ConservativeHome

Thursday 28th June 2007

9.45pm Seats and candidates: Graham Robb selected for Sedgefield

4.30pm Seats and Candidates: Campaign Together

Go to CampaignTogether.com now to sign up for helping the Conservative cause.

PICK OF THE WEB

• Daniel Finkelstein on Comment Central compares the extent to which Blair and Brown have aged in the last decade with some celebrities. He also reminds us that David Miliband's blog is still in existence and urges him to continue writing it as Foreign Secretary.
• The Psychiatrist, Dr Michelle Tempest, sets out the three issues she believes Alan Johnson will have to address as Health Secretary.
• 18 Doughty Street (clip) had Brown biographer Francis Beckett and John Major's former Chief Press Secretary Jonathan Haslam on last night to discuss Brown's first 100 days. Also, Cally's Kitchen reviews his visit to their studio.
• Alistair Campbell watches the handover of power on television and wishes Brown well. Bryan Appleyard hopes Brown doesn't "try his utmost".
• Jeffrey Archer, yes that one, gives some insights into what he does with his time.
• The Social Affairs Unit have four interesting book reviews today.

3.45pm ToryDiary: How should Cameron respond to Brown?

12.30pm Seats and Candidates: Asian radio entrepreneur to be Ealing Southall candidate

BBC: Blair questioned again by police about cash for honours

10am ToryDiary: David Cameron embraces the And theory and Could a junior doctor be the next MP for Sedgefield?

ROLLING BLOG

ToryDiary: How to beat Brown

YourPlatform: Andrew Haldenby on how Brown mustn't be the heir to Blair

Blog of the week: Nick Bourne AM, now to be leader of the Welsh official opposition, blogs regularly on the main issues in Cardiff and the Conservative Party.

OUR NEW PRIME MINISTER

"In order to convince the electorate that he leads a "new" government, he has to distance himself from the very administration in which he was the second most powerful figure. So it was that he bit the bullet and conceded that, over the past decade, Labour has failed to deliver on the socialist staples of health, education and housing." - Telegraph leader

"If his philosophy is right now, the people and the policies will have a chance to shine. If his outlook on politics and society is misplaced, no Cabinet reshuffle or slick think-tank agenda will save him at the ballot box." - Times leader

"Mr Brown, who spoke with heavy authority outside No 10, will never achieve - or want to achieve - his predecessor's easy populism. He will not weave his magic over Westminster as Mr Blair did one last time yesterday. But in a fundamental way he has suggested this week that the New Labour strategy he helped create will not change." - Guardian leader

"Instead of top-down state control, it’s time for real social responsibility — trusting people, not telling them what to do the whole time. Gordon Brown says he wants to be different — and I’d like to believe it. But looking at his record over the past ten years, it’s hard to see how he can be the change this country needs." - David Cameron in The Sun

"British politics has reached a genuine turning point. Since he became leader, Mr Cameron has been able to sit back and let Mr Blair and Mr Brown tear each other apart. He must now settle down to a long game of guerrilla political warfare with the most ruthless fighter in Westminster. The election may come as early as next summer, or as late as 2010. But the battle for Middle England starts now." - Fraser Nelson in the Spectator

"What, then, could Mr Brown do to convince the country that it now has a down-to-earth government of honesty and change? The answer is “plenty”." - Anatole Kaletsky in the Times

Brown's nine pitfalls - Peter Riddell in the Times

The chinks in Brown's armour - Guardian

QUENTIN DAVIES - "PARTY HAS GONE CRAZY"

" There are two piles of letters in Quentin Davies's office - a small one with a note saying "praise" on the top, and a large one labelled "vitriol". The man who defected to Labour because he disliked David Cameron's "PR agenda" handed a propaganda coup to Gordon Brown this week." - Telegraph interview with Davies

"David Cameron must now count him a lost sheep. Never mind, these are win-win situations. Every time a Conservative MP crosses the floor to join Labour there is a small but measurable increase in the average IQ of both parliamentary parties." - Matthew Parris in the Times

"Quite what Quentin Davies is doing with this lot I have no idea, though for the avoidance of doubt he should now do two things. He should dispel any possible suggestion of corruption by announcing that he will in no circumstances accept a peerage, and he should offer to be the Labour candidate for Sedgefield, so the people of Grantham can have a proper Tory." - Boris Johnson in the Telegraph

"It's bound to be a difficult time. But my tip for Dave? Don't beat yourself up about it, love. There's no way you could have known. Like so many men in a similar situation, the pressure of leading a double life only made Quentin perform more brilliantly as the loyal Tory MP he outwardly was." - Catherine Bennett in the Guardian

"Ed Balls, a key aide to Gordon Brown who is guaranteed a top job in the new government, boasted to a reception that Quentin Davies would not be the last to cross the floor of the House of Commons." - Telegraph

"Why did Mr Cameron not have the sense to acknowledge the written submissions that Mr Davies made to him about his unhappiness with certain policies and aspects of Mr Cameron's style? Why did he not have someone senior in the party talk to Mr Davies and try to bring him round? Why did the party not send someone more convincing than Alan Duncan, the trade spokesman, to take on Mr Davies on Newsnight?" - Telegraph leader

>>> Nigel Evans MP wrote about Quentin Davies last night

OPPORTUNITIES FOR WELSH TORIES

"The Tories’ new status as the largest opposition group in the National Assembly means they will gain new resources and more airtime. But more importantly, they can position themselves as a credible alternative to Labour and Plaid – a confidently Welsh party bound by neither left-wing nor Thatcherite ideology." - Western Mail

MIGRANTS WITH TB SHOULD BE SENT HOME

"Migrants from 130 countries with a high risk of TB are being cleared to live in Britain without any health checks, it has emerged. Once here, those with the disease are entitled to free treatment on the Health Service. The Conservatives said last night that the loophole was fuelling 'health tourism' and any migrant found to have TB should be placed immediately on a plane back home." - Daily Mail

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

Wednesday 27th June 2007

6pm BritainAndAmerica: Will the relationship be less special after Blair?

5.45pm YourPlatform: Nigel Evans MP offers us his forthright thoughts on Quentin Davies

4.45pm ToryDiary: Rolling post on the Government reshuffle

PICK OF THE WEB

• The Times' Sam Coates has been busily blogging on their News Blog today as a one-off. His 18 posts include anecdotes from the Parliamentary press corps and PMQs, and he reveals the press team and website of Blair's new office.
• The TPA, which now has an office in the West Midlands, believes the fraud in Birmingham City Council is symptomatic of the lack of financial control in local councils and asks for whistleblowers from other councils to come forward.
• 18 Doughty Street have made a video about the prospect of Brown at PMQs, showing boxers in red, blue and yellow vests fight it out. This short clip from last night's programming shows a discussion about whether the spate of TV programmes about becoming a tycoon is a sign that entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well.
• ToryRadio has podcasted Brown's acceptance speech, Dizzy is worried by his voice and wonders if we're seeing the resurrection of Operation Gobble

4pm ToryDiary: Brown to replace Benn with Bercow?

3.30pm ToryDiary: David Cameron speaks to WebCameron about today's PMQs and Gordon Brown and And so it begins... (or is that 'continues')

1.15pm ToryDiary: Vaizey attacks "incredible" decision of BBC to cut coverage of Blair's farwell statement to Commons

LIVE BLOG of Tony Blair's last PMQs

BritainAndAmerica: George W Bush salutes Tony Blair on his final day as Prime Minister and Younger Americans lean left

ToryDiary: LibDems collapse to 12%

YourPlatform: Graeme Archer: How well have we got on with our ex-leaders? and Benedict Rogers: David Cameron deserves loyalty and patience

Seats & Candidates: ConservativeHome Seats & Candidates' downloadable database 2.0

QUENTIN DAVIES' DEFECTION

"His defection was timed to cause the maximum damage to the Conservatives, who he has represented in Parliament for 20 years. The journey to Labour has been long and tortuous, and based on frustrated ambition as much as political principle." - Telegraph

"Gordon Brown engineered a pre-emptive strike against David Cameron yesterday by personally securing the defection of senior Tory Quentin Davies." - Guardian

"Gordon Brown did not leave the delicate negotiations that brought Quentin Davies into the Labour fold to colleagues or aides. He did it himself. " - Times

"The EU fanatic, MP for Grantham and Stamford, jumped ship in a bid to bolster his flagging political career. He said: €œI believe Gordon Brown is taking this country in the right direction." - The Sun

"Quentin Davies will be lucky to have as much as 24 hours of fame. But what a 24 hours. Defections are all about immediate headlines, and they seldom have a lasting impact, either on the political landscape or on the attitudes of voters." - Peter Riddell in the Times

"No, Mr Davies'™s decision,€” as is clear from his resignation letter,€” is personal. He doesn't like the Cameroons. They have ignored him." - Alice Miles in the Times

TONY BLAIR'S DEPARTURE FROM NUMBER 10

"Tony Blair will say farewell to Downing Street and domestic politics today, bringing to an end a remarkable decade in power which began with extraordinarily high hopes but ended with opinion divided over his legacy to the country." - Telegraph

"Tony Blair intends to quit Parliament immediately and forge a lucrative career as an international envoy, campaigner and roving celebrity statesman." - Times

"Taxpayers are to foot a £750,000 bill for a clear-out of Tony Blair's special advisers, the Conservatives have claimed." - Daily Mail

"The moment has been anticipated so long, it's easy to lose sight of its strangeness." - Jonathan Freedland in the Guardian

GORDON BROWN'S ARRIVAL AT NUMBER 10

"Gordon Brown is to reward a team of loyal young ministers who have helped plot his route to No 10 when he begins to announce his government later today." - Telegraph

"Gordon Brown'€™s accession to the premiership has spurred a rush of donations to Labour coffers with four businessmen, including leading private equity figures, contributing more than £500,000 to the party in recent weeks." - FT

"A new report today shows that Gordon Brown should make a decisive break from the policies of the past decade if the UK is to overcome its deep-set problems of economic and social division.  The report shows that the key policies of recent years,€“ higher spending, increased taxes and a greater role for central government, have blocked public service reform and created new pressures on vulnerable groups, such as young people.  Successful public service reform and lower taxation would help to deliver “a new politics” which empowers citizens rather than government." - Reform

"In the final hours before he takes over as Prime Minister Gordon Brown has taken time out from his helter-skelter schedule to meet a special panel of Mirror readers." - Mirror

"If Mr Brown makes tax a main battlefield, and throws some bones to the hard-pressed middle classes for whom Mr Osborne plainly couldn't care less, he will find it harder to lose his election, whenever he calls it."  - Simon Heffer in the Telegraph

MING PLANS TO EXPLOIT HIS AGE

"Sir Menzies Campbell yesterday vowed to make his age a plus point for the Liberal Democrats as he defended his leadership following a tumultuous week." - Guardian

US JUSTICE DEPARTMENT LAUNCHES INQUIRY INTO BAE

"More than £1bn was yesterday wiped off the share price of BAE, Britain's biggest arms company, after it was forced to announce that the US department of justice has opened a criminal inquiry into allegedly corrupt deals with Saudi Arabia." - Guardian

"BAE Systems'€™ shares fell 8 per cent on Tuesday as investors finally took fright at ongoing corruption allegations surrounding Britain's biggest arms manufacturer." - FT

DEMOCRATS WORRIED ABOUT THOMPSON

"The Democratic party is so alarmed by the prospect of competing against Fred Thompson, a Republican who portrays himself as a successor to Ronald Reagan, that it is advising campaigners how to attack the former actor and Tennessee senator." - Telegraph

