ConservativeHome

Saturday 31st May 2008

9.45pm ToryDiary: Steve Hilton, Cameron's 'guru', off to USA for six months

7.15pm Seats and candidates: Chorley candidate stands down because of ill health

11am ToryDiary: The futures of Boris and Ken

"Oil prices will ease when demand eases and supply increases, which will only occur when growth slows down and the new big production regions can replace dwindling stocks elsewhere."

Platform: Oberon Houston explains the oil price cycle in the context of action on fuel duty

Local Government: Could Westminster Council afford lower Council Tax?

PlayPolitical: Eric Pickles thanks Labour for its counterproductive by-election leaflets

Seats and Candidates: Local Councillor John Howell was selected for Henley

Swedish schools policy

"David Cameron, emboldened by a runaway lead in the opinion polls, will copy elements of the much-vaunted "free schools" policy in Sweden under which companies now run more than 900 primary and secondary schools, making healthy profits in the process. Under the plans, companies would be invited to set up new schools or take over failing institutions." - Telegraph

Private schools spokesman says some state pupils are unteachable - Guardian

Paul Weller criticises Cameron for saying he liked The Jam - Sun

Energy poverty plan questioned

"Reforms to privacy laws intended to help pensioners meet their fuel bills were criticised yesterday. Malcolm Wicks, the energy minister, announced changes to data protection laws so that energy companies could be told which of their customers needed the most help... But Alan Duncan, the shadow business secretary, said changes to the privacy laws were an "alarming" way of tackling the problem." - Telegraph

Surrey police boycotting Home Office targets and bureaucracy - Times

Repairing the policy roof whilst the sun is shining

"Is the undertaking to match Labour's spending plans sustainable? Now could be the moment - as Mr Brown describes looming “world” economic difficulties - for the Tory leadership to revisit that undertaking in the light of changed circumstances, and ask whether Labour can afford its own spending plans. Would the voters really be too appalled to hear the Opposition say there may have to be a squeeze?" - Matthew Parris in the Times

"Those Tory MPs who went to Crewe and Nantwich are keen to point out that the messages that resonated with voters there were on tax, income levels and crime – not the environment. That no-one much has picked up on this change of tack merely underlines Mr Cameron’s political power." - Western Mail

"Spending cuts announced in a volatile economic climate so long before an election would be a hostage to fortune. What we do expect, however, is for the Tories to make a more confident and vocal case for the smaller, more efficient state that the public now desires. They should go back to the findings of Lord Forsyth's commission, which proposed net tax cuts of £21 billion achieved through simplifying the system to make it flatter and fairer. These proposals could provide the framework for a debate leading to a groundbreaking election manifesto." - Telegraph leader

Blair champions role of religion in world politics

"Listen carefully and you might already be able to hear the distant sound of swords being beaten into ploughshares. Look closely and you might be able to see lions lying down with lambs. And if not, rest assured that such a peaceable revolution can only be a matter of time because Tony Blair launched his "Faith Foundation" in New York yesterday." - Independent leader

He's still behaving like the Messiah - Vicki Woods in the Telegraph

Schemes matching elderly volunteers with troubled families are a model for public service delivery - Times leader

Global marketplace makes the taxman's job difficult - Guardian

Now is the time for realism in Afghanistan - Charles Moore in the Telegraph

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

Friday 30th May 2008

9pm Seats and Candidates: And the candidate for Henley is... John Howell

5.30pm updates on CentreRight:

• Peter Cuthbertson on leaving police and MPs' pay to politicians
• Samuel Coates on radical, progressive civic conservatism and the concept of thumos
• Alex Deane on predictions of a McCain win

11.15am ToryDiary: Conservation is MORE important in tough economic times says Peter Ainsworth

Stephen Greenhalgh in Local government: Help me write a bold Conservative blueprint for local government

Stephen O'Brien MP on Platform Stephen O’Brien questions the future of the supercomputer programme in light of Fujitsu terminating its contract: The latest NHS IT shambles

Tim Montgomerie on CentreRight finds a killer quote: "Arresting or fining someone for a trifling offence - such as a child stealing a Mars bar - is a good way of hitting the target and pleasing the Home Office.  Amazingly, the chocolate theft ranks as highly as catching a killer."

PlayPolitical videos:

> Hard-hitting viral campaign launched to combat rising knife crime
> Sky News profiles the three main ways in which Gordon Brown can appease unhappy motorists

Only 15% are satisfied with Brown, 75% are dissatisfied

Gordon Brown support slumps to its lowest since polling began - Telegraph | ToryDiary comment

"Gordon Brown's hopes of recovering from this month's hat-trick of electoral setbacks received a fresh blow today as falling house prices and rising food and energy bills prompted the biggest slump in consumer confidence since the onset of the last UK recession in autumn 1990." - Guardian

Government plans major concession to 42 day rebels - BBC

Cut taxes to regain middle class support, Blairites tell Brown - Independent | ConservativeHome's new tax plan for the Conservatives

"For a generation now Britain has enjoyed a reputation as one of the most dynamic, flexible and stable countries in a rapidly changing and challenging world. While Europe stagnated, Britain fought its way back into the first rank of nations.  But a combination of economic shocks and political mismanagement is threatening to inflict severe damage to that reputation." - Gerry Baker in The Times

'Mum, Gordon Brown's on the phone'

"Complaints, queries and commendations — written about anything from benefits and bus services to the weather — normally receive a polite letter of reply on behalf of the Prime Minister, signed by an official.  But some of them, perhaps as many as two dozen a week, prompt a personal call, and the distinctive gravelly baritone of Gordon Brown." - Times

The Conservatives and business

"Peter Buckley, combative chairman of Caledonia Investments, launched fresh brickbats at Gordon Brown and held out the prospect of more cash for David Cameron in his latest colourful review of the economic and political scene.   He parodied the Prime Minister as "Rooster Brown" and says he will ask shareholders to increase the investment trust group's contribution to the Conservative Party by £15,000 to £75,000 to help bolster its pre-election coffers." - Telegraph

Damian Reece, in The Telegraph, calls for more businesses to back the Conservatives.

