which dented his sudden popularity with other party leaders, as Gordon Brown followed David Cameron in courting him." - Times

"He later said he had "enormous respect for people who have religious faith", that his wife is Catholic and that his children are being brought up Catholic." - BBC

Christmas fair lights: Traditional Conservatives love low tax, low immigration.. and high camp

"Probably for the best, then, that David Cameron has given up trying to wean his core voters off their addiction to ruinous electricity bills. On one of those night-sky satellite shots used to illustrate light pollution, the Tory slice of Hull would show up as a gigantic twinkly reindeer." - Robert Crampton in the Times

8m women who took time off work to care for their children have lost eligibility for full pensions - Mail

At 5pm Queen Elizabeth II will overtake Victoria as our longest-living monarch - Telegraph

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary...

Wednesday 19th December 2007

7.45pm ToryDiary: George Osborne and David Cameron deny any Granita-style succession pact

5pm ToryDiary: You will never see anything like this on webcameron

3.45pm BritainAndAmerica: Conservative MEP questions USA's treatment of visitors with HIV and AIDS

2.45pm LondonMayor: Boris is on the move!

11.30AM UPDATE ON COMMENTING PROBLEMS: If you receive a message saying that your comment has been caught in a spam filter it will be published but only after a delay.  We have raised the issue with TypePad, ConservativeHome's host, and hope that the problem of large numbers of comments being caught in filters will be overcome soon.  Please bear with us in the meantime!

Greg Clark MP and Jeremy Hunt MP on Platform: Conservatives are today's progressives

ToryDiary: The return of the Patients' Passport?

Columnist Peter Franklin: David Cameron doesn't get the credit he deserves

Local government: Localism applies to speed cameras too, says David Sammels

PlayPolitical: Venezuelan Minister, talking about how bad capitalism is, is briefly lost for words when it's pointed out that he is wearing a Louis de Vuitton tie and Gucci shoes

The election of Nick Clegg

"I refuse to believe that the only alternative to a clapped out Labour government is a Conservative party which has no answers to the big issues: environmentalism without substance, social justice without money, internationalism without Europe." - Extract from Nick Clegg's first speech as LibDem leader

"Mr Clegg must contend with growing doubts about his leadership qualities after a campaign that noticeably failed to show drive, energy or inspiration." - Ben Brogan in The Daily Mail

Clegg's challenge: "The main test will be whether Mr Clegg can avoid being squeezed by Labour and the Tories. This involves both tactical agility to gain media attention on the issues of the day ( as Mr Huhne showed during the leadership contest) and the ability to pick on issues which mark the Lib Dems out." - Peter Riddell in The Times

Ming's useful policy legacy: "Sir Menzies Campbell brought in income tax reforms and environmental policies that are by far the most radical on the political scene. But because he was unfairly judged as too old and out of touch, they were never properly sold to the public." - Magnus Linklater in The Times

Is Clegg a clone of Cameron?: "Although the Tories have been ebullient for the past few weeks - having the benefit of being the only party not in crisis - that, too, will be affected by Mr Clegg's election. Many in the fabled "middle ground" who were attracted to Mr Cameron by his youth, demeanour and addiction to "change" now have a clone of him running the Lib Dems." - Simon Heffer's verdict in The Telegraph

A LibCon pact will never happen: "Clegg is hardly going to embrace a governing party that is sinking in the polls. At the same time, his party would never let him do a deal with the Tories. As matters stand, his members would have a say as to which party the Lib Dems should join in a coalition, along with his Shadow Cabinet and the parliamentary party, the so-called triple lock that makes any coalition-making almost impossible." - Steve Richards in The Independent

Only one-in-six passers-by recognise Nick Clegg - Daily Mail

Yesterday's ToryDiary on Nick Clegg's election.

David Cameron's donation troubles

"David Cameron's faced embarrassment when it emerged that his constituency party received more than £7,000 in invalid donations. The Witney Conservative Association has agreed to forfeit the sum to public funds because the benefactors were not on the UK electoral roll." - Telegraph

George Osborne's tax-cutting talk

"I believe in lower taxes. I think lower taxes are good for people and the economy... Next year I hope to set out some plans for business taxation so that Britain is competitive... I will approach each Budget thinking how I can reduce taxes; how can I prepare Britain's economy to compete with China in the world economy... My ambition is lower taxes. I would like to be the Chancellor that under-promises and over-delivers." - Quoted in The Daily Mail

Reaction from The TaxPayers' Alliance.

