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Saturday 17th May 2008

5.15pm ToryDiary: New YouGov survey has Tories 20% ahead

5pm: Iain Dale is reporting that Edward Timpson has an 8% lead over Tamsin Dunwoody in Crewe

1.45pm Seats and candidates: Are you proud of this, Mr Brown?

Noon ToryDiary: 'Where is Her Majesty?' asks Boris

MEMOIR GREED, KEN LIVINGSTONE'S NASTY CAMPAIGNING, THE CLASS WAR ATTACKS ON TORY CANDIDATE EDWARD TIMPSON, THE PLAYING OF THE RACE CARD, GORDON BROWN'S USE OF BNP RHETORIC...
Five proofs that Labour is the new nasty party

Rob Wilson MP on Platform argues that Brown-Major comparisons flatter the current PM. 

PlayPolitical video: Obama explains why he'll talk to Iran (...McCain explains why, he thinks, Obama is wrong)

Heather Brookes: The freedom of information campaigner who took on the House of Commons and won

"For three years Heather Brooke fought what appeared to be an unequal battle with House of Commons officialdom and the Speaker Michael Martin. But yesterday the freedom of information campaigner was celebrating victory after the High Court ruled that MPs must be more open about a £12million a year housing perk. The verdict means that Mr Martin has squandered nearly £200,000 of taxpayers' cash in a failed attempt to keep the accounts secret." - Daily Mail

> Video report on the High Court's ruling

Are GP surgeries the new Post Offices?

Patients will be urged to help save their GP practices this weekend as fears grow that many could be forced to close under government plans for super surgeries - Telegraph

Nadine Dorries MP takes her fight against late-term abortions to the pages of The Telegraph

"NHS doctors are refusing to carry out late abortions, forcing hospitals to contract them out to private clinics and charities.  Growing moral objections mean three-quarters of the 7,000 terminations performed after 17 weeks of pregnancy each year are outside the Health Service." - Daily Mail

The Labour Party is on the verge of insolvency after a collapse in donations so acute that it is struggling to pay staff - Telegraph

Alex Salmond's success is taking Scotland closer to independence - Independent leader

Sermon on The Mound (Part II)

Twenty years after Margaret Thatcher's famous address to the Church of Scotland, Gordon Brown is there to talk about his "vision" - BBC | Times

An insulting BBC drama suggests that Margaret Thatcher attempted to seduce Ted Heath - Telegraph | Daily Mail

Brown's splurge ruins his reputation

"The £2.7 billion loan, at a time when we are grotesquely over-borrowed, is the final sign not merely that this man has no idea about sound economics, but that he is unfit to see the country through hard times. Total public spending is around £617 billion a year. It would not even have constituted what accountants call a rounding error to make a saving of £2.7 billion in a total of that magnitude, yet Mr Brown could not bring himself to sack a few thousand from his overmanned client state, or trim spending elsewhere, like the private sector is being forced to do thanks to his mistakes. He is the corporatist equivalent of a shopaholic, the Viv Nicholson of Downing Street; when all else fails, go on a splurge." - Simon Heffer in The Telegraph

Government ‘panic’ after £200m freed up for defence spending - The Herald

Daniel Kawczynski MP condemns Brown's Downing Street meeting with Naomi Campbell

"She has recently been arrested and interviewed regarding an incident at Heathrow Airport. She allegedly spat at a Police Officer in frustration that her luggage had been misplaced. I have written to the metropolitan police urging them to take action against Miss Campbell. The response I have been given is that "the matter has been referred to the crown prosecution service and awaits a decision from them regarding case disposal".  Gordon Brown talks about encouraging the young to respect the Police whilst at the same time sharing pleasantries with an individual who has behaved in such a disgraceful way to a serving police officer. It is hypocrisy on a grand scale and shows just how out of touch he is with reality. Downing Street should not be welcoming individuals who behave in this way to our hard working Police."- Offline statement from the Conservative MP

Quotes of the day

"So just how many photographs of her children did Cherie Blair, who used to threaten legal action if their privacy was breached by newspapers, use in her kiss-and-tell memoirs? No fewer than 23. Do you think she knows how to spell hypocrisy?" - Andrew Pierce in The Telegraph

"Get your helmet off, Boris. They voted for you because you don’t wear it. That’s your whole thing. Don’t listen to the wet-eyed mummies at the school gates or the Trots in the mayoral press office. Get it off. Play the game. And if there’s a bump out there with your name on it, then, for the Lord’s sake, Boris, at least die like a man." Giles Coren on Boris' cycle helmet, in The Times

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary and visit PoliticsHome.com for breaking political news and views throughout the day.

Thursday 31st May 2007

6.15pm ToryDiary: Partial retreat on grammar schools

4.30pm stories from this morning's Independent (the website is back up):

• Pandora story about Lord Trimble criticising the "needless" argument about grammar schools
• Report of Conservative calls for Sir Gus O'Donnell to launch an inquiry into donations to Brown's leadership campaign
• Nadine Dorries' article on grammar schools

Michael White's verdict on Andy Coulson - Guardian

4pm BritainAndAmerica: Bush's successor will be America's first billion dollar president

4PM PICK OF THE WEB

> Guido Fawkes believes that the appointment of Coulson will help CCHQ play hardball with Brown
> The Telegraph's Richard Holt describes getting arrested in Iran for being in a car with unmarried women
> Bryan Appleyard says that if the prevailing scientific orthodoxy on global warming is correct then even massive carbon emissions cut wouldn't make any difference
> The Telegraph's Toby Harnden is excited by Fred Thompson's presidential bid
> John Redwood MP defends Osborne's speech on taking on Blair's reforms
> 'Large' of the Little and Large team reports on the LibDems' loss of credibility in Wales
> Justin Hinchcliffe picks up on some of the latest tricks by Ken Livingstone's favourite Venezuelan president
> Cllr Phil Taylor highlights why Paul Myners is the wrong man to head up the Low Pay Commission
> Burning Our Money calls for expense-abusing Sir John Bourn to resign

3pm Seats and Candidates: Dewsbury shortlist

1pm ToryDiary: Cameron recruits former News of the World editor as communications chief

12.30pm ToryDiary: Have your say in the May survey of readers

11am on Iain Dale: Tories to appoint Andy Coulson as new Director of Communications

ToryDiary: It's time to move on and First born

YourPlatform: Adam Tugwell is concerned about school transport for disabled children

Blog of the Week: This week's featured blog is that of Ed Vaizey MP. Many of his posts relate to his work as Shadow Minister for Culture rather than constituency issues but there is also a mix of random anecdotes and commentary on news and other blogs. It's all written in a personable style and the design is easy on the eye.

"SPEAKING OUT FOR EXCELLENCE AND OPPORTUNITY"

"I entered politics because I was grateful to have been given a chance in life and wanted others to have the same opportunity. In my maiden speech 10 years ago, I made it clear I wanted state schools to be so good that the independent sector would struggle to compete. When I was told this week that I had to choose between the frontbench job I loved and the freedom to speak for the children whose life chances are blighted by poor quality education, there was no real choice." - Graham Brady MP in the Telegraph

CITY INVESTMENT

"The Tories' increasing success in wooing funds from the City was underlined yesterday, when one of the UK's biggest investment trusts said it would seek shareholders' agreement to donate £60,000 to back David Cameron's bid to gain power. The pledge by Caledonia Investments, the first political donation in its recent history, was accompanied by a scathing attack on Labour." - Financial Times

THREAT FROM CLOSTRIDIUM DIFFICILE UNDERSTATED

"Government statistics have ignored thousands of cases of Clostridium difficile in Britain and misrepresent the threat posed by the potentially fatal bug, a report by a Tory MP claims. More than 25,000, or almost one-in-six, of all cases of the bug have gone unreported because the Government only logged cases in the over-65s, according to the report by Grant Shapps." - Press Association

>>> Click here for Grant's interactive "Germ Map" and here to download the report's raw data.

HEIRS TO REFORM

"David Cameron was accused of picking a "needless fight" last night as battle lines were drawn between Tory high command and the Right wing of the party." - Daily Mail

"George Osborne sought yesterday to seize the standard of post-Blairite public service reform. As the Paramount Chief cut a swath through Africa, no one commands the battleground back home. Mr Osborne’s raid is an attempt to divide Labour, but it also risks dividing the Conservative Party." - Peter Riddell in the Times

"Mr Osborne might want the new prime minister to break with public sector reform. But it is not about to happen. Mr Brown has been integral to this over the past decade. He has shown no fear of involving the private sector." - Guardian leader

"Because there is no challenge from the Socialist Campaign Group, Brown is free from bashing the last remnants of the unelectable left and therefore doesn't have to attack the values they have failed to modernise. Values that deserve our support. On the other flank he is free from Blairism." - Neal Lawson in the Guardian

WELSH LIFE PRESIDENT EXCOMMUNICATED

"A former Welsh Conservative chairman who threatened to support an unofficial candidate in May’s Assembly election has been expelled from the party, a spokesman said today. Sir Eric Howells, an honorary life president of the party, had been suspended by Tory chiefs in London in January." - icWales

EX-LABOUR MINISTERS RAKING IT IN

"But all are selling themselves short compared with Tory former ministers. Kenneth Clarke has a package well in excess of £200,000. He is non-executive deputy chairman of tobacco giant BAT, and holds non-executive directorships of the Foreign and Colonial Investment Trust and Independent News and Media. The BAT job is worth £150,000 a year, the other two £30,000 each. Labour has some catching up to do." - Guardian

DEPUTY RACE CAUSING RUCTIONS

"With six candidates in the race, each is trying to establish an early lead and a momentum that makes victory inevitable. Even at this stage, therefore, the contest has become fractious. The party whips have reminded all contenders that they must stick to agreed party policy, but the temptation to lurch to the left is strong." - Times leader

"The Blair years might as well never have existed for the deputy leadership candidates during their debate on Newsnight as they vied to see who could be more unreconstructed." - Alice Thompson in the Telegraph

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

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Wednesday 30th May 2007

4pm ToryDiary: Spinning by "senior Tories" forced Graham Brady's resignation

4PM PICK OF THE WEB

This feature will replace the Best of the Blogosphere list. If you ever have a particularly good blog post email us to let us know.

