ConservativeHome

Wednesday 31st May 2006

11pm ToryDiary update: No more croquet for No Jobs

11.45am GoldList blog update: How many A-listers have applied to your local Association?

HAVE YOU HAD YOUR SAY IN THE MAY SURVEY OF TORY GRASSROOTS OPINION?

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BLOGS

ToryDiary: Cameron will live to regret insulting right says Simon Heffer

Richard D North on the Social Affairs Unit blog thinks that David Cameron is trying to save the Conservative Party by applying all the advice that a Corporate Social Responsibility consultant would give to a big company.

A-LIST STORIES

There are articles in most newspapers today about the A-list.  The FT declares that 'Tories seek to ease fears over A-list candidates' whilst The Times' headline is 'Tories forced to rethink as elite shun risky seats'.  The Times reports:

"Party insiders blame Francis Maude, the party chairman, for the shambles. “The biggest mistake was trying to get A-list candidates to go for B-list seats,” one insider said. “Anyone with any sense will hang on until better seats come up.”

The most comprehensive survey of the A-list's problems comes in The Telegraph.  The problems include:

• Continuing controversy over 'celebrity candidates' like Adam Rickitt who have not fought seats before;
• The failure of Zac Goldsmith (pictured) to apply for any seat even though A-listers are obligated to do so;
• A-listers appear reluctant to apply for tougher seats - particularly LibDem-held seats;
• That some of the first 35 seats due to select are now telling CCHQ that it is too early for them to select;
• Two "senior" shadow cabinet ministers have expressed their private unhappiness at the A-list; and
• The below average performance of A-listers at previous elections.

A leader in The Guardian urges Mr Cameron to press on with his "ambitious" A-list but warns him against further concessions on its implementation:

"Now this promise to change the face of the party must be acted upon, starting with the choice of candidate to replace Eric Forth in the Bromley byelection. Already Mr Cameron has ducked the chance to insist someone from the A-list is chosen and if the party ends up putting forward a Barbour-and-blazer clone he will look foolish. Excuses for delay can always be found. But if all his talk of change is to mean anything he must press on with his bid to ensure Tory candidates at the next election do not all look like Mr Cameron himself."

The Taxcutter: Candidates already selected thump The A list.

OTHER TORY NEWS

"A plan to require all new homes to be built with dual plumbing systems, which use recycled water for flushing and gardening, is being prepared by the Conservatives." - Guardian

"One of Norfolk's most prominent and outspoken politicians [Tory Cliff Jordan] has been told to pay back more than £17,000 in incapacity benefit - because he was also claiming thousands of pounds in expenses for his council work." - Norfolk news-site

"A national charity has described a local Conservative leader as "beyond the pale" for claiming that people might be "cheered up" if the Prime Minister committed suicide.  The Samaritans said it was appalled to learn that Trevor Ivory, the chairman of Norwich South Conservatives, had posted the comments on his website following a speech by David Cameron, the Conservatives' leader." - Independent

LABOUR INCOMPETENCE

"The core of a £20 billion scheme to computerise the NHS is at least two and a half years behind schedule.  Lord Warner, the health minister, said plans to create electronic medical records for 50 million NHS patients, due to have begun last year, will not be implemented until late 2007 at the earliest." - Telegraph

Telegraph leader:

"Not a day passes now without further evidence of administrative incompetence emerging from our floundering Government. Yesterday, indeed, provided four new examples..."

YOUTUBE

"Today on YouTube, six million people will watch 40 million videos - and no, it's not porn. Leo Benedictus speaks to the kids (and adults) at the forefront of the internet's latest phenomenon and shares his own contribution with the world." - Guardian

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"What about that picture of John Prescott playing croquet during office hours?  I think it was a set-up to reassure us that he wasn’t busy running the country."

- Daniel Finkelstein in The Times

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Tuesday 30th May 2006

4.30pm ToryDiary update: Tory MP calls for review of abortion laws

3.15pm update:
HAVE YOUR SAY IN THE MAY SURVEY OF TORY GRASSROOTS OPINION BY CLICKING HERE.

BLOGS

Interviews blog: Any questions for John Redwood MP?

Platform: Shane Greer calls for the military option to remain on the table in dealing with Iran

ToryDiary: David Burrowes MP makes the case for compassionate, locally-active Tory candidates

>>> The Times picks up on David Burrowes' paper and the Cornerstone Group's spin on it: "Right-wing Conservatives will pick their first big fight with David Cameron today, accusing him of ignoring Middle England in favour of the “pseuds and posers of London’s chichi set”.

>>> The Telegraph: "David Cameron faced his first clash with Conservative Right-wingers yesterday after they condemned his elite list of parliamentary candidates as the work of metropolitan "pseuds and posers"."

FRANCIS MAUDE INTERVIEWED ON TORYRADIO:
I WANT THE PARTY TO HAVE ONE MILLION REGISTERED SUPPORTERS

In part 1 of Francis Maude's interview with ToryRadio the Party Chairman made his now famous "mincing meterosexuals" remark.  Part 2 is now live and it's well worth listening to:

• The Chairman defends David Cameron's focus on the environment as very much "a bread and butter issue" for people.  He stresses the local aspects of environmentalism - graffiti and dirty neighbourhoods - as well as catastrophic global warming.
• He castigates an unnamed "reactionary" right-wing pundit for saying that "saving the planet" is not the most important of issues!  Who is that pundit?  Does anyone know?  No guesses please... let's have a hyperlink for evidence...
• He also talks about the need for the Conservative Party to broaden its appeal.  The party has defined itself by who it excludes in recent times - it must be more inclusive, he says.
• Mr Maude also says that "rebuilding the Conservative grassroots" is his most important task as Tory Chairman.  Technology will play a vital role in this and he says that registered supporters - rather than members alone - must become an integral part of the Conservative Party's vote-winning team.  He says that constituency association mergers are still on his agenda and cites the "successful" merger of his own Horsham association with neighbouring Crawley as a model for the future.

MAX HASTINGS IS STARSTRUCK WITH DAVID CAMERON

"It now seems overwhelmingly likely that Cameron will sooner or later become prime minister. Sure, he was born at the right time. But he is also working his passage with dazzling style." - The Guardian

JOHN PRESCOTT FACES RENEWED PRESSURE TO QUIT

Independent front page >>>

"Labour MP Stephen Pound told the BBC that the electorate had a negative image of Mr Prescott and that "the sell-by date is rapidly approaching"." - BBC

"Mr Prescott should be sacked for his policy failings, not his personal ones. But forget the integrated public transport policy, the house demolitions in the North and the house-building in the South-East. Forget the abortive regionalisation programme. In the public mind "John Prescott" means a punch, an affair with his secretary and now, possibly, a croquet game when he was standing in for the Prime Minister. His reputation survived all his administrative cock-ups. It will not survive this." - Danny Kruger in The Telegraph

OTHER LINKS

"Radiohead have denied playing a request for the Conservative Party leader David Cameron at a concert in London earlier this month." - NME

"The man appointed by the government to scrap the Child Support Agency is being paid £900 a day to find a solution - a higher daily rate than the country's most senior civil servant, according to the Department for Work and Pensions." - The Guardian

"Niall Ferguson has built a career out of rubbishing liberal views of history. He tells John Crace why he is right." - The Guardian

"The internet will this year overtake national newspapers to become the third biggest advertising medium by spend, according to authoritative forecasts." - FT

ONE LATIN AMERICAN LEADER WHO WON'T GET THE RED CARPET FROM RED KEN

"COLOMBIA'S President Alvaro Uribe today scored a landslide re-election victory that handed him a solid mandate for four more years as Washington's closest ally in Latin America." - The Australian

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Monday 29th May 2006

3.15pm ToryDiary update: Any questions for you?

Mandelson and Hilary Benn come to Prescott's support - BBC

12.15pm GoldList update: Most A-listers achieved below-average results 

BLOGS

Platform: The changing political landscape by Daniel Vince-Archer

ToryDiary: Knife control (or lack of)

GoldList: A-listers turn their backs on tougher seats

Iain Dale: The Choice Facing Bromley & Chislehurst Conservatives

TARGET SEATS NOT ATTRACTING A-LISTERS

"David Cameron's "A list" of parliamentary candidates appeared to be in disarray last night after it emerged that some target seats were attracting hardly any applicants." - Telegraph

PRESCOTT'S DEMISE

"We have no problem with conspicuous consumption. What we object to is what Mr Prescott personifies, more than any other minister, namely a worn-out administration clinging to office for its own sake. As we report today, there are manoeuvrings within Labour to remove Mr Prescott from his post, inspired partly by his personal unpopularity - especially among female MPs - and partly by the sense that he is an electoral liability. But Mr Prescott is a symptom, not a cause, of Labour's unpopularity. Replacing him with another office-hungry minister - a Hoon or a Hain or a Hewitt - will come across to the electorate as what it is: a spat about access to country houses. We are witnessing the last intrigues of a dying royal court; beyond the palace walls, the mob is gathering." - Telegraph leader

"Some Labour MPs have been accused of planning campaigns for the deputy leadership on behalf of favoured ministers, including Peter Hain, Harriet Harman and Alan Johnson, all of whom have expressed interest, in public or private. Opposition MPs seized on a fresh opportunity to push for a sacking." - The Guardian

"A LOAD OF FUSS ABOUT TRIVIA"

"Cherie Blair has hit out at criticism of the £7,700 Labour spent on her hairdressing during the election. In a BBC World Service interview, she said the attacks on her hair bill were a "load of fuss about trivia"."" - BBC

GEORGE AND TONY

"There is much in this that has to be conceded. Mistakes made in the aftermath of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein have been costly. Some of them were avoidable. Others, on the other hand, were inevitable. The idea that there can ever be such a thing as Fairy Liquid warfare — conflict that leaves your hands feeling cleaner and smoother afterwards — is an illusion. Liberal." - Tim Hames in The Times

CAMERON CANNOT FLY ON ONE WING

"Many Conservatives, particularly in the Midlands and the North, still think there has not been too little liberalism, but too much. David Cameron fits one Conservative stereotype remarkably well, as Anthony Eden did in the late 1930s. He personifies the Disraelian ideal of Young England. But he has to hold his party together, North as well as South, Birmingham as well as London, old as well as young, poor as well as rich, conservative as well as liberal. He cannot fly on only one wing. Events are looking tougher — Labour itself has had to move to the right. Mr Cameron has successfully projected a liberalism that makes his Conservatism very attractive. Yet it may be his relationship with a tougher-minded tradition of conservatism that will determine his success." - William Rees-Mogg in The Times

QUESTION TIME

"Are you young, well-informed, articulate and passionate about what matters today? If so, you have the chance to be a panellist on the BBC's flagship political programme, Question Time." - BBC

BEDROOM ABORTIONS

"Last year 10,000 women ended their pregnancies in their own homes, using the abortion pill known as EMA (early medical abortion) that was introduced only in 2000. According to bpas, Britain’s biggest idependent abortion provider, the pill accounted for nearly a third of all 32,000 early abortions that it provided in the first nine weeks of pregnancy. This is an extraordinarily high figure for a drug that has been controversial since its introduction and may soon be banned in the United States because of safety concerns. It is likely to reignite debate over the ethics and practice of abortion, of which in 2004 there were 185,400 in the United Kingdom, compared with 181,600 in 2003." - Times leader

"HOLLOWING OUT THE INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE"

"Who killed off marriage in Britain? If future historians try to identify who was guilty of the deadly assault upon the bedrock institution of our society, the bloody trail will surely lead them straight to the legal profession. Through court rulings and initiatives stretching back more than three decades, judges and lawyers have succeeded in reshaping family life in this country by progressively hollowing out the institution of marriage." - Melanie Phillips

EPPING COUNCIL

"A coalition with the Independent group has seen the Conservatives virtually take control of Epping Forest District Council. The May 4 elections saw the Conservatives come back with 29 seats, just one short of the number required to take overall control. But through a deal with the Independent group, which gives former leader John Knapman a seat on the cabinet, the party is now in the box seat." - ThisIsLondon

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Sunday 28th May 2006

2.15pm update on the GoldList blog: Adam Rickitt seeks to succeed Michael Howard

^^^^^^^
Buy the Mail on Sunday to see the other photos of our highly-paid Deputy Prime Minister hard at work.

BLOGS

Neil O'Brien on YourPlatform: Can Europe Ever Learn to Listen?

ToryDiary: This government couldn't run a booze-up in a brewery and Britain still on course for a hung parliament

DAVID CAMERON'S BIG WEEK

There is an extended essay in today's Telegraph about Tory prospects.  It reviews David Cameron's celebrity trip to Beckingham Palace, his happiness speech  and his Desert Island Discs interview.  It also looks at the Conservative Party's opinion poll progress, the A-list and David Cameron's relations with the party right.

The essay contains this nugget about the blue-shirted Chelsea player, Frank Lampard:

"Frank Lampard, the Chelsea and England midfielder, greeted Mr Cameron warmly and told him to let him know if there was anything he could do."

A-LIST

Women2Win roadshows have recruited 100 high-powered women to become potential Tory candidates - Independent on Sunday.  The IoS article reproduces ConservativeHome's A-list without acknowledgment.

BUSINESS AND THE TORIES

"The green, caring, social-conscience image fostered by the Conservative leader has led many to think the Tories have abandoned big business." - The Sunday Times

THERE'S NO SOFTENING THE IRON CHANCELLOR

Fraser Nelson in Scotland on Sunday:

"Not since William Hague claimed to have drunk 14 pints of beer in a day has a politician made a more laughable claim. Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, last week told New Woman magazine that he starts his day by switching on his iPod and listening to indie rock band the Arctic Monkeys. "They really get you up in the morning," the 55-year-old explained.  There was worse to come in the interview, and his references to underwear - and even sex toys - are simply too gruesome to recount here. But his efforts make a serious political point, and perhaps one which could decide the next general election. Try as he does, Brown cannot relaunch himself. Each time he tries, he exposes himself not just to failure, but to ridicule: there is no softening the Iron Chancellor."

OTHER LINKS

Michael Portillo believes that David Cameron's happiness speech may have a profound effect on British politics - The Sunday Times

"Britain in the 1980s became more vibrant, creative, inventive in commerce, financial services, fashion and music, leaving the rest of Europe well behind. The result is that we still have, if not for much longer, a strong economy with low unemployment. My view is that people who remember the 1980s with distaste can’t know much about economics and care much about the less fortunate." - Minette Marrin in The Sunday Times

"Lord Black, the disgraced Tory peer and former owner of the Daily Telegraph, has been named in a series of letters surrounding the 'cash for peerages' police investigation." - Observer

The Sunday Times profiles Al Gore as chatter increases about the former Vice-President running for the White House again.

"More than 20 babies have been aborted in advanced pregnancy because scans showed that they had club feet, a deformity readily corrected by surgery or physiotherapy." - The Sunday Times

RIGHT-WING BLOGGING

In this morning's The Business, Tim Montgomerie, Editor of ConservativeHome.com, overviews the rise of anti-establishment blogging - naming Iain Dale, Guido Fawkes, Reinstate Roger, Burning Our Money, ToryRadio and Biased BBC.  The article also predicts the rise of left-wing, anti-New Labour blogging.  Click on newspaper article to enlarge.

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Saturday 27th May 2006

8.30pm ToryDiary update: Cameron's youthful KGB contacts

Noon ToryDiary update: Matthew Parris urges Tories to say nothing on Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan 

BLOGS

Donal Blaney continues unpacking the Laws of the Political Process on YourPlatform: One big reason is better than many little reasons

ToryDiary: William Norton's Movie Review

"The local energy revolution - Central government is standing in the way of the solution to our power needs." - Peter Franklin on Comment is free 

SLEAZY LABOUR

"Millionaire donors whose peerages have been blocked have been told by Labour party chiefs that they are still in line for honours.  The Times has learnt that Tony Blair may put the nominees on his resignation honours list, which would bypass the vetting that prevented them from getting honours in the first place." - Times

"Labour has received thousands of pounds in donations from energy companies and lobbying firms linked to the nuclear industry. The cash donations give the pro-nuclear lobby access to decision makers, campaigners for the environment warned." - Independent

"Cherie Blair has vowed to learn from her mistakes in a radio interview recorded after she was criticised for signing a copy of the Hutton report for auction at a Labour fundraising event.' - Times

TORIES SHOULD BE QUIET ON FOREIGN POLICY

"Within a year, divisions over Iran may emerge within the Cabinet. Should Britain go along with warmongering talk from Washington? The temptation to back Cabinet hawks against Cabinet doves will be strong for many Tories. They should resist it." - Matthew Parris in The Times

UN REFORM

"Tony Blair has said that Britain's foreign policy should be based on "progressive pre-emption"." - ePolitix.com

"A strong British push for United Nations reform deserves support." - Times leader

SHAMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

"Amnesty International looks more and more like an American anti-war group instead of a watchdog for the world." - TechCentralStation.com

THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF VIRTUE

"The Cameron soundbite that "there is a such a thing as society, but it's not the same as the state" is part of the answer, too. In his speech on Monday, he said that our approach to economic change is always seen too much through the eyes of men.  Here are a few words from another speech about these matters. The speaker points out that there is an apparent but not a real contradiction between the key ideas of interdependence and individual responsibility: "The whole of political wisdom consists in getting these two ideas in the right relationship to each other"; the state should "encourage virtue, not usurp it". That is economic change seen through the eyes of a woman - Margaret Thatcher." - Charles Moore in The Telegraph

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Friday 26th May 2006

4pm ToryDiary update: CCHQ launches fundraising drive amongst membership

1.30pm ToryDiary update: Association Chairmen give green light to A-list

• Iain Dale spotlights Nick Herbert MP's expose of life at Ford Prison
• Guido Fawkes lists David Cameron's reasons to smile

103 A-LIST NAMES

The number of names on ConservativeHome's A-list rises to 103 today.  The South Northamptonshire Conservative Association sent about fifty A-listers an email yesterday detailing arrangements for the seat's selection process.  The sender did not use the blind copy facility and all applicants were able to see who else had applied for the seat.  [9.45am update: It now appears that two or three of the names were not A-listers but local candidates given special permission to apply.  I'll investigate further and report back.]  ConservativeHome won't be publishing the names of those applicants but they point to the accuracy of the full A-list of names we have already published.

If your constituency is currently selecting its next General Election candidate and you would like to submit confidential reports to ConservativeHome please email tim@conservativehome.com.

BLOGS

Liam Fox answers your questions about Iraq, Europe, abortion and his time as Party Chairman.

ToryDiary: Ming toughens crime policies as his rating slides and David Cameron's Desert Island Discs.

GoldList: Vanessa Gearson and Mark MacGregor

Jeremy Brier on YourPlatform: Signal failure - it’s now Tube policy to ignore fare-dodgers for fear of assault

THE TASK AHEAD FOR DAVID CAMERON

A Telegraph leader congratulates David Cameron on his progress but warns that Labour's disarray may not be terminal and that the magic 40% threshold still needs to be crossed.

MONEY FLOWS INTO TORY COFFERS... AND MAY HAVE TO FLOW OUT OF THE LIBDEM'S BANK ACCOUNT

"The Conservatives received almost £9m of donations in the first three months of this year, according to official figures released yesterday by the Electoral Commission.  The flood of cash, which followed David Cameron's election as Tory leader in December, dwarfed gifts to the other parties. Labour received less than £3m and the Lib Dems under £700,000." - The Guardian 

"The nightmare prospect of having to repay more than £2 million of donations returned to haunt the Liberal Democrats yesterday.  The Electoral Commission announced that it was to look again at donations - the largest in the party's history - from Majorca-based financier Michael Brown's 5th Avenue Partners company." - Telegraph

POLITICAL FUNDING

"A system of tax relief that treats political donations like gifts to charity will be among the options for reform proposed by Labour after the outcry over secret loans.  Plans to allow funding limits to be linked to the size of membership organisations — thus preserving the ability of unions to give large sums to Labour — are also likely to be proposed by Hazel Blears, the party chairman." - Times

PENSIONS REFORM

"The Conservatives have criticised the government's plan to delay the restoration of the pensions link with earnings.  Shadow work and pensions secretary Philip Hammond said restoring the link between pensions and earnings was the most important element of the package.  But by deciding to postpone this move until at least 2012, Hammond said the government was pushing the issue into "the fiscal equivalent of the long grass"." - ePolitix.com

DAVID CAMERON ON DESERT ISLAND DISCS

Mirror: "Conservative leader David Cameron is a secret Benny Hill fan.  The 39-year-old picked the comic legend's 1971 No1 hit Ernie, the Fastest Milkman in the West as one of his Desert Island Discs on Radio Four.  His other musical choices include This Charming Man by The Smiths, Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here and Tangled Up In Blue by Bob Dylan.  Cameron, 39, told presenter Sue Lawley that he often sang Ernie at parties because it was the only song that he knew all the words. He added: "This really just reminds me of my childhood.""