"“The recent taxation changes that have been made by the government are the worst things that have happened in British tax reform since the early 1970s,” says Theo Paphitis, the entrepreneur and panellist on the BBC’s Dragons’ Den, when asked about Capital Gains Tax (CGT) increases." - City AM

"Alistair Darling must move the Bank of England's financial stability chief in favour of someone with extensive City experience, the Shadow Chancellor said." - Telegraph

Confirmation of ConservativeHome story that LibDem Mark Oaten may quit Winchester - Times | Our original story

William Hague accuses David Miliband of misleading about EU embassies

"The Conservatives have accused David Miliband of misleading the House of Commons over secret negotiations to set up a euro-diplomatic and foreign affairs service under the new Lisbon Treaty" - Telegraph

Jeremy Hunt attacks 50% over-run in BBC expenditure on its websites - Times

"Its huge £36m overspend on the BBC website crowds out commercial competitors while failing to deliver anything better or different in the name of public service. But the money has been spent. The damage done, without reparation." - Telegraph

It's time to break up BAA - Jeff Randall in The Telegraph

Margaret Thatcher, 82, appears in Vogue - Times

Time to talk to al-Qaida, senior police chief urges - Guardian

Obama is overwhelming favourite of Europeans - Telegraph

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 29th May 2008

Question Time liveblog from 10.30pm

9.30pm ToryDiary: Harriet, Jack, David and Alan are here to see you, Prime Minister

8pm CentreRight: Cameron Watt welcomes the fact that Ray Lewis and Shaun Bailey represent a new "Black fightback against violent crime"

7.15pm ToryDiary: Richard Balfe's mission to the unions gets underway

6pm CentreRight: Matthew Sinclair notes how "The EU is spending your money on anti-Israel NGOs"

5pm CentreRight: Harry Phibbs on "Boris' first blunder"

4.15pm ToryDiary: Five ideas for Conservative tax and spend policy

2pm CentreRight selections:

• Peter Whittle concludes that it's time for compulsory national service
• Douglas Carswell MP is still pursuing Gordon Brown about he knew and knows about those Levy loans.

12.45pm PlayPolitical: Zac Goldsmith tells Friction TV why we should boycott Sainsbury's

11.30am Seats and candidates: Plan for flying start in Henley with leaflet blitz this Saturday

ToryDiary: Eric Pickles emerges as a new Tory hero

+ See yesterday's ToryDiary for a 9am update on the Tory MEPs' attitude to attempts to make it harder for new groups to be formed.

Seats and candidates: 71% of Tory members support ConservativeHome's campaign on MEP selection

Jonathan M Scott on Platform: Darling, the tax-cutter? No. It's Brown, the Sub-Prime Minister

Alex Deane on CentreRight: "The UN has failed: democracies should ignore it and act as needed"

Today's must-read article

Kelvin Mackenzie witnesses someone stealing petrol but the police weren't interested - The Sun

Labour Party faces its own credit crisis

"Senior officials in the Labour party, including Gordon Brown, could become personally liable for millions of pounds in debt unless new donors can be found within weeks, the Guardian has learned.  The party has five weeks to find £7.45m to pay off loans to banks and wealthy donors recruited by Lord Levy, Tony Blair's former chief fundraiser, or become insolvent. A further £6.2m will have to be repaid by Christmas - making £13.65m in all. The sum amounts to two-thirds of the party's annual income from donations." - Guardian | Guido

Darling keeps options open on fuel duty

"The chancellor pledged to make a statement on the contentious 2p a litre rise in duty before it comes into effect in October. Mr Darling rejected suggestions a further postponement of the increase – already delayed by six months – would represent another tax U-turn by the government. “I said at the time of the Budget ... I would return to the issue nearer the time,” Mr Darling told the BBC. “I will do that.”" - FT

Brown expands nuclear ambitions - BBC

Vote of business leaders say Blair still more influential than Brown - Telegraph

Cut regulation, cut taxes say Labour heavyweights

John Hutton signals end of business regulation era - Guardian

Gordon Brown must bite the bullet and cut taxes for people on low and middle incomes - Denis MacShane MP in The Guardian

Boris launches review of Livingstone's 'foreign embassies' but business wants them to stay - FT

The collapse of Christianity has left Britain vulnerable to disorder and Islam

"The collapse of Christianity has wrecked British society, a leading Church of England bishop declared yesterday. It has destroyed family life and left the country defenceless against the rise of radical Islam in a moral and spiritual vacuum." - Daily Mail

You can read the full article on the website of the new conservative magazine, Standpoint.

BNP success is rooted in switch from focusing on fears of colour to fears of Islam - Times

ePolitix.com has been relaunched - Here

George Monbiot makes unsuccessful attempt to make a citizen's arrest of John Bolton for 'war crimes' - Guardian

Berlusconi fails to turn up at a private dinner in Italy in honour of Lady Thatcher - Daily Mail

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

Wednesday 28th May 2008

3pm Jill Kirby on CentreRight: When it comes to child protection, the state should focus on vulnerable groups - not every child

2.15pm ToryDiary: David Cameron must order Conservative MEPs to vote against new barrier to EPP exit

Noon Seats and candidates: Another Labour MP gives up the fight

11.30am Jim McConalogue on CentreRight: Could looming tough times spell the end for the eurozone?