> Perry de Havilland at Samizdata warns of Obama's wish for an American NHS
> Peter Bone MP, meanwhile, has published a paper for the Cornerstone Group arguing that compulsory medical insurance is the way forward for the "Stalinist" NHS. Owen Paterson MP has also written a good piece on their site today about the EU's satellite system
> Helen Szamuely at EU Referendum wants British Conservatives to have more internal and philisophical debate
> David Heathcoat-Amory MP and Dr Brian Hindley talk about the EU and its trade policy in this Bruges Group podcast
> Iain Dale is enamored with... Al Jazeera
> Mark Wallace of the Freedom Association begins writing for Libertarian UK with an interesting, if perhaps controversial, piece on applying the free market to organ donations
> Islington Conservatives announce that they have cut their shortlist down for the GLA North East selection

3.30pm ToryDiary: George Osborne on the Blair-Tory approach to public services

YourPlatform: Mark Loveday - Prezza's holiday was an insult

ToryDiary: Osborne prepares to paint Brown as lurching to the left and Tory unity at stake in "grammar school war"

GRAHAM BRADY RESIGNATION

"David Cameron was last night facing the biggest test of nerve since he embarked on his modernisation of the Conservative Party after a respected member of his front-bench team resigned in protest at his policy on grammar schools." - Telegraph

"Former Altrincham Boys' Grammar pupil Mr Brady said "duty and conscience" had compelled him to act. He told Messenger he had resigned "because it was made clear to me I could not speak outside my brief, even on a subject which is very close to my heart and I have campaigned on all my life."  - Stretford & Urmston Messenger

EX-MSP BRIAN MONTEITH TO JOIN THINK TANK - Herald

THE BLAIR LEGACY- BROWN'S PLANS

"Gordon Brown is retaining the option of privatising Channel 4 if he wins a general election against David Cameron, according to Whitehall insiders." - Telegraph

Jackie Ashley interview with Brown - Guardian

"If Brown really had courage he would have opposed [the Iraq war] when doing so might have meant something, when he and most cabinet and party colleagues knew it was a mistake back in 2003." - Simon Jenkins in the Guardian

"The cabinet only took one decision during Tony Blair's first eight months in office, the country's top civil servant at the time has revealed. And that was to delegate the matter of the Millennium Dome to the prime minister." - Guardian

Michael White assesses Blair's African legacy in the Guardian

"Cherie Blair and senior Number Ten staff are furious over some of the contents of former Downing Street spin doctor Alastair Campbell's "fantastically indiscreet" diaries, it has been claimed." - Daily Mail

DEPUTY LEADERSHIP RACE

Benn leading among grassroots - Guardian

Profile of Hazel Blears - Times

Review of Newsnight Deputy Leader debate - Times

         >>>Yesterday's ToryDiary open thread on the Newsnight debate

BUSH ANNOUNCES NEW SANCTIONS ON SUDAN

"Mr Bush said he had run out of patience with United Nations efforts to apply diplomatic pressure on President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan to end the bloodshed in Darfur that has left 200,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced." - Telegraph

THE WORLD BANK AFTER WOLFOWITZ

Bush to nominate Robert Zoellick to head World Bank - FT

Europe may regret axing Wolfowitz - Irwin Stelzer in the Telegraph

INTERNET WILL REVOLUTIONISE POLITICS

"The politician of the internet age has to admit all errors in full and early: they'll only emerge anyway. Factual slips are forbidden, too. Bloggers will find you out" - Jonathan Freedland in the Guardian

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

Tuesday 29th May 2007

Open thread on the Newsnight Deputy Labour leadership debate >>>

10.15pm ToryDiary: Graham Brady's resignation letter

7.30pm ToryDiary: David Cameron's letter to Graham Brady

4.30pm ToryDiary: Graham Brady resigns

THE PICK OF THE BLOGS

• Daniel Finkelstein rebuffs Janet Daley's latest comments on grammars whilst the BBC's Political Editor give his verdict on the ongoing debate
• Blamerbell Briefs asks who should be the Welsh LibDem leader, and when they should be elected
• Interesting email to Iain Dale from Ben Stewart of Greenpeace about not debating global warming
• More evidence of the dumbing down of the NHS through "health care professionals" on NHS Blog Doctor
• The next century is China's, Dan Hannan says, but we should worry about its politics more than its economics

4pm Seats and candidates: CCHQ announces 18 more seats for selection

ToryDiary: 44.1% (The British state is about to get bigger than Germany's)

Interviews: Any questions for Matthew Elliott of The TaxPayers' Alliance?

David Heathcoat-Amory MP on YourPlatform: We need Cameron in No.10 to stop the EU constitution:

"The Conservative Party has promised that any further transfer of powers to the EU will require a referendum here. Since any treaty coming out of the present negotiations is bound to include such further transfers, we are therefore committed to a referendum.   If Britain is to remain a self governing state we need David Cameron in No 10, and the sooner the better."

NEWSPAPERS PREDICT SACK FOR GRAHAM BRADY IN SUMMER RESHUFFLE

"David Cameron is expected to fire a Tory frontbench rebel for breaking the party's line by defending grammar schools.  The Conservative leader ordered the chief whip to severely reprimand Graham Brady, the Europe spokesman, yesterday. Mr Cameron is thought to have stopped short of axing him immediately in case it reignited the row on education policy, but senior Tories expect Mr Cameron to drop the MP for Altrincham and Sale West when he reshuffles his frontbench team to take on a new cabinet under Gordon Brown." - Guardian

The Telegraph's Toby Helm profiles Graham Brady.

>>> Yesterday's ToryDiary debate on Graham Brady's intervention

SWIRE ADDS TO PRESSURE ON CHANNEL 4 OVER DIANA VIDEO

"This kind of coverage must be deeply distressing to Princes William and Harry.  We would expect more from a public service broadcaster than showing sensationalist material in this way.  It is difficult to see who will be served from broadcasting such sensational and private material.  The best thing Channel 4 can do for the British public and Diana's family is simply not to broadcast this programme." - Hugo Swire quoted in the Daily Mail

>>> Yesterday's ToryDiary on Channel 4's future

NEW LABOUR IS NOT RIGHT-WING

Highly redistributionist New Labour hasn't been right-wing says Peter Hitchens in a piece for The Guardian.  As the parties congregate on the centre ground he says (far from the first time) that time is ripe for a right-wing revolt.

LOCALISM IN EDUCATION

Douglas Carswell MP and Dan Hannan MEP continue the new Telegraph series on localism with ideas for education.

LORD ASHCROFT SPEAKS UP FOR VC HERO DENIED ENTRY TO BRITAIN

"Tory Peer and Victoria Cross expert Michael Ashcroft has joined the fight to bring a veteran Gurkha hero back to Britain.  Tul Bahadur Pun, 84, was awarded the VC - the highest honour for military gallantry - after single-handedly storming Japanese machinegun positions during the Second World War.  But despite his astonishing bravery he has been banned from coming to live here because he does not have "strong ties with the UK"." - Daily Mail

THE INDEPENDENT SUMMARISES THE PITCHES OF THE LABOUR DEPUTY LEADERSHIP CANDIDATES.

BROWN SHOULD BE BOLD WITH HIS CABINET RESHUFFLE

"A bold remaking of the cabinet would see David Miliband sent to the Treasury or the Foreign Office and, at the very least, seven or eight new entrants to the cabinet. The names of the up-and-coming are already familiar: the two Eds – Balls and Miliband – James Purnell, Liam Byrne, Caroline Flint, Pat MacFadden and Andy Burnham among them." - Philip Stephens in the FT

RACHEL SYLVESTER DOES NOT THINK THAT MING IS ABOUT TO FALL ON HIS SWORD

"There is no treachery underway. The main rivals to succeed Sir Menzies - Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne - seem to agree that the Lib Dems would look careless if they lost another leader so soon. As one frontbencher put it: "The last things the voters remember about us is that Charles Kennedy was drunk, Simon Hughes was gay and Mark Oaten had been doing unspeakable things with a male prostitute. We need a period of stability." - Telegraph

Traffic was good over the bank holiday weekend - perhaps the rain kept you at your computers?  Much of the traffic clearly originated from the USA, however.  Thousands of Americans visited the BritainAndAmerica site and the post that explored the role of the British media at the next US presidential election.

Three other weekend highlights: David Willetts answered your questions on grammar schools, David Gauke MP asks if Gordon Brown has broken his own statistical rules and David Davis highlighted Labour's ineffective authoritarianism.

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

Monday 28th May 2007

2.15pm ToryDiary: If Brown doesn't privatise Channel 4, the Conservatives must

1.45pm ToryDiary: Brady escapes with reprimand after second attack on grammar schools policy

"On Thursday [Iain Dale] highlighted the fate of a VC winning Gurkha who has been denied the right to live in this country because he couldn't demonstrate close ties with the UK. Since then the publicity surrounding the case of Tul Bahadur Pun has been extraordinary..."  Lee Rotherham, meanwhile has called for VC and other heroes to be honoured in Trafalgar Square.

12.30pm BritainAndAmerica update: British media could swing the next US election

ToryDiary: Willetts opens door to selection by race to tackle segregation

David Gauke MP on YourPlatform: Has Gordon Brown broken his own rules on statistics?

GRAHAM BRADY BREAKS RANKS ON GRAMMARS

"David Cameron is facing a fresh challenge to his authority with a member of his frontbench team producing new evidence showing that grammar schools dramatically improve the exam results of a whole neighbourhood.  Graham Brady, the Shadow Europe Minister and a former grammar school pupil, has passed data to The Times showing that GCSE results are significantly better in areas that have an element of selective education – with ethnic minority children benefiting most." - The Times

JANET DALEY BLASTS 'GRAMMAR STREAMS'

"The two Davids, Cameron and Willetts, profess themselves most concerned with the truly deprived pupils who are underachieving so dramatically in our schools - which means working-class boys in the roughest urban schools. Do they have any idea of the social repercussions that would follow for such a boy who found himself in the top stream of an inner-city school? You might as well force him to wear a tutu." - Telegraph

"David Cameron has said he wants his three children to go to state schools rather than having an elite private education." - The Independent

Writing in The Independent Peter Inson is dismissive of Alan Johnson's plans to compel private school teachers to work in state schools.

DAVID DAVIS LEADS ATTACK ON LABOUR'S PLANS FOR NEW POLICE POWERS

In a Telegraph piece which notes Peter Hain's opposition to the proposals, the Shadow Home Secretary is quoted as saying: "The driving imperative of these draconian announcements appears to be more of a wish to project the reputation of John Reid and Mr Blair in their last weeks in office, than a need to protect the British public."

"Yes, civil liberty and security are a balancing act. Yes, security must have more weight because the right to life is the most fundamental civil liberty of all. But it has to be real security, not measures which simply play to the gallery.  In any event, the idea that we are all going to have our collars felt by police officers hauling us out off the street to answer their questions is a trifle implausible. When was the last time you encountered a police officer on foot patrol? Quite." - Melanie Phillips in the Daily Mail

A leader in The Telegraph urges examination of the small print of Reid's proposals

>>> Yesterday's ToryDiary spotlighted David Davis' critique of Labour's record on civil liberties

BRUCE ANDERSON BELIEVES THAT THE LEADERSHIP'S FAILURE TO CONNECT WITH THE PARTY'S TRADITIONAL SUPPORTERS MAY BE COSTING 5% IN THE OPINION POLLS - The Independent

EUREFERENDUM WARNS THAT THE TORIES MAY SOON BE WRONGFOOTED ON DEFENCE BY GORDON BROWN.

HUGO SWIRE CALLS FOR CHANNEL 4 PROGRAMME ON DIANA'S DEATH TO BE SCRAPPED - The Guardian

DETAILED YOUGOV SURVEY ON GORDON BROWN'S STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

"Gordon Brown will enter Downing Street next month weighed down by both many voters' accumulated distrust and dislike of New Labour and the limitations of his own public personality.  However, the findings of YouGov's latest survey for The Daily Telegraph suggest that considerable numbers of voters credit the next prime minister with experience, competence and great intelligence. People may not fancy a night at the pub with him but many respect his abilities."