"What do Ten Ton Ted from Teddington, a jumped-up pantry boy, and the fastest milkman in the west have in common? They all feature in the Desert Island Discs selection of the Conservative leader David Cameron, who appears on the long-running Radio 4 programme this Sunday.' - The Guardian

BUSH COMES TO A TIRED BLAIR'S AID

"Tony Blair has always served as the world's Bush-whisperer, but at their joint news conference last night, it was almost the reverse. Mr. Blair, the normally silver-tongued prime minister, seemed stiff and defensive, and it was Mr. Bush who tried to smooth things over and help Mr. Blair out.  British political analysts have repeatedly predicted that Mr. Blair, a lame duck whose popularity in Britain has never been lower, will be out of office as early as next year. But when a British reporter actually suggested that this was his last official Washington visit, he looked dismayed and tongue-tied.  Mr. Bush jumped in, saying with a laugh, "Don't count him out, let me tell it to you that way." He also asked the British to give his friend another chance. "I want him to be here so long as I'm the president."- New York Times

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Thursday 25th May 2006

6.30pm ToryDiary update: Tories "very sceptical" about amnesty for immigrants.

2.45pm GoldList update: A-list won't rule in Bromley & Chislehurst

2.30pm: TORY DONATIONS TREBLE THAT OF LABOUR IN FIRST THREE MONTHS OF 2006 AS LOANS ARE REPAID
ePolitix |  Guardian 

1pm GoldList update: The battle for Kensington & Chelsea

BLOGS

ToryDiary: Tories were first on earnings link and Redwood, Tebbit and Widdecombe lead support for Roger Helmer MEP

Nick Cuff on YourPlatform: A nasty dose of centralism

GoldList: John Maples MP writes to Tory MPs seeking more diverse candidates

EDUCATION BILL PASSES WITH TORY SUPPORT

"Labour MPs delivered a fresh blow to Tony Blair's authority last night when they staged the largest rebellion against the third reading of a Government Bill since Labour first entered government in 1924.  Although Mr Blair comfortably won the vote on the flagship education reforms with the help of Conservative votes for a second successive night, it was a further sign of growing dissent within Labour's ranks over his leadership." - The Telegraph

"John McDonnell, chairman of the socialist Campaign Group, said: "The government is in free fall. The Labour party was not elected to govern in coalition with the Tories. We need to rediscover a real Labour direction and fast." - The Guardian

DAVID CAMERON'S HAPPINESS SPEECH

"Buying the latest designer goods won’t make us happy, particularly when we see our credit card statement at the end of the month. But being allowed to work more flexibly so that we spend more time with our families can make a big difference... In his speech [David Cameron] cited the experience of BT: “At BT, flexible working policies reduced absenteeism to 3.1 per cent, compared with a national average of 8.5 per cent. And 99 per cent of women return after maternity leave, compared with a national average of 47 per cent.”  Lots of people can’t afford to go part-time to see more of their family and friends. But they can, if their employers let them, arrange their working hours in different ways. That is likely to make them — and the people around them — happier and healthier.  And the knock-on effects can be huge. As Cameron asks: “How can we hope to address issues like education, crime, antisocial behaviour, poverty and health when so much evidence points to the crucial role of relationships — especially relationships between parents and their children — in shaping these things?”" - Mary Ann Sieghart in The Times

GARDEN GRABBING

"Up to 20,000 new homes each year that ministers claim are going up on brownfield sites are actually being built in back gardens, figures show... Greg Clark, Tory MP for Tunbridge Wells, said: “Most people assume that when the Government talks about building on brownfield sites it means ex-industrial land, like disused factories and railway sidings. They have no idea that much of it is actually beautiful, green, environmentally important gardens.”" - Times

LABOUR PAINS

"John Prescott was accused of abusing the nation's assets last night after it was disclosed that he only visits his grace and favour country mansion three or four times a year." - Telegraph

"Prime Minister Tony Blair was forced to defend his wife Cherie today over the auction of a copy of the Hutton Report on the death of Dr David Kelly reportedly signed by her.  The report is alleged to have raised £400 at a fundraising event in Mayfair, central London, last week, although the Labour Party has denied it was a party occasion." - Daily Mail

HOW BROWN CAN BREAK FREE FROM BLAIR'S UNPOPULARITY

"What Mr Brown must do is repudiate the war in Iraq and Mr Blair’s subservience to US foreign policy. Such an announcement, preferably in his first week at No 10, would instantly score a hat-trick of political goals..." - Anatole Kaletsky in The Times

"As Labour MPs prepared to cast their final vote on the education bill last night, the optimists among them cast a cheerful eye on the Guardian's ICM poll, which showed them trailing 34% to 38% behind the Conservatives. "Only four points behind after what we've been through? Not bad," they told each other.  Less sanguine spirits remain fearful that Tony Blair's government is on a slide that can only be reversed by new leadership..." - Michael White in The Guardian

BUSH, BLAIR AND IRAQ

"Less than a week after the creation of the Iraqi government, US President George W. Bush and Tony Blair, the British prime minister, meet on Thursday night in Washington to discuss the timing of troop withdrawals in an effort to address growing domestic unease about the war." - FT

"Victory for the U.S. mission is still possible, though it is going to require a continued American political and military commitment. Thus we are glad to see that the Bush Administration is not using the timing of this new government in Iraq as an excuse to signal major troop withdrawals. If anything, the new government will need a renewed U.S. willingness to help as it tries to subdue the insurgency and restore some civil order--on which everything else hangs." - Leader in the Wall Street Journal

"Omar Fadhil, another pro-democracy resident of Baghdad who blogs at iraqthemodel.blogspot.com, pleads for security forces to do more to bring the capital under control. He suggests doing "intense cordon and search operations," neighborhood by neighborhood, and setting up "tough checkpoints" on every road leading in and out of the city to "inspect each and every passenger and vehicle" until "all of Baghdad becomes secure." - Max Boot on The Weekly Standard's site

POLITICAL FUNDING

"Political parties could be given charitable status so that donations to them attract tax relief under a plan drawn up by Labour in the wake of the "cash for honours" scandal." - Independent

LIBDEMS

"Sir Menzies Campbell faces mounting pressure to improve his uncertain performances in the Commons after experimenting with a new style that failed for the second successive week." - Times

"The Liberal Democrats are urging people to renew their passports to avoid being entered on the National Identity Database for the next 10 years." - BBC

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Wednesday 24th May 2006

Lunchtime update in ToryDiary: PMQs: Blair grilled on Home Office, again

Ed Balls loses his seat in boundary review - ePolitix.com

Sign an online petition about Cherie's signing of the Hutton Report.

BLOGS

ToryDiary: Tory lead doubles with Brown in charge and The Little Red Book of New Labour Sleaze.

Interview blog: Any questions for Lord Ashcroft?

Adam Boulton overviews the Tory blogs:

"Tim Montgomerie of Conservative Home is another new Tory powerbroker for the Cameron era, called on by the BBC Radio 4 Today programme to pronounce on Cameron's mission statement. Conservative Home is also invaluable lifting the veil on Conservative politesse. The blog kept the most accurate record of MP affiliation during the recent leadership contest and it has now completely destroyed Conservative HQ's ludicrous attempt to keep secret the names on the A-list."

Iain Dale's campaign to get the mainstream media to focus on Cherie Blair's sickening signing of the Hutton Report for auction is bearing fruit... and this mock Sun frontpage at Beau Bo D'Or is priceless.

TORY VOTES RESCUE EDUCATION REFORMS

"Tony Blair crushed a revolt over his flagship school reforms last night — with help from Tories.  Rebel Labour MPs failed in a bid to block the PM’s plans to give more power to headteachers.  Sixty-nine backed a motion demanding they ballot parents before switching to self-governing trust status." - The Sun

MING APOLOGISES FOR LIBDEM 'INSULT' TO ERIC FORTH

"Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat leader, lambasted his own party yesterday for starting to campaign for a by-election just days after the death of the Tory MP Eric Forth... Sir Menzies paid tribute to him, telling journalists: "Eric Forth was a friend of mine. He was born within a mile of where I was born. I deprecate any effort to begin electioneering under any circumstances in any by-election until the writ has been moved by the party with responsibility for doing so."  ...The by-election is expected to take place on 29 June." - The Scotsman

TORY TENATIVE ACCEPTANCE OF SHOOTING GALLERIES

How page 2 of The Sun covered it >>>

"The Tories tentatively supported calls yesterday for the Government to set up special centres where heroin addicts could legally inject themselves.  In a surprise move, Edward Garnier, the shadow home affairs minister, said: "We do not rule out [these] recommendations. If this is to take place in a controlled environment and is to be used as a stepping stone to actually getting people off drugs, we will look at this carefully."" - Telegraph

>>> This issue was discussed yesterday, on the ToryDiary.

OTHER LINKS

"The "unacceptable" gap between the rich and the poor is as great now as it was under Margaret Thatcher, a major report by the Church of England said yesterday." - Telegraph

"Local communities should be offered "a carrot not a stick" to encourage new housing, George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, said yesterday... local communities must be directly compensated for planning decisions that lead to a loss of an amenity or additional strain on local infrastructure." - FT

"The German Christian Democrats would do well to emulate the British Conservative vote last week. Unfortunately, by locking themselves into a coalition with the Social Democrats and pursuing the policies of the European People's party the CDU demonstrates its refusal to override EU burdens on business with damaging consequences for German, European and global trade." - Bill Cash MP in a letter to the FT

"That Cameron is a political opportunist is a matter of record - or at least, it is if you take his record as a) being a headbanging Eurosceptic in the early 90s when his future party leaders looked set always to be so; b) being an avid supporter of Michael Portillo in 1997, when it looked like old flobberlips was going to become party leader, and c) writing Michael Howard's manifesto when the Prince of Darkness was party leader, then comprehensively trashing it ever since. But the recent escapades point to a deeper problem - an essentially sociopathic inability to relate to the world around him. They suggest that every morning he sits at his desk staring at an array of flashcards from the Hamleys "Zeitgeist" range on one side ("carbon emissions", "celebrity worship", "work-life balance") and an array of responses from the "Lacklustre thinktank solutions" range on the other..." - Lucy Mangan in The Guardian

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Tuesday 23rd May 2006

5pm update in ToryDiary: Drug shooting galleries "not ruled out"

BLOGS

Dictionary: Iron triangle of political success

Platform: Mischa Balen - It's the North, stupid

ToryDiary: It's crime, stupid

Iain Dale: Cherie & the Hutton Report - It's Up to the Blogs to Make it Hit the Fan

MORE HAPPINESS

"It is a pity that David Cameron could not find time for a trip to Bhutan to launch his new initiative to promote happiness. The Tory party leader's commitment to "general well-being" (GWB) instantly brings to mind the Himalayan kingdom's measure of "gross national happiness"." - Financial Times

"He is right to state that much of modern consumer culture ultimately seems unsatisfactory. The Conservative Party must become comfortable on that ground, without sinking into the softer terrain of mawkishness. Mr Cameron is using “GWB” as a loose philosophical concept to make a point. For hard-working families, however, he is in danger of sounding like the GWB — the Great Waffler of the Bourgeoisie." - The Times leader

"The Tories see [yesterday's speech on wellbeing] as step two in the effort to persuade the persuadable that Cameron's party has broken with the past and is living in the present. Step one was the environmental campaign that helped push the Tories to a strong showing in this month's local elections. Now the eco-friendly Cameron has been joined by the family-friendly Cameron. In each case, the policy prescriptions are still thin. At this stage, though, they are not the point. The aim is simply to get the public to notice that something is changing - which it clearly is." - Martin Kettle in The Guardian

HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

"There are serious issues raised by human rights law. In particular whether the European Court of Human Rights was correct in 1996 to rule that a state may not deport a person to face torture or ill-treatment abroad even if that person is a danger to the security of the deporting country. But informed analysis of such issues is not advanced by ministerial attempts to blame courts for government incompetence, or by general ignorance of the principles of human rights law, or by abuse of judges." - David Pannick QC in The Times

DEAR JOHN...

"Your introduction to the Home Office has not been a happy one. At times you must have been wondering where the next devastating revelation would come from. If it's any consolation, you are not the first home secretary to experience this - I know what it feels like. When the going got rough, I used to comfort myself by reading the passage of Willie Whitelaw's memoirs where he recounted the time he had to make emergency statements to the House of Commons on three successive days." - Michael Howard in The Telegraph

THE NEW DIVIDE: PROGRESSIVES AND REACTIONARIES?

"Oh, for clearer times when men were men and Tories were vermin. Each child born alive was either a little Red or a little Blue, with a few Cornish vacillators wearing the awkward yellow favours of the in-betweenies. Oceans of blood separated us. The Blues loved the Americans, we Reds (sotto voce) thought that the Russians got a bad press. They were for no taxes and lots of poverty, we were for massive taxes and no wealth." - David Aaronovitch in The Times

FAITHFUL CITIES REPORT

"It is proper that the Church engages in public debate on social policy. What is depressing is the resort to ideas long exploded by theory and experience, and the inexplicable blindness to policies that would give voluntary organisations, including churches, a central place in the delivery of welfare services. For it is not the state's but our own responsibility to care for our neighbour. "Market-driven capitalism" is not just the way to make the money that the good Samaritan spent on the stricken traveller. With its emphasis on freedom, diversity and responsiveness to users, capitalism is the model that should also characterise the welfare system. If it abandoned its socialism, the Church of England would do God's work much better." - Telegraph leader

"Religious faith is one of the richest and most enduring sources of dynamism and hope for the cities, the report noted, providing participation in civic life and social networks which could be dubbed "faithful capital". The report also acknowledged that factors beyond material wealth are essential for human happiness and questions why young people in Britain, the fourth largest economy in world, are among the most depressed in Europe." - Daily Mail

TWO-PARTY POLITICS

"And so finally Labour seems to wake from its complacent slumber, with newly appointed party chair Hazel Blears declaring the return of two-party politics and a resurgent Conservative Party. The return of this old but familiar battleground of ideas and ideologies leaves little room for the Third Way of Tony Blair, but it does leave a gap to be filled by a combative, wily and resourceful bruiser of the old school. Step forward, Gordon Brown." - Birmingham Post

THE PEOPLE DESERVE MORE RESPECT

"John Prescott can with impunity assault people and demand sex in his office, but a harassed teacher who lays a restraining hand on a child’s shoulder risks ruin. The Home Office can mismanage dangerous prisoners, yet roll its eyes up in pious self-justification as it libels the innocent. Health and police posters can berate us as malodorous wife beaters while actual police ignore burglaries and NHS Direct takes four hours to ring back." - Libby Purves in The Times

SALMOND SNUB

"Alex Salmond, the leader of the SNP, last night contemptuously dismissed a suggestion from the Scottish Tories that the two parties could work together in the next Holyrood parliament. Annabel Goldie, the Scottish Conservative leader, prompted the rebuff from the SNP - which has a long-standing policy of non- co-operation with the Tories - after she called for parties to work together outside formal coalition on "the real devolution agenda"." - Scotsman

THORPE'S THOUGHTS

"Well, I'm afraid the Tories look to have blown their chances of taking the wheels off Labour's battered chariot when the wagons next circle to do battle at the hustings. Why? Because their fresh-faced youth of a leader, David Cameron, has the idea that he and his pals need to be politically correct and have more "inclusion" – political shorthand for forcing local Conservative Associations to pick candidates." - John Thorpe MBE in the Yorkshire Evening Post

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Monday 22nd May 2006

1pm ToryDiary update: Liam Fox - A strategy for keeping the lights on

BLOGS

ToryDiary: Cameron distinguishes GWB from GDP and Is David Cameron happy with Francis Maude?

"The idea that what we're actually trying to do is insert mincing metrosexuals into gritty northern marginal seats is complete rubbish." - Francis Maude interviewed on ToryRadio.

MORE TO LIFE THAN MONEY

"David Cameron will tell business leaders today that there is “more to life than money” as he attempts to make a clean break with Thatcherism. He will tell business leaders that “general wellbeing” is more important than personal wealth and will list beautiful surroundings, culture and better relationships as society’s new goals. Wellbeing can’t be measured by money or traded in markets. It can’t be required by law or delivered by government. “It’s about the beauty of our surroundings, the quality of our culture, and above all the strength of our relationships. Improving our society’s sense of wellbeing is, I believe, the central political challenge of our times.” - Times

"There are some on the right who might say this has got nothing to do with politics - that we should leave it all to the market and not interfere. But what kind of politics is it that has nothing to say about such a central aspect of people's lives?" He will ask: "How can we hope to address issues like education, crime, antisocial behaviour, poverty and health when so much evidence points to the crucial role of relationships - especially relationships between parents and their children - in shaping these things?" - Guardian

CCHQ SHAKE-UP

"David Cameron has ordered a shake-up of Conservative headquarters amid rumours that he is unhappy with the performance of Francis Maude, the party chairman, and his handling of the"A-list" of would-be Tory MPs. Steve Hilton, one of the Tory leader's closest aides, is to be transferred from Mr Cameron's Commons office to become head of communications at party headquarters, The Daily Telegraph has learned." - Telegraph

ADDRESSING THE NEEDS OF THE POOR

"Taking the low-paid out of tax - now there's a compassionate policy that is worth talking about. So how about dealing in the truth about the tax and benefits system. What Left-wing governments never seem to accept is that, if you pay people to be poor, you will never run out of poor people. And if you penalise people who work by taxing them, even when they are earning the minimum wage, they will make the perfectly rational decision to work as little as possible (or not at all) which is not - morally or economically - good for them or for the country." - Janet Daley in The Telegraph

SELECTION BY ABILITY

"The people I was at school with have done OK. That’s what they always say about bright kids in comps, isn’t it? Oh, they’ll be OK. But we haven’t done as well as we could have done if we hadn’t been — there’s no polite way of putting this — shafted by Labour ideology for the past 40 years. The people I was at Oxford with, meanwhile, they’re running the country, some deservedly so, others not. How do you want to choose your elite? By family connections? By what your dad earned? Or by ability?" - Robert Crampton in The Times

DAVIS PRESSES REID ABOUT SEX-FOR-ASYLUM

"John Reid, the home secretary, will be asked today to reveal details of a sex-for-asylum case at Britain's largest immigration processing centre, the latest in a catalogue of blunders and scandals to beset the Home Office. His shadow, David Davis, has tabled a list of parliamentary questions about the case of an immigration official who is alleged to have offered to help a young asylum seeker with her application to stay in Britain in return for sex." - Guardian

BLAIR LANDS IN IRAQ

"Tony Blair has landed in Baghdad on a visit to mark the formation of a new Iraqi government which promises to defeat terrorism. His arrival in Baghdad from Kuwait was shrouded in secrecy, and comes amid continuing violence, including an attack which injured two UK soldiers. Mr Blair will hold talks with his Iraqi counterpart Nouri Maliki and the pair are expected to hold a press briefing. Mr Blair said the formation of an Iraqi government was a "huge step forward"." - BBC

"Few governments have ever entered office with as daunting an agenda as that faced by Nuri al-Maliki in Iraq. As the Shia politician presided over his first cabinet meeting in Baghdad's "green zone" yesterday, suicide bombings and other attacks killed at least 19 people." - Guardian leader

C OF E REPORT ATTACKS LABOUR'S SOCIAL POLICIES

"Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams and Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu will unveil the Faithful Cities report in London. It is expected to criticise the low level of the minimum wage. It comes 20 years after the Faith in the City document which criticised some of Margaret Thatcher's policies. The document marked a low point in relations between Mrs Thatcher's Conservative government and the Church of England." - BBC

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Sunday 21st May 2006

BLOGS

YourPlatform: Distortional misrepresentation

ToryDiary: Blinging in the votes and Is David Cameron happy with the A-list?

PUBLIC THINK BLAIR IS GUILTY ON LOANS-FOR-PEERAGES

"A survey for The Sunday Telegraph shows that 54 per cent of those polled believe seats in the House of Lords were offered in return for secret loans or donations to Labour, or for funding of the Government's City Academies programme."

CAN THE HOME OFFICE GET ANYTHING RIGHT?

Bad Sunday newspaper story number 1: "Nearly 1,500 people have been wrongly labelled as criminals by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), it has emerged.  The Mail on Sunday said the mistakes had led to some people being turned down for jobs or university places." - BBCi

Bad Sunday newspaper story number 2: "More than 230 foreigners identified by MI5 and Scotland Yard as suspected terrorists have been allowed to stay in Britain as asylum seekers." - Sunday Times

Bad Sunday newspaper story number 3: "A 'sex-for-asylum' scandal at the UK's largest immigration processing centre has been uncovered by an Observer investigation, piling more pressure on a government already reeling from a series of Home Office bungles." - The Observer

A-LIST WOES

"David Cameron was warned by grass-roots Conservatives last night that they will stage a messy rebellion if he tries to impose an "A-list" candidate on them in a key by-election.  Conservatives in Bromley and Chislehurst are gearing up for a serious fight over the selection of a successor to Eric Forth MP, who died last week. Senior officials at the local association are adamant that the list of their party's preferred candidates is illegal, not part of the Tory constitution and, as such, cannot be enforced." - Sunday Telegraph

• Related link: The battle for Bromley and Chislehurst

"The most controversial character on the Conservative party’s new A-list of favoured prospective parliamentary candidates has urged the well-off not to use the NHS.  Adam Rickitt, a former star of the soap opera Coronation Street, believes people who have enough money can ease the pressure on the health service by opting for private care." - Sunday Times

Nick Cohen, The Observer, thinks there is something very Blairite about the A-list.

THE YOUNG PARENT LEADER APPEALS TO YOUNG PARENTS

"David Cameron will set out to woo young parents tomorrow when he calls for a cultural change in the world of work so that more mothers can work part-time." - Observer

ERIC FORTH: THE LIBERTARIAN CONSERVATIVE

"A European Commission study last year found 60% of Britons say they “tend not to trust” the government and 70% say the same for political parties. This is bad news for someone like Brown, who seeks to involve the public in a huge collective project directed by five and 10-year plans. But Forth saw such scepticism as good news for a Conservative Party that pledged to empower people.  This was why he was so keen on tax cuts. Money is power. The less money people have, the fewer their choices and the stronger the arm of the government. This is why Forth saw tax cuts as being central to the mission of libertarian Conservatism." - Fraser Nelson in The Business

NEW IRAQI CABINET

Blair welcome (BBCi) | "Crucial" seats remain unfilled (New York Times)

OTHER LINKS

Left-wing Canadians fear Stephen Harper may follow John Howard - The Australian

"The US Congresswoman whose office Euan Blair has left prematurely is a trenchant critic of the Iraq war, it emerged yesterday.  The Prime Minister's eldest son abruptly left his internship with Jane Harman after just two weeks. It is reported in Washington that the Bristol University ancient history graduate was "bored" and "uninterested" in his duties." - Independent on Sunday

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Saturday 20th May 2006

9pm ToryDiary update: The Business - "Brown spends 22% more on the Scots than on the English" 

BLOGS

ToryDiary: Public oppose police regionalisation and William Norton's Literature Review

Platform: Donal Blaney's personal tribute to Eric Forth

"CAMERON'S EUROPE-HATING PENTAGON-LOVING PARTY"

"An impression has spread and needs to be questioned. It is that the new leadership of the Conservative Party has slid towards the centre in all things. I believe that in matters of foreign and defence policy the opposite is true. Here, and on Europe, I think the instincts of the party’s new leadership have shifted the Opposition to the right. Those of us inclined to see David Cameron and his friends as moderate and consensual in every sphere, domestic and foreign, may be in for a surprise." - Matthew Parris in The Times

THE TORIES' PROBLEM OF IRRELEVANCE IN THE NORTH

"A curious thing happened up North recently. David Cameron came to Liverpool. He strode through the greasy streets of Toxteth with Hezza; he stood for a photo opportunity outside Ringo Starr’s old house. Once this would have provided great sport, the political equivalent of throwing Christians to the lions. There would be angry mobs. Front-page coverage would be guaranteed. At the very least there would be hecklers. The problem for Dave and his Shadow Cabinet, you see, is not that the people of great northern cities still hate Tories. It is worse than that: they have become irrelevant to them. Where once there was impassioned loathing, there is now a bored shrug of indifference." - Carol Midgley in The Times

"Mr Cameron is in no doubt that a Tory revival in the North is essential if he is to lead his party back to power. Plans are in place to funnel hundreds of thousands of pounds into the big northern cities in a desperate attempt to rebuild the party structure from the ashes before the next election. A tiny office in the old industrial heartland of Salford, opened quietly after Mr Cameron became leader, is at the heart of the fight back. It is charged with building up an activist base from scratch and working targeted wards and constituencies, and if it succeeds a dozen more offices will be opened across the North before the next election." - The Times

A LIST AFFAIR

This morning's Daily Mail reveals that 30-year-old A-lister Elizabeth Truss has had an affair with frontbench Tory Mark Field, 41. Although the affair is now over, The Mail reports that Mr Field is
divorcing his wife. Ms Truss, also married, who now has a two-month-old baby, has been linked to Eric Forth's Bromley and Chislehurst constituency.

THE HRA IS BLAIR'S ERM

"The Human Rights Act is for Tony Blair's Government what the ERM was for John Major's - the humiliating failure of its most sacred doctrine. The thing it was most sure it was right about turned out to be what it got most wrong." - Charles Moore in The Telegraph

AIMING TO LEAVE THE EPP BY JUNE

"June is the aim, but we may have to wait till after the summer due to administration reasons. But the deal is all but done," one senior party source told Reuters. But the source said the date of the move could have been put back even further under a proposal by the party's leader in the European Parliament Timothy Kirkhope aimed at appeasing rebel MEPs and other party members who disagree with the move."

>>>ToryDiary: Hague rejects Kirkhope compromise on EPP

EU-FUNDED PARTS OF WALES WORSE OFF THAN IN 1997

"New figures have confirmed that the part of Wales benefiting from the top-level European aid programme is worse off in relative European terms than it was when the Tories left office in 1997." - icWales

Dylan Jones-Evan's speech to the Cardiff Chamber of Commerce - Conservative Party

LECTURERS SHOULD MARK EXAMS

"On a visit to Manchester University, Mr Cameron told students he hoped there would be someone to mark their exams. "If you were told before an exam that they weren't going to mark it, that's a big worry for people," he said. "Everyone understands that the lecturers have a justified grievance. That shouldn't be used to risk people's exams." - Yorkshire Post

USING CHARITIES TO PROVIDE PUBLIC SERVICES

"Tony Blair has signalled a major expansion of the role of charities and voluntary organisations in the provision of public services. In a letter to new Social Exclusion Minister Hilary Armstrong setting out her key priorities, the Prime Minister said that he wanted to see a "step change" in the involvement of the so-called "third sector" within a year. At the same time, he called for a big increase in volunteering and charitable giving - with it becoming the norm for people to donate a proportion of their incomes to good causes." - The Daily Mail

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Friday 19th May 2006

8.30pm ToryDiary update: Hague rejects Kirkhope compromise on EPP

4.45pm ToryDiary update: Is Philip Hollobone Britain's best value MP?

DATES FOR THE 'BUILT TO LAST' ROADSHOW ARE NOW ON THE EVENTS BLOG.

BLOGS

ToryDiary: Can you trust ConservativeHome's surveys?

Platform: Empower the "little people" to act while the dinosaurs snore... (Ben Rogers on Burma)

GoldList: The battle for Bromley and Chislehurst

ToryRadio interviews Andrew Turner MP

NORTHERN APPEAL

"Labour MPs remain cocky that Cameron's southern, public school image will never appeal to Scotland and the north ("they know the type"). Tory insiders such as Iain Duncan Smith warn colleagues that "vote blue, get green" tactics only take you so far. Social justice, which IDS now actively promotes from the Christian right, is crucial to Tory recovery.  Cameron seems to understand this. In a speech next week at Google (the IT company, not a northern target seat) he will set out his views on family, the work-life balance and how what Oliver Letwin calls the "empowering state" can help. Gordon Brown "the over-regulator" is their target. No surprise there." - Michael White in The Guardian

NUCLEAR POWER

"Nuclear power is state power and should be opposed from the Right." - Peter Franklin on comment is free

POLICE MERGERS

"Police force mergers in England and Wales will cost up to £600 million to carry out and will 'destroy' Government plans to extend neighbourhood policing, says a confidential paper prepared for chief officers." - Telegraph

REINSTATE ROGER HELMER

"Momentum is growing behind a grassroots internet campaign to restore the Tory whip to East Midlands MEP Roger Helmer - who was thrown out of the party's group in Brussels last year for the robust way in which he attacked alleged corruption in the European Commission." - Spy on Reinstate Roger in The Telegraph

OBITUARIES FOR ERIC FORTH

Telegraph | Times | PinkNews

David Cameron: "Watching him speak in Parliament as an MP and from the front bench was a masterclass in how you can use the House of Commons to hold governments to account.  We certainly didn't agree about everything and the last thing he would want to be described as was 'a moderniser'."

IT MIGHT NOT BE BROWN, SAYS FIELD

"When the prime minister goes the party will have to seriously think about who can best win us elections," he told ePolitix.com.  "I don't think it is obvious who we will choose and that is one of the reasons I want the prime minister to stay on.  Unfortunately Blair shares a weakness Thatcher had in that they have no idea of their duty in providing credible successors.  If you lead a small organisation, let alone a major company, let alone a country, one of your primary functions is to make sure there is a proper succession.  One of the reasons Blair doesn't want to go is that he is so uncertain about the succession.  I don't see why the succession will be smooth, why would it be smooth? The stakes are high.  Two weeks ago the party almost imploded and people looked over the abyss for the first time. It had a sobering effect.  We are only one year on from an election but as the parliament goes on it is natural for backbenchers to be thinking about getting re-elected - as they think about that, who might be leader is important.""