11.15am Seats and candidates: Zac Goldsmith calls for national boycott of Sainsbury's

***

"For it has been said so truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest..."

Tim Montgomerie on CentreRight seeks your favourite conservative quotations.

Local government: Plymouth Conservatives under fire for bin collection questionnaire

Alex Deane on Platform: In defence of Simon Cowell, a review of "Look at Me: Celebrating the Self in Modern Britain" by Peter Whittle.

CentreRight selections:

• Should we blame the 1960s or Margaret Thatcher for the decline of the family?  Matt Sinclair investigates.
• Andrew Lilico calls for a new tax system for fuel - that falls as oil prices rise.

PlayPolitical videos:

• A lunch between Brown and Blair doesn't go well (as portrayed by Rory Bremner)
• Labour faces new tax rebellion... this time over vehicle excise duty
• John McCain keeps his distance from George W Bush on the campaign trail

Brown considers another U-turn... this time on fuel taxes

"Gordon Brown’s ministers on Tuesday paved the way for a new tax retreat, signalling the government may unpick another aspect of the Budget by reversing proposed new duties on motorists and hauliers already hit by rising fuel prices." - FT

Conservative MP Stephen Crabb warns of consequences for UK employment: "The Government will try to hide behind climate change arguments for why the tax needs to be so high but this is spurious.  High UK fuel taxes will not reduce the overall number of lorries on British roads but it will accelerate the disappearance of many excellent UK haulage firms and the increasing presence of Irish, German and Hungarian trucks who pay zero tax to Britain." - Quoted in The Independent

"Analysts believe that the second-hand car market is collapsing thanks to rising fuel prices, the credit crisis and Government plans to backdate road tax increases on the most heavily polluting cars." - Telegraph

"Suspending the 2p tax rise would be sheer populism. It would do nothing to address the underlying cause of the pain of haulage firms, which is a massive growth in the demand for fuel from Asia and dwindling global supplies. The idea that it is in the Government's power to control the global price of a barrel of oil is one that needs to be exposed as nonsense, not indulged. A tax suspension now would also heap up pressure for future suspensions, undermining the very purpose of the Government's fuel tax escalator." - Independent leader

"The oil crisis is a global problem requiring global solutions. And the Opec cartel has to play its part." - Gordon Brown in The Guardian

"The Tories are subtly shifting their emphasis as environmental concerns slip down the list of public concerns. Mr Cameron appears to have cooled on the Arctic – in recent speeches, he has scarcely mentioned climate change and, when he set out the priorities for a Tory government this month, he made no mention of green issues." - FT

Nick Clegg: Tory policy makes as much sense as a Turner Prize entry

"Cameron cries crocodile tears for the poor families affected by the doubling of the 10p tax rate, but his one and only tax policy is to cut inheritance tax for the richest six per cent of people. He has supported calls for "food security" - code for protectionism - but also lectured the World Trade Organisation on the importance of free trade.  He tells us to "go green", but won't commit to specific policies to help us. He has preached about personal privacy, but wants to abolish Data Protection laws. Like Labour, he promises to decentralise, but steers clear of explaining how or when.Tory policy makes about as much sense as a Turner prize entry." - The Liberal Democrat leader in The Telegraph

Britain needs 'nasty' not 'nice conservatism' just at the moment - Peregrine Worsthorne on The First Post

Conservatives' poverty agenda needs some tough questioning - Jonathan Freedland in The Guardian

39% of Tory voters back law-making parliament for Wales - Western Mail

The Labour memoirs

I can’t talk English proper says Prezza - The Sun

Listeners blast BBC as 'publicity machine' for Cherie's memoirs - Daily Mail

Canada's Conservatives lose their dynamic Foreign Secretary over mishandling of secret papers - FT

Obama hasn't been to Iraq since 2006

McCain challenges his opponent to come to the country with him and see the progress - TownHall.com

HAVE YOU VOTED IN CONSERVATIVEHOME'S MAY SURVEY?

In addition to the regular tracker questions we are seeking your views on Boris Johnson, Ken Clarke and the MEP selection process.  Please click here to have your say.  Voting closes at midnight.

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

Tuesday 27th May 2008

7.30pm PlayPolitical: Truckers gather in London to protest against rising fuel prices

1.30pm, Matt Sinclair on Platform: The years of tax and spend are over

CentreRight: Mark Field MP celebrates supermarkets and Nigel Evans MP speculates about Labour MPs' recess week plotting 

ToryDiary: Grayling targets English language skills of unemployed minorities and Have your say in ConservativeHome.com's May survey

Oliver Letwin MP on Platform: Is the battle of ideas in politics a battle about ends or a battle about means?