LABOUR'S NEXT STEALTH TAX

"More than one million photographs of hundreds of thousands of homes have been taken by council tax inspectors, it emerged yesterday.  The photographs are stored on a massive central database kept by the Valuation Office Agency, ministers disclosed.  The revelation may revive fears that, despite official denials, Labour is still preparing for an England-wide property revaluation which will result in council tax bills soaring yet again." - Telegraph

PETER TATCHELL AMONGST GAY RIGHTS ACTIVISTS BEATEN AND ARRESTED IN MOSCOW - The Guardian

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

Sunday 27th May 2007

3.15pm ToryDiary: Fox performs the Whitelaw role

Iain Dale: In praise of Alan Duncan

ToryDiary: David Cameron addresses the Eton factor and David Davis highlights Labour's ineffective authoritarianism

DEREK CONWAY MP UNDER SCRUTINY FOR PAYING PARLIAMENTARY ALLOWANCE TO UNDERGRADUATE SON

"A senior Tory MP is paying his son to act as his parliamentary assistant even though he is still a full-time undergraduate at university.  Commons records reveal that Frederick Conway was paid at the rate of £981 a month from the parliamentary staffing allowance handed to his father Derek, a former government whip." - Sunday Times

LOVEBOMBING THE LIBDEMS 'WORKS'

The Sunday Telegraph's Melissa Kite has seen a Tory memo from George Bridges which argues that appearing to agree with the LibDems is the best way of ousting them.  The article also suggests that Tory strategists believe that more modernisation is needed, not less.

WILLETTS OPEN TO SELECTION BY RACE

"Some schools would be able to select pupils by race in order to improve community relations under plans being considered by the Conservative Party.  Shadow education secretary David Willetts said city academies could use racial selection to unite communities divided by race or religion." - BBC

MORE COMMENT ON GRAMMAR SCHOOLS

A Telegraph leader concludes that the grammar schools row has reinforced the idea that the Tory leadership is privileged: "In an effort to ditch what they believe is their image as the party of wealth and privilege, the Conservatives appeared definitively to have rejected selection by academic ability and to be attacking middle-class parents who want to help their children do better.  Worse, the row focused attention on the Conservative front bench's domination by the products of private education, and on the extent to which they educate their own children privately. Result? The Conservatives' image as the party that defends the privilege of the rich to educate their children at selective schools was cemented in the minds of voters - along with the implication that poor people can go to comprehensives." 

But an Observer leader thinks David Cameron was right to attack the ideological conservatism of his own party: "Conservatism is notoriously hard to define, but a starting point is usually faith in established institutions. Many Conservatives see grammar and private schools as foundation stones of society. The current backlash isn't just about education. Like earlier grumbling over tax policy and liberal-sounding pledges on social justice, it is about questioning whether or not Cameronism is Conservative at all.  But Mr Cameron should stick to his guns on education, and not just because he needs to win his Clause 4 moment. It is the right thing to do in principle."

Simon Jenkins, in The Sunday Times, applauds Cameron's "historic victory over the gilded myth of grammars": "If Brown is to fight on education and the Tories wish to retort that they care about all state schools equally, then Cameron had to clear his decks of intellectual clutter. That he has done and with aplomb."

Matthew d'Ancona in The Sunday Telegraph: "Mr Willetts was right to say in his speech that "middle-class parents invest far more effort in raising their kids than they did a generation ago" and that the gap between such children and the offspring of less affluent families is widening. On this basis, he concludes that the 11-plus cannot possibly be fair. I take a less defeatist line. The gap he identifies ought to be a spur to an urgent overhaul of nursery and primary schools, big incentives for the best primary teachers to work in the most deprived areas, and shock therapy policies that squeeze every last ounce of talent out of every last pupil on every last sink estate. Give up on that goal? Never."

In The Sunday Telegraph Ken Baker recommends three steps for failing schools: raise the school transfer age from 11 to 13; give parents vouchers to escape failing schools; and stop the closure of special schools.

Former Telegraph Editor Martin Newland in The Observer finds a sniffiness about middle class values in Team Cameron's handling of the grammar schools row.

The Sunday Times wonders if charter schools - the Tories' latest idea for education - could be successfully imported from the USA.

BLAIR AND REID TO GIVE POLICE 'WARTIME' POWERS TO STOP AND QUESTION

"New anti-terrorism laws are to be pushed through before Tony Blair leaves office giving “wartime” powers to the police to stop and question people.  John Reid, the home secretary, who is also quitting next month, intends to extend Northern Ireland’s draconian police powers to interrogate individuals about who they are, where they have been and where they are going." - Sunday Times

...Meanwhile... "Alastair Campbell has toned down his diaries about life in Number 10 after being asked by friends of the Prime Minister not to reveal that Tony Blair swears like the proverbial trooper." - Observer

...Meanwhile (2)... "Tony Blair and his closest aides face fresh questioning in the cash-for-honours affair after prosecutors instructed detectives to return to the case, even though they formally ended their investigation last month. The development will increase pressure on the Prime Minister, Downing Street staff and Lord Levy, Mr Blair's chief fundraiser." - Independent on Sunday

UKIP'S FARAGE UNDER FIRE FROM PREDECESSOR

"The leader of the UK Independence party (Ukip) has been accused by his predecessor of "selling out" its eurosceptic principles to secure a plush new office.  Roger Knapman said that Nigel Farage, his fellow member of the European parliament (MEP) who replaced him as party leader last September, has ignored the values that "prevent us getting dragged into the comfortable EU world that leads down the path to 'going native'." - Sunday Times

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

Saturday 26th May 2007

1.45pm ToryDiary: Voters want grammar schools

Iain Dale wants you to help identify Labour's most incompetent minister.  (I voted for Gordon Brown because of the tax credits fiasco. Patricia Hewitt and the NHS IT disaster was my second choice).

ToryDiary: Alan Johnson wants to play politics with private schools and Comfort for Brown and Cameron from YouGov poll

Interviews blog: David Willetts answers your questions about grammar schools

DAY 11 OF GRAMMARSGATE

"The past week has been extremely informative about the true state of the Conservative Party.  It is not the happy band united under the leadership of David Cameron, that observers have been led to believe.  The truth is that it is very badly split. This split starts right at the top, and worsens the further down you go.  It is every bit as fundamental as the division over Europe that destroyed the Tories as a party of government in the 1990s - and could yet turn out to be just as lethal.  Though it is the anger over grammar schools that has brought internal disagreements to the surface, the argument is not principally about education.  The row over grammar schools is really just a symptom of a much bigger dispute about the nature of the Conservative Party and the purpose it serves in modern Britain..." - Peter Oborne in The Daily Mail

Four former Tory MPs write to The Telegraph to complain about the policy shift.

THE TORY PARTY IS HOLDING CAMERON BACK

"The voters may like Cameron but - according to ICM this week - nearly one in three believes the party is to the right of him. That gap in turn discourages them from believing both that Cameron himself is a centrist or that he is as centrist as they are themselves. Some 65% of voters in the ICM poll identify themselves as in the centre, or slightly left or right of centre. Yet only 47% of them put Cameron in that same territory. That is why Cameron has not yet clinched the deal and why his party's ratings are in the high 30s not the low 40s." - Martin Kettle in The Guardian

JOHN MAJOR: GO NOW, MR BLAIR

"Sir John Major today calls on his successor to quit Downing Street and hand over power to Gordon Brown as soon as possible. In an interview with the Guardian, the former Tory prime minister criticises Tony Blair's drawn-out departure from office, mocking him for being "in the middle of the longest farewell since Dame Nellie Melba quit the stage".

A THEME FOR GORDON BROWN?

"Labour's record on social mobility has been disappointing since 1997 but the change of prime minister does give it the chance to tackle the problem. It could argue that the first phase of New Labour was about providing economic stability, and that the second will be to help those who have not reaped the benefit and have been left behind. Not a bad mission for a Brown government. It might even play well in the South." - Andrew Grice in The Independent

>>> Tory MPs Greg Clark and Jeremy Hunt focus on social mobility in this week's Spectator

"Gordon Brown may delay naming his first Cabinet until the day after he becomes Prime Minister so that he can avoid a repetition of “botched” reshuffles, The Times has been told."

OTHER NEWSLINKS

David Cameron goes on patrol with the police in Wales to learn how the Tories can help them do their job - Western Mail

Irish exit polls suggest re-election for Ahern - The Guardian

Clinton 'planned to divorce Hillary to be with one of his many lovers' - Daily Mail

Tory A-lister defects to UKIP - IndependenceHome

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

Friday 25th May 2007

THE PICK OF THE BLOGS

• The TaxPayers' Alliance want to axe the bin tax
• His Grace decries a "mindless and barbaric" change in EU animal testing regulations
• There is a thought (tear?) provoking post by Nadine Dorries today about birth and death
• Mr Eugenides sees significance in comments by Alastair Darling on FOI
• The poor NHS Blog Doctor despairs about the NHS' focus on Health Care Professionals
• Vicky Ford comments on the need to support community pre-schools
• Phillip Lee, a GP and prospective candidate, argues for a Jeffersonian natural aristocracy
• Labour MEP Richard Corbett recounts an amusing way in which two Conservative MEPs tried to sabotage an EU vote on mobile phone charges
• Ellee Seymour has mixed feelings on today's immigration announcement
• Glyn Davies has both a good analogy and a witty story of recent events in the Welsh Assembly

CAMERON STATEMENT ON DARFUR

"The humanitarian crisis in Darfur is quite simply the worst in the world. I’ve been there, I’ve seen  for myself the huge refugee camps, I’ve listened to  stories of people who’ve lost relatives, who’ve lost loved ones, who’ve seen them killed in front of them.  We must do more about this. The only thing standing between these people and starvation and death are the international aid agencies. The rainy seasons are coming and the conditions are going to get worst and we’ve got to back our aid agencies.  So I would urge you to give generously to this vital appeal and to back the fantastic work that our aid agencies are doing. And at the same time keep up the pressure on the politicians who’ve got to help find a long term solution for this part of the world that so desperately needs our help." - Disasters Emergency Committee

12.30pm ToryDiary: Lessons to be learnt from grammarsgate

Noon YourPlatform: Policy Exchange's James O'Shaughnessy offers a centre-right critique of academic selection

11am CF Diary updates: Matthew Richardson's report and John Moorcraft wants your opinions on Conservative Future

11am BBC news update: "Conservative leader David Cameron has been on the trail of drug dealers and "yobs on a train" during a private two-day tour with police in Powys"

Plus this on WebCameron:

ToryDiary: Tories shift focus to immigration

BritainAndAmerica: How can the UN improve its human rights advocacy? Samuel Coates reports on the recent hearing held by the Conservative Party's Human Rights Commission.