THE SUN'S REACTION TO DEMANDS FOR MORE PAY FROM SOME MPs

"Time-serving backbenchers who polish the green benches with their backsides have a damned cheek.  Their salaries are about to smash through the £60,000-a-year barrier.  Taxpayers cough up double that to fund their offices, second homes, pensions and first class travel.  Their swanky bars and restaurants are heavily subsidised by us.  A poor MP is as rare as a broke bookie. We’ve never seen one." - The Sun 

LIBDEM NEWS

"Sir Menzies Campbell acknowledged widespread criticism of his lacklustre performance in the Commons when he admitted yesterday that he could do better at Prime Minister’s Questions." - The Times

"The Liberal Democrats will fight the next general election on a pledge for "fairer, greener but not higher taxes". In July, they will unveil a tax strategy proposing income tax cuts for middle and low earners... In the first instalment yesterday, the Liberal Democrats said vehicle excise duty (VED) on the most polluting new cars should rise to £2,000 a year and dismissed Gordon Brown's £45 increase for 4x4 vehicles to £210 as no more than half the cost of a tank of petrol." - Independent

Related ConservativeHome definition: Green taxation.

OTHER LINKS

Cameron investigates social enterprise - Social Enterprise Magazine

"May 20 sees the 200th anniversary of the birth of John Stuart Mill, the greatest exponent of 19th-century liberalism, whose philosophy still dominates jurisprudence in the English-speaking world." - Roger Scruton in the Wall Street Journal

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Thursday 18th May 2006

7pm ToryDiary update: Hague II becomes latest Tory to talk up Libservative pact

ERIC FORTH MP HAS DIED
Iain Dale has posted his own personal obituary here.

BLOGS

ToryDiary: What next for the Priority List? and Malcolm Dunn reviews the Built to Last open meeting

YourPlatform: Graeme Archer reviews last night's BBC2 screening of The Line of Beauty

DAVID CAMERON HEADS NORTH

"The Tory leader will join shadow chancellor George Osborne and party chairman Francis Maude in Manchester for meetings with party activists.  The move follows the party's failure to break through in inner-city areas in the North in the local elections earlier this month despite success elsewhere.  The Conservatives have made Manchester - where they have no councillors or MPs - a priority. Osborne, a North West MP, has been put in charge of campaigning and reviving party infrastructure there." - ePolitix.com

RIFKIND RECOMMENDS CONSIDERATION OF MILITARY OPTION AGAINST IRAN

"Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the former Conservative foreign secretary, said yesterday that western countries should be ready to consider military action against Iran if diplomacy and sanctions fail to curb Teheran's uranium enrichment programme.  Sir Malcolm, who also served as defence secretary, is the first senior British politician to take such a robust stance against Teheran." - Telegraph

LIBDEMS CHALLENGE TORIES ON GREEN TAXATION

ePolitix.com: Announcing a package of environmentally-friendly taxation, LibDem environment spokesman Chris Huhne has accused Cameron of "perpetuating the Tory-Labour myth that the planet can be made sustainable without changing personal behaviour".

Douglas Hurd, writing in The Guardian, thinks Mr Blair's situation is more like John Major's:

"Margaret Thatcher's forced departure gave the Conservatives another chance and another leader, but here again the parallel breaks down. John Major offered a softer edge to policy and pronouncements; he deliberately leant towards the centre. Gordon Brown, by contrast, offers a harder edge, pointing away from the centre and towards the old Labour virtues of equality and puritanism."

Tory MPs hold tribute dinner for Margaret Thatcher - Sky News

IMMIGRATION

"It may risk sounding like one of the Conservatives' 2005 general election posters to say this, but it needs to be said all the same: it is not rightwing to want Britain's immigration control system to work properly..." - Guardian leader

OTHER NEWS

"Conservative higher education spokesman Boris Johnson has urged universities to dock the pay of academics who do not mark exams as part of a pay dispute." - BBCi

"The US economy looks clever, even if the new Fed chief is too clever by half" - Anatole Kaletsky in The Times

"Former dot.com millionaire Benjamin Cohen foresees danger for advertisers who buy space on some of the blogosphere's more outlandish websites" - Ben Cohen in The Times

New political dating agency: Pulling Power.

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Wednesday 17th May 2006

PMQs: Cameron returns again to crime theme

10.30am Platform update: Francis Maude seeks your opinions on Built to Last

BLOGS

CONSERVATIVEHOME'S ATTEMPT TO PUBLISH THE PARTY'S A-LIST HAS NOW PRODUCED 100 NAMES.

ToryDiary: Ruth Kelly gets the Buttiglione treatment

Platform: Tim Bale suggests that the Tories should embrace proportional representation

Burning Our Money: "The Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, appeared before the Public Administration Committee today, trying to explain why no Civil Servants had been bulleted over the meltdown at the Home Office..."

TONY BLAIR PRESSES THE NUCLEAR BUTTON

"Prime Minister Tony Blair has given his strongest signal yet that he backs the building of a new generation of nuclear power stations in the UK." - BBCi 

"Tony Blair's decision to go nuclear creates a major challenge for David Cameron, the Conservative leader, who has been basking in positive publicity about his green credentials." - The Guardian

IMMIGRATION

David Davis' reaction to the news that a senior immigration official does not "have the faintest idea" how many illegal immigrants are in the UK:

“This sounds like deliberate negligence on the part of the Home Office. There is no excuse for not tracking every one of these individuals until they are sure they are out of country.  As for limiting their actions to those they consider a security risk, it is hard to believe that the Home Office is in a position to assess the threat to the public safety of every single one of 250 thousand failed asylum seekers currently still at large in this country.  It beggars belief that along with our porous borders, problems with foreign criminals and our inability to deport a quarter of a million failed asylum seekers we also manage to hand out National Insurance numbers without checking up on a person’s immigration status.”

SCOTS RULING THE ENGLISH

"The English did not start this quarrel: the Scots did, by voting to break up the kingdom. For, be in no doubt, and irrespective of the obtuse and self-serving speeches Mr Brown makes about "Britishness", the United Kingdom as we grew up to understand it is over. The people of England, who were never asked whether they wanted their own parliament, nor ever offered one, now see the Scots in a different light." - Simon Heffer in The Daily Telegraph

THE MORNING STAR OPPOSES STATE FUNDING

Leading article: "Why should we accept that the two main parties and, to a lesser extent, the Lib Dems need to spend tens of millions of pounds on shallow advertising, media stunts and helicopter travel while doing everything possible to avoid real contact with the voters?  The rest of us need to cut our clothes according to our cloth. Why should political parties be any different?  If the big three parties had to rely on finance from their party members and supporters, as smaller parties have to, they would have to cut down on frivolous extravagance and start reaching out to the people who are left cold by expensive stunts and negative advertising campaigns."

OTHER NEWS

Does John Reid fear Michael Howard?  Click on the cutting from the Daily Mail (right) to investigate...

Peter Riddell in The Times reviews the Tory policy-making process

Police to focus on Labour in loans inquiry - The Times

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Tuesday 16th May 2006

3:30pm ToryDiary update: David Davis tops satisfaction league table

12.30pm update: Tim Montgomerie, Editor of ConservativeHome, explains why he is publishing the A-list of candidates (GuardianOnline's Comment is free)

BBCi - David Cameron launches policy group to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) - headed by Ian Taylor, a former Conservative Minister for Science.

BLOGS

GoldList: Katie Perrior argues for Cash for quality candidates plus the text of the 'rejection letter'

ToryDiary: The age of micro-campaigns is coming

A-LIST UNENFORCABLE

"David Cameron has no power to enforce his A-list of "elite" parliamentary candidates on local constituency associations, the party said last night. The admission appears to contradict the Tory leader's claim that constituency associations in target seats have to choose from the priority list or, in exceptional circumstances, pick local candidates. As many as six would-be MPs are ready to take legal action at being excluded from Mr Cameron's priority list of about 110 candidates." - Telegraph

LESSONS FROM ROOSEVELT

"Among Roosevelt's many insights was that electoral success depended on demonstrating that the Democrats shared the aspirations and values of middle America. For the past decade or so, Mr Blair has done much the same for New Labour. Mr Cameron's focus on issues long since abandoned by the Conservatives - the environment, childcare, social injustice, gender and ethnic equality - aims to bring the same shift for the Conservatives. So do his pledges to build a Tory party that better reflects the diversity of modern Britain. Labour discovered during the 1980s that while most voters admired commitments to well-funded public services and greater social justice, they did not trust the party to deliver on its values. The money would be frittered away or handed over to the unions. More recently, the resonance of Tory values such as individual freedom and self-reliance has been muffled by the perception that they are an excuse for selfishness." - Financial Times

>>> Damian Collins compares Cameron to JFK in the Books section

SCRUTON ON BRITISH VALUES

"There is a fallacy at the heart of the Government's thinking, which is to think that, if children lack some vital accomplishment, then we must teach it in school. The Government conceives of values as a kind of knowledge, to be put up on the blackboard and discussed by the class. But values are matters of practice, not of theory. They are not so much taught as imparted. You learn them by immersion, by joining with your contemporaries in team spirit, competition, and adventure - in short, by fashioning an "I" out of the collective "we". That is how I became both English and British: because I was immersed in them and they were part of me." - Roger Scruton in The Telegraph

TOUGH TALK ON THE HRA

"Britain must leave the ECHR if no change can be agreed, and set a timetable for doing so. Then a new convention, reflecting this country’s traditional concerns for human rights, must be drafted."
- Times leader

"There is tough tabloid talk on all sides - the Conservative leader is as guilty of using overblown rhetoric as the Labour one. The reality is, as the politicians must know, more complicated. The Human Rights Act cannot realistically be repealed, a move that would have implications for Britain's membership of the EU. It is also, in fact, unlikely, whatever Mr Blair or Mr Cameron say, that the Act will be amended: the problems arise not from the legislation itself, but from the way in which it has, on occasion, been interpreted by the courts and officials." - Rachel Sylvester in The Telegraph

"What enrages me, however, about this debate is that almost no one wants to face the consequences of their own preferences.... I was perhaps a latish convert to the struggle for democracy and freedom. But I can see that at the moment that struggle is compromised by the mistakes of some of its strongest champions — by the error of Guantanamo, the crime of Abu Ghraib and the insidious acceptance by some in the US of torture. I can imagine few greater symbolic mistakes, few greater admissions of weakness, than the repealing of the Human Rights Act." - David Aaronovitch in The Times

US IMMIGRATION

"America, a nation founded on immigration, has an insoluble problem on its southern border. Karl Rove, George W. Bush's chief political adviser, said yesterday that, this year, 1,400 illegal immigrants a day had crossed from Mexico, been arrested and then returned, making a grand total of six million since 2001." - Telegraph

Bush sends 6,000 National Guard to the border - Times

Map of border controls - BBCi

OTHER NEWS

Lord Ashcroft's funding of Shadow Ministers' flights - Times

Demoted Jack Straw to be broker for an inter-party political funding deal - BBCi

Michael Fabricant MP welcomes Blair's signing of the vivisection petition - Birmingham

Stop playing politics with the Olympics, Tessa - Conservative Party

Job interviewee subjected to a live two minute BBC interview by accident - BBCi

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Monday 15th May 2006

5.30pm ToryDiary update: ConservativeHome invites you to an event with David Cameron

12.30pm ToryDiary update: George Osborne champions the BBC's competitors

BLOGS

ToryDiary: The Tories' northern challenge

"A widening North-South divide has been exposed by a YouGov poll for The Daily Telegraph that shows the Tories are piling up votes in London and the Home Counties while failing to make any significant inroads north of the Trent. The poll showed the Tories overall on 37 per cent of the vote and Labour on 31 per cent, a reflection of the recent troubles facing the Government on many fronts." - Telegraph YouGov poll

OSBORNE EXPANDS ON BBC WARNING

"The Conservatives will intensify their attack on the power of the BBC today with a call for limits on its ability to “crowd out smaller players” in internet and local television markets. George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, will suggest that the BBC should be blocked from dominating online and local media in order to safeguard independent innovators who cannot get a foothold." - The Times

"I was puzzled that the Conservative Party ever thought of keeping the list secret. In all its propaganda, it claims to be committed to open politics; as a journalist, I naturally support openness. The priority-list system had created a small, privileged group of candidates, based on quotas for gender and race. Obviously their names should be public knowledge. The bloggers’ website, Conservative Home, decided to break this censorship. Its readers were invited to send in the names of people who had made the A-list. Their names have come in one by one." - William Rees Mogg in The Times

>>>Click here for the list

DEFECTION TO BNP OVER THE LIST

"A councillor and church leader who taught equal opportunities law to university students has announced his defection to the far right British National Party.  The Reverend Robert West was recently suspended from being a Tory member of South Holland District Council, in Lincolnshire, after he spoke at a meeting of the BNP.  His appeal against the decision had been "unlikely to succeed", said Conservative chiefs." - Ananova

SAYEEDA WARSI'S STATISTICAL ERROR

"A Conservative activist has fuelled mistrust of the police in Muslim communities by making false statements on the detention of terror suspects.  Sayeeda Warsi, a rising star of David Cameron’s party, said that almost 900 “innocent people” had been “locked up for 14 days” under anti-terrorism laws. In reality, 36 terror suspects have been detained for more than seven days. Of the 10 who were freed without charge, none was held for 14 days." - The Times

LIONS EQUIPPED BY DINOSAURS

"Our soldiers are as brave, disciplined and deadly as any in the world. But they are often equipped with old, inappropriate and overpriced kit.  There is some consternation in the ranks about the likely deployment in Afghanistan of 30-year-old Sea King helicopters. The craft were serviceable enough in their day, but they are slow, lack manoeuvrability and are especially bad in the heat. That the MoD may be obliged to blow the cobwebs off their rotor-blades will not, however, surprise anyone familiar with the dire record of that department." - Telegraph leader

BLAIR PRAISED OVER VIVISECTION STANCE

"He is right to point out that vivisection has been invaluable in the eradication of diseases that would otherwise have claimed countless millions of human lives, and right also in observing that, though we might hope for the day when experiments on live animals are no longer necessary, that day has not yet arrived." - Telegraph leader

THE PROBLEM WITH THE HRA IS ITS INTERPRETATION

"The set of moral certainties that used to underpin the common-sense notion of justice about criminal guilt and individual responsibility has been subtly but pervasively replaced by the notion of the criminal as the true victim of social forces beyond his control. What law-abiding people sense when they complain that the rights of criminals are taking precedence over their own is that compassion for the offender, and the determination to protect him from a fate that would confirm him in his alienation, has ceased to be a subsidiary aim of the justice system; it has become the whole point." - Janet Daley in The Telegraph

NEW REVIEW TO LOOK AT FOSTERING BRITISH IDENTITY

"The government is to review whether "core British values" should become a compulsory part of the curriculum for all 11 to 16-year-olds in England.  Ministers are also establishing a second review into the quality of teaching about Islam in universities. Education minister Bill Rammell says both reviews are part of the response to last July's London bombings.  The government is aiming to adapt  citizenship classes in schools to create a more cohesive society." - BBCi

OTHER NEWS & COMMENTARY

Cameron takes two-month Arthur Elwen on a Charity walk (click on image to enlarge) - The Sun

"Brown's task will be to distance himself from Blair's legacy - Cameron's job is to stop him" - Bruce Anderson in The Independent (subscription article)

Stormont open for business again (sort of) - BBCi

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Sunday 14th May 2006

A-LIST NEWS

ToryDiary: All MEPs can compete with the A-listers

Two A-listers

Two A-listers are profiled in the Sunday newspapers:

• In The Sunday Times we don't just read about Louise Bagshawe's reawakened Conservatism but also her reawakened Catholicism and the way she "came to accept Catholic teaching, including on sexuality and marriage".  Louise Bagshawe has left a comment below indicating that the unedited version of her Sunday Times article can be read in the Diary section of her personal website.
• A very different profile - of 'true blue hunk' Adam Rickitt - appears in the Independent on Sunday: "He has always been unashamedly metrosexual and seems to enjoy being a gay icon.  "I'm straight and very comfortable with that," he told one reporter. The tabloids claim his bed-hopping past gave Tory party chiefs some concern. Rickitt admits he dated so many female fans he lost count. Corrie babe Samia Smith is reported to have shared his bed as has his former Rent co-star Jane Doyle. Rickitt himself insists he is a true romantic.  "I think when you're born, your soul is split into two and given to your perfect partner. When you see each other you'll be with each other for ever.""   

"It’s not just about women: we need an A-list of northern candidates, of Scottish and Welsh candidates, who can help to rejuvenate the party in our cities. We want to see more people with public service and public sector backgrounds making it. Any party that is seeking to renew itself needs fresh talent.  My only worry is whether the “newbies” are totally aware of what they are letting themselves in for. It takes a huge commitment in time and money to be a candidate three years away from an election. It’s a very hard slog, totally without glamour, albeit with a huge reward for success." - Iain Dale in The Sunday Times (discussed on his blog)

MAY 4TH'S RESULTS WOULD HAVE MADE TORIES THE BIGGEST PARTY

"Labour could be heading for a wipe-out by David Cameron's Tories at the next general election, says the first detailed study of the local election results and their possible impact.  The analysis, compiled by the Electoral Reform Society and released to The Observer yesterday, predicts that Labour stands to lose 149 of its present 355 MPs, bringing its Commons strength down to 206 - 'even worse than in 1983'.  The Tories could add between 100 and 120 MPs to their current 198. This would probably give them more than 300 MPs, comfortably the largest party and 'with new seats created in boundary changes, on the verge of an overall majority'." - The Observer

ANDREW RAWNSLEY ON THE POLITICAL DEATH OF TONY BLAIR

"Tony Blair thought he had devised a cunning plan to avoid being torn out of Number 10 like Margaret Thatcher. By announcing in advance that he would not fight a fourth election, he reckoned that he'd snuff out any plots to remove him, because it wouldn't appear to be worth the trouble... As the Prime Minister must ruefully admit today, his cunning plan has failed.  You can measure his current vulnerability by his enforced retreat from his previous insistence that he would serve a 'full term' to the promise that he will give a successor 'ample time' to establish himself as Prime Minister. You could hear it in the deadly silence of Labour MPs during Prime Minister's Questions as the Tories jeered him. You could see it in the graveyard faces of the Number 10 officials watching from their box in the chamber." - The Observer

ALAN DUNCAN: GORDON BROWN'S PRUDENCE HAS BECOME A SLAG

Alan Duncan, interviewed in the IoS, "struggles to give specifics on how his party's approach to business would be different from Labour's (an area under consideration by one of Cameron's many review teams), but says the Tories want to make it easier to set up businesses and to employ people. They would also consider cutting business rates."

CAMERON REASSURES THE TORY COALITION

"Two statements last week by Cameron show the broadening of his political appeal. One was his declaration that he will tear up the Human Rights Act if it cannot be reformed, repeating one of Michael Howard’s more controversial election policies... Next was his speech denouncing the sexualisation of children by the fashion industry: a theme which has huge resonance with Middle Britain parents repelled by seeing FCUK on clothing in the high street.  It was a brilliant topic that illustrated Cameron’s ability to empathise." - Fraser Nelson in The Business

Related story: "For all the anguished headlines about lost childhood, today's parents have better relationships with their offspring than ever. It's just that the rules have changed." - Mary Riddell in The Observer

DAVID MILIBAND ON DAVID CAMERON

"'There's been much more debate about the political strategy behind his visit to Norway than about policy,' he says. 'My attitude to the environment is the same as my attitude to the rest of government: if you are good and you deliver and have bold programmes, ideas for a fourth term, then you have every chance of winning. What's really striking is how few ideas there are from the right of politics today.'  In fact, he suggests, the right is in intellectual crisis: 'The two traditions of Conservative politics that have co-existed for the last 100 years - the commitment to open markets and a commitment to stability and order, what we used to call Victorian values - are dramatically at odds.'" - The Observer

LONDON TORY COUNCILS UNITE AGAINST TRAMS

Ken Livingstone's £648m scheme to build a tramline through west London is in severe danger after elections in the capital hardened opposition to the project... However, all of the three councils along the tram route - Hammersmith and Fulham, Ealing and Hillingdon - turned Conservative in the elections at the beginning of this month... In each borough the Tories campaigned on an anti-tram platform.  In Ealing, Labour had strongly supported the project. But last week the new Tory leader of the council, Jason Stacey, voiced his party's opposition to the West London Tram, saying... "Transport for London needs our co-operation, but we are going to become aggressive opposers to the scheme."" - IoS

IN DEFENCE OF SUPERMARKETS

"It is simply wrong for those rich enough to afford the expensive prices of small, independent stores and boutiques to seek to impose their lifestyle and spending choices on those who cannot afford them. Supermarkets have been one of the great forces for poverty reduction in modern times: they have done more to help struggling students and poor immigrant workers than any of Chancellor Gordon Brown’s incomprehensible tax credits or patronising handouts. The poor can now clothe and feed themselves for a few pounds in Tesco and Wal-Mart. Yet those who shout most about helping the poor are also loudest in attacking the supermarkets." - The Business

BBC DRAMA'S THE LINE OF BEAUTY

"This week one of the most hotly awaited dramas hits our TV screens - The Line of Beauty, a story of passion and high politics set in the Thatcherite 80s. But how realistic is it? Jonathan Aitken a Tory high-flier from the era, gives his verdict." - The Observer

OTHER NEWS & COMMENTARY

"The Lib Dems should not be too quick to judge new leader Sir Menzies Campbell, a former leadership contender has said.  The time to assess his performance was after six months - not "a few weeks", Simon Hughes told GMTV's Sunday Programme." - BBCi

"Tony Blair today accuses anti-vivisection extremists of "stooping to appalling depths" as he launches an impassioned defence of animal testing.  Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, the Prime Minister leads opposition to the increasingly violent tactics of animal rights campaigners." - The Sunday Telegraph

Peter Preston, in The Observer, notes how David Cameron is concerned how the BBC crowds out small rivals.

"Hillary, moreover, may be one nepotistic step too far. Americans are sick of dynasties and to have potentially 28 continuous years of presidents from two single families begins to make the United States look like a banana republic or a Tudor and Stuart pas de deux. I’m not just thinking of the terrible task that future students are going to have, trying to remember which Bush and which Clinton came when and did what; I mean simply that in a country of 300m, we really should be able to look beyond two families for leadership talent." - Andrew Sullivan in The Sunday Times

"Truce Is Talk, Agony Is Real in Darfur: Although a cease-fire has gone into effect in Darfur, brutal assaults by militiamen continue in the lawless region." - New York Times

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Saturday 13th May 2006

5pm ToryDiary update: Satisfaction with David Cameron dipped before 4th May

BLOGS

Platform: Give 'em a title and get 'em involved - the next law of the political process

ToryDiary: State funding rejected by 81% of Conservative members

RIP: HUMAN RIGHTS ACT?

"Most of the freedoms promised in these charters could also be found in, say, the Soviet constitution; but, when our elected politicians are powerless, there is no way of ensuring their enforcement. The best guarantor of freedom is a sovereign parliament - which is another way of saying that it is up to us all to safeguard our rights. As Disraeli put it: "To the liberalism they profess, I prefer the liberties we enjoy."  - Telegraph leader

"David Cameron has been steering the Tory hybrid vehicle down a very wide and green lane since he took over. Is he about to make a quick turn to the right? The Conservative leader's willingness to throw his weight behind the Sun's campaign to do away with the Human Rights Act today is, at first glance, a little surprising." - Ros Thomson in Comment is Free

"The Tory leader's aides conceded last night that even if the party scrapped the Act, Britain would still be bound by the European Convention of Human Rights." - Telegraph

"Slowly, we are getting more like a banana republic where promises are cheap, nothing ever really happens and nobody expects it to. I am sorry to sound portentous but I fear we are losing what you might call administrative certainty, a deeply unsexy term and hard to make an issue of. Slow to accumulate and easy to squander, certainty matters." - Matthew Parris in The Times

Ten facts about the law - The Independent

ASSISTED DYING FOR THE TERMINALLY ILL BILL

"There may be some who still maintain that death is an unsuitable, possibly dishonourable and perhaps pernicious, topic for public discussion. The debate surrounding the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill has surely laid such fears to rest... It is difficult to conceive how a right to death can be enshrined in law without its presence on the statute book having potentially serious implications for the right to life." - Times leader

>>>See yesterday's Platform article by Alex Deane

TOP PRIORITY  LIST WOMEN PROFILED

"Whether the local associations do pick any of these women - applications for the first tranche of constituencies to come up must be in by next Friday - remains to be seen. The list is the party's first incursion into positive action, and that's inevitably going to horrify some activists." - Guardian

>>>See ConservativeHome's rolling list of the priority candidates

PENSIONS DEALS

"The architect of the government's pensions blueprint last night welcomed a promise from Downing Street that his key recommendation, to restore the link between the state pension and earnings, has survived the settlement agreed by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown." - Guardian

"The Tories yesterday pledged to axe a deal allowing public sector workers to retire at 60. They acted after the Government announced the retirement age for other employees would rise to 67 from 2012. But public sector staff — like teachers, nurses, police and town hall workers — will be able to quit seven years earlier."  - The Sun

BROWN HAS HARMED HIS CAUSE

"This is not about setting a timetable. It is about getting Blair out this year. But by doing this Brown has overplayed his hand. He appears greedy and impatient. In spite of winning his initial battle with Blair he now risks losing the much larger political war with David Cameron. My view is that Brown concluded too soon both that Labour would be massacred in the local elections and that the party would blame Blair for the defeat" - Martin Kettle in The Guardian

CREDIT CARD UK

George Osborne speech at the Credit Today conference: "As in many markets, liberalised credit markets have boosted our freedom and boosted our economy. But as well as these great advantages, the expansion of credit has brought challenges. First, for some, especially vulnerable families, too much debt can cause misery and great financial hardship. And second, high levels of debt, both public and private, make the economy more vulnerable to certain types of shock, and may put macro-economic stability at risk. For families, and for the wider economy, more debt means more vulnerability." - BBCi

"GOD'S HOUSING CRISIS"

"I am becoming increasingly obsessed by the need, in a wealthy society such as our own, for people to get much more serious about their direct, personal obligation to whatever is good that surrounds them. Surely there is a basis for an alliance between the believers who want their churches to perform their pastoral duty and the people of goodwill who may not know God, but can see that the love of neighbour can be expressed in beautiful buildings and what happens to them." - Charles Moore in The Telegraph

"TORY LEADER IN TOUCH WITH MAINSTREAM BRITAIN, SHOCK!!!"

"Mr Cameron's biggest achievement to date is persuading the public to listen to a Conservative leader. They have not done this for years... Mr Cameron still has a long way to go. When Mr Brown replaces Mr Blair next year Labour will get a new lease of life. Many rightwing Tories are also threatening dissent over their leader's revolution. But this week, David Cameron has crossed a rubicon. He needs to be careful that the roll-out of new Tory values is accompanied by some new Tory policies. And he needs to make sure that Mr Hilton remains firmly out of the media's sight." - James Blitz in the FT

OTHER NEWS

Lancashire Evening Telegraph: Burnley to be run by Con/LibDem coalition

The Yorkshire Post looks at the two Yorkshire seats included in the first tranche of target seats, and covers a by-election where a former Labour Councillor wins a seat for the Conservatives.

Scotsman: Conservatives win by-election against a 700 SNP majority

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Friday 12th May 2006

5pm ToryDiary update: Tory members unconvinced by climate change emphasis

2pm ToryDiary update: Tories will reform, replace or scrap the Human Rights Act 

NEWS UPDATES AT 1PM

• Conservatives & Liberal Democrats invite Government to join Cross-Party Consensus on Climate Change: Download CLIMATEchange.pdf
• "A deal on pensions has been agreed between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown following months of wrangling, the prime minister has confirmed.  Under the agreement, the link between the state pension and earnings will be restored - probably in 2012." - BBCi

THE ASSISTED DYING BILL

On the ToryDiary we spotlight David Cameron's opposition to Lord Joffe's bill and on YourPlatform Alex Deane makes the case against euthanasia.

OTHER BLOGS

GoldList blog: More names are being added on a rolling basis to ConservativeHome's attempt to publish the party's A-list of parliamentary candidates.

Trevor Kavanagh of The Sun answers the questions raised by readers of ConservativeHome on the Interviews blog.

ToryDiary: William Norton's Film Review and 'Who is Tamzin Lightwater?' asks taxing Cameron

THE BIKE-RIDING TORY LEADERSHIP

Photograph scanned from today's Daily Mail.

After he has ridden to work George Osborne will be delivering a major speech on debt today according to BBC Online: "Britain is becoming a "credit card" nation where personal debt is threatening millions of families and the economy, say the Tories.  Shadow chancellor George Osborne says the increased availability of credit had many advantages but it could cause financial misery."

A-LIST

"David Cameron is facing a backlash from right-wing activists angry over the make-up of his approved list of future Conservative MPs... His critics are preparing a new website to promote the names of potential MPs who were left off Mr Cameron's official list, many of whom are advocates of traditional Tory values like tax cuts, immigration controls and opposition to the EU bureaucracy in Brussels.  The proposed website has a domain name, "Not the A List", and is expected to become active early next week." - Independent

TORIES WOO PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS

"The Conservative party plans to woo public sector professionals through a reform programme which includes a new professional body for teachers equivalent to the General Medical Council.  It is also proposing greater freedom for professionals such as teachers and doctors, while maintaining minimum standards... The public sector reform review group, chaired by Stephen Dorrell, is also likely to propose reining in independent inspectorates, reducing targets and proposing new public sector professional bodies. Lack of motivation and freedom is seen as a crucial factor in relatively low public sector productivity." - The Guardian

WILL MING BE GONE BY THE END OF THE YEAR?

"Sir Menzies Campbell has been forced to apologise for his poor performance as Liberal Democrat leader.  Some of the party's MPs fear that they will have to replace him within the year, it emerged last night. They gave Sir Menzies, 64, until the party's autumn conference "to get his act together" even though he was elected only two months ago." - Telegraph

OTHER NEWS

Telegraph leader: The victims of July 7 deserve better than this

Andrew Pierce, in The Times, interprets yesterday's CCHQ restructuring as a cost-saving exercise.

"The Conservative party must win more seats in Scotland at the next general election if it has any chance of getting back into power, David Cameron said yesterday." - The Herald

"Cheltenham Borough will be run by the Conservatives after the main parties worked out a deal on Thursday night." - BBCi

"Public confidence in Labour’s handling of the economy and public services has plunged to its lowest level since the start of the Iraq war, according to research." - FT

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