PlayPolitical videos: Three decades of opening sequences for ITN News plus McCain and Obama offer tributes to veterans on US Memorial Day

'MPs demand £23,000 tax-free grant to hide expenses'

"MPs hope to stop details of their expense claims being made public by changing the system so that they do not have to submit receipts.  Days after the High Court ordered the publication of every receipt submitted by MPs, a committee reviewing parliamentary expenses is proposing that they should be able to claim the full £23,000 second-home allowance automatically as an annual “block grant”." - Times

What's the difference between MPs' expenses and stealing? - Richard Littlejohn in the Daily Mail

Today's must-read article

Cut taxes and spending - Labour MP, Denis MacShane in The Telegraph

The Sun calls for crackdown on violence epidemic

"The Sun also demands automatic prosecution for those caught with a knife, and an immediate end to them getting away with just a police caution.  Thousands of knife detectors should be given to police. And they should waste no time in using them.  Judges should hand down jail terms for anyone convicted of violent intent with a knife.  Justice Secretary Jack Straw must provide more prison places." - The Sun

> On CentreRight yesterday, Alex Deane initiated a discussion on solutions

Tories claim to be making positive impact in Scotland - The Press and Journal

The Labour Party's sham class war is displacement activity for a movement that has lost its popular roots and its radical faith - Geoffrey Wheatcroft in The Guardian

We're talking a language that's failing to resonate - Jon Cruddas in The Independent

The environment and taxation

Hundreds of lorry drivers are set to bring parts of London to a standstill as they protest over the soaring cost of fuel - Telegraph

"Gordon Brown is facing a fresh tax rebellion as Labour MPs demand the repeal of a £200 increase in vehicle excise duty on environmentally unfriendly cars purchased in the past seven years.  As lorry drivers prepare to stage a slow-moving protest through London today against rising fuel duties, a ministerial aide broke ranks to brand the levy an unacceptable retrospective tax that would discredit green taxes.  More than 30 Labour MPs have signed a Commons early day motion demanding repeal of the £200 increase in duty, due to be introduced next year." - Guardian

UK CO2 emissions rise faster than EU average despite carbon-trading scheme - Times

Absurdly unfair, unworkable and a licence for state snooping - Michael Hanlon's verdict on personal carbon credits, Daily Mail

> David Cameron will reject Tim Yeo's ideas on personal carbon accounts

Barack Obama proposes fairer UK partnership - Telegraph

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

Monday 26th May 2008

Evening updates on CentreRight: Andrew Lilico blogs that a Cameron government will be decidedly Eurosceptic while Matt Sinclair looks at the consequences of 'overclass values'

3.30pm PlayPolitical videos:

• Polar bear numbers may be at an all time high but America's climate change lobby succeeds in labelling them as an endangered species
• Gordon Brown writes letter of support to John Terry, Chelsea Captain
• 'Let Them In': A Wall Street Journal pundit makes the case for open borders

1pm ToryDiary: David Cameron will reject Tim Yeo's ideas on personal carbon accounts

Two CentreRight questions:

• What should we do about London's murder rate?
• Is Eurosceptism dead?

ToryDiary: "No one should be penalised for trying to do the right thing"

And something for the Bank Holiday...
PlayPolitical video: The opening titles of BBC News bulletins from the last twenty-five years

Matt Sinclair on CentreRight: Anti-toff politics may he over, anti-elite politics may only be beginning

Boris Johnson ends London's fuel deal with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez - Independent | FT

Phil Taylor blogs in approval. 

Chris Grayling announces new welfare plans as part of new Tory policy blitz

"The Conservatives are bringing forward tough new proposals on work schemes for jobless young people.  Anyone under 21 unemployed for three months would be sent to a specialist employer for an intensive programme of work-related activity.  If they were still jobless after a year they would be moved to a full-time 12-month community work programme." - BBC

The Conservatives will push ahead this week with new policies to maintain the pressure on Labour's welfare and crime strategies - Telegraph

Trevor Kavanagh, in The Sun, has lots of questions for the Tory leader: "How would the Tories end the shameful treatment of the elderly?  Can he unravel the mare’s nest of EU regulation and tame out-of-control bureaucracies, including the Health and Safety Executive? ...Will he bring to heel the unaccountable judges, politically correct Whitehall mandarins and tinpot town hall tyrants?  Will he stop turning motorists into criminals?"

"Some journalists who ought to know better are still writing as if the Cameron Tories were apolicy-free zone. In reality, over 1,000 pages of policy material was published last summer. Mr Cameron has presided over a policy-making exercise which is at least as thorough as any Opposition has ever commissioned. But he still has to turn the minutiae of policy into the electoral weight of a political platform. This is the next task." - Bruce Anderson in The Independent

Andrew Lansley highlights decline in number of NHS beds

"Figures obtained by the Tories show that NHS hospitals had just over 167,000 beds in 2007 compared with 199,000 in 1997.  More than 8,450 were lost in the year ending March 2007, the biggest cut in 14 years." - Daily Mail

The Barnett formula under a Conservative government

"Yesterday Andrew Fulton, the new chairman of the Scottish Conservatives, said it was impossible to predict what Scotland's funding would be under a Cameron government. Nicola Sturgeon, the deputy First Minister, said this showed the Tories' "damaging intentions" towards Scotland at a time when record amounts were flowing to the London Treasury from North Sea oil." - Scotsman

> Alex Salmond intends to break up the Union by encouraging Scots to vote against Tory plans on welfare, Trident and Barnett

Eric Pickles, the man who turned Crewe blue - Interview in The Telegraph

"The Crewe by-election offers little clue to the outcome of the general election which will probably not occur before 2010. Nor do past precedents offer much guidance. Sometimes, as in 1979 and 1997, stricken governments are defeated. At other times, as in 1983, 1987 and 1992, they recover to win the ensuing general election. The average Conservative percentage vote in by-elections in the 1983-87 parliament was 29 per cent, and in the 1987-92 parliament 23 per cent. Yet they succeeded in winning both the 1987 and the 1992 general elections." - Vernon Bogdanor in the FT