Your Platform: William Hague MP argues that David Cameron has won the argument over grammar schools

"Yes, of course we must foster the bright child if we are to maintain our competitive position in the world. But the Conservative Party would be insane to go back half a century as the right way of doing it. It would stand Cameron's endeavour to bring his party into the 21st century on its head. As an old hand at the game, I can think of ways in which Cameron and his colleagues could find better ways of making these pronouncements, without causing such a flutter among their party's bluest birds - and loyalist supporters - but on the decision about grammar schools, I do not doubt they are right." - W F Deedes in the Telegraph

"The original handling of the David Willetts speech was a disaster, but better for it to happen now, at the beginning of the policy formation process, than near an election. Lessons need to be learnt to improve the media and party management of the controversial policies which will be announced over the rest of the year. In these circumstances, political leaders usually deploy diversionary tactics to take the issue out of the headlines. Revealingly, David Cameron did the opposite. He has kept the story going for a week. By doing so he regained control of the agenda. It was an adept piece of political footwork." - Iain Dale in the Telegraph

"At present, our education addresses the needs of the very rich – your Etons, Harrows etc – and wrings its hands about the failures of the least advantaged – the progeny of Vicky Pollard. Those in the middle are ignored or, as Cameron has done, sneered at. This is all a total disaster for David Cameron. Suddenly, he looks about as in touch as Bertie Wooster. If this week’s education debate was an 11-plus exam, Cameron would have failed." - Lowri Turner in the Western Mail

NO RAINBOW

"Labour looks set to finally form a minority government in Wales today after the Liberal Democrats unexpectedly voted to reject plans for a rainbow coalition with the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru. The Liberal Democrats were left in deep disarray after a late-night rejection of the deal on Wednesday. The disagreements have left Wales without a government for nearly three weeks since the election." - Guardian

BROWN'S PLAN TO MAKE CAMERON DO THE "SPLITS"

"The Tory leader has to struggle against the hard Right of Ukip and the BNP as well as the solid presence of the Lib Dems. So Brown will make Cameron do the splits as the Conservatives have to talk Left to get Lib Dem voters and hard Right to stop a few thousand Ukip or BNP votes preventing Tory gains. Cameron's third front - and his biggest challenge - is to reform his party. Blair and Brown invented New Labour; Cameron has to live with old Tories." - Denis Macshane in the Telegraph

LOCALIST REVOLUTION

"The big supermarkets like to present an image of themselves as socially responsible corporate citizens, rather than greedy and arrogant predators. By respecting the result of the vote, Sainsbury's would open a new chapter in the relationship between big business and the public. The Barnes referendum is not just a local issue. If it works, it will inspire communities around the country to follow its example - to take the power to initiate or prevent projects and to use democracy to assert the rights of ordinary people against over-mighty corporations, unaccountable quangos and unelected bureaucrats. Let the revolution begin." - Zac Goldsmith in the Telegraph

THE NEED TO KNOW

"Public bodies should be legally obliged to place in the public domain every piece of physical or electronic information that they generate, unless there are overwhelming reasons of privacy or national security. This would, at a stroke, solve the problems of the current system." - Telegraph leader

"As the interrogators say, we ask the questions. Politicians already volunteer too much vexatious information. Shouldn’t talk of boxer shorts, football allegiance or Arctic Monkeys incur penal-ties? Let them come clean: how much does Gordon Brown pay for his haircuts?" - Times leader

ANOTHER TERRORIST SUSPECT GAFFE

"Conservatives have called the Government to account after three men suspected of being involved in a plot to kill British soldiers, breached their control orders and absconded. As an international search for the suspects got into gear, Shadow Ministers said the latest security blunder was "of the Government's own making", and warned that their failure had put the public at risk." - Conservative Party

LAIDLAW SELLING UP

"Just days after multimillionaire Lord Laidlaw was forced to take leave of absence from the House of Lords — to the embarrassment of David Cameron — the case has taken another unexpected turn. For I can reveal that the 64-year-old Scottish peer, who defied a pledge to give up his tax exile status in Monaco on being ennobled, has put his vast country mansion up for sale." - Richard Kay in the Daily Mail

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

Thursday 24th May 2007

5:30pm update from Nadine Dorries' report of last night's event:

"Iain Dale, king of the online diary, won best Conservative blog, as you would expect. He collected his award with great aplomb, Iain always reminds me of Liberace. When I think of Iain I see him sat behind a piano playing Rhapsody in Blue, maybe it’s the ties, anyway…"

(sorry Iain, we couldn't help ourselves on this one!)

THE PICK OF THE BLOGS (AT ABOUT 4PM EACH DAY)

In a new weekday feature for ConservativeHome we highlight the best posts on today's blogs:

• Dizzy is unimpressed that the taxpayer is buying PlayStations for prisoners
• David Cameron has written for WebCameron about shadowing a police officer in Mid-Wales
• UK Polling Report analyses the 2% Tory lead in today's ICM poll
• The TaxPayers' Alliance notes voter disappointment at little improvement in the public services
• Little and Large note that Angus Robertson MP is the SNP's new leader at Westminster
• Open Europe does not have faith in the EU 's ability to tackle climate change
• Australia's Andrew Bolt (a must-read blog) reports some good news from Iraq
• Congestion charging and wheelie bin taxes are exercising Burning Our Money's Mike Denham
• On 18DoughtyStreet.com, David Trimble offers his thoughts on grammar schools

***
2pm: See the video update on the ToryDiary thread about the blog awards for several snippets of opinions from some of the winners and also from some familiar names to those who read the comments on ConservativeHome.

Noon updates:

• YourPlatform: Chris Skidmore, Nick Cuff and Charlotte Leslie summarise a Bow Group report out tomorrow detailing how many children aren't counted in education league tables
• ToryDiary: David Maclean's defence
• PlayPolitical: Mitt Romney's latest ad

10:30am ToryDiary: Tory bicycles

Charles Elphicke on YourPlatform: Gordon Brown - from Sherriff of Nottingham to King of Inequality

ToryDiary:

• ICM shows Tories down to 34%
• Blog winners 2007
• K&C Tories join wider Conservative campaigning to save small shops

BritainAndAmerica: When terrorism hits close to home

TRIPLE CROWN COALITION FOR WALES COLLAPSES

The Western Mail is reporting that splits in the Welsh LibDems have sunk the prospect of a Plaid-Tory-LibDem administration in Cardiff.  Plaid's leader has reacted furiously - accusing the LibDems of showing "contempt" for the people of Wales.

>>> Last week's ToryDiary on the prospects for a rainbow coalition.

CCHQ MEMO IDENTIFIES LIBDEMS AS BIGGEST THREAT TO TORY VICTORY

"The Tories’ biggest threat is not from UKIP or the BNP but the Liberal Democrats, according to secret research presented to the party’s front bench last month and leaked to The Times.  The polling also showed that voters are clearer about what they like and dislike about Mr Cameron than Gordon Brown and that Tory voters are much more positive about the Conservatives than the party’s activists." - Times

DAY NINE OF GRAMMARSGATE

Major Tory donors unhappy at grammar schools policy - Daily Mail

"Mr Cameron's parliamentary Tory Party illustrates the point.  In the previous generation, there was a preponderance of grammar school-educated luminaries such as Ted Heath, Margaret Thatcher and Norman Tebbit.  Mr Cameron's Shadow Cabinet, by contrast, is bulging with privatelyeducated types, not because he is biased in their favour (one assumes) but because the path for clever, relatively humbly born children has been at least partly closed off.  Our society - incredible thought - has become less meritocratic over the past 20 or 30 years, largely as a result of the virtual disappearance of grammar schools." - Stephen Glover in the Daily Mail

"The main attraction of grammars and other selective or specialist schools to aspirational parents is not that they will introduce their children to chess grandmasters or future Gielguds and Beckhams. It is that any selection process, no matter how arbitrary, will help to keep their children away from the bullies, shirkers and criminals who sabotage learning in many comprehensive schools." - Anatole Kaletsky in The Times

"A Conservative government is likely to drop national tests for 14-year-olds in favour of more teacher assessment in the classroom, it has emerged." - The Guardian

Tamzin Lightwater's take - Spectator

MACLEAN BIDS TO SAVE HIS FOI AMENDMENT BILL

"The Tory MP seeking to exempt MPs from the Freedom of Information Act today moved to change his private member's bill in an attempt to save it from defeat in the House of Lords.  Former chief whip David Maclean said he had put down an amendment guaranteeing that details of MPs' expenses and allowances would continue to be published." - The Guardian

NUCLEAR POWER

A leader in The Telegraph concludes that Labour has waited a dangerously long time before taking the nuclear option.

The Sun Says: "Either we launch a long overdue programme for new nuclear plants.  Or risk shivering around the hearth while burning the furniture to warm a kettle."

Mark Field MP makes the case for nuclear power on his website.

ConservativeHome asks David Cameron about his views on nuclear power.

THE PEN OF QUENTIN LETTS TARGETS YVETTE COOPER

"Mrs Balls (that is, Miss Cooper, supposedly promoted to her high position on ability rather than oldfashioned, corrupt, 18th-century style featherbedding) is the minister responsible for the Home Information Packs which are in such disarray.  Tuesday saw her policy exposed badly, with Mrs Balls/Miss Cooper assailed in the House and in the Press.  In any truly egalitarian country, she would have been sacked. Placed in the sharp end of a catapult and sent flying over the battlements.  But the Brown Labour party is no meritocracy. Yvette is "family". Yvette is safe." - Daily Mail

LABOUR'S DEPUTY LEADERSHIP RACE

"Is there a Mr Blears? Is he actually called Blears? Is he tiny too? Do they go tap-dancing together? What’s his career? Is he even a member of the Labour Party? ... We’ve heard of Jack Dromey, Harriet Harman’s trade-unionist husband, but what of Mrs Hain? Is she orange too? What colour are their children?" - Matthew Parris in The Times

Lord Levy to quit envoy role when Blair stands down as PM - The Independent

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

Wednesday 23rd May 2007

11pm ToryDiary: ICM puts Tories on 34%

6pm BritainAndAmerica: Al Gore's widescreen hypocrisy

2pm ToryDiary: No longer The Torygraph?

12.45pm ToryDiary: PMQs review

Noon PlayPolitical: Wheezing Hillary and Heritage Foundation on US immigration

Noon ToryDiary: Charles Walker MP calls for a strategy to defeat the far-left BNP

11:30am ToryDiary: Tonight's event

ToryDiary: Back to the "And theory" folks

YourPlatform: John Moss argues that politicians and commentators have missed the point on the grammar schools debate

Iain Dale is seeking your nominations for the most incompetent Labour minister.