Honours reform

Appointments to the Lords should be taken out of party leaders' hands - BBC reports the recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee.

""Parties would be limited to publishing "long lists" of their preferred candidates, with explanations of why they deserve to sit in the Lords. This would, the report says, "at a stroke remove much of the room for abuse in the alleged link between donations and peerages"." - ePolitix

Tories seek legal duty to report data breaches

"The Conservatives argued there was a case for placing a legal duty on public bodies to report serious data breaches to the watchdog." - FT

Whatever happened to the Blairites? - The Guardian investigates

Jon Cruddas targets BNP's "financial irregularities"

"Allegations of "apparent illegal activity and financial irregularities" within the British National Party are being referred to the Metropolitan Police and to the Electoral Commission by a Labour MP." - Independent

Labour backs Tory move to call Salmond before MSPs over Trump - Scotsman 

OfCom considers giving other broadcasters a slice of the licence fee - MediaGuardian

Magna Carta copy auctioned for £10.6m - BBC

Castro has ruined Cuba - Lord Lamont in The Telegraph

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary...

Tuesday 18th December 2007

7.30pm: South Africa's ANC elect Jacob Zuma as their President - PlayPolitical has a 150 second video profile of him

5.45pm Concepts of 2007: Sat-Nav politics

2.15pm ToryDiary: Live blog of LibDem leadership result

12.45pm ToryDiary: "Fair seats"

Peter Hitchens wants us to think again about how we look at opinion polls

11.15am ToryDiary: The unacceptable face of Islam in Britain

PlayPolitical: On Vince Cable's last day as LibDem leader relive that Stalin to Bean moment

Columnist Andrew Lilico: Things to believe and to disbelieve about climate change

Mark Wallace on Platform: Transparent Public Spending

Interviews: Any questions for Caroline Spelman MP?

Michael Brown argues that the Tories should embrace electoral reform as part of an alliance with the Liberal Democrats

"Labour only has to lose 32 seats to lose its overall majority. But Mr Cameron has to gain about 130 seats from both Labour and the Liberal Democrats to gain an overall majority of just one. Even with a current 45 per cent rating, the bias and unfairness in the electoral system mean fewer Tory MPs per vote than Labour MPs per vote... If only the new Lib Dem leader could persuade Mr Cameron that his own Tory electoral interest is best served by electoral reform, then there really could be a remoulding of the political system." - Independent

There's no harder party to lead than the Lib Dems - Charles Kennedy writing in The Guardian 

John Redwood says date rape might just be a 'disagreement' between lovers - Daily Mail

"Former Tory cabinet minister John Redwood was condemned by victim support groups last night after he said the government was wrong to regard "date rape" as seriously as assaults by strangers." - Guardian

This is the post on Redwood's blog that has sparked the controversy.

Cameron begins China visit - ePolitix.com

David Davis attacks Labour's "stealth amnesty" for asylum cases

"The Conservatives have claimed it would take the Government decades to deal with the backlog of asylum seekers after it was revealed that around 52,000 cases from a backlog of between 400,000 and 450,000 had been concluded... [David] Davis said: "After 18 months' effort and on their own numbers the Government can still only claim to have removed 3% of the backlog. At this rate it will take decades to remove the backlog, by which time we will have another backlog since the Government is also failing to meet its target of removing more failed asylum seekers than arrive."" - Yorkshire Evening Post

100,000 lose out to migrants in hunt for work - Telegraph

"Surely it is time we started to turn out our own highly qualified and hard-working plumbers, electricians, plasterers and brickies, rather than continue to require them to be bused in from Gdansk and all points east?" - Telegraph leader

Polly Toynbee is worried about the Tories stealing Labour's progressive banner

"Let's examine the real meaning of this latest Cameron trope: he has stolen the word "progressive" from Labour. It was a deft theft of Labour clothes backed by a Conservative pamphlet published tomorrow by the cerebral Tory MPs Greg Clarke and Jeremy Hunt. Who's Progressive Now? is breathtaking larceny but clever politics, calling on Conservatives to "stand up to claim the progressive banner as their own"." - Guardian

Greg Clark and Jeremy Hunt will be writing for tomorrow's ConservativeHome about their new pamphlet.