Johann Hari: The electoral game is up Gordon but you can govern radically for two years

"You can be an honourable failure who goes down fighting for the causes you always believed in, or you can be an amoral failure who dies with an immigrant-bashing belch. Over the next few weeks, choose three or four progressive causes you can push through before 2010 that the Tories would find it hard to reverse. Go through the black marks against New Labour in the history books, and put some of them right. Go down fighting." - Johann Hari in The Independent

"There are now two years to go before the next election, but Labour may have two parliaments - or more - before the party can expect to get back into office. After 1979, Labour was out of power for 18 years; since 1997, the Conservatives have already been out of power for 11 years." - William Rees-Mogg in The Times

Committee of MPs back personal carbon budgets

"Committee chairman Tim Yeo said it found that personal carbon trading had "real potential to engage the population in the fight against climate change and to achieve significant emissions reductions in a progressive way".  He said "green" taxes, such as a petrol tax, cost poor people more because everyone - "billionaires and paupers" - paid the same amount.  "Under the personal carbon trading, someone who perhaps doesn't have an enormous house or swimming pool, someone who doesn't take several holidays in the Caribbean every year, will actually get a cash benefit if they keep a low carbon footprint."" - BBC

Why personal carbon accounts won't work - John Redwood 

"Leading academics and watchdog groups allege that the UN's main [carbon] offset fund is being routinely abused by chemical, wind, gas and hydro companies who are claiming emission reduction credits for projects that should not qualify." - Guardian

Tory and Labour politicians are retreating from the environment - Guardian leader

Happy birthday EMU - An FT leader celebrates European monetary union

Our MPs are freeloading - Mail leader

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

Sunday 25th May 2008

9pm: Matt Sinclair on CentreRight: Anti-toff politics may he over, anti-elite politics may only be beginning 

8pm CentreRight selections: Tim Montgomerie on racist campaigning in Switzerland and McCain's blue collar supporters plus Alex Deane on Hillary Clinton.

1.30pm ToryDiary: Two years to develop a programme at least as bold as 1979

1.30pm: Peter Franklin on CentreRight thinks we're Better Off Out... of Eurovision

ToryDiary: Alex Salmond intends to break up the Union by encouraging Scots to vote against Tory plans on welfare, Trident and Barnett

Graeme Archer on CentreRight: "Policy prescriptions which do not come from a determined effort to understand the emotional experience of other people lead to the machines of socialism. (I may here, I think, gently and mildly, be disagreeing with the some of the editorial stance of Conservative Home!)."

PlayPolitical video: Should Obama ask Hillary to be his running mate?

Stanley Johnson won't have the chance to succeed his son in Henley - Mail on Sunday

> Our view is that Cllr Ann Ducker is favourite to be the Conservative candidate

What's next for Labour?

"David Miliband is preparing to throw his hat into the ring in a leadership contest to “save new Labour” after the party’s disastrous defeat in last week’s Crewe & Nantwich by-election.  The foreign secretary has confided to friends that he is prepared to stand for the leadership if a critical mass of backbenchers turn against Gordon Brown." - The Sunday Times

"Gordon Brown would be forced to appoint a deputy who could be swiftly groomed as his successor under humiliating last-ditch plans being discussed by ministers to patch up his failing administration." - Observer

"Does he stay or does he go?  The truth is he has lost control of his own destiny.  His Cabinet ministers are openly discussing whether he is too much of a liability to take the party into the next election.  His backbenchers are restless and only concerned about their own survival.  And the unions are set to pitch into the civil war with ultimatums for change." - News of the World

"Gordon Brown's leadership needs to be "much tougher", billionaire Labour donor Lord Paul has said." - BBC

What's next for the Conservatives?

"So far, he has proven himself capable of great endurance, dexterity in a crisis and positive thinking. Many voters who have now decided they want the Labour Government gone are listening to him, and will closely watch this intriguing figure's next move.  After Crewe, a picture is forming of a leader who has the makings of a prime minister, but at this stage it is impressionistic, without well defined contours. Next, a fully fleshed-out sense of Cameron the man, which a largely non-political audience can understand, is required." - Iain Martin in The Sunday Telegraph

Phase three of Project Cameron is about to begin - The Independent on Sunday examines the policy-rich next stage of the Project

The faceless, over-centralised, over-large state is now the real 'class enemy' of the British people - Sunday Telegraph leader

"Since they are riding high in the polls, the Tories are quiescent behind their leader. But they are not united in agreement with him. There are, in fact, two Conservative parties, one modern and one reactionary. Both are sensing power within their grasp and it is not yet clear in what proportion each would influence a Tory administration." - Observer leader

Reports from the Scottish Tories in Ayr

In her conference speech Annabel Goldie targeted Alex Salmond's smugness (and size): "As Labour self-destructs, the Salmond smile gets smugger by the moment, his self-satisfaction oozing out of every pore. And there are many pores for it to ooze out of." - Quoted in The Sunday Herald

"The SNP government might not have the power to organise an independence referendum, according to one of David Cameron's closest allies in Scotland.  David Mundell, the shadow Scotland secretary, said there were "serious question marks" over the legality of calling such a poll." - Sunday Herald

Iain Duncan Smith: Men are being erased from family life

Last week’s decision that a father figure is not essential for fertility treatment is symptomatic of how men are being erased from family life - The Sunday Times

George Osborne: Why I voted for 24 weeks

"My approach has always been to follow the advice of the medical profession and if they recommended a reduction, then I would be inclined to agree with them. But the consensus of the various organisations that speak for doctors and nurses is clear: there is no convincing new medical evidence that supports a reduction from the current limit. These are difficult moral judgments and I respect those who disagree with me, but I know how I want to vote." - The Shadow Chancellor writing a review of his week for The Observer