GRAMMAR SCHOOLS DEBATE

"David Cameron pledged to introduce American-style charter schools across the country as he argued he was showing "leadership" by refusing to back down in the face of a Tory revolt over grammar schools." - Telegraph

"The Conservatives may have a policy on grammar schools - one that most of their grass-roots supporters vigorously oppose - but the party's stance on education generally remains remarkably vague." - Telegraph

"Whether it comes from a City academy, from Eton or a comprehensive, the Tory leader's school report at the end of this summer term would be the same: Could do better." - Allison Pearson in the Daily Mail

"...All Cameron could do was stupidly kick his core supporters in the teeth. I doubt whether he would have done that had he gone to a grammar school rather than Eton." - Bernard Ingham in the Yorkshire Post

Grassroots' - and Tebbit's - concern over grammar school policy - Daily Mail

GORDON BROWN THE EUROPHILE - Dan Hannan in the Telegraph

CAMERON SEEKS ACTION ON IRAN

"The Conservative leader urged the Government to mobilise the United Nations Security Council and the European Union to impose tougher sanctions on Teheran." - Telegraph

CAMERON URGES PEERS TO OPPOSE MACLEAN'S FOI BILL

"The Tory leader said he wanted to find a way to protect MPs correspondence but that he could not support the private members' bill, pushed through the Commons last week by former Conservative chief whip David Maclean. " - Guardian

CONSERVATIVES TO GIVE MORE MONEY TO SPORT

"David Cameron has pledged to give more money to sport, if the Conservative Party wins the next general election, by returning the benefits of the National Lottery to its four original good causes." - Times

TORIES BACK IN POWER IN WALES?

"A new era of a rainbow alliance of Plaid, the Conservatives and the Lib-Dems – with Ieuan Wyn Jones as First Minister – is now poised to begin in Cardiff Bay." - Western Mail

TONY BLAIR ON NUCLEAR POWER

"We can meet our carbon dioxide emissions targets, but only if we are willing to think ahead and take tough decisions over new wind farms – and give serious consideration to nuclear power." - Tony Blair in the Times

LORD LAIDLAW TAKES LEAVE OF ABSENCE FROM THE LORDS RATHER THAN PAY TAXES

"Irvine Laidlaw, who has lent the Tories £3.5 million, was made a peer in 2004, promising to end his tax exile in Monaco. But three years on, Lord Laidlaw remains resident in Monaco and outside the UK tax system." - Scotsman

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

Tuesday 22nd May 2007

4.45pm ToryDiary: Government delays introduction of Home Information Packs

3.45pm ToryDiary: Reform - academic selection and school choice can go together

2pm ToryDiary: Time to turn the screw on Iran

11:30am ToryDiary: Conservative Lords to vote against FOI Amendment

ToryDiary: The Tory grassroots have acquired a new confidence during the grammar schools row

YourPlatform: North Warwickshire candidate Dan Byles on his recent polar expedition

Interviews: Any questions for Alan Duncan MP?

Events today: The Conservative Human Rights Commission have hearing on UN reform with a distinguished panel this afternoon, Open Europe are hosting a discussion on Iran post-hostage crisis, and Frank Field will be talking about welfare and pension economics this evening.

EDUCATION DEBATE SHIFTING TO DISCIPLINE AND SPECIALIST SELECTION

"The Conservatives are planning a major policy initiative on pupil discipline as the leadership switches its attention from the row over grammar schools to what it believes are the core concerns of parents and teachers. David Cameron, the party's leader, slapped down critics of his refusal to extend the 11-plus as fantasists who were wasting his time." - Guardian

"Defiant David Cameron last night stoked the Tory civil war over grammar schools by condemning their supporters as “delusional”. The party leader crushed the Tory revolt over grammars by declaring he will never bring them back." - The Sun

"Conservative education policy was at the centre of further dispute last night after the party’s education spokesman called for more selection in secondary schools. Less than a week after triggering a grassroots revolt by arguing against selection and blaming grammar schools for holding back children from poor families, David Willetts said that he wanted to make it easier for specialist schools to select pupils." - Times

"I am proud that my party is now putting in the proper intellectual effort that the crisis of educational underperformance in this country demands. We are serious about standards; serious about discipline; serious about school reform. And nothing will distract me from those vital priorities." - David Cameron in the Times

A self-confessed pushy parent describes the scrum for grammar school places - BBC

"DITCHING POLAR BEARS FOR ESTATE AGENTS"

"Tory housing spokesman Michael Gove has had a rip-roaring time warning of a gross intrusion by the state and demolition of the housing market. John Redwood calls it another "swingeing tax" on homeowners. Caroline Spelman protested at this "very intrusive measure", with assessors who will "actually look at how your house is put together"." - Polly Toynbee in the Guardian

SPEECH ON SPORT TONIGHT

"In particular the sports are interested in knowing whether Cameron will back their calls for action on gambling and ticket-touting and have tabled five questions they hope will be put to him in the Q&A session that follows the speech. The centrepiece of Cameron's policy, shaped by the shadow sports spokesman, Hugh Robertson, who has impressed many in sport with his willingness to listen to their concerns, is to restore lottery funding of sport to its original level of 25% of the total pool." - Guardian

TRADING SHOTS

"The Tory leader condemned Mr Blair for behaving like a pop star while crises piled up during the farewell tour of his final seven weeks in office. Mr Blair hit back by accusing Mr Cameron of "flailing around" to distract attention from Tory divisions, adding: "It's a little bit pathetic." - Scotsman

"Gordon Brown has attacked Tory leader David Cameron at a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party. In his first appearance before Labour MPs during the leadership campaign, he said the grammar schools row showed that Tory policy ideas "unravel"." - BBC

DUNDEE COUNCIL COALITION

"The Conservative group on Dundee City Council have decided to support the Labour- Liberal Democrat coalition, making it virtually certain the SNP will again be frozen out of power despite being the largest single party. An announcement last night by Tory group leader Rod Wallace ended more than a fortnight of behind-the-scenes manoeuvring by all the political parties on the council." - Courier

More soon (The Telegraph website is has been attacked by hackers!)...

Monday 21st May 2007

6pm: Watlington believes Cameron needs a Tebbit/Prescott figure to help connect with the party membership:

"The Grammar school row is a catalyst for all the scepticism that has been building up for months, in some sections of the party about the nature and breadth of Cameroonism. Whilst many have been willing to bite their tongues as the poll lead widened and Cameron continued to make waves, there will always be a limit - and it is that limit which was reached last week."

5.30pm ToryDiary: A more accountable ConservativeHome

12.45pm ToryDiary: Stopping grassroots-leadership tensions going nuclear - press conference video

12.15pm ToryDiary: David Cameron's press conference

11.45am ToryDiary: "The Cutty Sark will rise again" says Ed Vaizey

ToryDiary: Day six of the grammar school row and Labour minister wants 'Britons first' in housing queue

Platform: James McConalogue - Why Gordon Brown will need more than Balls to reform Europe

Shadow Secretary of State for Education David Willetts promises to answer your questions about his and David Cameron's controversial grammar schools policy. Click here to submit your question.

BLOG OF THE WEEK

This week's blog of the week is that of the Cornerstone Group of socially conservative, Eurosceptic and small government Conservative MPs.  Click here for the blog and here for the recent thread on ToryDiary that discussed Cornerstone.

THINK LOCAL

The Centre for Policy Studies, Direct Democracy and The Daily Telegraph are joining forces to publish six papers based on the localist idea of returning power to the people.  It's all happening via this new page on The Telegraph website.  The papers will focus upon constitutional reform, educational choice, local ownership of the environment, community involvement in crime-fighting, welfare delivery, and, finally, foreign policy.

CAMERON TO CALL FOR BLAIR TO GO NOW

"The Tory leader will criticise the paralysis in the Government caused by the Prime Minister's "long goodbye". At a London press conference, he will say Gordon Brown, who will succeed Mr Blair, should take over sooner rather than later." - Independent

FALLOUT OVER GRAMMAR SCHOOLS POLICY

"David Cameron faces ministerial resignations if he refuses to back down over ditching the Tories' traditional support of grammar schools." - Daily Mail

"David Cameron was facing the greatest test of his leadership last night as it emerged his contentious grammar schools policy is facing opposition from Michael Howard, his predecessor, and key figures in the shadow cabinet.David Davis, the shadow home secretary, and Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary - both candidates in the party's most recent leadership contest - have privately expressed misgivings about the way the policy has been handled." - Telegraph

"Mr Cameron was right to go to the aid of [David Willetts] who was taking a line which he himself had cleared. But they were both wrong to take it. There was no need to mention grammar schools." - Bruce Anderson in the Independent

             >>>ToryDiary: day six of the grammar school row

BILL TO EXEMPT MPs FROM FOI BILL

"The House of Lords is preparing to block the controversial attempt by MPs to exempt themselves from Freedom of Information laws. Peers are already plotting how best to derail a bill passed by the Commons on Friday that would exclude Parliament from the rules." - Telegraph

AFTER BLAIR

Poll shows public's damning assessment of the Blair/Brown years - FT

"Labour is preparing to contact tens of thousands of former members who left under Tony Blair to invite them to rejoin the party now that he is leaving office." - Times

"The sort of people who are promoting Ms Harman probably think that vacuous is something unfortunate that sometimes occurs to the veins in the legs as one gets older." - Tim Hames in the Times

"Gordon Brown plans to make the winner of Labour's deputy leadership election his Deputy Prime Minister to reassure party members that they enjoy clout inside the Government." - Independent

CAMERON LOSES HIS "LUCKY" GREEN TIE - Independent

We did find a few occasions to stop talking about grammar schools over the weekend (but not many)!  The Carlton Club's continuing ban on full membership for women members was the only ToryDiary topic for FA Cup Final Saturday but YourPlatform hosted a lively debate initiated by  former teacher Mike Stallard: Secondary Moderns weren't all that bad.  David T Breaker defended the Scottish Conservatives' elections performance yesterday and ConservativeHome had to defend itself from Tamzin Lightwater journalist Melissa Kite who had a go at 'Tory blogger boys' in The Sunday Telegraph.

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

Sunday 20th May 2007

Early evening on BritainAndAmerica: Growth is beautiful and A no-fly zone for Darfur should be Bush and Blair's last act

1pm ToryDiary: More Labour propaganda at your expense

Noon ToryDiary: Cameron wants 'grammar streams' in every school

Nadine Dorries MP has blogged about grammars here.