Margaret Thatcher would have supported the EU Treaty

"So while Lady Thatcher today, and indeed some of her heirs, might now oppose the Reform Treaty, the evidence suggests that the Lady Thatcher of the 1980s might have supported it. The treaty envisages a streamlined, more effective EU and bolsters Britain’s role within it - it easily passes the Thatcher Test." - Roland Rudd, Chairman of Business for New Europe, writing for The Telegraph

Jeremy Hunt's idea of top-slicing the BBC licence fee

Two letters to The Times welcome the proposal that ConservativeHome flagged on Friday night.

In yesterday's Telegraph Janet Daley referred to the policy idea as "just".

Labour report rejects tax competition

"A report for Chancellor Alistair Darling by businessman Sir David Varney knocked back Northern Irish hopes of cutting tax rates to compete with the Republic of Ireland." - Herald

Michael Portillo to chair Booker Prize jury - BBC

MPs call for more transparency in the awarding of honours - Times | BBC

The opponents of 42-day detention should take account of stories from Italy and Spain - David Aaronovitch in The Times

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary...

Monday 17th December 2007

6.30pm Seats and Candidates: Royston Smith selected for Southampton Itchen

6.20pm ToryDiary: Herbert leads response to latest Government data loss

6pm PlayPolitical:

• Joe Lieberman endorses John McCain
• Bill Kristol critiques Rudy Giuliani's lack of forward-looking agenda

5.15pm CF Diary: CF elections to be run by Electoral Reform Services

4.15pm ToryDiary: Labour backbenchers desert Brown for Christmas (a sign of things to come...?)

2.30pm BritainAndAmerica: Will General David Petraeus, man of the year, be able to rescue Basra?

12.15pm ToryDiary: Never give up!

11.15am ToryDiary: Seven approaches to beating the Liberal Democrats

Iain Duncan Smith MP on Platform: We beat the LibDems by being a decent party

Tony Lodge on Platform: All hot air – Labour's failed strategy on fuel poverty

Columnist Stephan Shakespeare: We live in un-visionary times

BritainAndAmerica: Did you know that emissions from Kyoto signatories are rising faster than from the USA?

David Cameron's offer of a "progressive alliance" is spurned by the LibDems

"The Liberal Democrats yesterday angrily rejected overtures by the Tory leader David Cameron for a new "progressive alliance" between the two parties." - Telegraph

"Just as Mr Cameron love-bombed the Lib Dems, calculatedly talking their language on their issues, so Mr Clegg could now do the same to both main parties, wooing their voters rather than insulting them.  Mr Huhne, a far more abrasive and tribal politician, will find it hard to make that transition. If Mr Clegg wins tomorrow, three-party politics will resume in earnest." - Telegraph leader

"Mr Cameron's intervention should remind the new Liberal Democrat leader, too, that the next election could give the party its best shot at sharing power for many years. He must always bear that in mind and avoid all appearance of third-party amateurishness. This is a time when the appearance of substance and authority could make all the difference." - Independent leader

"It was Blair's dream to form a progressive consensus with the Lib Dems to obliterate the Tories.  Mr Cameron thus really is the heir to Blair. The only difference is that Mr Blair's intended victim is now using precisely the same tactic against its one-time would-be assassin." - Melanie Phillips in the Daily Mail

Yesterday's ToryDiary: The LibDems are David Cameron's number one headache

George Osborne calls for new Bank of England powers to deal with troubled banks

George Osborne, writing for The Financial Times, sets out a three-pronged strategy for dealing with Northern Rock.

"The Tories today call for an overhaul of financial rules to give the Bank of England powers to seize and quickly sell troubled banks, to avoid what they described as the "incompetence and indecision" that has marked the Northern Rock rescue." - FT

"The Treasury has stepped up efforts to avoid having to nationalise Northern Rock by asking Goldman Sachs to create a financing package for a private rescue of the ailing bank." - Guardian

Is Cameron too good to be true?

"Cockerell shows us a man with an extraordinary command of tone. Mr Cameron's difficulty is that he is almost too good a performer to sound authentic. This leads many observers to suspect he is vacuous, and is merely engaged in a re-branding exercise for his party.  It seems to me that Mr Cameron could not be so sure-footed if he did not possess outstanding judgment. But we shall perhaps need to see him as prime minister before we know." - Andrew Gimson in The Telegraph previews Thursday's BBC documentary profile of David Cameron.