REPUBLICAN SENATOR ATTACKS BUSH

"Richard Lugar, senior Republican on the Senate's foreign relations committee, said the war put vital US interests in the Middle East at risk and could end in disaster unless a coherent withdrawal plan for US forces was agreed "very soon". - Guardian

LABOUR AMs BACK PLAID DEAL

"An overwhelming majority€ of Labour AMs backed a coalition deal with Plaid Cymru today. Labour's Assembly group met to discuss the deal Rhodri Morgan has negotiated with Plaid leader Ieuan Wyn Jones." - icWales

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

Tuesday 26th June 2007

Midnight ToryDiary: LibDems collapse to 12%

5.45pm ToryDiary: Resign and fight a by-election says Quentin Davies' Chairman

5.40pm ToryDiary: What others say about the defection

5.25pm Update: Tony Blair to stand down as an MP tomorrow - BBCi

4.53pm ToryDiary: David Cameron's response to Davies

4.12pm ToryDiary: Keep those seatbelts fastened

2.45pm BREAKING NEWS:
QUENTIN DAVIES MP DEFECTS TO LABOUR

PICK OF THE WEB

• The Difference is holding a large poll on various policy ideas which Cameron could use for his "blizzard of ideas". It also has an interesting post supporting the Conservative position that opium crops in Afghanistan should be licensed.
• Open Europe have incisively fisked of Blair's entire speech to Parliament about the EU treaty negotiations yesterday.
• Ben Brogan says Cameron's Chief of Staff is having reconciliation talks with Angela Merkel
• Matt Wardman points out the flaws in the Alexa website hits company and is experimenting to see how easy it is to skew its rankings.
• Curly's Corner Shop goes back to 1983 and reflects on how Blair will remember his first election.
• PragueTory notes the dip in BAE's share price and how the prospect of a US investigation could harm the government.
• Watlington has restarted blogging with a post pondering whether Brown's ascent will transform Cameron from Prince Hal to Henry V.

12.45 ToryDiary: Two issues for David Cameron

10.45am Seats and Candidates: Hendon open primary

ToryDiary: Conservatives 5% ahead in Communicate Research poll

Seats and Candidates: Finalists for West Lancashire open primary

YourPlatform: Tom Richmond on the balance between too much policy substance and too little

CAMERON ATTACKS BLAIR OVER TREATY

"Tony Blair yesterday dismissed Tory calls for a referendum on a European treaty as "completely and utterly absurd". In his final statement to the Commons as prime minister, he said the talks last week showed Britain was no longer on Europe's margin. The Tories were just going though the motions in condemning the deal." - Guardian

"Mr Cameron lashed out as a string of European leaders lined up to admit the treaty is the same as the constitution dumped two years ago." - The Sun

"For some, the draft treaty is a betrayal, the surrender of British independence and a step towards a superstate. That seems over the top. My reading of the confusing 31 pages of conclusions points, rather, to a messy series of compromises." - Peter Riddell in the Times

"Once again, we see that, as well as being undemocratic in itself, the EU traduces democracy within its member nations. That is why the referendum matters so much. And that is why you should add your name to our petition." - Dan Hannan in the Telegraph

>>> Yesterday's ToryDiary: Cameron - Let the people decide and Telegraph launches petition for a referendum

EASING THE TRANSITION FROM POWER

"Tony Blair’s nomination for the post of international envoy in the Middle East is likely to be confirmed as early as today despite grumbles from Europe and last-minute wrangles over his job description." - Times

"The rush by his team to try to announce some kind of role by today, the last day of his premiership, seems designed to ease the sting of surrendering high office more than to solve the problems of the Middle East." - Bronwen Maddox in the Times

HOW SOON WILL THE ELECTION BE?

"Tory leader David Cameron threw down the gauntlet to Gordon Brown yesterday with a challenge to call a General Election “right now”." - Express

"The prospect of Gordon Brown calling an early general election receded after the latest monthly poll for The Independent gave the Tories a five-point lead over Labour. According to CommunicateResearch, David Cameron's party has extended its lead by one point in the past month. It dampened speculation that Mr Brown will seek a personal mandate from the voters sooner rather than later." - Independent

"Of course, for all Mr Brown's braggadocio, he knows that Labour is no more capable of fighting a snap election than the Tories, because both parties are strapped for cash. Indeed, one of the purposes of the whole early election tease is to get the donations rolling in - a task that will prove more difficult for Labour following the police investigation of the cash-for-honours affair. Nevertheless, there remains a powerful case for an early election on the simple grounds of democratic legitimacy. Mr Brown will never have the genuine authority of a prime minister until he has faced the voters. The sooner he does that, the better." - Telegraph leader

IN PRAISE OF SARKOZY

"On one thing, at least, the US and France are fully agreed: the world’s response to the mass murder in Darfur has been appalling. Speaking in Paris, Condoleezza Rice said that the international community had not “lived up to its responsibilities”. President Sarkozy was blunter: “Silence is killing.” The lack of decisiveness and action were unacceptable, he added. Indeed, they are. And Mr Sarkozy deserves credit, not only for recognising that France has, until now, been dragging its feet over Darfur, but for taking a lead in pressing for effective measures to halt the slaughter." - Times leader

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

Monday 25th June 2007

6pm ToryDiary: Telegraph launches petition for a referendum

4.30pm Seats and Candidates: Dewsbury open primary and Rochester & Strood postponement

4.15pm ToryDiary: Let the people decide says Cameron

PICK OF THE WEB

• Nadine Dorries MP highlights how pro-choice advocates have "rigged" the British Medical Association's choice of motions at its conference, and repeats her call to sign this petition to the BMA urging that the "1967 Abortion Act should be reviewed in the light of advances in scientific understanding and changes in public opinion"
• Open Europe has a useful list of European leaders who have been telling their respective countries that the EU treaty is virtually the same as the old constitution
• Richard Spring MP writes a brief post about his recent visit to Sederot, an Israeli town "livng in fear"
• The Telegraph's Health section has an article written by a junior doctor who is starry-eyed about Cameron's stance on the NHS and the junior doctors fiasco
• Oliver Kamm believes Defamation Law needs to be adapted to take into account the age of the internet, an issue with which he has some experience
• Ellee Seymour reckons Harriet Harman had the best blog of all the Deputy Leadership candidates
• Fraser Nelson has written a transcript of what he wishes Cameron had said to John Humphrys about social mobility this morning

3.30pm ToryDiary update: A question for Tony Blair

Lunchtime BritainAndAmerica updates:

• The virtues of "poodledom"
• The "Big-Mo" is with Mitt Romney
• Declaration of Annexing the British Isles as part of the USA

 

11.45am ToryDiary: A General Election within one year? (Watching the Mail and Sun watching Brown)

ToryDiary: David Cameron on social mobility (but not on Europe) and New Labour leadership team find solution to Party funding problem

YourPlatform: Mark Pritchard MP: Conservative MPs must remain cool under fire

BROWN...

"Gordon Brown put his party on a "honeymoon" general election war footing yesterday as he used his coronation as Labour leader to promise a decisive break with the Blair era." - Telegraph

"Gordon Brown was yesterday anointed Labour leader, promising he personifies both "the change from the old politics" and the chance for "a public life based on values" for which he said the country has been yearning." - Guardian

"Gordon Brown gave the first indications on Sunday of the shape of his new cabinet and how he intends to overhaul Whitehall, declaring his determination to meet the challenge of change". - FT

"In about two days, we will have a prime minister who was not elected to that office by anybody. His Cabinet (if all goes according to his plan) could well include members of a party that has not been elected to national government in living memory." - Janet Daley in the Telegraph

"Gordon Brown has long seemed like the St Simeon Stylites of British politics. This 5th-century holy man is best known for the manner in which he detached himself from the rest of humanity." - Tim Hames in the Times

...AND HARMAN

"Harriet Harman, Labour's new deputy leader, yesterday vowed to use her victory to be a "champion for women" and put family policy at the heart of the party's pitch to the electorate." - Guardian

"Gordon Brown moved quickly to limit her influence as Labour's new deputy leader, announcing that she would have a party role rather than a top government job, and would not succeed Mr Prescott as Deputy Prime Minister. Aides said that she would not deputise for Mr Brown at Prime Minister's Questions, and she is not expected to follow Mr Prescott's lead by taking charge when Mr Brown goes on holiday." - Times

Profile - Guardian

CAMERON FACES REVOLT OVER HOUSE BUILDING

"David Cameron has been warned that he could face another grammar school-style revolt if he gives the green light to a fresh wave of house building in the South East." - Telegraph   

"RAINBOW" COALITION FAVOURED IN WALES

"A "rainbow" alliance of Plaid Cymru, Liberal Democrats and Conservatives is the most popular coalition option for governing Wales, according to a poll." - BBCi

IRISH CALL EU REFERENDUM PUTS PRESSURE ON BROWN

"Gordon Brown was under pressure to perform a U-turn over Europe and grant a referendum on the proposed EU treaty night, after Ireland said it would call a national vote." - Telegraph

"Tony Blair, with Gordon Brown by his side, will today reject Tory calls in the Commons to stage a referendum on the wide-ranging constitutional package agreed by EU leaders early on Saturday." - Guardian

WHAT NOW FOR BLAIR

"One of life's more desolate occupations is former prime minister. When Tony Blair leaves Downing Street on Wednesday he may keep a car and a bodyguard, but there will be no more scrambled telephones, massed cameras or summits." - Geoffrey Wheatcroft in the Guardian

STOP USING ARTS MONEY TO PAY FOR OLYMPICS

"No more money should be diverted to the 2012 Olympics from arts and heritage funds if the Games exceed their £9 billion budget, MPs will say today. The Culture, Media and Sport Committee reveals in a highly critical report that it has deep concerns about the impact the loss of funds has had on the arts in Britain." - Times

OBAMA CRITICISES THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT

"Barack Obama, the Illinois senator aiming to become America's first black president, has accused evangelical Christian leaders of "hijacking faith" and politicising religious beliefs in an effort to divide the country." - Telegraph

Three weekend highlights from ConservativeHome:

• David Cameron should seize the opportunity presented by the new EU treaty.
• Ahead of Brown being elected leader an Observer poll puts Labour 3% ahead.
• ConservativeHome responds to Michael Portillo's Sunday Times article yesterday.

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

Sunday 24th June 2007

10pm Seats and Candidates: Alexander Ellis selected for GLA North East

4pm ToryDiary: Gordon Brown

3.30pm ToryDiary: Tony Blair's handsome tribute to Gordon Brown

1.15pm ToryDiary: Please let it be true... (2.40PM: HARRIET HARMAN CONFIRMED AS DEPUTY LABOUR LEADER)

1.15pm Seats and candidates: Three selections we have missed

10.30am ToryDiary: Helpful as ever, Portillo warns of "Tory collapse" 

THE OBSERVER: CAMERON'S HONEYMOON IS OVER

"A 'liberated' Gordon Brown will take over as leader of the Labour party today as a new poll reveals that Labour has pulled ahead of the Conservatives for the first time since October.  The survey for The Observer, which will be of deep concern to the Tories, reveals the first signs of a 'Brown bounce' and the end of David Cameron's honeymoon with the British people." - The Observer

"'Brown makes David Cameron and George Osborne look like a boy band,' one senior financier said.  Such remarks will be relished by the Brown camp, who know their man will never ape what he has dismissively called the 'celebrity' of the Blair era. But they hope that an earnest Brown, more humble and relaxed, will appeal to voters, a point which may be borne out by today's Ipsos Mori poll which shows him enjoying an 18 point lead over David Cameron on the question of who is best placed to be Prime Minister." - Nicholas Watt in The Observer

>>> Last night's ToryDiary on the poll

BROWN CABINET SPECULATION

"Gordon Brown is preparing to offer Alan Johnson the "poisoned chalice" of the Home Office if the Education Secretary is installed as his deputy today.  The Prime Minister-in-waiting has pencilled in Johnson for one of the most taxing jobs in his first government as a "reward" for winning the Labour deputy leadership, to be decided at a special conference in Manchester this afternoon... With Brown's close ally Alistair Darling expected to succeed him as Chancellor, the other key cabinet post - Foreign Secretary - would go to Jack Straw." - Scotland on Sunday

BLAIR'S PLAN TO SACK BROWN

"An explosive Cabinet Office document reveals that the departing Prime Minister had no intention of making a 'smooth transition' of power to Gordon Brown. Political Editor Marie Woolf reveals the detailed plans to sack his bitter rival and break up the Treasury in an exclusive report that reveals an extraordinary breakdown at the heart of government." - Independent on Sunday

DAVID DAVIS ATTACKS BROWN ON CRIME

In an article for The Sunday Telegraph, the Conservative Home Affairs spokesman attacks Brown on underfunding of prisons, his support for a longer detention-without-trial period, ID cards and failure to fund border control.

BLAIR'S RESIGNATION PACKAGE

"Blair will receive a severance package from the state worth some £300,000 a year.  Thanks to some astute lobbying by other ex-PMs, Blair will get a car, a police driver and round-the-clock special branch protection.  He will also receive an immediate prime-ministerial pension of almost £64,000 a year as well as a further £84,000 to run his office - on top of what he makes as an MP." - BBC

IAIN DUNCAN SMITH ON PMQs AGAINST BLAIR

"Lloyd George once said to Eamon de Valera: 'Dealing with you is like trying to pick up mercury with a fork.' 'Ah,' de Valera replied, 'then why don't you try using a spoon?' It seems to me that whether it was William, Michael, David or me, all of us have been searching, with limited success, for that all-important spoon." - The Observer

CAMERON NEEDS TO GET TOUGH

"Mr Cameron is keen not to be seen as Blair Mk2 but large parts of his speech this week echoed the outgoing PM’s hollow, Lefty thinking. Weasel-words such as ‘choice’, ‘diversity’ and so on are part of a New Labour vocabulary that should be consigned to history: they should not be part of any Tory leader’s speech or party manifesto.  Such words do not conjure up, as he might believe, an image of hope and opportunity but vanity, uncertainty and lack of statesmanship.  It has been said so many times before it has become a cliché but like many clichés it’s true: Britain is crying out for strong forthright, moral leadership. I don’t believe most right-thinking people want power handed back to them. the millions who are not sensible, the ones to whom Cameron is trying to appeal, have simply taken it anyway. What we want is for power to be wielded responsibly by Government, something that has never happened under New Labour.  We want discipline in our schools, order on our streets. We want criminals to be punished properly. We want to know we’re living in a society in which the responsible, law-abiding and taxpaying majority are put first. Why on earth shouldn’t they be?" - Martin Townsend in The Sunday Express

A LEADER IN THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH EXPLAINS WHY A REFERENDUM IS NECESSARY ON THE DRAFT EU TREATY

Mark Formosa, our candidate in Taunton Deane, has become the second candidate to sign the Better Off Out pledge:

"I support the Better Off Out campaign to withdraw from the European Union, a view which I have publicly held for many years.  We must be self-governing, and run our own affairs."

SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE

"Demands for a referendum on Scottish independence have received support from the country's business community, according to another Conservative figure who is backing the radical plan.  John McGlynn, founder and chairman of Airlink group, and a leading Tory fundraiser, said he too supported the idea of a referendum in order to clear the air over Scotland's constitutional future." - Scotland on Sunday

WILL THE TORIES DELIVER ENOUGH FOR ZAC GOLDSMITH ON THE ENVIRONMENT?

Our Richmond Park candidate is interviewed in The Observer: "This [a Cameron-led Conservative government] could be the greenest in the developed world. Out of a thousand units of policy [put forward by Zac and his colleagues on Cameron's Quality of Life group], I'd be happy if only half of it was accepted.'  Let's hope they don't let him down... I don't think he'll put up with being a bauble on their (sustainable) Christmas tree for ever... A windmill on a Notting Hill roof is not going to impress him for very long."

RESTARTING SOCIAL MOBILITY SHOULD BE GORDON BROWN'S PRIORITY - Peter Lampl in The Sunday Times

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

Saturday 23rd June 2007

9.30pm ToryDiary: Labour move 3% ahead in MORI poll

9.15pm BritainAndAmerica: Bloomberg candidacy may hurt GOP most

9pm ToryDiary: 'The Garden Look' and other insights into the Blair years

7.30pm Seats and candidates: Charlie Elphicke selected for Dover

9.45am ToryDiary: The EU Treaty presents David Cameron with a great opportunity

ToryDiary: Tory MPs proritise security - not the environment and Are Liberal Democrat voters a largely Conservative or Labour-leaning group?

Interview: Peter Riddell answers our polling questions

PlayPolitical: Two very obscure campaign videos from Presidential hopeful Mike Gravel

MORE TAX FOR THE SUPER RICH SAYS OSBORNE

"The Tories have called for under-fire private equity bosses to face higher taxes. Shadow Chancellor George Osborne is trying to take the high ground in the escalating debate over the ten per cent capital gains tax rates for the super-rich bosses who have been buying up British companies from Boots to EMI." - Daily Mail

INTERVIEW WITH DAVID DAVIS

"How much did Cameron beat me by? Let me remind you of that embarrassing fact: 66 to 32. If we had the poll tomorrow it would be the same. Of course there's nervousness. The honeymoon has switched to Brown and you can't have two simultaneous honeymoons, it doesn't work." - Telegraph

>>> Guido Fawkes is currently exploring 'difficulties' in David Davis' private office

BROWN FURIOUS WITH BLAIR'S EU "CAVE IN"

"The attempt by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown to choreograph a peaceful handover of power disintegrated last night as they were involved in furious exchanges over an apparent cave-in by the Prime Minister to the French at the European summit." - Telegraph

THE CHANGE FROM BLAIR TO BROWN

"Most voters believe Gordon Brown's government will be neither better nor worse than Tony Blair's, according to a Guardian/ICM poll published today. The vast majority of those surveyed expect to see continuity rather than change when Mr Blair leaves office on the afternoon of June 27. Most - 61% - think that the government's performance under prime minister Brown will be no different." - Guardian

"It has become a cliché of political commentary to quote the remark of the conspiratorial French politician Talleyrand on hearing of the death of a rival: “I wonder what he meant by that?” But seldom has it been more apt than this weekend, as we contemplate the shambles of Gordon Brown’s shock attempt to bring leading Liberal Democrats into his tent." - Matthew Parris in the Times

"Gordon Brown's plans to form a government "of all talents" appeared to suffer a setback last night when it was reported that a second offer of a ministerial post has been rejected. Lord Stevens, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, is understood to have been offered a junior ministerial post in law and order but turned it down." - Independent

"Gordon Brown pledged yesterday to increase business involvement in government, while ensuring Labour in future does not owe political favours to one or two big donors." - FT

TONY'S LONG GOODBYE

"It has been the longest, most stage-managed farewell in British, if not world, political history. After 10 extraordinary years as Prime Minister and global statesman, Tony Blair has, it seems, said his goodbyes to almost everyone...At Westminster, however, the impending departure of the only man to have led the Labour Party to three successive election victories has yet to sink in." - Telegraph

The experience of leaving Number 10 - Jonathan Haslam in the Telegraph

Blairs to stay at Chequers after they leave Number 10 - Independent

GOLDMSITH QUITS AS ATTORNEY GENERAL

"Lord Goldsmith dramatically announced his resignation as attorney general last night, days before he was expected to be ousted when Gordon Brown takes over as prime minister. The departure makes it easier for Mr Brown to look afresh at the role of attorney general, a job which many consider to have inbuilt conflicts of interest." - Guardian

US CLOSE TO SHUTTING GUANTANAMO

"Growing embarrassment at senior levels within the Bush administration over the Guantánamo Bay detention centre in Cuba is driving an intensifying internal debate on how and when the camp can be closed." - Guardian

ROY HATTERSLEY INTERVIEWS MARY WILSON

"Despite all her years as a political wife (Harold became an MP in 1945), she has rarely talked to the media and has never given a full-blown newspaper interview. That she is giving one at all now - coincidentally, as yet another Prime Minister prepares to step down before the end of his term - is because we have known each other for more than 40 years." - Daily Mail

SPEAKER'S CLASS WAR GOES ON

"One of Parliament’s most senior figures has been sacked after a breakdown in his relations with the Speaker, leaving other senior Commons officials on tenerhooks." - Times

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

Friday 22nd June 2007

Evening ToryDiary: EU summit latest

5pm Seats and candidates: Zac wins Sainsbury's referendum

4.45pm ToryDiary: The return of 'Good week, bad week'

PICK OF THE WEB

• Robin Millar, in the tradition of Sir Isaac Newton, is attempting to sum up local government in three laws
• Graeme Archer reviews last night's Intelligence Squared/Times debate - "Lord Reith is dead. Long Live Big Brother"
• Wat Tyler of Burning Our Money has written a must-read post about the dangers of charities receiving state funding
• Iain Dale is boldly claiming that Brown's latest gimmicky idea is to bring Sir Alan Sugar into his Cabinet
• David Davies finishes his stint on the Cornerstone blog with a call for the laws on female circumcision to be properly enforced
• Tamzin Lightwater has made an appearance on the Coffee House blog to give a satirical update on David Davis' turnover of staff
• Dan Hannan MEP is taking bets that there won't be a referendum on the EU treaty under Labour

3.30pm ToryDiary: Does Brown have most to gain from a resurgent Liberal Democrat party?

ToryDiary: Fasten your seatbelts

YourPlatform: Ruth Lea of Global Vision says a looser relationship with the EU is both popular and right

EU DOESN'T NEED TO CENTRALISE

"This week EU leaders are discussing the wrong issues for the wrong reasons. They should be debating Europe's competitiveness, its contribution to climate change and its role in the developing world. Instead, they are discussing whether and how to concentrate more power in Brussels. The results will present Prime Minister Brown with his first challenge. Will he go along with a centralising agenda in Europe - or will he give a lead on the issues Europe's citizens really care about? If he is ready to do the latter, he will have the Conservative Party's support." - David Cameron in the Telegraph

2min video report on "The rise of the European Superstate" - CNN

If you want to know what is going on at the EU summit, Ben Brogan's blog - our blog of the week - is indispensable.  Latest entries focus on Sarkozy's 'lounge lizard press conference' and UKIP's bulldozer press stunt.  It's unmissable reading at the moment.

ROGER HELMER'S BATTLE VAN

Roger Helmer MEP has produced the above campaign graphic this morning in association with The Freedom Association.  The graphic will be appearing on a Campaign Van that will this morning set off from London and travel to Northampton, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Lincoln.

WORKING CLASS WHITE BOYS STILL FALLING BEHIND

"Most of the persistent low achievers in England's schools are poor and white and far more are boys than girls, a Joseph Rowntree Foundation study says. Chinese and Indian pupils are most successful." - BBC

>>> The Party's social justice policy group published the same findings last November

BERNARD MANNING TORIES

"Now who do you want to govern you, the optimist or the pessimist? The one who thinks we can be a united, progressive, diverse and tolerant nation, or the one who thinks the country went to the dogs (and the blacks, the Asians, “Europe”) long ago? The one who looks forward, or the one who thinks there’s nothing to be done. This is what Mr Cameron is trying to teach his out-of-touch, negative, intolerant and divisive party." - Alice Miles in the Times

NO NIGHT OF THE LONG KNIVES

"Many Conservatives believe that if the party is serious about preparing for government, Cameron should bring in a few greybeards with experience. I'm told they will be disappointed. Cameron believes the only way to fight Brown's Cabinet of new faces is to freshen up his own team with some young, energetic members of the class of 2005. Gove is one, Ed Vaizey might be another and Maria Miller could be the third." - Iain Dale in the Telegraph (and on his blog).

DUNCAN JOINS THE PRIVATE EQUITY FRAY - ATTACKS "MOB RULE"

"A political dispute over private equity blew up on Thursday, with the Tories accusing some Labour MPs on a Commons inquiry of “shame­ful and self-indulgent” attacks. The opposition party has to date kept clear of the furore over private equity, refusing to be drawn on mounting political pressure for a much tougher tax and regulatory regime. But Alan Duncan, the shadow trade and industry secretary, on Thursday sprang to the defence of the beleaguered sector." - Financial Times

>>> Brooks Newmark MP recently defended the industry on ConservativeHome

I AINT NO TORY

"When shadow chancellor George Osborne - on behalf of David Cameron - invited me to join the shadow cabinet, his purpose was surely just to undermine the Liberal Democrats. But I am not a Tory, and if I merely wanted a fast track to a top job, I would have acted on this instinct a long time ago." - David Laws in the Guardian

THE NEED FOR THE NEW CULTURE FORUM

"The only dark moment came when someone made a remark about the arrival in Downing Street of the mighty handbag and its formidable bearer. There were groans all round. One don theatrically covered his ears, as if trying to hide from the awful news. “It’s the death of intellectual freedom in this country,” another wailed.In the 13 years that followed I never met a single academic who didn’t hate Thatcher. Nor an actor, writer, musician, artist or anyone else who worked in culture." - Richard Morrison in the Times

BLAIR'S ROAD TO ROME

Tony Blair prepares to convert to Catholicism - The Guardian

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

Thursday 21st June 2007

6.30pm ToryDiary: Overwhelming public support for a referendum

5.15pm ToryDiary: Brown nicks TRC ideas

PICK OF THE WEB

• Action Without Theory has an amusing anecdote of when they had to interview Paddy Ashdown for the BBC
• Mark Mardell has written a long insidery article about the struggle to confirm the EU constitution treaty
• The Difference has a good post about how an effective prisons charity lost out to "the Government's liberal agenda"
• Cascittuni believes that Cameron is wrong to leave the EPP
• Helen Szamuely analyses the amazing attempt by the Poles to connect their voting rights row with what the Germans did in World War Two
• Peter Watson on 18DS explores the political advantages to Cameron's NHS proposals
• James Morris believes term limits and the liability to be "recalled" should be applied to the Mayor of London
• Glyn Davies looks back on Bernard Manning's life and concludes that he challenged people to think about prejudice

If you have a particularly interesting blog post please feel free to recommend it.

4.15pm PlayPolitical: Downing Street put Thatcher on Blue Peter online

2pm: The Difference is offering you the chance to put your questions to Iain Duncan Smith about Breakdown Britain.

1pm BritainAndAmerica: Mayor Mike shakes up 2008 speculation

Lunchtime ToryDiary: If I was Gordon Brown...

ToryDiary: Can the Tories become Britain's online party?

Interviews: Matthew Elliott answers your questions

Seats and Candidates: John Gough selected for Barrow & Furness 

YourPlatform: Lindsay Jenkins, author of "The EU and the Death of Local Government", describes the break-up of Britain 

DISCOVERING THE "POLITICS OF HAPPINESS"

"David Cameron's most loyal "young Turks" have held informal gatherings to discuss how the Conservatives can tackle issues such as social mobility, opportunity, accountability and social responsibility ahead of the next election. The talks are restricted to MPs who were elected at the last general election and have become shadow ministers in domestic policy areas such as health, education or housing." - Telegraph

" David Cameron has ordered his shadow ministers to apply a 'politics of happiness' test to new Tory policies." - Daily Mail

COMPREHENSIVE, UNIVERSAL NHS

"David Cameron will pledge today that one of his first acts as Prime Minister would protect in law a "comprehensive, universal" NHS funded by the taxpayer. The Conservative leader will also promise a legally-binding commitment that patients will not be allowed to opt-out and use NHS money to help subsidise private treatment. His comments are an uncompromising rejection of calls from the Right of his party for the leadership to look at new ways of funding the health service, including adopting Continental-style social insurance schemes." - Telegraph

"David Cameron will today propose an overhaul of the Government’s administration of the NHS, with the Department of Health’s brief scaled down and day-to-day decisions passed to an independent board. In a what would be a substantial transfer of power from Whitehall, the Tories have pledged to hand over control of the health service to an independent NHS board as part of their next election manifesto." - Times

TORIES COULD WIN WITH LESS SEATS

"The next general election could be snatched from Gordon Brown's hands by David Cameron, a former top Labour aide said yesterday. Mr Cameron could enter Downing Street on the back of winning more actual votes even if he ended up with fewer Commons seats, it was claimed. A seminar in London on whether Mr Cameron has the potential to become Prime Minister also heard surprise praise from senior Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg MP over the Tory leader's "admirable" rebranding of his party." - Telegraph

DAVIS' OFFICE MANAGEMENT

"The former SAS soldier disputed every charge, but he does seem to have had difficulty holding on to his staff this past year or so. Since early 2006, six have spun through DD's revolving door in the Palace of Westminster... I hear that a seventh name will soon be added to the roll of those missing in action; indeed, the shadow home secretary is already advertising for a new researcher." - Independent's Pandora

LIB-LAB

"For a party that likes to preach the virtues of consensus and cooperation, Liberal Democrats can be a prickly bunch. In the last couple of months the party has said no to coalition deals in Wales and Scotland, to running a joint candidate with the Tories in next year's London election and - this week - to Gordon Brown's tentative suggestion that Liberal Democrats might like to work with his government rather than oppose it." - Guardian leader

"Gordon Brown's promise last month that he wanted a government of all the talents was seen as rhetoric. Yet the frantic denials from Sir Menzies "Ming" Campbell yesterday that there would be any Liberal Democrats in the new Cabinet suggested that it may have been more than a gleam in Mr Brown's eye." - Telegraph

"Prime Minister-in-waiting Gordon Brown offered former Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown the Cabinet post of Northern Ireland secretary, the BBC has learned." - BBC

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

Wednesday 20th June 2007

Late Seats and Candidates update: John Gough selected for Barrow & Furness

6.15pm ToryDiary: Charge foreigners for using the NHS says David Davies MP

3.45pm BritainAndAmerica: Full version of Fred Thompson's London speech

2.30pm ToryDiary: Cameron meets North Korean defectors

2pm YourPlatform: Matthew Sinclair of the TPA responds to the Conservative health proposals

1pm ToryDiary: Prisons the main subject at PMQs and Conservative priorities for the NHS

10am ToryDiary: Vote LibDem > Get Labour

ToryDiary: Cameron skips EPP Meeting

Blog of the week is that of Ben Brogan, the Daily Mail's Political Editor. Many journalists start blogging and then give up. Ben hasn't. Postings have become more regular and are full of insidery insights.

CONSERVATIVE HEALTH POLICY

"Bold plans to scrap all central NHS targets and hand millions of patients "individual budgets" to buy health services will be unveiled today by the Conservatives. The ambitious blueprint will also set out plans to put senior doctors in charge of local budgets to ensure that money is spent on the basis of local priorities. However, these clinicians - to be known as primary care commissioners - will face pay cuts if they deliver "poor services" to patients." - Telegraph

"GPs' salaries to be linked to the success of the treatment they deliver and the extent to which patients are satisfied with the experience." - Guardian

"Patients who stop smoking or lose weight will be ushered to the front of the queue for public services under Conservative proposals to improve public health." - Times

"David Cameron will today vow to sweep away all targets in the Health Service and give millions of patients the power to decide how they should be treated." - Daily Mail

BROWN'S RESPONSE

"Gordon Brown went head to head with David Cameron over "self-help" for NHS patients yesterday with a strong hint that there would be more money for the health service in the autumn." - Independent

CAMERON DECLINES EPP INVITATION

"David Cameron is facing isolation in Europe after snubbing a meeting of centre-right leaders from across the continent. The European People's Party (EPP) confirmed that Mr Cameron had turned down an invitation to tomorrow's annual gathering." - Independent

WE NEED A REFERENDUM

"It's not just the new extensions of EU power that merit a vote: it's the accumulated transfers of power to Brussels that have taken place in the 32 years since our last plebiscite, and which are explicitly reiterated and confirmed in the text." - Dan Hannan in the Telegraph

WELSH TORIES CALL FOR GREENHOUSE GAS CUT

"The Tories will call for Welsh targets to cut greenhouse gasses today, despite fears they could harm jobs. AMs will debate a Conservative motion asking for an independent body to monitor annual 3% carbon-emission cuts by 2011." - ICWales

SIR SALMAN RUSHDIE

"A diplomatic row over Salman Rushdie's knighthood erupted yesterday as Britain expressed "deep concern'' over claims by a Pakistani minister that the honour was an affront to Muslims that could justify suicide bombings." - Telegraph

       >>>Yesterday's ToryDiary

GORDON BROWN

"Gordon Brown and Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat leader, have held private discussions in recent days about a plan for one or two senior Lib Dems to join Mr Brown's first cabinet, the Guardian has been told by a well-placed source." - Guardian

What do we know about Brown's foreign policy? - Irwin Stelzer in the Telegraph

TIME TO SELL OFF THE BBC - Simon Heffer in the Telegraph

BLOOMBERG LEAVES THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

"Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire businessman and mayor of New York, has switched his political party status from Republican to unaffiliated, a move certain to be seen as a prelude to an independent presidential bid in the 2008 race." - Telegraph

BLACKBERRYS FOR MPS BUT NOT FRENCH CABINET

"MPs are likely to be allowed to bring BlackBerrys into the Commons chamber for the first time so that they can check and send e-mails as they wait to speak in debates." - Times

"Members of the new French cabinet have been told to stop using their BlackBerries because of fears that the US could intercept state secrets." - FT

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

Tuesday 19th June 2007

11.30pm ToryDiary: Pusillanimous

6.15pm LondonMayor blog: Tories finally discover a way to beat Livingstone...

5.45pm BritainAndAmerica: Video clips of Fred Thompson's speech in London on the transatlantic relationship (he topped the Republican presidential polling today)

4.30pm ToryDiary: Double the number of prison places to save £45bn

4PM PICK OF THE WEB

• A post on Comment Central in support of Salman Rushdie's Knighthood attracted a lot of attention. Oliver Kamm is outraged at the response from Pakistan politicians and calls for democratic political parties to do more to defend the values of our free society. Stephen Pollard is one of many to criticise Lord Ahmed's comments on this issue.
• There's heated debate on Iain Dale about one in three conceived babies being aborted. Meanwhile The Difference asks if time frames for abortions should be matched with those for human embryo research and in vitro experiments.
• Stumbling and Mumbling argues that incompetence is an inevitable result of a lack of competition, referring to a report saying that the £1.8bn spent on consultants this year hasn't been good value.
• Norman Geras is unimpressed with the quality of the argument made by Michele Hanson in the Guardian this morning (that only Thatcher saw any point in the Falklands War)
• A barely alive Webcameron has released a video of Cameron talking to Lord Heseltine about the Cities Taskforce
• Open Europe tries to keep track of the ever-changing position of the Government on the constitutional treaty
• Croydonian questions the Government's figures on non-charging cash machines in poor areas
• Brian Jenner has written an interesting piece about how he prepares content for speeches

3pm ToryDiary: Beyond left and right

11am updates:

• "James Cleverly has criticised Ken Livingstone for his "insulting and cynical" objection to the Conservative nominations for the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA)." - Bexley & Bromeley Conservatives
• "Whether or not one rates Rushdie is utterly beside the point. Many of us find some of the statements and speeches made by Harold Pinter pretty loathsome and divisive too, but none of us are for a moment suggesting that he should be silenced." - New Culture Forum
• "The Conservative Party has called for an "immediate halt" to the reorganisation process after the high court gave the go-ahead to three councils to mount a challenge." - Local Government Chronicle

ToryDiary: Telegraph touts Hague as Party Chairman

YourPlatform: Cllr Adam Tugwell urges unity 

HEALTH PROPOSALS LAUNCHED TOMORROW

"A new public health act and efforts to fight obesity will be at the heart of Conservative proposals today for reform of the National Health Service, the Financial Times understands. David Cameron, Tory leader, is expected to highlight the latest findings of his health policy working group, announced today, when he unveils what party insiders are describing as a "white paper" tomorrow." - Financial Times

"Doctors will be given more say in how the NHS is run if the Conservatives are returned to power, according to a policy document published today. GPs delivered a vote of no confidence last week in the Government. They accused ministers of wasting a golden opportunity to transform the NHS by squandering millions of pounds. David Cameron is promising that instead of focusing on targets such as waiting times, he would look to improve the results of treatment." - Telegraph

REACTION TO TOOTING SPEECH

"David Cameron yesterday prepared the Conservative rank and file for the battle against Gordon Brown with reassurances that he would offer a "clear choice" to voters which stressed family values and smaller government." - Guardian

"David Cameron yesterday compared reconstructing the Conservative party to building a house, and if the metaphor is correct then he must now be staring at heaps of rubble, cement and copper piping, hoping that the architect's plans come together before the first tenants move in" - Guardian leader

"Many of the Tooting audience privately think him wet. But they grudgingly recognise the purpose upon which everything he does is fixed: to win a general election by entrenching himself in the centre ground, rejecting every demand for red meat from the Baskerville hounds of the right." - Max Hastings in the Guardian

"The philosophical underpinnings of Cameron Conservatism offered by that speech seem creditable enough, delineating a fundamental difference between the concepts of "social responsibility" and "state control". But under an aggressive assault from a refreshed Labour side, the Tories will need a thoroughly examined, well developed sense of what that distinction actually amounts to, and precisely how their critique of Mr Brown can be transformed into a positive model of government." - Telegraph leader

"Margaret Thatcher relied on Essex Man, Tony Blair wooed Worcester Woman and David Cameron is pinning his hopes on Tooting Man. If the next MP for the south London Labour marginal is a Conservative, Mr Cameron will almost certainly be heading for Downing Street." - Brendan Carlin in the Telegraph

"The difference between his Conservative Party and Gordon Brown, he insisted, was that, "We get the modern world, he doesn't. We trust people, he's suspicious of them." It was the clearest articulation he has yet made of his philosophy - but it was also a message that demonstrated vividly why the voters are confused about who he is." - Rachel Sylvester in the Telegraph

Highlights of Cameron's speech are responded to by Simon Heffer ("philisophically naive and vacuous") and Rachel Sylvester ("shows Cameron is more traditionalist than we thought") on Telegraph TV

"Mr Cameron’s support for collective security and individual opportunity is hardly new or radical. Each of the three party leaders could credibly deliver a speech on a similar theme. Indeed, Gordon Brown is already occupying exactly that ground." - Times leader

PARTY SHOULD "GROW UP"

"Mr Cameron is entering a defining period. The honeymoon is over and he will soon face the formidable Mr Brown directly for the first time. This was always going to be a testing moment for the Tories. But Mr Cameron's job of setting the terms of the political debate is now that much harder. If he does not turn back the trickles of dissent, they could yet turn into a tide of despair." - Independent leader

DAVIS' SOCIAL MOBILITY TASKFORCE

"David Cameron moved to reassure traditional Conservative voters yesterday by giving David Davis a new role in formulating party policy. Mr Cameron disclosed that Mr Davis, the shadow home secretary and the man he defeated to become party leader, would lead a task force to investigate why social mobility had slumped under Labour." - Telegraph

IS THERE A BETTER PHRASE?

"When Mr Cameron invokes "social responsibility" as his big idea, grassroots Tory voters scratch their heads in a way they did not when St Maggie said "freedom, enterprise and tax cuts", and most policies could fit that template. Mr Brown's language needs improvement too, but he will be prime minister." - Michael White in the Guardian

CONSULTATION ABOUT CONSULTATIONS

"Effective Consultation, a 33-page document, states: "It is aimed at anyone with an interest in responding to government consultation exercises. "The Cabinet Office wants to hear views on how the Government consults, on how government consultations can be improved and how government policy on consultation could bring about these improvements." The Tories are stupefied. "This is farcical," blasts Oliver Heald, the shadow cabinet office minister." - Telegraph Spy

EVANS WANTS TO GO BACK TO WESTMINSTER

"Welsh Conservative MEP Jonathan Evans is to seek a return to the House of Commons, we can reveal. A party source has confirmed that the former Brecon and Radnor MP and Welsh Office Minister has applied for the parliamentary candidacy in Cardiff North. If he wins the nomination, he will be trying to win the seat from the current Labour MP Julie Morgan, wife of First Minister Rhodri Morgan." - Western Mail

KEEP THE RAINBOW

"Liberal Democrat Assembly leader Michael German yesterday urged Plaid Cymru not to abandon plans for a three-way government with the Conservatives and his party in favour of a coalition with Labour. But he warned that if it is clear the so-called rainbow alliance is “heading for the rocks” he can act quickly to re-start negotiations of his own with Labour." - Western Mail

LAST-MINUTE SPATS

"Cherie Blair repeatedly urged her husband to sack Gordon Brown as she became incensed by his behaviour towards the prime minister, a family friend of the Blairs has disclosed." - Guardian

"The Government was in chaos over the European constitution last night as a damaging rift opened between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown over whether a referendum may be necessary to approve plans to hand more power to Brussels." - Telegraph

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

Monday 18th June 2007

10.30pm ToryDiary: Labour will attack Cameron as weak

6pm ToryDiary: Voters see Conservative Party as a drag on Cameron's moderation

4PM PICK OF THE WEB

• Nadine Dorries believes that the desire for attention is a cause of teenage motherhood
• Michael Barone at TownHall on Giuliani and McCain's decision to sit Iowa out
• James Cleverly is understandably bemused at news of funding cuts for the TA
• DizzyThinks on regional variations in the minimum wage
• Croydonian assesses the past of Labour peers
• Cranmer reports that the head of Europol blames the UK for the rise of Islamic terrorism
• CoffeeHouse has Fraser Nelson's report from Tooting
• Burning Our Money sees localism as a solution to waste

2.10pm ToryDiary: Jottings from Tooting

2.00pm PlayPolitical: Barack Obama's first podcast

10.30am ToryDiary: The 14% pinstripe radical

ToryDiary: Just when The Telegraph warms to Cameron, the Mail goes AWOL

Seats and candidates: Finalists for Barrow and Furness

BritainAndAmerica: Is Giulianism the future for the Republican Party?

LondonMayor: Nick Boles launches Good Neighbours

Brian Jenner on YourPlatform: Time for a new political organisation

CAMERON'S BIG SPEECH

"David Cameron will today seek to put the grammar schools row behind him as he delivers a speech on the party's policy reviews. The Tory chief will use an address in Tooting, south London, to reassure activists that he is on course to make major gains at the next general election despite the rows of the last month." - ePolitix.com

David Cameron "must correct the impression that he is just a well-intentioned toff making raids on Blairite rhetoric" - Bruce Anderson in The Independent

>>> PDF of full speech

MUSEUMS ROW

"David Cameron was forced into a Tory U-turn last night over free admission to museums and galleries.  Party culture spokesman Hugo Swire said they should be allowed to charge.  But in the face of fierce criticism, leader Mr Cameron was forced to slap down fellow Old Etonian Mr Swire." - The Sun

"Senior figures from politics, education and the arts leapt to defend free admission to Britain's most famous museums and galleries after a senior Tory suggested that charges could be reintroduced.  The campaigners hailed the success of free access to museums, which has attracted an extra 30 million people to the nation's great artistic and cultural collections since admission charges were scrapped six years ago. It followed a campaign by The Independent to end charges." - The Independent

>>> Yesterday's ToryDiary on the museums story

ATTITUDES OF TORY MPs

"A striking new survey by Populus about the attitudes of MPs reveals not only deep underlying disagreements between Labour and Conservative MPs on key social values, but also big divisions within the Tory party. David Cameron has failed to persuade a large number of his own backbenchers to accept his liberal views on morality and race." - Peter Riddell in The Times

>>> ConservativeHome's own recent survey of Tory members' social attitudes

MARGARET THATCHER AT CENTRE OF FALKLANDS REMEMBRANCE EVENT - BBC

WILL GORDON BROWN STOP THE SPIN? - James Silver in MediaGuardian

MING RELAUNCHES LEADERSHIP WITH BID TO BE 'SPIKIER' - The Times

SARKOZY WINS COMFORTABLE PARLIAMENTARY MAJORITY

"President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative party won a clear parliamentary majority Sunday in elections seen as crucial to his ambitious vision for opening up France's economy, although the Socialists did far better than even they had anticipated." - Guardian

"Although the centre-right UMP failed to secure a predicted landslide, it said it had a mandate to implement change.  Its plans include tighter immigration laws, tax cuts and longer jail terms." - BBC

Three highlights from the weekend on ToryDiary:

• An enthusiastic welcome for David Cameron's suggestion that the centre-right is now the source of 'progress';
• No need to panic at the news that the Tory lead is down to 2% in the latest YouGov survey; and
• The Tories look to give the YouTube generation an opportunity to help decide policy.

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

Sunday 17th June 2007

8.30pm ToryDiary exclusive: Cameron speech aims to reassure traditional supporters

4.15pm ToryDiary: Anyone for progressive conservatism?

11.45am ToryDiary: 'Charging for museums' story illustrates risks of policy review process

News updates: John Major defends his record on Northern Ireland from a Peter Hain attack (BBC) and the Sunday Express spotlights a new attack on David Willetts' grammar schools analysis.

10.15am ToryDiary: Could Scottish Conservatives give the SNP their independence referendum?

ToryDiary: Absolutely no need for panic

TORIES MAY RESTORE MUSEUMS' RIGHT TO CHARGE FOR ENTRY

"The Tories were at the centre of a fresh controversy after it was revealed that they will scrap guaranteed free entry to top museums and art galleries.  Shadow Culture Secretary Hugo Swire said his party would reverse automatic free admissions introduced by Labour six years ago and allow the attractions to restore entry charges." - Mail on Sunday (and Sunday Telegraph)

TORIES ARE THE PROGRESSIVES NOW

Talking to The Observer's new political editor - Nicholas Watt - the Conservative leader says that the Tories can be the new progressives: "I think the centre-right in politics, if it is optimistic, forward-looking, engaged in the world today, can be an incredible force for progressive politics."

CAMERON NEEDS TO BE MORE RESPECTFUL TO TRADITIONAL SUPPORTERS

"The game gets serious in 10 days' time, when Blair becomes history. When he is neck and neck in the polls with Mr Brown, Mr Cameron will need his base willing him to win, even if he does not give all they want in terms of detailed policy. He can do it, but his tone and manners towards his party need to improve. As an MP who badly wants Cameron to win and is depressed by recent events put it last week: "The leadership do not need to pander to the party, they need to indicate they respect it." - Iain Martin in The Sunday Telegraph

MICHAEL PORTILLO SEES DANGERS FOR THE TORIES IN THE REVIVAL OF THE EUROPE ISSUE

"The danger in reviving the European question is not that it splits the party as it used to. Conservative enthusiasts for Europe are now few. The problem is that the Eurosceptics look like fanatics. They care about protecting the UK’s independence much more than about winning the election. Or rather, because they cannot imagine that other people’s views could be different from their own, they believe that if the party would just commit itself to withdraw from Europe, elec-toral triumph would be guaranteed. The evidence of the last two elections, at which Eurosceptic Conservative leaders herded the party to disaster, does not dent their certainty." - Michael Portillo in The Sunday Times

"The prime minister is ready to do a deal over the European charter of fundamental rights this week amid fears that plans for a treaty to replace the failed European Union constitution will collapse if he refuses to compromise." - The Sunday Times

DID THE TORIES TAKE THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS OFF THE AIR? - The Sunday Telegraph has been digging in the archives

Iain Dale says that Gary Bushell is to stand as the English Democrats' candidate for London Mayor

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

Saturday 16th June 2007

8pm ToryDiary: The pollsters on polling 3

ToryDiary: Public meetings and online forums to discuss party policy

YourPlatform: Brooks Newmark MP defends the private equity industry

STAND UP, SPEAK UP

"David Cameron, the Conservative Party leader, has pledged an unprecedented change in policy making by committing the party to giving the public a direct say in shaping the Tories' election manifesto. The Conservatives are to launch the most extensive grassroots policy debate in British political history, called Stand up, Speak up - The Nation's Dispatch Box." - Telegraph

CAMERON BACKS MAYOR IDEA

"David Cameron was facing criticism from his own ranks after he swung behind plans tabled yesterday by Lord Heseltine for US-style directly elected mayors to run big city counc ils across England." - Guardian

EMISSIONS TARGET WILL COST JOBS

"The head of the main union representing steelworkers has accused Welsh Conservative Assembly leader Nick Bourne of endangering jobs in the steel industry by backing a 3% carbon dioxide emission reduction target for the National Assembly." - Western Mail

GOVERNMENT STILL TRYING TO CHANGE SMACKING LAWS

"The Government reignited the controversy over the smacking of children today by launching a opinion poll among parents on reform of the law in England and Wales. Traditionally parents who smacked their children were able to claim a defence of reasonable punishment, but in 2004 the scope of this defence was limited by Section 58 of the Children Act, so that severe assaults and cruelty were no longer covered." - Times

>>> Dr Andrew Lilico wrote about this subject for YourPlatform recently

WHY ALL THE SIGNS?

"The definition of an enclosed public space and of a workplace is broadly comprehensible to almost everyone. So there need be no “No smoking” notices in buses, trains, cinemas, pubs or offices – let alone cathedrals. None. Literally millions of these tin and plastic pimples on our ambience can be scrapped overnight." - Matthew Parris in the Times

THE FALKLANDS TEST

"Is Lady Thatcher right that it provides a permanent example of the rewards of courage in the never-ending struggle against evil? Or was it an anomaly, a set of circumstances unimaginable in the modern world? Actually, both could be true. Even at the time, the Falklands crisis seemed unbelievable, and it came almost without warning. Its importance is that it provided Britain with an astonishing test, which we passed. Today, the test, set by everything that has happened since September 11, 2001, is more astonishing still. What is so fascinating is that no one yet knows whether we are passing it or not." - Charles Moore in the Telegraph

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

Friday 15th June 2007

4PM PICK OF THE WEB

• The Difference asks if Generation Blair is reneging on its reponsibilities
• James Morris looks to Brazil for an example of citizen-led city governance
• We Pay For Them, campaigning for an online register of MPs' expenses, is obviously pleased at Maclean's amendment not making it to the Lords
• Dizzy Thinks on the staggering cost of clearing up after flytippers in London
• Dave Hill asks if there is merit in hugging hoodies, using the Warrington-based "Talk, Don't Walk" project as a case-study, he also produced an 18DS Citizen Journalist video interview with the organiser of it
• Curly is trying to spare a thought for those worse off than him
• Comment Central links to interesting article on the "10 most bizarre people on Earth"
• Alan Dershowitz has written a controversial post on Comment as Free defending the denial of tenure to Norman Finkelstein

3:30pm ToryDiary: Tax cuts please

Noon PlayPolitical: The I've got a crush on Barack Obama video phenomenon. 

"YouTube, a website started only two and a half years ago, will move to the centre of America's political stage next month when its users will submit questions in video form to Democratic presidential candidates." - Telegraph

11am ToryDiary: Spot the difference

ToryDiary: The pollsters on polling 2 and Heseltine plan for renaissance in city governance

YourPlatform: Andrew Lilico: Why we lost in 2001 and 2005

Keep an eye on our Events page

CAMERON WANTS FLEXIBLE WORKING HOURS FOR ALL PARENTS

"David Cameron yesterday risked a clash with business leaders when he called for all parents to be given the right to seek flexible working hours." - Guardian

FALKLANDS REMEMBERED

"Twenty-five years after the white flag of surrender flew over Port Stanley, the Queen yesterday marked the anniversary of the liberation of the Falkland Islands." - Telegraph

CONSERVATIVES HIGHLIGHT COST OF DEPARTMENTAL NAME CHANGES

"Labour's constant tinkering with the names of government departments has cost taxpayers almost £2million, it emerged last night." - Daily Express

EUROPEAN SUMMIT

"Gordon Brown and President Sarkozy of France are expected to join forces to prevent changes in the running of the European Union that would require a referendum in either France or Britain, it emerged last night." - Times

"As  Gordon Brown faces his first major continental challenge, even before he formally takes office, he would be advised to remind himself of recent political history. John Major and Tony Blair both promised, amid much fanfare, to "put Britain at the heart of Europe". Both left the scene disappointed and angry at their dealings with the perfidious French and treacherous Germans, having seen most of their best-laid Euro-plans turn to dust." - John Kampfner in the Telegraph

BLAIR/BROWN HANDOVER

"Tony Blair has confided to his closest advisers that he fears Gordon Brown could be Labour's Al Gore and will lead the party to defeat at the next general election." - Telegraph

"Reform of the House of Lords has been put off, again. Gordon Brown has decided that this is a “manifesto issue”, not a matter for early legislation in this Parliament. - Times

GAZA CRISIS

"Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, dismissed his Hamas-led government on Thursday night and declared a state of emergency, although with little prospect of imposing it in the Gaza Strip after Hamas routed his Fatah loyalists there in the space of a week" - FT

THE INTERNET AND THE RACE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE

"News Corp will soon be able to track and monitor online donations made to presidential candidates through its MySpace subsidiary, giving the media group an increasingly prominent role in the 2008 presidential election." - FT

CAMERON MISSES MURDOCH'S SUMMER PARTY - Telegraph Spy

BAE

"BAE gave Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia an airliner as part of Britain's al-Yamamah arms deal, and the arms firm is still paying the expenses of flying it." - Guardian 

JOB VACANCIES

• The Centre for Social Justice is looking for a Policy Group Manager and an Office Administrator
• Conservative Future needs a General Manager and Organiser for the South of England, and an Organiser for the North of England
• Head of Communications and Constituency services for the Conservative party in the North East of England
• Campaign co-ordinator for Hammersmith Conservative Association
• Parliamentary researcher for the office of David Davis MP, Shadow Home Secretary
• Office junior for John Whittingdale MP
• Intern for Stuart Andrew, PPC for Pudsey
• Parliamentary Research Assistant for David Lidington MP
• Assistant Private Secretary for senior Conservative MP
• Secretary/PA for Gerald Howarth MP, Shadow Defence Minister
• Caseworker for Rt. Hon. Patrick McLoughlin MP
• Community Projects Campaign Manager Internship for Tooting Conservative Association
• Development Manager London, for Conservative Campaign Headquarters
• Conservative Party Agent for West Worcestershire and Conservative Party Agent for Carshalton & Wallington and Sutton & Cheam
• Head of Communications and Constituency Services for Tyne and Wear
• Conservative Party Agent for Worthing and Shoreham
• Conservative Business Relations Analyst

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

Thursday 14th June 2007

9:30pm Seats and Candidates: Election boundaries almost official

6:30pm ToryDiary: The Government brutally discriminates against two-parent families

6pm BritainAndAmerica: Lessons from the Big Apple and the Golden State

5:30pm ToryDiary: Your tips for the Shadow Cabinet 

4PM PICK OF THE WEB

• Grant Shapps MP's YouTube video of the Hospital SOS rally (see our post on this campaign)
  
• Richard Spring MP discusses the need to address a "skills shortage".
• Birmingham University CF say "no legal black holes"on the question of whether the Human Rights Act should apply to British soldiers operating in war zones.
• Evan Price produces a list of Welsh MPs appearing in the news.
• Paul Uppal discusses PPC's lifestyles and Party Chairman Francis Maude's visit to Wolverhampton.
• 18 Doughty Street have a clip of a debate between Peter Whittle, Iain Dale and the Director of Taking Liberties about modern parallels with Nazi Germany
• Matthew Sinclair responds to BritainAndAmerica's report of the Trippi Politics 2.0 event
• Northern Ireland Conservatives assess "Adoption, homosexuality and the DUP".
• Robert Buckland raises the issues set out by Ken Clarke's democracy task force.
• The TPA report on Hewitt's speech on the NHS, the 33rd largest "economy" in the world
• Michelle Tempest compares Blair's and Princess Diana'a manipulation of the media
• Greg Hands writes about the battle for the defence of Church schools on the Cornerstone blog

1:30pm: ToryDiary: Flexible working "is the future for both the public and private sectors

1.30pm: BritainAndAmerica: Latest poll bad news for the Republicans

ToryDiary: The pollsters on polling and Principled House of Lords rejects FOI amendment

Britain AndAmerica: Petition to revoke the indepence of the United States of America and Charles Groome reviews the New Hampshire debates

YourPlatform: Blair seals off Brown's escape route

Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell on  Blair's missed tricks at the G8:

"He missed a big trick in not focussing on aid quality, and in failing to make the G8 live up to their promises on HIV/AIDS. He did well to extract promises for extra cash to end the sickening scandal of children dying needlessly from easily-preventable diseases. But if I were a poor person in Congo I wouldn't start celebrating just yet. Those G8 cheques might just bounce."

Interviews: Alan Duncan answers your questions

FALKLANDS 25TH ANNIVERSARY

"The aircraft carrier Ark Royal sailed through the Thames Barrier yesterday en route to a series of events to mark the 25th anniversary of the Falklands conflict." - Telegraph

Liam Fox's Falklands Diary - Telegraph

WILL PRIME MINISTERS MOVE OUT OF NUMBER 10?

"Number 10 Downing Street may no longer be suited to the needs of a Prime Minister in the modern age, Tony Blair suggested in an interview released today." - Telegraph

BORIS JOHNSON: GOD SAVE THE MEDIA

"Oh for heaven's sake, can someone please tiptoe up behind our poor prating ex-Prime Minister to be and tell him that the show is over? Come on, Cherie, Alastair, Peter - whoever still composes the depleted Praetorian Guard - tell the old boy to put a sock in it before he does himself a serious embarrassment." - Boris Johnson in the Telegraph

CONSERVATIVES WIN CLIMBDOWN ON OFFICIAL STATISTICS

"Moves to strengthen independent controls of official statistics prompted Conservative claims yesterday of a government climbdown in the face of opposition pressure." - FT

"THATCHER WAS A SWEETIE"

"Margaret Thatcher was a sweetie to the young and the old compared to what Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have done to them." - Alice Thomson in the Telegraph

SARKOZY TO MEET BLAIR & BROWN

"Gordon Brown and President Sarkozy of France are expected to join forces to prevent changes in the running of the European Union that would require a referendum in either France or Britain, it emerged last night." - Times

BAE/BANDAR ALLEGATIONS

"The US department of justice is preparing to open a corruption investigation into the arms company BAE, the Guardian has learned. It would cover the alleged £1bn arms deal payments to Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia." - Guardian

MACLEAN'S FOI BILL FAILS TO FIND LORDS SPONSOR

"A move to exempt parliament from the Freedom of Information Act appeared to have collapsed last night, when no peer came forward to sponsor the private member's bill lodged by the former Tory chief whip, David Maclean, in the Lords." - Guardian

BLAIR'S DEPARTURE BOOSTS LABOUR RATING

"The Labour Party's ratings have risen since Tony Blair announced his departure date, according to the latest "poll of polls" for The Independent. Labour's average score in the surveys conducted in May was 33 per cent, a three percentage-point rise on the previous month. The Conservatives dropped one point to 36 per cent while the Liberal Democrats fell by two points to 18 per cent." - Independent

CABINET WHIP ROUND FOR BLAIR'S LEAVING GIFT

"Tony Blair’s Cabinet colleagues are being asked for £80 each to buy leaving presents for the outgoing Prime Minister and his deputy, John Prescott." - Times

ZAC GOLDSMITH RESIGNS AS ECOLOGIST EDITOR - Telegraph Spy

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

Wednesday 13th June 2007

5:30pm ToryDiary: A noble, but mercifully short, national struggle

5PM PICK OF THE WEB

• The Coffee House has been bustling today with posts on Brown's new Head of Domestic Policy and Strategy, Blair's penultimate PMQs, as well as Matthew D'Ancona (and Stephen Pollard) fretting about joining Facebook
• Tim Kevan's maiden post on the high quality Ghost Cabinet blog is an excellent piece on Brown "the stealth dictator"
• Matt Wardman has started a good "meme" on Gordon Brown
• Jonathan "Large" Isaby has picked up on Andrew Rosindell's push for celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of Prince Charles being the Prince of Wales (interesting accompanying picture of the colourful MP)
• Pickled Politics covers the Evening Standard's expose of the Hindu Forum of Britain, headed by "fundamentalist father" Ramesh Kallidai
• The New Culture Forum comments on Finkelstein's article on reclaiming the Summer of Love. NCF Director Peter Whittle hosted Culture Clash on 18 Doughty Street last night where they reviewed political documentaries Taking Liberties and The War on Democracy
• The Social Affairs Unit's blog carries a review of Gordon Brown's book about heroes, by Harry Phibbs. He welcomes the inclusion of Todd Beamer but is rightly unimpressed with the factual errors in the section about Aung San Suu Kyi.

 4:30pm BritainAndAmerica: Can Politics 2.0 cross the Atlantic?

3pm ToryDiary: Strong words from Cameron in defence of Israel

1pm ToryDiary: PMQs: Liveliest House for some time

"Midwives are delivering almost 25% more babies than experts believe is appropriate, figures released by the Conservative Party suggest. The Tories say the government's failure to anticipate a big rise in the birth rate in England has left midwives under intense pressure." - BBC

ToryDiary: HospitalSOS and Telegraph spins report to reignite grammar schools argument

YourPlatform: Quentin Davies MP explains why he voted against the Iraq inquiry and Hugo Robinson explains why the EU treaty would be bad for business

WHAT SHOULD THE TORIES DO ABOUT BROWN?

"You will, I trust, forgive the bad taste of this statement of fact, but I have been loafing in the south of France for the past fortnight thinking about the Brown terror. France now is like a country born again, with a dynamic new leader, so contemplation of what is shortly to happen to us was, in such a context, piquant." - Simon Heffer in the Telegraph

OSBORNE SPEECH ON ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT

"Future Bank of England Governors should serve only one, nonrenewable term of office, the Shadow Chancellor will say today as he calls for far-reaching reforms to the running of the Bank and the Treasury." - Times

PRINCE BANDAR'S PAYMENTS

"Des Browne, the defence secretary, yesterday refused point-blank to say whether his department's £1bn backdoor payments to Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia for arms deals were still continuing. Visibly uneasy and irritated at a lunch with defence journalists, he claimed "national security" was the reason for his silence." - Guardian

BLAIR ATTACKS "FERAL" MEDIA

"British newspapers will and should be subject to some form of new external regulation, the outgoing prime minister, Tony Blair, said yesterday in a broadside that attacked the media for behaving like feral beasts and eschewing balance or proportion." - Guardian

Gallery: the front pages Blair hated - Guardian

CONSERVATIVE ANGER OVER NETWORK RAIL DELAYS

"The Conservative Party accused the Government of trying to bury bad news over rail delays as train operators expressed their growing exasperation with Network Rail." - Telegraph

WHITEHALL CHANGES

Gordon Brown yesterday unveiled his most senior Downing Street advisers as part of a reshuffle involving a strengthening of the Cabinet Office and an affirmation of his faith in former Treasury civil servants." - Guardian

"Nothing that happens in Whitehall should be taken at face value. When a change is presented as a strengthening of Cabinet government, watch for the not-so-hidden hand of 10 Downing Street and “the great clunking fist”, as Tony Blair so elegantly described his successor’s style. " - Peter Riddell in the Times

LABOUR LEADERSHIP

"Alan Johnson today posts a public application to stay as Education Secretary in Gordon Brown’s first Cabinet if he wins the race to become Labour’s deputy leader. In an interview with The Times, Mr Johnson said that Mr Brown would underline his commitment to education by handing the brief to his No 2." - Times

"Jon Cruddas is celebrating a victory over David Miliband as Gordon Brown backs his ideas to refresh Labour’s withered grassroots before new figures showing that the party’s membership has reached a new low." - Times

WAS BUSH'S WATCH STOLEN?

"Film of President Bush being mobbed during his visit to Albania on Sunday clearly shows the leader of the free world plunging into an adoring crowd with his watch on, and emerging seconds later with his personalised Timex Indiglo missing. " - Times

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

Tuesday 12th June 2007

4PM PICK OF THE WEB

• James Cleverly critisises attempts to legislate against breastfeeding in public
• ToryRadio is bemused at Tony Blair complaining about the media
• Peter Hitchens asks if democracy the same as freedom in his column, a theme picked up by this website
• Richard Spring MP describes the need for an Iraq inquiry
• Mike Smithson has started officially recording wagers made between his commenters
• 18 Doughty Street has a Citizen Journalist video interview of regular ConservativeHome commenter Justin Hinchcliffe, funny ending
• Archbishop Cranmer says Amen to depoliticising education
• An Englishman's Castle applies the Army Officer test to Brown, Cameron, Willetts et al...

2.30pm PlayPolitical: Mitt Romney's web campaign team

Noon ToryDiary: Lowering and simplifying tax for small business

11.00am ToryDiary: Smoking Police?

Interviews: Any questions for Nadine Dorries?

ToryDiary: Skills give Conservatives competitive edge over Brown

YourPlatform: Paul Stephenson: Look Over There

IRAQ

"Iraq believes that Gordon Brown will follow Tony Blair’s policies and refuse to sanction a swift pullout of troops when he becomes Prime Minister." - Times

"Tony Blair suffered the final backbench revolt of his premiership over Iraq last night when the Government's majority was nearly halved to 35 as it fought off a Tory call for an inquiry into the war." - Telegraph

What are the precedents for a war inquiry? - Independent

BAE/SAUDI ALLEGATIONS

"Pressure was mounting on ministers for full disclosure of the government's role in Britain's biggest arms deal last night after claims that the Ministry of Defence directly administered payments of more than £1bn to Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia." - Guardian

"There are lots of unanswered questions about the al-Yamamah arms deal and the allegations of corruption by BAE, but there's one that's bugging me: where are the Conservatives, or - to give them their full glorious title - Her Majesty's Official Opposition?" Mark Pack in the Guardian

ENGLISH MPs CAN'T STOP ENGLISH PAYING FOR SCOTTISH STUDENTS

"I suppose it's too much to hope that Gordon Brown gives a monkey's about the gross discrimination faced by English students in Scotland. I don't know whether our next prime minister is even aware that under the chaotic devolutionary settlement, the English taxpayer is now to be called upon to shell out the thick end of £2bn so that Scottish students can be charged nothing at all for studies in Scotland - while English students will be asked to pay their full whack of fees." - Boris Johnson in the Guardian

TORIES BACK BROWN TAX RISE

"The Conservatives are unlikely to oppose attempts to increase capital gains tax on private equity companies, one of the party’s leading cheerleaders for private equity has told The Times." - Times

NEW TORY CONTROLLED COUNCIL FREES UP £1.5MILLION

"The new administration at Weston Town Hall says it has already freed up to £1.5million since taking control of North Somerset Council." - Weston & Somerset Mercury

LONG HANDOVER TO BROWN MAY BE BENEFICIAL

"Fifteen days to go. It may look messy but the seemingly endless handover in 10 Downing Street, feeling rather like a very long flight to the Far East, will not only end soon but may turn out to have been beneficial." - Peter Riddell in the Times

NEW ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAWS UNVEILED

"Golf clubs and other private members' establishments will no longer be able to ban women members from their bars or discriminate in any other way on gender grounds under a shakeup of equality laws unveiled today." - Guardian

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

Friday 8th June 2007

5PM PICK OF THE WEB

• The Daily Mail's Ben Brogan is offering a multitude of snippets from the G8 conference, one being that the press were asked not to film Blair flying home in a plane so soon after signing a deal on climate change. John Redwood has a dim view of the environmental wranglings and America-bashing at the conference.
• Sparked by the Big Brother eviction, Hoby's latest cartoon points out how the evictee is dubbed a Tory more because of the racial allegations, Dizzy Thinks has a long commentary on the use racial nicknames, and Michael Ehioze-Ediae gives his own views on "the N word" in this 1min 18 Doughty Street clip
• The Waendel Journal rebutts LibDem MEP Chris Davies' article in the Independent, dismissing it as "beating his anti-Jewish drum again"
• Wat Tyler is bemused by his taxes going to a very striking piece of building art in Liverpool
• Elliott Joseph questions Hillary Benn's notion of equality
• Theresa May MP has restarted her blog

3pm ToryDiary: Move along, nothing to see here

2:30pm: If anyone is in Hertfordshire on Sunday, there's a large rally in Grant Shapps' constituency against closures of hospital services. ConservativeHome will be there filming from a helicopter as the crowds form the shape of "Hospital SOS". See the Hospital SOS website for details, and to pre-register if you know you can make it.

11:30am ToryDiary: Union money to Labour, taxpayers' money to unions

ToryDiary: What you think about ConservativeHome

YourPlatform: Robert Halfon: The existential threat to Israel   

See the Events section for a list of several events coming up in June. Email us if you would like yours to be featured

CAMERON TAKES ON ILLEGAL LOGGERS

"Timber dealers and furniture makers who possess illegally logged wood could face prosecution under Conservative plans to help protect rain-forests from destruction." - Telegraph

CONSERVATIVES EMBRACE DEMOCRATIC REFORM

"But what the task forces indicate most strongly is the dawn of a new political era in which the Conservatives will be having a conversation with the nation, while Mr Brown retreats to the only thing he knows - adversarial politics. We'll soon see who is most in tune with the electorate." - Iain Dale in the Telegraph

G8 DEAL ON CLIMATE CHANGE

"The agreement marked a clear departure for President George W. Bush, who has previously rejected the international Kyoto protocol and blocked proposals to begin negotiations on a successor when it expires in 2012. Mr Bush told fellow G8 leaders that the United States would be “actively involved, if not taking the lead, in a post-Kyoto framework; post-Kyoto agreement”." - FT

BAE INVESTIGATION

"British investigators were ordered by the attorney-general Lord Goldsmith to conceal from international anti-bribery watchdogs the existence of payments totalling more than £1bn to a Saudi prince, the Guardian can disclose." - Guardian

"Tony Blair’s defiant rejection yesterday of calls for a new corruption inquiry into the al-Yamamah arms deal came only days after Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, was given private assurances from Saudi Arabia that it was pressing ahead with the latest lucrative contract with BAE Systems." - Times

DEPUTY LEADERSHIP RACE

Toynbee backing Harman - Guardian

Guide to all the candidates - Guardian

TORY PEER FAILS TO MEET PLEDGE

"Irvine Laidlaw, a Monaco-based businessman, was awarded a peerage in June 2004 after promising to take up residency that year. But the House of Lords Appointments Commission has now raised the matter with Tony Blair after Lord Laidlaw of Rothiemay’s continued failure to fulfil his pledge." - Times

PEOPLE TURN OFF THEIR TV'S TO SURF THE NET

"British households now spend almost as much of their free time surfing the internet as they do watching the television" - Telegraph

JOB OPPORTUNITY

The Social Market Foundation is a leading independent think-tank looking at the market and the state and the relationship between the two. We are currently seeking highly motivated, bright researchers to expand our team. The post would suit a graduate or post-graduate with a background in politics, policy, philosophy or economics, with a keen interest in politics and policymaking. Applications from any speciality will be considered. The ability to communicate complex problems to a non-specialist audience is essential. If you would like to find out more, please contact Natalie Tarry, Director of Research, at ntarry@smf.co.uk.

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

Wednesday 6th June 2007

5:30pm Britain AndAmerica:  Joseph Willits on Cameron's praise for America's sense of identity

PICK OF THE WEB:

• Birmingham councillor and candidate, Deirdre Alden, celebrates the successes of Conservatives in the city regarding recyling.
• Ellee Seymour highlights an article in the Guardian about ConservativeHome's links with American bloggers.
• The Civitas blog asks the question, Blair's legacy, Brown's economy?
• A Very British Dude enters the abortion debate, after Cardinal Keith O'Brien's comments.
• From Wales, Alex Williams, discusses First Minister Rhodri Morgan's half hearted concillatory approach to Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats.  Glyn Davies has an alternative take on the opening ceremony, with his dialogue between Morgan and the Queen.
• The Cornerstone Group blog (which now allows comments) has published education proposals by Edward Leigh MP and Chris Woodhead.
• Andrea Leadsom shows her concern for relations between Russia and the West, and asks for the aggressive language to stop.  Martin Cakebread also discusses this in his blog, with How to avoid World War 3 in two easy steps.
• John Redwood MP asks: Why is there a shortage of hospital beds but not of hotel beds?

4pm ToryDiary: Disraeli the phrasemaker.Peel the changemaker

3pm London Mayor: Mayoral selection timetable

1.45pm ToryDiary: PMQs report

11.30am ToryDiary: Clarke proposes power shift to MPs and online voters

ToryDiary: Is this you? - what are ConservativeHome readers like

YourPlatform: Paul Goodman MP summarises the findings of the party's childcare consultation

CHANGING THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY

"A defiant David Cameron has told the Conservatives that he is "not going to flinch" from modernising his party as he faced down critics of his stance on grammar schools." - Independent

"So you don’t have to have a PhD in political strategy to realise that the Conservative Party now has to change. It has to compromise many of its long-held opinions in order to get some new people, people who are uncomfortable with existing Tory policy, to join in and give it support. It has to broaden its coalition. A lot." - Daniel Finklestein in the Times

MAUDE AND BRIDGES NOT CONSULTED OVER COULSON APPOINTMENT?

"David Cameron’s decision to hire Andy Coulson, the former News of the World Editor, was taken over the head of Francis Maude, the Conservative Party chairman...The wooing of Mr Coulson to become the Tories’ chief spin-doctor was also taken without the knowledge of George Bridges, the Conservatives’ head of campaigning." - Times

OSBORNE WILL "SERIOUSLY CONSIDER ABOLISHING INHERITANCE TAX"

"A Conservative Government will listen to the Daily Express and seriously consider abolishing inheritance tax on your home,” Mr Osborne told 500 property professionals at a record-breaking fundraising charity event yesterday." - Express

INTERVIEW WITH TORIES' "HEAD OF LIFESTYLE AND FEATURES"

"Almost a year ago, Gunn was asked to lend her expertise to the Conservative party, after a mutual acquaintance set up a meeting between her and David Cameron's closest adviser, Steve Hilton. She is now an important part of Cameron's coterie, working for the party "at least" one day a week." - Guardian

BLAIR CLAIMS HE CAN PERSUADE BUSH ON CLIMATE CHANGE

"Tony Blair insisted yesterday that he could persuade President Bush to agree for the first time to a global target for a "substantial cut" in greenhouse gases" - Guardian

BROWN STARTS MAKING APPOINTMENTS

"Simon McDonald, 46, a former ambassador to Israel who now heads Iraq policy at the Foreign Office, is set to replace Sir Nigel Sheinwald as chief foreign policy adviser. Jon Cunliffe, 54, the second permanent secretary at the Treasury, is set to take over from Kim Darroch as Mr Brown’s main adviser on European Union policy." - FT

PRESCOTT IN SPECIAL UNIT WITH PNEUMONIA

"John Prescott is suffering from pneumonia and has been moved to a high dependency unit three days after being admitted to hospital" - Guardian

AL GORE WATCHING AND WAITING CLINTON AND OBAMA

"For some reason, many in Britain have come to view the process by which America elects its presidents as decidedly inferior to the one by which Britain elects its leaders. It isn't. Indeed, the two systems are more similar than at first appears." - Telegraph

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

Tuesday 5th June 2007

Afternoon blog choice:

• Ed Vaizey MP, in his blog seeks our advice on whether to keep or scrap the listed bureaucracy of an average secondary school.
• As many are bemused by Damien Hirst's skeletal "bling", Jeffrey Archer appreciates the finer elements of his other work, in the form of a suspended white dove.
• Following Ben Rogers' article regarding Pakistan on Conservative Home, Matthew Sinclair provides a comprehensive response to it.
• Dr Michelle Tempest writes a post on The Ghost Cabinet highlighting the importance for patient safety, whilst offering a passionately stark warning to the Health Secretary for ignoring it.
• After Gordon Brown's proposal for a national day, David Gold outlines his methods for encouraging British national identity.
• Stephen Brook's Guardian blog offers an interesting, yet surprising truth that people read Internet articles longer than those in print.
• Hugo Swire's criticism of Channel 4, concerning photographs of Diana's death, is defended by Iain Dale.
• Curly's Corner Shop shows a rather frightening pose of Vladimir Putin.

3:30pm ToryDiary: Empowering people will create a cohesive society

3.15pm ToryDiary: Cameron back from Crete and uncompromising

11am ToryDiary: Liam Fox backs principle of missile defence

11am BritainAndAmerica: A deliberate failure of imagination

ToryDiary: Brown seen as stronger than charismatic Cameron in Populus poll

As William Hague launches his book on Wilberforce, Malcolm Mann draws a parallel between the anti-slavery movement and the modern day pro-life movement on YourPlatform

INCAPACITY BENEFIT MESS

"The number of people claiming incapacity benefit for five years or more has climbed to 1.5 million and the situation is a "mess", a Tory MP claimed. Philip Davies (MP for Shipley) said the number of claimants had risen from just 67,000 in 1997 and called for action to tackle the problem." - Daily Mail

ONE HONEYMOON STARTS, ONE ENDS

"The Tory leader will be judged more harshly from now on. Any other hesitations, such as over the future of nuclear energy, will make him look indecisive. If a pattern of frailty is not to emerge, Mr Cameron needs to appear principled and consistent. Anything that smacks of wishy-washiness will hurt him. Mr Brown, though, should beware of complacency. The British are a fair-minded lot, and seem prepared to give him a fresh start as Prime Minister. But they will be quick to discard him if he falls into his old habits." - Times leader

OLIVE BRANCHES TO THE UNIONS

"Labour's deputy leadership candidates all promised sweeteners to win the votes of trade union activists yesterday, but the Conservatives immediately seized on the promises as proof that Labour was shifting to the left. At a hustings organised for the GMB union's annual conference in Brighton, each candidate promised to enact legislation to protect unions and help them organise more effectively." - Guardian

"Hazel Blears stoked the growing tensions in the Labour deputy leadership race by telling her rivals that pandering to the Left would play into the hands of David Cameron. She told one rival, the back-bencher Jon Cruddas, that his cautious support for a 50p tax rate for high earners was electoral suicide." - Times

PITCH FOR CENTRE ISN'T REWARDING

"There is too much muddled thinking at the top of the Conservative Party, statements casually made even if they contradict earlier ones. Cameron is in danger of making his predecessors seem coherent. So even though they have pressed the New Labour buttons, they have not reaped the rewards. Already they expect high-profile defectors. After all, that is what happened to Blair in the mid- 1990s. But potential high-profile defectors do not see politics as a game. They note that while the Conservative Party is starting to resemble modern Britain there is still a long way to go." - Steve Richards in the Independent

MPS NOT ON ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE

"Welsh Conservative MPs have expressed surprise at being excluded from a policy committee set up by Nick Bourne, the party’s leader at the National Assembly. Clwyd West MP David Jones, a front-bench Commons spokesman on Welsh Affairs, said he knew nothing of the committee, which includes former AMs Glyn Davies and Lisa Francis, as well as Euro-MP Jonathan Evans and peer Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach." - Western Mail

PAC REPORT

"These failings expose a deeper weakness in the way government does business. There is often an air of starry-eyed naivety about Whitehall's contract negotiations with private sector companies, many of which must be laughing all the way to the bank. The same mindset was in play in the disastrous renegotiation of GPs' and dentists' contracts. The common factor in all these cases is the sheer amateurishness of the government machine when it comes to cutting a deal. If the men from the ministry are incapable of driving a hard bargain, they should get people in who can." - Telegraph leader

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