ToryDiary: Melissa Kite won't be the last journalist to be scrutinised by the blogs

David T Breaker on YourPlatform: The Scottish election results weren't such a disaster

THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPERS GET THEIR CHANCE TO REVIEW THE GRAMMAR SCHOOLS DEBATE

"Why I described the debate about bringing back grammar schools as pointless" - David Cameron writes for the Mail on Sunday

"Former Tory leader Michael Howard has attacked David Cameron's 'outrageous' decision to drop the party's long- standing commitment to grammar schools. Mr Howard, a former grammar school pupil, angrily phoned Mr Cameron's office to protest after he learned of the U-turn.  He was only talked out of denouncing Mr Cameron in public after panicking Tory chiefs warned him it would be an act of treachery." - Mail on Sunday

>>> ConservativeHome had an early version of this story on Friday

Sunday Telegraph interview with David Willetts

David Davis, Cheryl Gillan and David Lidington were among frontbenchers to have misgivings about last week's grammar schools debate - Sunday Telegraph

"At a time when, after the local elections, Tory tails are up, the leadership has picked an unnecessary fight with its own supporters. The failure by Team Cameron to properly think through the situation, to cover all the angles in advance, has resulted in a thoughtful speech being portrayed as merely an attack on grammar schools.  Further, the lack of consultation on such a sensitive policy change suggests little concern for core Conservatives. There is now an urgent need for wiser counsel to supplement the enthusiasm of the youthful advisers around Cameron." - Sunday Telegraph leader

YOU PAID FOR DAVID MACLEAN'S £3,300 QUAD BIKE

"The campaign by MPs to exclude themselves from freedom of information laws is headed by a Tory philanderer who bought a £3,300 quad bike on parliamentary expenses.  David Maclean, the author of new legislation limiting voters' rights to know about their MP's pay and perks, has admitted that his top-of-the-range 250cc all-terrain vehicle was paid for out of taxpayer-funded allowances.  Mr Maclean is separated from his wife Jay and has had a series of extramarital affairs." - Mail on Sunday

"The Conservative MP behind moves to exempt MPs from freedom of information legislation bought a £3,300 quad bike on parliamentary expenses.  David Maclean, the author of a private member’s bill to restricting voters’ rights to details of individual MPs’ pay and allowances, was granted permission by the Commons authorities to charge his top of the range all-terrain vehicle to taxpayers.  Maclean, a former Tory chief whip, has multiple sclerosis and argues that it is the most efficient way of getting round parts of his rural constituency. But the disclosure that he was able to claim the 250cc bike on expenses will fuel the row over his new legislation, which was voted through by MPs last week." - Sunday Times

The Observer speculates that the Lords are prepared to be much less secretive than the Commons about their taxpayer-funded spending on taxis, trains and flights.

>>> See Friday's ToryDiary thread on the FOI Amendment Bill

HOME INFORMATION PACKS

"The true cost of Home Information Packs (HIPs) will be massively more than the Government's estimate, according to research... In reality, the packs will cost home owners at least £337 million a year more than any savings they encourage, the researchers calculate. The difference is four times what the Government estimated and represents a total cost to the country of £4.7 billion by 2020... Michael Gove, the shadow housing minister, said: "This report adds to the growing body of expert opinion that shows the Government's handling of HIPs has been chaotic."" - Sunday Telegraph

Michael Portillo uses his Sunday Times column to write that HIPs are just one indication of the meddlesome Brown.

TODAY'S MUST READ COMMENT PIECE...

"Opera singers bouncing about in their underpants are no substitute for a radical programme for political change, which the Labour left has proved doesn't exist any more." - Nick Cohen in The Observer on the last rites for a serious Labour left.

OTHER NEWSLINKS

The Independent on Sunday lists the Etonians within Team Cameron.

"Gordon Brown is to face down sceptics in his party and give the go-ahead for a new generation of nuclear power stations, which will be built across the country." - Observer

"Education Secretary Alan Johnson is heading for a showdown with Gordon Brown over his refusal to guarantee that the winner of Labour's deputy leadership contest will be Deputy Prime Minister." - Mail on Sunday

The Sunday Times reviews Labour MP Fiona Jones's sad journey from alcoholism to an early death.

Paul Wolfowitz’s departure from the World Bank signals the end of an ideological era in Washington - Sunday Times

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

Saturday 19th May 2007

ToryDiary: Women to remain half-members at the Carlton Club

YourPlatform: Teacher Mike Stallard argues that successful Secondary Moderns shouldn't be overlooked

ENVIRONMENT TO DOMINATE POLICY BLIZZARD

"David Cameron will put the environment at the heart of a two million-word policy blitz to be launched next month to prevent Gordon Brown dominating the political agenda when he becomes Prime Minister. The environment has emerged as the key battleground between the two leaders as they prepare to go head to head when Tony Blair finally steps down on June 27." - Telegraph

WELSH LABOUR OFFER LIBDEMS DRAFT AGREEMENT

"Rhodri Morgan last night insisted that a rainbow coalition of Plaid Cymru, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats would have no legitimacy. And he made it clear that he wasn’t ready to give up his fight to remain First Minister." - Western Mail

TELEGRAPH NOT DROPPING THE DEBATE

"David Cameron yesterday rounded on supporters of grammar schools, accusing them of engaging in a "pointless" debate. Many backbench Tory MPs are in favour of grammar schools." - Telegraph

"The Conservative leader told party critics that a pledge to build more selective institutions would be an 'electoral albatross' and accused them of 'splashing around in the shallow end' of the education debate." - Daily Mail

>>> Yesterday's ToryDiary covered the remarks to the Evening Standard

"Not only are grammar schools brilliant, but they also have a permanent place in the hearts of Tory voters. Tories believe in "getting on". Grammar schools are the best way ever invented of "getting on". They have, for generations of clever children whose fathers (unlike Dave's) were not stockbrokers, provided the ladder to prosperity and success." - Simon Heffer in the Telegraph

"We have a party run by a leader with the most privileged background since Alec Douglas-Home. He is seeking to deny children from the same sort of working-class background as mine the chance to go to a school where the brightest and hardest-working can flourish. The justification wheeled out by Willetts was a convoluted theory that children entitled to free school dinners never made it to grammars, which therefore exacerbated the inequality of a selective system. Honestly, they are clueless. Absolutely clueless. The well heeled denizens of the Notting Hill set who dreamt up this sentimental rubbish need to move into the real world." - Andrew Pierce in the Telegraph

"There is no need to use the term "grammar school", but education reform must rediscover the lost truth that bright children taught alongside other bright children do better - and can thus escape the narrow confines of their background. Mr Willetts has revealed disappointingly vague thinking on a matter of crucial importance. Where is the promised policy? The Tories have not done their homework. They must go straight back up to their room and get down to it." - Telegraph leader

EU CONSTITUTION IS BEING RECYCLED

"In 2005, there were several referendums on the Continent on the proposed treaty to create a European Constitution. France and Holland voted No. Tony Blair, who supported the new constitution, nevertheless said: "What you cannot do is have a situation where you get a rejection of the treaty and bring it back with a few amendments and say, 'Have another go.' You cannot do that." I'm afraid you can, and they are, and Mr Blair doesn't mind." - Charles Moore in the Telegraph

TORY FOOTHOLD IN OXFORD

"Two Liberal Democrat councillors have switched allegiances to become the first Conservatives on Oxford City Council for five years. Councillors Tia MacGregor, Quarry and Risinghurst, and Paul Sargent, Carfax, officially switched parties to the Conservatives on Friday. Their former colleagues have said they should resign their seats." - BBC

LORDS TO DEFEAT HIPS

"Ministers are facing fresh turmoil over the introduction of home information packs for house sellers, amid indications that Tory and Lib Dem peers will lead a successful revolt against the measure next Tuesday in the Lords. Lady Scott, the Lib Dem spokesperson for local government in the Lords, said the Lib Dems would vote for the Tory motion calling for Hips to be scrapped." - Guardian

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

Friday 18th May 2007

6pm BritainAndAmerica update: Harrygate increases US concerns about British military

WebCameron: "For the future, I’m looking forward to debating Gordon Brown.  In the Conservative leadership election, we had a series of TV debates, and they showed that they work, they can address serious policy issues, and that they’re genuinely informative.  I said at the time that we should have these debates between the main party leaders before a general election, and I hope in the next few days Gordon Brown will make clear that once he’s actually the Labour leader and Prime Minister, he’ll take part in proper TV debates that could really help bring politics to life."

4.15pm ToryDiary: Does the Conservative Party have a Clause IV?

2.30pm ToryDiary: FOI Amendment Bill debated in the Commons

1.30pm ToryDiary: Triple crown of Plaid, Tories and LibDems set to govern Wales

Noon ToryDiary: Heffer spikes Michael Howard's grammar schools article

10.30am Interviews: Theresa May answers your questions

ToryDiary: Is Mrs T the greatest living Briton?

Seats and Candidates: Phil Willis to quit Harrogate seat

YourPlatform: John Howell warns of the rise of the Greens

POTENTIAL POWER IN WALES

"The Welsh Liberal Democrats have suspended talks with Labour, in order to pursue a power-broking deal with Plaid Cymru and the Conservatives. The party said it was looking at forming a "robust" government for Wales after its AMs met on Thursday night." - BBC

EXISTING GRAMMARS TO BE PROTECTED

"A YouGov poll for The Daily Telegraph has revealed that seven out of 10 Tory voters support selective education. More than twice as many voters - and five times as many Conservative supporters - back an education system based around grammar schools than any other single option." - Telegraph

"David Willetts has been forced to signal that he will do more to protect grammar schools less than a day after blaming them for holding back bright children from poorer families." - Times

"David Cameron has sought to head off a Tory revolt over his policy on grammar schools. He proposed a compromise that would protect existing selective institutions. The move came amid growing dissent in the Tory ranks over his abandonment of the party's traditional support for academic selection." - Daily Mail

CON GAIN IN BURY, KIND OF

"The Conservatives have taken leadership control of Bury council for the first time in 21 years - thanks to the Liberal Democrats. The Tories became the largest party on the council at the May 3 local elections, after taking a seat from Labour. The party now holds 23 seats, with Labour on 20 and the Lib Dems on eight. The result meant the council remained in no overall control. But at the council's annual general meeting, the Lib Dems abstained from voting on a Labour bid to remain in power." - Manchester Evening News

BROWN GIVES CAMERON MORE WIGGLE ROOM

"Last year, it was all about how much the Tory party itself had changed: green, fluffy, caring, public-service supporting and a friend to women, gays and ethnic minorities. This year, it is all about how the Conservatives want to change the country, and there will be a slew of new policies in the autumn to illustrate this. The mood at the top of the party is buoyant. The Tories feel they have much more room for manoeuvre." - Mary Ann Sieghart in the Times

"David Cameron is planning to unleash a policy blitz within weeks to prevent Gordon Brown dominating the political scene after he becomes prime minister. Conservative strategists are examining hundreds of proposals by the party's policy groups ready to release a "blizzard of ideas" when Mr Brown takes power." - Independent

POLICE SHOULD BVE STREET-CORNER DIPLOMATS

"Police should be "street-corner diplomats" and use their discretion in tackling crime, the Conservative leader, David Cameron, told leaders of rank and file officers yesterday. But he said they are currently "agents of Whitehall", burdened with Home Office performance targets and bureaucracy. Mr Cameron denied that he was soft on crime and said he did not expect anyone to "hug a hoodie"." - Telegraph

>>> Yesterday's ToryDiary covered the speech

INCOME GAP SAME AS UNDER THATCHER

"Labour's decade in power has failed to reverse the surge in inequality under Margaret Thatcher and Gordon Brown's policies to support the less well-off are failing to prevent the gap between rich and poor widening again, official figures showed yesterday. The snapshot of the impact of taxes and benefits on households showed that the trend for those on the highest incomes to receive the biggest pay rises was outweighing the impact of tax credits, the minimum wage and extra spending on schools, hospitals and welfare benefits." - Guardian

FORMER SPOKESMAN LEAVES SCOTTISH SHADOW MINISTERIAL TEAM

"Senior Tory Margaret Mitchell has dropped out of the party's minister shadow ministerial team. She had been the party's justice spokeswoman prior to the last election, but is the only MSP in its 16-strong group in Parliament who will not have a shadow brief." - Scotsman