Brown's decline

"The most remarkable aspect of this decline in Labour's support is how rapid it has been. If one takes Gordon Brown's personal rating, that has fallen from a favourable 48 per cent in August to 39 in September, to 30 in October, to minus 10 in November, and to minus 26 this month." - The Times' William Rees-Mogg surveys the political scene and concludes that Labour appear exhausted in the face of Britain's real challenges

The Telegraph records a Labour MP speculating openly about Brown's future: ""If we lose seats in the May elections, serious questions will be asked about the party leadership," said Ian Gibson, a Labour Left-winger.  "Labour MPs will start to worry about losing their seats at the next general election. Several people, including one or two ex-Cabinet ministers, would then consider their leadership options.""

Major and Blair enjoy the high life

Peter Mckay is unimpressed with John Major's complaint about spending too much time on aeroplanes - Daily Mail

"Tony Blair is earning up to £1million a month as an after-dinner speaker, it was claimed last night." - Daily Mail

"Tony Blair is gearing up for another speaking trip in which he will earn about £300,000 for three speeches in the US and Canada." - Times

Baroness Warsi to divorce - Telegraph

Police minister Tony McNulty has said that the Government will not back down in the row over police pay - Sky News

Four-in-ten Scots now support independence - Telegraph

Former Socialist MSP Tommy Sheridan has been charged with perjury - BBC

Welsh devolution: "Welsh Labour has accused David Cameron of facing both ways over devolution after the Conservatives in Westminster tried to block the transfer of further power over health and social care to Wales." - Western Mail

The environmental debate has to be rescued from the flagellants who would cut growth - Bruce Anderson in The Independent

ToryDiary: Jeremy Hunt reveals exciting plans to force the BBC to share the licence fee.

Seats and candidates: Proportion of women selected falls to 28.2%

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary...

Sunday 16th December 2007

7.45pm Concepts of 2007: Love-bombing

Tomorrow we'll look at SatNav politics and then Decontamination.

7.30pm ToryDiary: John Major warns against extra state funding of political parties

ToryDiary: The LibDems are David Cameron's number one headache and YouTube doesn't get meaner than this

Steve Whittaker on Platform: The Conservative case for nuclear power and renewables goes beyond global warming...

"At a time when Russia is using oil and gas as a weapon, renewable and nuclear could be the route to energy self-sufficiency. Add onto this the fact that imported oil is in the hands of un-free nations and their un-free markets, and the case for alternatives is compelling. This self-sufficency might well take many years to achieve, but why not start now?"

PlayPolitical: Two minute Rudy Giuliani video promises lower taxation, strict controls on immigration and security

Tories at 45% and 13% ahead

"Today’s YouGov poll of almost 1,500 people for The Sunday Times shows that the Tories are in their strongest position for more than 15 years with a 13-point lead."

Yesterday's ToryDiary on the poll.

"Gordon Brown faces a revolt against his leadership if Labour loses ground to the Tories at next May's local elections, MPs warned last night.  One rebellious Labour MP even compared Mr Brown to Anthony Eden, the Conservative Prime Minister of the Fifties who resigned after less than two years in the job without fighting a single General Election." - Mail on Sunday

The Independent on Sunday wonders if the police pay dispute is only the beginning of a new winter of discontent for Gordon Brown.

Cameron is proving that the Tories are the new, true progressives

MPs Greg Clark and Jeremy Hunt write an article for The Observer, previewing their forthcoming paper Who's Progressive Now, Why the Conservatives Offer the Best Hope for Progressive Politics.

In an article for The Sunday Telegraph, Michael Gove writes that Gordon Brown is "intellectually exhausted".

"David Cameron's Incredible Journey"

"David Cameron is not the nice guy he appears to be - and rarely does or says anything in public without taking advice from a shadowy aide who is described as a "pint-sized Rasputin".  That is the picture that is painted of the Conservative leader in a BBC documentary made by Britain's leading political film-maker, Michael Cockerell."

A preview of Thursday's documentary about the Conservative leader - here.