Profile of the New Statesman's new editor - Independent on Sunday

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

Saturday 24th May 2008

10.45pm Seats and candidates: David Cameron agrees speedy by-election for Henley

1.30pm ToryDiary: Lord Bates of the North

ToryDiary: Tory MEPs, protected from members and voters, refuse to answer questions on expenses

Julian Brazier MP on Platform: Compensation culture Vs Happy childhoods

PlayPolitical videos: Ellen DeGeneres, who is about to marry her female partner, quizzes John McCain on his opposition to gay marriage

David Cameron in Scotland

"David Cameron yesterday publicly offered to work with Alex Salmond's government, insisting he would respect the will of the Scottish people if he became prime minister.  The Conservative leader promised that if he took over in Downing Street while the SNP held power at Holyrood he would not frustrate Nationalist initiatives." - Scotsman

"Speaking at the Scottish Tory conference in Ayr, he warned that the Union had never been in more danger and "the ugly stain of separatism is seeping through the Union flag".  But he told Mr Salmond to "think again" over his "great plan" to use a Tory victory at the next general election to press for independence." - Telegraph

"Answering the anomalies created by the Barnett Formula will be “essential” for a Tory Government, David Cameron said yesterday.  But the Conservative leader said he would not put getting to grips with the controversial funding system above maintaining the Union." - Western Mail

Tory gains in the south are not mirrored in Scotland - John Curtice in The Scotsman

Top MPs' expenses revealed

"Gordon Brown once claimed £15 for light bulbs, Peter Mandelson spent nearly £3,000 on a shower and Tony Blair lavished nearly £11,000 of taxpayers' money on a new kitchen, according to the most detailed account of MPs' expenditure ever published.  After years in the courts, countless hours of legal argument and a bitter battle by the Commons to maintain their secrecy, the full expenses claims of 14 high-profile MPs have finally been made public." - Independent

Margaret Beckett, the former foreign secretary who left the Government last year, tried to claim £600 towards the cost of garden plants in 2006, but the claim was rejected - Telegraph

Gordon Brown faces ‘quit now’ calls as Labour MPs panic - Times

"The message to Labour is clear. Get another leader and go soon." - Matthew Parris in The Times

"Voters would rightly feel cheated by another change of leader in one parliament. Mr Brown’s best hope is that he gains credit if the economic slowdown is brief." - FT leader

Brown needs to rebuild his Government by bringing Reid, Clarke and Milburn back - Peter Oborne in The Daily Mail

Video: Labour MP Graham Stringer calls for a Cabinet challenge to Brown's leadership

Reflections on Crewe and Nantwich

The Sun remains neutral in its editorial assessment.

David Cameron fails to hail Gordon Brown, the architect of his triumph - Andrew Gimson in The Telegraph

Crewe and Nantwich was a victory for David Cameron's decontamination strategy - Western Mail | Definition of decontamination

"The by-election result proves that if you persist in your message of change, as David Cameron has done, you sow confusion in the ranks of your opponents. One of Tony Blair's greatest achievements was to give the Conservatives a nervous breakdown. They could not get the measure of him. Was he really a socialist but just hiding it? Was he, on the other hand, a man who had joined the wrong party? Was he just a con-artist? They could never decide, and so they never caught up with him." - Charles Moore in The Telegraph

The Daily Mail on the "slick" Tory machine | ConHome's tributes yesterday

The tax burden is centre stage again

"Gordon Brown is being urged by ministers to scrap rises in car taxes and petrol duty as he struggles to regain popularity after a humiliating by-election defeat" - Telegraph

"Unpublished data from the National Centre for Social Research show that just over a third now say the Government should increase taxes to improve public services, the lowest level of support for tax increases since the Eighties. In an era of rising prices, voters seem ready to warm to promises of tax cuts. It is hardly a promising climate for a fourth Labour victory." - John Curtice in The Independent

"The Tories cannot do anything about the global rise in commodity prices that is driving up the cost of food and petrol - and nor should they. They could, though, promise to ease the tax burden on squeezed incomes and fuel, allowing families to keep more of their own money. Yet they are still too cautious in taking advantage of the shifting public mood on taxation and fail to realise that backing Labour's spending plans until 2011 no longer makes sense." - Telegraph leader

City starts cosying up to the Tories again after scent of real success - 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.

Friday 23rd May 2008

5pm: Peter Franklin on CentreRight blogs that Labour ministers are wrong to say that noone predicted the rise in the price of oil

5pm: PlayPolitical: Watch David Cameron and Gordon Brown react to C&N

1.15pm ToryDiary: Stephen Gilbert and Crewe's other heroes

Noon Platform: Tim Bale wonders if the Conservatives have a 'Plan B' if Labour MPs do oust The Great Clunking Fist

11.30am Nigel Evans MP on CentreRight: "As someone who was on the receiving end of a bloody nose in 1991 at the Ribble Valley by-election, I have a scintilla of sympathy for Ms. Dunwoody. It's not nice waking up the next morning after having lost a safe seat. You are exhausted but Party officials expect you to smile at the cameras and try to pick up some crumbs from the defeat. There are no crumbs in Crewe and Nantwich..."

11am ToryDiary: New Labour died on the streets of Crewe and Nantwich says David Cameron

10am: ConservativeHome's Tim Montgomerie on The Guardian's website: "The Conservatives won in Crewe because they attracted lower income voters abandoned by Labour: now they must push for a historic realignment."

9.15am CentreRight: Charlie Elphicke pays tribute to a clear message and good literature

ToryDiary: Crewe and Nantwich in figures

PlayPolitical video: Watch ITN report on Tory victory and Sky project a Conservative majority of 338

PlayPolitical video: The worst American political ads... ever

The full Crewe and Nantwich result for all candidates - Guardian

Commentators' reaction

"There is nothing worse than when the voters stop listening. That is what has happened to Gordon Brown’s government." - Philip Stephens in the FT

"Only a dramatic change of course can stave off disaster. That is the position the Prime Minister finds himself in this morning." - Andrew Porter in The Telegraph

" It is futile to extrapolate to the general election on the basis of last night’s figures. They will not be repeated. What matters is the mood — and the Tories have established themselves as credible challengers to Labour. Mr Cameron has shown that his party can win." - Peter Riddell in The Times

"Conservative strategists must know that - two years from here - hindsight may confirm that Crewe was the moment when a Tory government became inevitable. All is not doom for Gordon Brown. It can be turned around - as Margaret Thatcher showed after a string of byelection defeats in the 80s and John Major before 1992. But, as the sheriff says in No Country for Old Men: "If it isn't doom it'll do until a proper doom comes along." - Michael White in The Guardian

"The fact that the Tories are now enjoying a 15 to 20 point lead in the opinion polls suggests that the C2s are returning to them in droves. If they weren't, it would be more or less impossible for David Cameron to attain the 43-45 per cent support that he now enjoys." - Iain Dale in The Telegraph

A good night for ComRes

"Full marks to our pollsters ComRes, who called the Crewe by-election right in its survey for this newspaper last weekend. ComRes predicted the Tories would win 48 per cent of the vote, Labour 35 per cent and the Liberal Democrats 12 per cent. The actual figures were 49 per cent, 31 per cent and 14 per cent respectively. Some 62 per cent of those polled said they were absolutely certain to vote and more than 58 per cent did. Pretty good." - Andrew Grice in The Independent

Boris by-election will be on June 26 or July 3rd - Times

David Cameron off to Scotland for Tory Conference in Ayr

Interview with The Herald.

"Annabel Goldie, the Scottish Conservatives' leader, yesterday insisted she had "no regrets" about working with the SNP, despite accusations that the Tories have undermined the Union by propping up the Nationalist government." - Scotsman

Labour even more reliant on trade unions

"Labour is more dependent on trade union funding than it has been for years after personal donations to the party in the first three months of this year collapsed to less than one tenth of their level for the same period of 2007." - FT

Existing methods of estimating migration not "fit for purpose" say MPs - BBC

"The population of England is to increase by the equivalent of two new cities of the size of London within half a century, researchers said last night." - Daily Mail

MEP anger over expenses reform - FT

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 22nd May 2008

11.30pm: CREWE AND NANTWICH IS A TORY GAIN
We expect a "substantial" Conservative majority

6pm: Live blog countdown to result of Crewe and Nantwich by-election

3.30pm ToryDiary: We're making a difference, claim Scottish Tories

3.30pm: Dr Crippen on CentreRight calls for a war on Alcopops

1.45pm Seats and candidates: First C&N exit poll

11.45am LondonMayor: Boris says thanks

Seats and candidates: 4am bulletin from Crewe and Nantwich

Nick Bourne AM on Platform: Barack will prevail

Lee Rotherham on CentreRight questions the six figure salaries that Boris has awarded his top advisers

Two PlayPolitical videos:

• David Cameron and William Hague reflect on their meeting with the Dalai Lama
• White women not warming to Obama

More from Crewe and Nantwich

"Gordon Brown's looming Crewe and Nantwich by-election defeat just the start of his misery" - Telegraph

"The Information Commissioner is launching an investigation after the Conservative party inadvertently released personal information of 8,500 voters in today's byelection.  In a mistake that bore echoes of the government's data bungles, three computer files containing names, addresses, telephone numbers and voting intentions were sent to a radio station and local newspaper, the party confirmed last night." - Guardian

Labour should never play the class card, Tories should never play the race card - Times leader

Boris' first Question Time as Mayor - The Guardian gives him four stars | Times

On the eve of the Tories' Scottish Conference...

...Alan Cochrane, for The Telegraph, assesses the Scottish party's strength and calls for more attacking of the separatists and less dealing with them.

Cheryl Gillan MP defends unveiling of Thatcher tribute in Welsh Assembly

"I think it is very appropriate that an image of Margaret Thatcher should appear in the Senedd building.  She was the first woman prime minister of the UK. She paved the way for thousands of low income families to become homeowners, strengthened the NHS, revitalised the economy and, most appropriately, initiated the development of Cardiff Bay."€ - Quoted in the Western Mail

Tories hope to revive abortion debate after election victory

"Cameron actually voted to bring the limit down to 20 weeks, and while an amendment to reduce it to 16 weeks was trounced - rejected by 303 votes - of the 84 MPs who voted for it, 61% were Tories. The mood was summed up in a comment by Tory MP Edward Leigh, who proposed a 12-week limit, that "in modern Britain the most dangerous place to be is in your mother's womb". The majority of Conservative MPs voted for a reduction in the time limit and the majority of Labour MPs voted against, which means that, if the Tories get in at the next election, women's rights will face a battering. A progressive, modern party, fit for the 21st century? On this evidence, most definitely not." - Kira Cochrane in The Guardian

George Osborne and Theresa Villiers only members of shadow cabinet to vote for abortion status quo - ThisIsLondon

"So that's it, then. By a majority of 71, our parliamentary representatives have decided it should remain legal to destroy fully formed, sentient and viable human life in the womb. What a crushing week this has been for upholders of traditional thinking about humanity." - Mail leader 

> 83% of Conservative MPs voted for 22 weeks (80% of Labour MPs voted against)

The Tory party'€™s spiritual home The Carlton Club finally welcomes women into its embrace - Times

Big Brother is watching you... but luckily he's overstretched and has underestimated the job of keeping track of us all - Phil Hendren (of Dizzy Thinks blog) in The Times

Inefficient use of space by Government Offices costing £325m - BBC

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

Wednesday 21st May 2008

5.30pm PlayPolitical: Watch Jan Berry's attack on Jacqui Smith

3.30pm Seats and candidates: The final push for Crewe and Nantwich

3pm ToryDiary: 83% of Conservative MPs voted for 22 weeks (80% of Labour MPs voted against)

2pm CentreRight: Cameron Watt has found the toughest job in fundraising

1pm ToryDiary: Home Secretary mugged by Police Chief

LIVE PMQs BLOG FROM NOON.

10am Alex Deane on CentreRight seeks your views on Police Community Support Officers

9.45am Seats and candidates: By-election in Winchester?

ToryDiary: The return of Ken Clarke?

Roger Gale MP on Platform: Appeasement only emboldens Iran

Parliament: Conservative contributions to yesterday's debate on the time limit for abortion

PlayPolitical video: Obama claims the nomination is "within reach" after winning Oregon

Tax remains at the centre of political debate

"Clegg made clear that his tax plans at the moment would not reduce the overall tax burden. But he would aim to cut this by making £20bn of cuts in public spending by scrapping ID cards and cracking down on tax avoidance. "Excessive tax can do enormous damage - especially to the poorest families, whose power in our society is already so limited," he said. "That is why the Liberal Democrats will focus all our attention on cutting taxes - from the bottom."" - Guardian

Irwin Stelzer, in The Telegraph, writes that the tax plans of Brown and Cameron are too similar: "Both want to maintain the current overall level of taxation, at least in the near-term. Both want to increase spending on public services, Gordon Brown at an annual rate of something like 2 per cent, David Cameron by carving out a portion of future economic growth, likely to amount to the same thing.  Both want to lower taxes on lucky inheritors of the wealth accumulated by their harder working parents. Both want to tax foreigners (the writer is a non-dom) who have hitherto found Britain an attractive place to work and build businesses. Both plan to raise taxes on a variety of activities, allegedly in pursuit of a greener Britain."

"The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) warns that six million people will still be worse off as a result of the abolition of the 10p rate of income tax despite the Government's climbdown." - Independent

Cameron: Bad parents are the villain of the age

"David Cameron yesterday singled out bad parents as one of the "great villains" of modern times.  He promised to put the family at the centre of Tory policy-making in the run-up to the general election.  The Conservative leader argued that the Government urgently needed to solve the growing problem of family break-ups." - Daily Mail

Tories want crackdown on CCTV - Telegraph | ToryDiary

Peers have rejected an attempt in the Lords to put into law a requirement that a referendum is held before Britain joins the euro

"Tory leader in the Lords, Lord Strathclyde, said there was "something very fishy" about the government's refusal to back its own policy." - BBC

'Policy Exchange powers Cameron's liberal revolution' - FT

Britain fails to progress radical reform of CAP - Times

Boris appoints Carphone Warehouse boss to help bring Olympics costs under control - Guardian

Daniel Finkelstein: New Labour died in Crewe

"Class warfare, even if waged against someone else's class, is spectacularly unattractive. It makes Labour seem aggressive, prejudiced, an exclusive sect more interested in your background than your ideas. Mr Blair wanted his party to be a big tent, welcoming everyone. This idea, this powerful political idea, which brought the Tory party to the edge of extinction, which brought landslide Labour majorities, is now over. And with it Labour's political hegemony.  New Labour is dead. Gordon Brown has killed it. And at the funeral, the undertakers will be wearing the top hats from the Crewe & Nantwich by-election campaign." - Daniel Finkelstein in The Times

All schools should be private - Simon Heffer in The Telegraph

Nine in ten police officers vote for right to strike - Sky

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

Tuesday 20th May 2005

10.15pm ToryDiary: Carlton Club votes 'yes' to women members

9.45pm ToryDiary: David Davis seeks stronger regulation of CCTV

5.30pm: The Telegraph is reporting that 50 Tory MPs will descend on Crewe tomorrow in bid to ensure victory in Thursday's by-election

3pm Seats and candidates: Win £500 by predicting Crewe and Nantwich

1.30pm ToryDiary: Nadine Dorries' campaign has already succeeded

12.30pm: Louise Bagshawe on CentreRight applauds the campaign to give women full membership of the Carlton Club

12.30pm Parliament: Edward Leigh fails to persuade MPs that adult stem cell research should be preferred to embryonic research

Seats and candidates: Tories 13% ahead in Crewe and Nantwich

Philip Hammond MP on Platform: The Conservative path to lower taxes and high quality public services

Three new videos:

• Rory Bremner's Gordon Brown struggles to find the exit
• Iain Dale, in Crewe, talks to William Hague about fighting a by-election
• ITN reviews the recommendations of Quentin Davies MP's report on the armed forces

Labour's poll rating worst since Thatcher - Guardian | ToryDiary

Today's top read

The Financial Times has listed the Conservative Party's policy pledges to date.