LAB-CON COUNCIL ALLIANCE

"Labour and Conservative councillors last night agreed an unlikely alliance to form the administration for a Scottish council. It is believed to be the first time in recent memory that Labour and the Conservatives have formed a two-party coalition. East Dunbartonshire Council will be a Labour-Tory coalition with Labour's Rhondda Geekie as leader and the Tories' Billy Hendry as deputy." - The Herald

CAMERON'S BROTHER

"Owing to a clerical cock-up, Alex Cameron QC - a connected criminal barrister who is married to the cousin of chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, and who represented Jeffrey Archer and Jonathan Aitken in their perjury trials - finds himself elected as the chairman, the secretary, the treasurer and the clerk of Peasemore Parish Council, near Newbury, Berkshire" - Independent Pandora

KEEP THE RELATIONSHIP SPECIAL

"The end of the Bush/Blair affair might find the special relationship in a parlous state, but no British government, not even one headed by the pacifist-minded Gordon Brown, can ignore the fact that Britain, at the very least, relies heavily on America for its defence and security needs. " - Con Coughlin in the Telegraph

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Thursday 17th May 2007

4.50pm PlayPolitical: The Heritage Foundation assess Blair's ten years in power

4pm ToryDiary: Cameron attacks the bring-backery of The Telegraph

"The Conservatives have seized control of Preston City Council.  Coun Ken Hudson is the new leader of the authority - the first Tory to hold the position for 26 years.  He won a vote at the Town Hall on Thursday to oust Labour's John Collins from the hotseat." - Lancashire Evening Post

1pm Comment from the TaxPayers' Alliance: "As part of our expansion, the TaxPayers' Alliance is also revamping its communications effort. In preparation for this, we would like to invite as many of our supporters as possible – especially if you are reading this on ConservativeHome – to take part in a short, 5 minute online survey to tell us what you think about the current TPA website and to let us know what you would like to see in the new one. You can take part in the survey here."

12.15pm ToryDiary: David Cameron's message to the Police Federation

11.30am ToryDiary: Who should Cameron visit next?

11.30am BritainAndAmerica: Jerry Falwell's mixed but democratic legacy

ToryDiary: CCHQ was worried that they'd struggle to win headlines during the early days of Brown's leadership campaign

YourPlatform: Peter Cuthbertson argue the case for Frank Field being Work and Pensions Secretary under a Conservative government

CONTINUED COMMENTARY ON GRAMMAR SCHOOLS SPEECH

"Mr Willetts is a likeable, clever, product of a direct-grant school, who has sent his two children to highly selective private schools. He can't have been making a mistake when he made his speech yesterday. He must have known it would horrify the majority of his party. He has alienated just about every middle-class parent by saying that he disapproves of aspiration (except when it comes to his own children)." - Alice Thomson in the Telegraph

"Change for its own sake is bad enough: change that undermines one of the party's supposed goals, of what it (using Left-wing rhetoric) calls "social mobility" is simply absurd. David Willetts seemed to encapsulate this absurdity in one defence of his party's volte-face, saying he favoured a type of school where more of the pupils received free school meals." - Simon Heffer in the Telegraph

"Grammar schools are admirable, but they are not a magic bullet, and the whole discussion is a distraction from the overwhelming need to help the majority. We need to give teachers more autonomy, more power to discipline, and to liberate them and their pupils from the drudgery of over-testing. We need whole-class teaching, and we need to insist that all pupils are taught to read by synthetic phonics, so that we end the disgrace whereby 44 per cent leave primary school either illiterate or innumerate." - Boris Johnson in the Telegraph

"Tycoon Sir Peter Lampl has backed the Tories’ U-turn on grammar schools – even though he went to one himself and became a multi-millionaire. After going from a council estate primary school to Oxford University, he has since spent more than £20million of his fortune helping bright youngsters from poorer backgrounds get into Britain’s best schools and universities." - The Sun

"Grammar schools were a brilliant idea that still offer the best state education available. But no political party is going to bring them back. Instead of yet another classroom revolution, the Tories think Labour’s city academies are worth a look. They rule out arbitrary selection but promise a long overdue emphasis on excellence. Anything’s better than bog-standard comprehensives churning out an "unemployable army", as teachers claim." - Sun Says

"Mr. Willetts is right about the different life chances children have as a consequence of their respective family backgrounds — how could it be otherwise? No schools, selective or otherwise, have ever served the underclass well. But all the more reason, then, for a radical overhaul of the primary-school system, especially in deprived areas, and to give those poorer pupils who have academic potential the chance to escape the cycle of deprivation through world-class, state-subsidised education." - Spectator online

"What is politically significant about the jettisoning of academic selection as a Conservative education principle is that it follows the example set by New Labour. Tony Blair understood that the grammar school debate was unwinnable. His solution was to make it clear he would allow those already in place to continue running in a small parallel system while the Government focused on the bigger picture." - James Reed in the Yorkshire Post

"Supporters of grammar schools in Merseyside have reacted with “utter dismay” to plans by the Conservative Party to abandon selective education. Parents across the region are being urged to write to Tory leader David Cameron to protect grammar schools, amid fears existing schools could be transformed into “all-ability” academies." - Liverpool Daily Post

The Independent has a guide to the decision.

The Telegraph has an audio response by Willetts and a guide to the educations of the Shadow Cabinet.

HIP SCHEME UNDEFEATED

"The Conservatives have failed in their bid to force the government to overturn plans for a controversial home information pack (Hip), with MPs voting to retain the legislation. A motion to have the packs scrapped ahead of their proposed introduction on June 1 was defated by 306 to 234, giving the government a majority of 72 over the Tories." - Guardian

A & E CLOSURES

"Nearly half of all accident and emergency units in England are threatened with closure as a result of Government reforms, it was claimed. Ninety-two departments out of 204 could be closed or severely downgraded if the Health Service follows guidance that they should cover a catchment area of at least 450,000 people, the Tories said." - Mail

"A government minister described the Conservatives' claim that nearly half of accident and emergency departments will be axed as "deeply irresponsible" and "scaremongering"." - Ananova

WEBCAMERON WOES

"The Conservatives were forced to apologise last night after it emerged that a forum discussing the "sexiest female MP" had been left on David Cameron's website for three days.Users of webcameron.org.uk made unflattering remarks about Labour MPs and debated the qualities of politicians including local government secretary Ruth Kelly and Lib Dem MP Sarah Teather, apparently unnoticed by Conservative party monitors." - Guardian

CAMERON'S TIME WITH THE REHMANS

"How does it feel, being an extra in a David Cameron film? It was hard to say, looking at the huskies, but his latest bunch of extras, the Rehman family from Birmingham, showed every sign of enjoying their bit-parts in his new fact-finding special, My Stay in Balsall Heath, filmed last week after Cameron decided to leave Westminster for the provinces, in search of "a proper understanding of what's going on"." - Catherine Bennett in the Guardian

TRUE COSTS OF FREE BANKING

"Andrew Tyrie, the backbench Tory MP who has been a perpetual thorn in the side of the Government over the cash-for-honours affair, has a new target: banks. In a paper for the Centre for Policy Studies today, he proposes that the banks should be compelled to provide every account-holder with an itemised statement showing all charges, both explicit and hidden." - Times

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Wednesday 16th May 2007

8.30pm ToryDiary: Willetts' rebuttal to the CPS

8pm: "Southampton City Council will be run by the conservatives, it was decided today. The shock decision means the tories will run the authority for rthe first time in 23 years. The drama unfolded as councillors gathered to elect a new leader at the Civic Centre this afternoon. Liberal Democrat councillor Nora Goss split with her party to prevent a Labour administration being formed on the casting vote of the new Labour mayor." - Southern Daily Echo

7.30pm ToryDiary: 1922 meeting goes badly for David Willetts

6.30pm ToryDiary: Gordon Brown almost certain to be unopposed

5pm YourPlatform: Mark Field MP argues that the problem with grammar schools is that there aren't enough of them

5pm BritainAndAmerica: Joseph Loconte reviews Radio 4's series on Anti-Americanism

3:30pm ToryDiary: David Willetts to ConservativeHome readers - The headlines don't tell the full story

>>> Conservatives fail to abolish Home Information Packs in Commons (Guardian)

3pm ToryDiary: Grammar schools policy is "unforgivable" and "bleak moment" for Conservative Party

12.45pm ToryDiary: PMQs - Prescott's last stand?

12.00pm ToryDiary: David Cameron works as a classroom assistant

11.15am BritainAndAmerica: Use force to prevent a nuclear Iran says John Bolton

ToryDiary: Cameron and Willetts say no to new grammar schools

Seats and Candidates: Tim Archer selected for Poplar & Limehouse

YourPlatform: Dr Andrew Lilico asks if it is time to reconsider opposition to the euro

MOST LIBDEMS WANT MING OUT

"More than a half of Liberal Democrat voters believe that Sir Menzies Campbell should be replaced as party leader as he seeks to assert his authority in face of a squeeze from Labour and the Tories. A new Populus poll for The Times, undertaken over the weekend, highlights the decline in his personal rating after a second year of poor local election results." - Times

"The Lib Dems have not been at such a low ebb in years and the leader’s personal rating is now at a level not witnessed since the traumatic days when Iain Duncan Smith headed the Conservatives." - Times leader

CAMERON IS A SITUATIONALIST

"So the Tory policy chief Oliver Letwin thinks that his party is making “a shift from an econocentric paradigm to a sociocentric paradigm”. What ridiculous language. How does he expect anyone to understand what he is going on about? Surely he realises that the real shift for the Conservatives is from being dispositionalists to being situationalists. Simple enough." - Daniel Finkelstein in the Times

SIGN OF THINGS TO COME?