Homelessness up 128% under Labour

"A shortage of affordable housing has left 130,000 children homeless in England this Christmas – an increase of 128 per cent in the past decade, according to research by the shadow housing minister Grant Shapps.' - Independent on Sunday

Peter Hitchens doesn't want another Christmas card from you, Mr Cameron

"Yet again, David Cameron has sent me a Christmas card. Mr Cameron, what more do I have to do to get you to take my name off your list?  How about this? Some people may have been fooled by Mr Cameron's attempts to sound as if he really opposes New Labour during the weekly cartoon show known as Prime Minister's Questions. Like everything else about him, this is fake. The Tories voted for New Labour in 25 out of 343 Commons divisions last year, and allowed almost 80 per cent of Labour legislation through on the nod, without a vote at second or third reading. Research shows that this flabby non-opposition has got much worse since Mr Cameron took over as leader of the Useless Tories." - Mail on Sunday

The Banbury Cake has background of Mr Cameron's choice of Christmas card.

Tory Lord Laidlaw's tax status continues to be controversial - Sunday Times

Lord Levy played rough in cash-for-honours investigation - Independent on Sunday

Charles Kennedy to be invited back to high profile role - Sunday Times

"Mr Clegg will, however, offer high-profile roles to veterans such as Lord Ashdown, Baroness Williams and Sir Menzies Campbell as well as promoting new talent.  Julia Goldsworthy and Danny Alexander have both been tipped to win big promotions." - Sunday Telegraph

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary...

Saturday 15th December 2007

7.15pm ToryDiary: YouGov's perfect Christmas gift for David Cameron

6.30pm BritainAndAmerica: The heat goes out of the Hillary campaign

5.15pm ToryDiary: Yorkshire will get the Tories to 45%

4.30pm Seats and Candidates: Who has been selected so far? See our list of 238 candidates

4.30pm PlayPolitical: Al Gore addresses Bali conference on climate change

3pm Seats and Candidates: Ian Galletley selected for Stockton North

ToryDiary: Why should the BBC have a monopoly on the licence fee?

"A plan to end the BBC’s sole claim on the £3.2 billion licence fee and parcel it out to other broadcasters is being considered by David Cameron, The Times has learnt. A string of scandals involving the BBC, including questions over phone-in quizzes and a faked trailer involving the Queen, has led the Conservative Party to question whether the licence fee can be justified" - The Times

Platform: Dennis Lennox argues that the threat of Islamic terrorism makes the Schengen Agreement outdated

Columnist Cameron Watt argues that destitute asylum seekers deserve dignity

Looking back on how differently the year has ended for Cameron and Brown

"David Cameron will on Monday board a KLM flight bound for China. As he and his fellow traveller George Osborne settle down in their business-class seats they will allow themselves a smile of quiet satisfaction. The trip comes as the Commons rises for the last time in a year, which has created the biggest seismic shift in politics in decades. The rise and fall of the popularity of Gordon Brown has been extraordinary." - Andrew Porter in the Telegraph

Charles Moore demolishes Newsnight's coverage of the Policy Exchange report

"I am the chairman of the centre-Right think-tank Policy Exchange, and Policy Exchange was coming under Newsnight's attack. On a day when the world's central banks were combining to rescue the global banking system, and when Gordon Brown was trying to think of a way of signing away Britain's independence in Lisbon without cameras, there were big things for the programme to lead on. Instead, it presented a huge, 17-minute package about Policy Exchange." - Charles Moore in the Telegraph

Nationalisation of Northern Rock would be Brown's ERM

"The nationalisation of Northern Rock would be "Gordon Brown's ERM" with potentially devastating consequences for his credibility, the Tories warned last night. George Osborne said taking a major bank into public ownership would shatter the Prime Minister's reputation for economic competence." - Mail

Plod needs to get the country on his side

"About half of us take my view, that the police should be properly looked after. The other half appear not to care less, or to be moving towards a position of outright hostility... The ordinary plods with whom we come into contact are tarred with the brush of their politically correct, bureaucracy-obsessed, deskbound superiors. We might call this Blairism: not after the former and increasingly lamented prime minister, but after the discredited twerp who is Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police." - Simon Heffer in the Telegraph