"Gordon Brown may have talked last week about his putative Government being "more open and more accountable to Parliament", but already he stands accused of breaching basic parliamentary protocol. Launching his leadership campaign last Friday, he rolled up in Enfield Southgate, media circus in tow, without informing the local Tory MP - a courtesy extended by MPs when making official visits to each others' constituencies. "If he didn't take that parliamentary convention seriously, why should we believe he'll do anything else to restore power to Parliament?" blasts David Burrowes, the MP in question." - Telegraph Spy

ELYSEE PALACE STRATEGY

"If Brown concludes that he really is not as effective on television as either Blair or Cameron, there is another option. He can be on TV less often, making sure that his interventions are less frequent but of a higher quality. Like a French president, he can leave it to lower-level surrogates to address the small stuff, reserving his own appearances for the moments that really count." - Jonathan Freedland in the Guardian

TOUGH QUESTIONS FOR DEFENCE MINISTERS

"Before we undertake any more military interventions, in Iran or elsewhere, we need to ask serious questions about our planning for the Iraq war and its aftermath. "The only true wisdom in a general is determined courage," said Napoleon. Two of Britain's most experienced, retired generals have recently displayed such courage in speaking of the Iraq war and the insurgency." - Alan (sic) Mallinson in the Telegraph

HOW NOT TO BUILD COALITIONS

"A council coalition has suffered its first fall-out hours after the Tory group leader was accused of pushing an Independent councillor off his chair. Councillor Dave Paterson has now pulled out of the power-sharing deal between Independents, Scottish Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives in Scottish Borders Council" - Scotsman

FREE SUU KYI

"Three former US Presidents and two former British Prime Ministers have signed a letter to the head of the military regime in Burma calling for the release of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Baroness Thatcher, Sir John Major, and former US Presidents Jimmy Carter, George Bush Sr and Bill Clinton joined 54 other former presidents and prime ministers from countries in all continents in urging Senior General Than Shwe to free the Nobel Laureate from house arrest. Aung San Suu Kyi, who led the National League for Democracy (NLD) to victory in the elections in Burma in 1990, has been under house arrest for more than 11 of the past 17 years. Her current period of house arrest is due to end on 27 May 2007." - Christian Solidarity Worldwide

INTRODUCTORY GUIDE TO ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKING - Guardian

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Tuesday 15th May 2007

3.30pm PlayPolitical: Unspun Gordon Brown visits a school and laughs a lot and Tony Blair shows his common touch playing either...or... on TV

ToryDiary:

• And how do you rate the Conservative Party's out-of Westminster leaders?
• Tory lead trimmed to 4%
• The BBC's champagne socialists

Seats and Candidates: Zac Goldsmith hopes to hold a referendum to oppose a Sainsbury's in Barnes

YourPlatform: John Hayes MP argues that Blair's beginning was his end

CONSERVATIVE TO PRESIDE OVER HOLYROOD

"Tory Alex Fergusson was yesterday voted in as the new Presiding Officer at Holyrood. The Old Etonian MSP beat independent Margo MacDonald by 108 to 20 in a secret ballot. The former farmer, whose biggest Holyrood job to date has been convener of the rural development committee, took over from George Reid." - Daily Record

"Warm praise was paid to Mr Fergusson on his taking the chair by all of the party leaders but it will be interesting to see what they're saying about him in a few months' time. There was lots of talk about his honesty and integrity and although these are absolute prerequisites - one would hope - for the job, he will have much more need of a resolutely independent spirit and an iron will to see him through the arduous days ahead." - Alan Cochrane in the Telegraph

RETURN OF THE ENGLISH VOTES FOR ENGLISH LAWS POLICY

"David Cameron plans to block Scottish MPs from voting on legislation that applies only to England if the Tories win power. The Conservative leader will promise the constitutional changes in the run-up to the next election, the Daily Mail can reveal. If his plans were realised, Gordon Brown and others representing constituencies north of the border would be denied a say on legislation covering areas such as English schools and hospitals." - Daily Mail

PARTY FUNDING TALKS

"Talks begin later between Labour, the Tories and the Lib Dems to try to reach agreement on how parties are funded. Sir Hayden Phillips, who published his review of party funding in March and will chair the talks, said there was "broad agreement" about most issues. But recommendations on capping spending on campaigns and individual donations remained "obstacles", he said." - BBC

WHY IS THE DEPUTY LEADER RACE SO COMPETITIVE?

"Why do so many people want to be deputy leader of the Labour Party? Six candidates are running for a post with no clear job description. One, Jon Cruddas, is emphatically running for the deputy leadership of the party, and not for the deputy premiership. The others may be hoping for some of the extras – without the excesses – that John Prescott acquired through the two roles being combined. Yet there is no constitutional reason for one job to imply the other." - Times leader

MINISTRY OF OLYMPICS

"Plans for a ministry for the 2012 Olympics are under consideration by Gordon Brown, the BBC has learnt. Sports Editor Mihir Bose said Mr Brown, the favourite to succeed Tony Blair, would unveil a sports manifesto during his first 100 days as prime minister. As well as the Olympics, the ministry would cover sports and "wellbeing", in an effort to boost the nation's health." - BBC

MACAVITY'S TRUE COLOURS

"For years, Gordon Brown has been the Macavity of politics, the Mystery Chancellor who was never at the scene of the crime. Now the hidden paw can no longer defy the law. Stripped of his foil and shield - Tony Blair - he is alone, naked before the British public for the first time since Labour came to power. What will the voters make of him?" - Rachel Sylvester in the Telegraph

HELPING THE TPA

The TaxPayers’ Alliance has been flooded with envelopes from activists following a recent campaign appeal and need help from about half a dozen people to count and collate them. If any TPA supporters can spare some time to help the low tax cause at their Westminster offices, they would be really grateful. The TPA will provide all volunteers with a sandwich lunch, a copy of the Bumper Book of Government Waste, and beers in the pub next door to the office when done. Anyone happy to help should email the TPA Campaign Director Blair Gibbs at blair.gibbs@taxpayersalliance.com

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

Monday 14th May 2007

8pm: "Left-wing Labour MP John McDonnell is hoping to challenge Gordon Brown for the Labour leadership. He is the chancellor's only rival after ex-minister Michael Meacher agreed to stand aside as part of the left-wing MPs' agreement to pool their support. Mr Brown says he "welcomes" a contest, but it is still not clear Mr McDonnell will get the backing of 45 Labour MPs which is needed to enter the race." (BBC)

4.15pm ToryDiary: Labour leadership nominations open

3.45pm ToryDiary: A new name for Islamism please?

2.30pm Guardian: - "Fastest rising star in right wing political journalism" - Interview with Fraser Nelson

Noon ToryDiary: Vote now for your favourite Conservative blogs

11.30am ToryDiary: Tagging isn't working

11.20am PlayPolitical: Bill Clinton appears in another Hillary ad

ToryDiary: By sixteen-to-one Tory members think Brown will be a less effective leader than Blair

                    >>>CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO<<<

Interviews: Any questions for Sam Coates?

CF Diary: Summer opportunities in the USA

YourPlatform: Lee Scott MP: Autistic children need the right education provision

BritainAndAmerica: The UN Fails the people of Zimbabwe

HOWARD SHOWS THE WORLD THE WAY ON ZIMBABWE - Telegraph leader 

PlayPolitical: Innovative new US campaign ad: Bill Richardson's job interview

CALL FOR MPs TO HAVE THE FINAL SAY ON WAR

"William Hague challenged Gordon Brown last night to "match his rhetoric with action" by backing a Tory call for Parliament to have the final say on sending British troops to war." - Telegraph

TORIES EXPOSE RISE IN TAGGING CRIMES

"Grant Shapps says one in 40 tagged offenders committed a crime when the project started in 1999, but by 2006 that had jumped to one in nine." - BBC News Online

SCOTLAND

Would a Conservative split help the Scottish Tories? - Herald

Scottish Parliament to elect a Conservative presiding officer - BBC News Online

ARE LABOUR BACKING MACLEANS "PRIVACY FOR MPs" BILL? - Independent

BROWN TO FIGHT CONSERVATIVES ON HEALTH

"Labour will place health back at the centre of its battle with the Tories, Gordon Brown signalled yesterday, as he promised initiatives to win back the confidence of patients and NHS staff." - Guardian

Brown wants doctors to work patient friendly hours - Telegraph

Brown needs to forget his habits as chancellor - Janet Daley in the Telegraph

LABOUR DEPUTY LEADERSHIP

Rivals attack the UK's relationship with the US - Guardian

Benn struggling for nomination votes - Telegraph

UNIONS EYE UP LABOUR LEADERSHIP CONCESSIONS - FT

WELSH ELECTIONS

Plaid calls for Morgan to step aside if he can't get a deal - Western Mail

Welcome to this new feature - every Monday we'll highlight a few of the blog posts that you may have missed if (like a third of ConservativeHomies) you don't read the site on Saturdays and Sundays.

Over this weekend, one of ConservativeHome's campaigns - the need to address the cost of being a candidate - ignited again. On the Seats and candidates blog we highlighted some thoughts from Conservative candidate Marcus Wood and strong opinions flowed.  The main stories on ToryDiary were the launch of a new blog by Cornerstone and David Cameron's suggestion that we stop using the term Islamism to describe the terrorism that we saw on 9/11 and 7/7 (of which more later on ToryDiary).  On YourPlatform, Dutch Christian Democrat Peter Noordhoek, a ConservativeHome regular, reflected on last week's election results from French and Dutch perspectives.

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

Sunday 13th May 2007

8.45pm ToryDiary: Members still rate David Davis most highly

ToryDiary: Voters want Brown to cut immigration and bring troops home and Cameron wants to stop using Islamic and Islamist to describe the terrorist threat we face

Neil Wilson on YourPlatform: Truant youths are as visible as ever on the streets of Liverpool

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH WELCOMES THE SUBSTANCE OF OLIVER LETWIN'S SOCIO-CENTRIC SPEECH

"His speech, however, made a profound point. It was that the state cannot solve our problems for us: the best it can do is to help us to solve them ourselves. When politicians intervene and use the colossal power of the government to try to make people richer or more productive, it rarely has the desired effect. Usually, the result is simply waste on a gigantic scale and the diminution of wealth and prosperity. More insidiously, by relying on the state to do things for us, we lose the ability to do them for ourselves." - ST Leader

WILLIAM HAGUE TO LEAD TORY CALL FOR PARLIAMENT TO AUTHORISE OVERSEAS DEPLOYMENT OF BRITISH TROOPS - Sunday Telegraph

TOOTING PPC MARK CLARKE WANTS TO PUT NEIGHBOURLINESS AT THE HEART OF THE FIGHT ON POVERTY - Sunday Telegraph

PHOTO OF DAVID CAMERON SMOKING A JOINT (AND OTHER SPOOF PICTURES) - Mail on Sunday

Not a very good scan below...

PETER STRINGFELLOW IS THE LATEST HIGHLY SPECULATIVE CANDIDATE FOR LONDON MAYOR - Sunday Express

SNP-TORY DEAL IN SCOTTISH COUNCIL - Edinburgh Evening News

MICHAEL HOWARD CLASHES WITH ALISTAIR CAMPBELL ON NEWSNIGHT

Watch ConservativeHome's Going Down With Gordon Brown video.

BROWN PLANS 100,000 ECO HOMES

"Gordon Brown will attempt to trump David Cameron on green issues by announcing that he will create five new environmentally friendly towns when he becomes prime minister.  The chancellor, now certain to succeed Tony Blair and enter No 10 on June 27, will tomorrow set out his plan to build 100,000 houses in the five eco-towns, likely to be dubbed 'Brown towns'." - Sunday Times

CCHQ are unimpressed and issued this press statement last night:

"Commenting on Gordon Brown's re-announcement that he will build carbon neutral towns, George Osborne said:  "Gordon Brown's first big announcement turns out to be a re-spun Government policy that was launched over a year ago. It's another example of same old Labour, same old spin."  Gordon Brown today re-announced the need for carbon neutral towns.  But this is already Government policy. On 17 May 2006, Yvette Cooper, Housing Minister announced the Government's policy of "carbon neutral development.""

A LEADER IN THE SUNDAY TIMES IDENTIFIES TEN KEY CHALLENGES FOR A PRIME MINISTER BROWN

HILARY BENN IS CONFLICT OF INTEREST ROW - Sunday Telegraph

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