Rent a few flats and let them free to homeless people

"Government direct spending on rough sleepers is hidden within general housing grants and we have absolutely no idea what burden this small, troubled group places upon the NHS. Throw in local authority spending, and the budgets of the many homeless charities, and my rough estimate puts the number at anything up to £30,000 a year for each rough sleeper: enough to rent a one-bed flat in Chelsea and pay the minimum full-time wage, and have change left over." - GLA candidate Kit Malthouse in the Times

"Lazy Boris could ruin Cameron's chances of becoming PM"

"I am reliably told that David Cameron is "tearing his hair out" at Boris's lazy campaign. He backed his Old Etonian friend for the mayorship in the summer because he was eager to show that the Tory Party was taking the battle for London seriously by putting forward its most dazzling public performer for the top job. But the performer is - thus far - failing to perform." - Peter Oborne in the Mail

One of us

"In the past year he has gone from being disinclined to be seen courting favour with Baroness Thatcher, to someone desperate to be pictured by her side. Now, David Cameron is so keen to be a part of her inner circle, that he left his own Christmas drinks on Thursday night to drop in on the former Prime Minister's party." - Telegraph Spy

"The Conservative strategy is to hit Brown as hard as possible for as long as possible until he is so damaged he cannot recover. Once Brown is broken, the government is broken." - Patrick Wintour in the Guardian 

Government needs to bully us on climate change - Matthew Parris in the Times

Government needs to incentivise us on climate change - Alice Thomson in the Telegraph 

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary... 

Friday 14th December 2007

11pm ToryDiary: Why should the BBC have a monopoly on the licence fee?

9pm ToryDiary: Who has just written this?

2.30pm ToryDiary: Cameron must keep Conservatism broad in 2008

2.30pm PlayPolitical:

• Vince Cable, dancing
• David Cameron: An imperfect union is better than a broken one
• Sayeeda Warsi talks about getting Gibbons out of Sudan

2.15pm Local government: Latest by-election results

1pm Parliament:

• Owen Paterson highlights gap in funding of Shropshire and London schools
• Tony Arbour on the Olympic Tax High Jump
• Four more MPs sign Boris Johnson's BNP EDM

ToryDiary: Voters believe that Britain is on the wrong course

Columnist Theresa May: Six months on - so how is he doing?

Dr Teck Khong on Platform, a GP and forensic physician for Northamptonshire Police, describes the flaws in incapacity benefit.

PlayPolitical: Hillary Clinton's mechanical laugh makes another appearance.

Gordon Brown turns up late for Treaty signing

"Gordon Brown did himself harm at home and abroad yesterday. He offended 26 other EU leaders by gracelessly turning up in Lisbon to sign the EU Constitution just as everyone else was leaving.  And he infuriated voters here by breaking his vow to give us a referendum." - Sun Says | John Kampfner makes the same argument in The Telegraph

Christopher Booker lists what Brown has signed away - Daily Mail

Eurosceptic MPs vow to continue fight against Treaty - Telegraph

PlayPolitical video of main ceremony signing.

Leaving the EPP

Caroline Jackson MEP responds to some of the comments made on her Platform of yesterday: "I had hoped that contributors would have had some bright ideas as to the other 6 parties that might be found to be in an alternative grouping... but I note the deafening silence on that point."

The Conservatives are doing well, but not well enough says The Economist

Home Information Packs become compulsory today

"Home Information Packs are so full of holes that they are untrustworthy and misleading, the Tories claimed yesterday.  They said the HIPs - which become compulsory for all homes from today - fail to provide vital property details." - Daily Mail

Ann Widdecombe wrote about the difficulty of home-buying in her column for Wednesday's Express.

Up to 11,000 illegal foreign workers cleared for security industry - Anne Treneman's sketch in The Times captures David Davis' "perfect sneer"

Boris Johnson promises free bus travel for troops returning from war - Spectator

Tories predict u-turn on CGT

"Shadow Chancellor George Osborne predicted a “major U-turn” – after Mr Darling admitted to MPs that plans to set a flat rate of 18 per cent capital gains tax had sparked a “wide range” of responses.  He added: “It is desirable to have further discussions before I finalise proposals. I want to get these things right.”" - The Sun

Brown says lower police pay is in national interest - Independent

Government prepares contingency plans for nationalisation of Northern Rock - Guardian

Tony Blair makes appearance in White House Christmas video - Daily Mail - Watch it here.

And finally... Christmas gifts for David Cameron

Here are three of the gifts that Tara Hamilton-Miller jokes might be in the Tory leader's Christmas stocking:

• "Application to rejoin the Conservative Party (denied). From Quentin Davies"
• "Dolce & Gabbana black cashmere hoodie (£705, dry-clean only) for hangin' round North Kensington. From Alan Duncan"
• "One hundred per cent waterproof, neoprene waders. From all your constituents in Witney"

Read them all in her New Statesman column.

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary...

Thursday 13th December 2007

11.45pm ToryDiary: On the day that the EU Treaty is signed, four out of five Question Time panellists are Europhiles

9pm ToryDiary: A Tale of Two Leaders

5.30pm Seats and candidates: Huw Merriman selected for N E Derbyshire

4pm CF Diary: Michael Rock launches manifesto and free website offer

Noon ToryDiary: I Still Want A Referendum

Platform: Caroline Jackson MEP on "the hopeless quest" to form a new grouping outside of the EPP

Parliament: Cameron questions Brown on "talking with the Taliban" and Signatories to Boris Johnson's EDM against the BNP

Columnist Louise Bagshawe: Heineken Tories

PlayPolitical: Fred Thompson leads GOP candidates in refusing to answer "raise your hand" climate change question

Out tough-loving each other

"Plans to ensure 140,000 more lone parents return to work will be unveiled today as Labour and the Tories outline "tough love" welfare-to-work policies. Peter Hain, the Work and Pensions Secretary, will say that 70,000 children will be lifted out of poverty by a shake-up designed to turn benefit claimants from "passive recipients into active job-seekers". He will contrast Labour's "carrot and stick" approach with a more hardline stance being floated by the Opposition, modelled on "workfare" schemes in US states such as Wisconsin." - Independent

"Lone parents will be expected to be available for part-time work once their child reaches primary school, and full-time work when the child is in secondary school, the Conservatives said yesterday as they moved to outbid Labour on welfare reform." - Guardian

Yesterday's ToryDiary: Grayling examines the problems with our benefits system

Playgrounds are too soft

"I am not positively advocating that we encourage our children to fall out of trees or get whanged off roundabouts moving at 200 rpm. But the scabophobic measures we have taken to protect our children have had consequences we could not have intended." - Boris Johnson in the Telegraph

Mockery at PMQs

""Calm down, dear," said David Cameron to the prime minister. Can it get any more humiliating? Now they're using Michael Winner's catchphrase against him. How incredibly patronising to deploy jokey patronisation against the Queen's first minister!" - Simon Hoggart sketch in the Guardian

ToryDiary: Yesterday's live blog of PMQs

Brown chooses solar panels for Fife, rather than "ostentatious" wind turbines

"The panels were installed in 2005. The references to “very quietly... rather than ostentatiously” can be seen as implicit criticisms of David Cameron, who has talked in public about his own green initiatives, including putting a wind turbine on his house in Notting Hill." - Gordon Brown interview in the Times

Equal Opportunities?

"Back in May, the Equal Opportunities Commission came under fire when Philip Davies, the Tory MP, established that it was paying its female staff less than the men. After answers came back to a series of parliamentary questions, it was revealed that the average salary for its female employees was almost £2,000 less than their male counterparts. Have lessons been learned from the episode? Apparently not." - Telegraph Spy

Government's "cavalier" attitude to personal accounts

"The Conservatives have called for a review of pension means testing to determine how many people will and won’t benefit from opting in and out of personal accounts." - CityWire 

In it for the long haul

"Gordon Brown relaunched British strategy in Afghanistan yesterday, backing plans to split the Taleban leadership while sticking with a carefully crafted Anglo-American compromise on opium production." - Times

"Looking at the country as a whole, the hope must be that popular support for President Hamid Karzai and the presence of Western forces will be maintained as the indigenous army and central government institutions are strengthened. That will require long-term foreign commitment, flexibility in dealing with deeply rooted tribal structures and, above all, economic revival to meet the huge demand for jobs." - Telegraph leader

"Britain’s sensible targets for Afghanistan, officials say quietly, are to stop it being a shelter for al-Qaeda and to “take it off the worry list”, even if it is then left bumping along the bottom of the world’s development charts. Achieving even those pared-down goals could take decades." - Bronwen Maddox in the Times 

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary...