ConservativeHome

Friday 17th October 2008

6.15pm  WATCH: Gordon Brown (1997) promises to keep house prices under control

5.15pm Parliament: Benyon blogs on PMQs

4.30pm Local Government: Council byelection results

4pm Tim Montgomerie on CentreRight: Who will be first with the 'time for sacrifices' speech?

3.15pm ToryDiary: Blogosphere's reaction to David Cameron's economic responsibility speech

2.45pm CentreRight updates:

• Daisy Thornton: Radical reforms to public services are needed to reduce the deadly combination of poor outcomes and rising costs.
• Andrew Lilico: Isn't there then an "irresponsible" borrower for every "irresponsible" lending?

12.30pm Parliament: Greg Clark on climate change

Policy Exchange open its CentreRight account with an entry from Ben Caldecott: This government has failed and will continue fail in delivering emission reductions

12.15pm ToryDiary: They make a desert and call it stability

10.45am WATCH:

• Two minute highlights video of David Cameron's economy speech
• Labour's cheesiest 1997 election broadcast

10am International: European Right divides over Brussels' climate change plan

ToryDiary: Two cheers for David Cameron's economic responsibility speech

David Wilshire MP on Platform: Heathrow needs a third runway

Cllr Simon Renwick on Local government: How can Conservative Council candidates defeat "Independents"?

Steve Richards: Cameron needs to do "something big" to show he understands the new world

"One senior Conservative tells me that the party's strong support for robust regulation of the privatised utilities demonstrates that it has never believed in a laissez-faire approach, but he accepts that many perceive them as reckless free marketers. I am told that Cameron plans to do "something big" when the markets calm down. Perhaps this will take the form of a series of speeches, starting with one he is delivering today on the economy, or something more substantial. But for the Conservatives to be remotely credible in this changed world they need to show conclusively they have learnt the "profound lessons" about the way free markets work and sometimes fail to do so. Attacking Brown is not good enough." - Steve Richards in The Independent

Jeff Randall: Where is George Osborne?

"Whatever you think of the Prime Minister – and no doubt I will read many of your opinions on our website – he does represent something. And, as they say in America, you can't beat something with nothing. Zero, however, is the sum total of Mr Osborne's performance in the latest, most dangerous phase, of the credit crunch. If you told me that he had been left behind on a stag trip, bound and gagged in a Prague motel, I'd be tempted to believe it. George, get your trousers on. Liven up. Your country needs you." - Jeff Randall in The Telegraph

Brown calls for petrol retailers to bring prices below £1 a litre - Times

Public spending will not be cut, says Gordon Brown - Telegraph

Ireland introduces emergency measures as budget deficit hits 8% - Scotsman

Government commits UK to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 - BBC

"No retreat from green agenda despite recession" - Ed Miliband talks to The Guardian

Harriet Harman denies rowing with Brown on abortion - ePolitix

OECD ready to attack Labour's record on bribery - Sky

New British Army chief wants 30,000 troops surge for Afghanistan - Independent

The Times endorses Barack Obama - Times leader

Exciting job opportunity in Boris Johnson's private office: Senior Adviser (Policing)

"A Senior Adviser is required for the Mayor's Private Office, to provide high level support to the Deputy Mayor (Policing) on the delivery of priorities and to attend meetings, deal with correspondence and manage relationships with internal and external contacts."  More here.

And finally...

Quentin Letts reviews the parliamentary dog show: "Nick Harvey (Lib Dem, North Devon) was attending the show with his beautiful golden retriever, name of Crumpet. Crumpet? That's not a very politically correct name for a Lib Dem." - 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 31st October 2007

11.45pm PlayPolitical: Oh dear; Iraqi army training has to get better than this

5.30pm ToryDiary: Tory poster to mark non-election

5.15pm CF Diary: Willetts salutes the work of Student Unions

12.30pm ToryDiary: Your favourite right-of-centre/ conservative (and elected) leader in the world today is... John Howard

ToryDiary: Tory MPs dissent from report calling for relaxed abortion laws and David Cameron to challenge Saudi leader on funding of extremist literature

Vikings, Vouchers and Valhalla - Greg Hands MP reports from the Swedish New Moderates' conference on the Platform

Columnist Peter Franklin advocates a "hypertext constitution":

"Whose fault is it that a Government elected with barely more than a third of the popular vote is now poised to ratify the repackaged EU constitution? I'm afraid that it all stems from the inherent weaknesses of our own constitution. Its individual parts - both efficient and dignified€ -“ may be perfectly formed, but as a whole it lacks an immune system, leaving it defenceless to any foreign bodies the Government of the day may choose to expose it to."

Support for Labour lower than any time since Blair

"Labour's majority could have been threatened if Gordon Brown had pressed ahead with plans to hold a general election tomorrow, according to a new Guardian/ICM poll. Support for the party has fallen to its lowest level in any ICM survey since Tony Blair left office." - Guardian

Yesterday's ToryDiary on the 5% lead

Attitudes to immigration

"Immigrants? Britain is plain full of them. Think of the House of Windsor, a hotch-potch of German and Greek ancestry with assorted other European bloodlines stirred into the pot. Think of such prominent Tories as Malcolm Rifkind and Michael Howard whose families successfully sought refuge from persecution before knitting themselves into the fabric of British life." - Ruth Wishart in The Herald

"Was Mr Cameron playing the populists' card, returning to one of Michael Howard's so-called "dog whistle" issues, which dominated the Conservatives' last election campaign? No doubt there is a connection between Mr Cameron's approach and the polls that suggest immigration tops voters' concerns." - Steve Richards in the Independent

"An unseemly anger against immigrants seems to be boiling over in the country. A speech by Tory leader David Cameron calling for a cap on migrant numbers has been given a warm reception. An underestimation by ministers of the number of foreign workers in Britain has been seized upon with glee by the usual reactionary subjects." - Independent leader

Is break-up inevitable?

"What is happening in Scotland is what has been happening throughout Europe. As globalisation makes national government ever less potent, sub-national government becomes stronger and more valued. Old arguments about viability, borders and sovereignties are left behind as centralist excuses, overwhelmed by both sentiment and realpolitik." - Simon Jenkins in the Guardian

Murdo Fraser supplements his Plaform article with an article for the Scotsman about a federal UK

Ed Balls seems to have something against excellence

"It's a pity that Ed, who could have stood up for high standards, has buckled. But I'm afraid he has form. It is on his watch that the educational establishment has been driving policy. And it is his bureaucrats who have proposed five-minute lessons because children are thought to have short attention spans, who have proposed children mark each other's work because that's less hierarchical and who, notoriously, proposed that you should teach history with Churchill written out of the script." - Michael Gove in the Telegraph

Jowell claims Olympic budget is still under control

"The shadow sports spokesman, Hugh Robertson, described the minister's statement as "staggering", and said it proved the government does not know the state of the budget: "The minister's admission... that the Olympic Board does not have access to up-to-date figures for the Olympic budget is staggering," he said." - Guardian

Canadian Tories' tax pledge

"Canada's Conservative government on Tuesday promised to deliver C$60bn in business and personal tax cuts over five years. "Business taxes will come down again... to ensure continued economic growth in the face of growing international competition and uncertainty," said Jim Flaherty, finance minister." - FT

John Howard not dead yet

"As the election nears and the real issue becomes standards of living, Mr Howard and his experience become more appealing: the mood for change that earlier polls seemed to suggest is not yet apparent. Mr Rudd may have to wait three more years: and if he does, with Mr Howard promising this will be his last election, he may have a more open goal at which to kick. For the moment, Australia seems after all to be leaning back towards the known quantity." - Simon Heffer in the Telegraph

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

Tuesday 30th October 2007

11.45pm TheWrongMan: Halloween ad from the Tories

7.30pm ToryDiary: Tories 5% ahead in ICM poll with leaderless LibDems showing signs of life

7.15pm ToryDiary: Cross-party talks on party funding have broken down

5pm Parliament: Conservatives dominate parliamentary debate on Burma and Jowell accuses CCHQ of perpetuating Red Arrows myth

2.45pm CF Diary: Introducing CF Countryside

1pm ToryDiary: Gove on Brown

12pm CF Diary: New CF website!

10am CF Diary: CF changeover will be at Spring Forum

10am ToryDiary: Conservative members want renegotiation referendum if Treaty is ratified

ToryDiary: Bounceback!

Andrew Haldenby on Platform: Spending more and more on health and pensions adds to the already heavy burden our young people have to bear

Columnist Andrew Lilico:  How we should approach welfare reform

TheWrongMan: The 300,000 immigrants that Mr Brown failed to count

Tories 8% ahead in ComRes poll for Independent

And all because of men?: "Tory support among men has risen from 31 per cent to 41 per cent, while among women it has increased from 37 per cent to 41 per cent. Conversely, Labour's support among men has dropped from 40 per cent to 31 per cent and among women from 35 per cent to 34 per cent. A possible explanation is that men regard Mr Brown's vacillation over calling an election as weak, whereas women may be less concerned about it." - Independent

>> Yesterday evening's ToryDiary on the poll.

Daily Mail welcomes David Cameron's speech on immigration

"For more than 40 years, Left-wingers in politics and the media have successfully silenced rational debate on the impact of mass migration, shouting 'racist' at anyone who dared even raise the subject.  The consequences can be seen all around us. According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, Britain's population is set to soar to more than 71 million by 2031, putting ever more pressure on our public services.  As Mr Cameron pointed out yesterday, the great bulk of this population growth - around 70 per cent - is attributable to net immigration. What is 'racist' about wanting to manage the tide?  There was nothing remotely inflammatory about the Tory leader's speech. On the contrary, it was a dispassionate and intelligent analysis of the pros and cons of the issue." - Mail leader

>> Yesterday's ToryDiary summary of the speech.

Sky News apologises for presenter's remark about Tory immigration policy

"Sky News was forced to apologise after one of its presenters joked on air that the Conservative Party supported a policy of "extermination" for immigrants.  Julie Etchingham's remark was broadcast as David Cameron was outlining Tory policy on immigration.  Mr Cameron was saying: "Some of the increase in population size results from natural change – birth rates, death rates. Here our policy should be obvious...." At that point Etchingham, above, was heard to say "extermination".  Sky News said the "regrettable" remark was "not intended for broadcast". Etchingham is leaving the channel to present ITV's resurrected News At Ten with Sir Trevor McDonald." - Telegraph

Envoy complains about ‘one-legged Lithuanians’ remark from David Cameron - Times

Cameron: I'll work for half pay - Telegraph

"The Tory leader warned that the extravagance of his colleagues was damaging Parliament's reputation, and insisted he was prepared to do his job for half the current pay.  It comes a week after Parliamentary authorities disclosed that members' expenses and allowances topped £87 million for the last time last year, double the rate of inflation." - Daily Mail

Gordon Brown to play part of Union protector - Rachel Sylvester in The Telegraph

Murdo Fraser's Platform article picked up - The Herald

Nigel Evans MP sleeps out as part of Burma protest

"A group of protesters has set up camp on Parliament Square in a vigil for the people of Burma, home to a brutal military regime.  Last night - after a Commons debate on the issue - they even welcomed Tory backbencher Nigel Evans MP, who spent the night in his sleeping bag.  "I spoke to someone who was released after six years' captivity in Burma and he said that things do filter through over there - if you think you can lock them up and extinguish their spirit, you're wrong," he said." - Telegraph Spy

Nigel Evans MP with ConservativeHome's Sam Coates.  Also part of the sleepover was Ben Rogers.

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

Monday 29th October 2007

8pm ToryDiary: ComRes poll would give the Conservatives a parliamentary majority

7.30pm PlayPolitical: Sarkozy walks out of CBS interview

5pm ToryDiary: More members were dissatisfied than satisfied with David Cameron before the Blackpool Conference

4.45pm Events: Tomorrow's events include what promises to be a very interesting late morning lecture by Michael Gove on what he thinks about Brown, an IPN lecture on post-Mugabe Zimbabwe, and a worthy discussion hosted by the New Culture Forum on the future of classical music

2.30pm CF Diary: Matthew Richardson launches Chairman campaign (and its slate) and Scottish CF conference

12.45pm ToryDiary: Highlights from David Cameron's immigration and population speech

Mark Field MP, 11am on Platform: It's time to create a federal parliament for the United Kingdom

10am BritainAndAmerica: In past years the British state rolled out the red carpet for Ceausescu and Mobutu; it's King Abdullah's turn today

ToryDiary: Cameron promises coherent strategy to manage net immigration and its consequences

Columnist Stephan Shakespeare: Time for Cameron's team to step forward

Brandon Lewis on the Platform:

"Some politicians will think that their role is to improve their community, their country or their local resident’s lives and ultimately that is true. However, unless we communicate how we will do that, why we will do it a particular way; even why and if something needs doing at all, then we will get nowhere."

Cameron sceptical about detaining terror suspects longer

"David Cameron has vowed to oppose Gordon Brown's "muddled" push to double the time terrorist suspects can be detained without charge." - Telegraph

"Amid strong indications that the Government is considering doubling the limit, Mr Cameron, speaking on Sunday Live, a Sky News programme, accused Mr Brown of being incoherent for advocating an extension while promising a new chapter in the history of British liberty." - Times

Cameron's first speech on immigration

"Effectively tackling Mr Brown on his slogan "British jobs for British workers", he will suggest that, if more British citizens work instead of claiming benefits, there will be fewer vacancies to attract immigrants. The population is projected to pass 70 million in the next 25 years. Mr Cameron will tie immigration to social policy, ranking it alongside family break-down as a key driver of rising British households. This in turn has pushed up house prices." - Telegraph

Reviewing how the union works

"The Tories were accused of prompting the break up of the UK last night as it emerged David Cameron is set to commit his party to stripping Scottish MPs of the right to vote on English matters at Westminster. He will back proposals by Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the former Scottish secretary, to create an English Grand Committee of the House of Commons to deal with issues which only affect people living south of the Border." - Scotsman

"Ministers on Sunday accused David Cameron, Conservative party leader, of threatening to “break up” the UK with proposals to stop Scottish MPs voting on English matters." - FT

"The creation of what would effectively be two classes of MPs at Westminster would indeed undermine the commonality of national purpose that is supposed to define the spirit of the Westminster Parliament. Is this really what a party that once styled itself as the defender of the Union wants?" - Independent leader

"There is a way to solve all these problems, and that is, as we have urged before, to devolve to English counties and cities the powers which, under the 1998 Scotland Act, are given to Holyrood. English and Scottish councils should also be given a significant measure of fiscal autonomy. All Westminster MPs would then be on the same footing, and the West Lothian question would at last find its answer." - Telegraph leader

"David Cameron yesterday hinted that the Tories were in favour of reviewing how much money Scotland gets from the Exchequer when he admitted his party was asking itself whether the current share-out of UK spending was fair." - Herald

"The Scottish nationalist leader Alex Salmond reignited the dispute over control of North Sea oil yesterday after the Tory leader, David Cameron, again questioned whether Scotland was too generously funded by the taxpayer." - Guardian

> Yesterday's ToryDiary on the issue

Wars don't come cheap

"There is no such thing as a cheap war. Soldiers must be given support, both in battle and when they return from battle. Their families also need support. On Poppy Day, we all need to reflect that our soldiers are putting their lives at risk for us; we should at least put our taxes on the line for them." - William Rees-Mogg in the Times

In defence of Cameron's realism

"The Tory leader does not accept that democracy is a universal antibiotic, guaranteed to cure any political ailment in any country at any stage of historical development. Mr Cameron argues that it is impossible to create stable and secure democracies without two pre-conditions: the rule of law, and a strong civil society. In this, he is drawing on the British historical experience." - Bruce Anderson in the Independent

In defence of liberal internationalism

"The cure for mass poverty and the political criminality that it breeds is a combination of liberal democratic government and free market economics. To be aware of that truth and yet refuse to disseminate it must be as wicked as withholding Western drugs that can cure Third World diseases. And it will not do to dismiss some peoples, with post-colonial contempt, as "unready". The only way that people learn how to deal with freedom is to exercise it. To say that they must win it for themselves without outside interference is to ignore the terrifying effectiveness of modern tyranny, with its armoury of weapons and electronically comprehensive surveillance." - Janet Daley in the Telegraph

• Graeme Archer pays tribute to the men who have died for us in Iraq
• Shadow Community Cohesion Spokesman Paul Goodman revealed some extraordinary evasiveness from the government over a controversial Muslim group and mosque
• Reporting from Germany, Tim speculates that Germany could be moving politically leftwards under Merkel

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

Sunday 28th October 2007

10pm PlayPolitical: Who is the scariest Republican Senator? and Democrats v Republicans (Apple v PC parody)

7.45pm ToryDiary: Harriet Harman is right...

3pm ToryDiary: Is Germany shifting leftwards under Merkel?

1pm ToryDiary: You couldn't make it up

Cameron on Brown on Sky News Sunday (1pm): "If you, all your life, campaign against everything Margaret Thatcher has done, you look a bit silly when you pose with her.  If you keep telling people how decisive you are and strong and then you cancel an election I think you do look a bit of a phoney.  I'm sorry, I just say it as I see it and that's how I saw it."

ToryDiary: David Cameron likely to adopt Rifkind plan to address West Lothian Question

Platform: Paul Goodman, Shadow Community Cohesion spokesman in the Commons, unearths extraordinary Government evasion over a Muslim group and a contested London mosque scheme.

Columnist Graeme Archer: Remember the men who died for us

Observer/ MORI poll gives Labour 1% advantage

"Gordon Brown has edged ahead of David Cameron in an exclusive Observer poll today which ushers in a new era of 'boat race' politics in which Labour and the Tories are almost neck-and-neck." - Observer.

Yesterday evening's ToryDiary on the poll.

David Ruffley plans 'police reserve force'

"The Conservatives have drawn up radical plans to replace Labour's controversial "Blunkett's bobbies" with a police reserve force similar to the Territorial Army.  The new force would comprise tens of thousands of paid special constables, all highly-trained with full powers of arrest.  Its creation would lead eventually to the scrapping of police community support officers, or PCSOs, who have attracted widespread criticism for being toothless." - Sunday Telegraph

EU Referendum: The Sunday Telegraph reports on yesterday's cross-party lobby.  Chris Palmer has blogged the rally.

Cameron defends wife from criticisms over her commercial work

"David Cameron staunchly defended his "fantastic and brilliant" wife Samantha and said she will not resign as director of upmarket stationer's Smythson if he becomes Prime Minister.  He hit back at criticism of his wife, who was accused of abusing her role as Leader of the Opposition's wife by plugging the company's products in an interview with Harper's Bazaar magazine in August." - Mail on Sunday

Cameron under fire for politically incorrect joke

"David Cameron was accused of a politically incorrect gaffe last night over a lighthearted remark he made about one-legged Lithuanians at a meeting with leading figures in the arts world.  Labour said the Tory leader was guilty of "crass insensitivity" after the comment, made at an Arts Council lunch on Tuesday, was leaked to The Mail on Sunday.  According to Arts Council sources, Mr Cameron told his hosts: "I hope you won't be giving grants to too many one-legged Lithuanian lesbians," prompting embarrassed looks all round." - Mail on Sunday

Liberal Democrats

In head-to-head debate Clegg promises to expose "illiberal" Cameron and Huhne nominates Gordon Brown to be the patron saint of tax accountants.  The Sunday Telegraph has more.

"Labour's private pollsters believe the Tory success is mainly explained by the dramatic fall in Lib Dem support during a period of transition. They believe the Lib Dems will return to their traditional poll rating of 17-18 per cent once a new leader is elected - at the expense of the Tories." - Observer

Downing Street orders shake-up of PMQs briefings as Brown struggles in head-to-heads with Cameron - The Sunday Times

Michael Portillo returns

Michael Portillo returns to The Sunday Times and discusses obesity.

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

Saturday 27th October 2007

10pm ToryDiary: Labour 1% ahead in MORI poll tomorrow

5pm news update: Clegg promises to expose Cameron as illiberal: "I'm going to set about demolishing this idea of a liberal Conservative put about by David Cameron," he declared. One of my first tasks as leader would be to cast the spotlight very, very strongly on Cameron saying 'if you are a liberal why are you leading a party which is so illiberal?'" - BBC

3pm ToryDiary: Promising nationally, acting locally now

Murdo Fraser MSP on Platform: We must not allow nationalists to drive England and Scotland apart

TheWrongMan: We haven't been cynical enough about Gordon Brown

BritainAndAmerica: Europe still wants the world to go away

Eleven times as many BBC staffers on Facebook are liberal as declare themselves conservative

The Daily Mail follows up on yesterday's ConservativeHome exclusive.

Foreign and security policy

A Telegraph leader welcomes David Cameron's foreign and security policy speech: "There is no contradiction between having strong defence and a non-interventionist foreign policy.  Mr Cameron talks of "liberal conservatism", perhaps unconsciously invoking the "liberal Tory" foreign policy of Canning, which secured the national interest by judiciously nudging ahead the cause of freedom in countries that mattered strategically.  It worked very well for us 200 years ago: it may work equally today."

>> ConservativeHome's review of the speech.

"A columnist advocating that we duck an international dispute realises how unimpressive the argument sounds. It hardly stirs the blood. It lacks the ring of moral certainty. But are our soldiers’ lives worth the ring of moral certainty that comes with a bold but doomed decision to try to make a difference? I suggest a braver decision: to admit that we cannot." - Matthew Parris in The Times

Britain 'wrecked' by mass immigration

"Labour has covered up its failure to control our borders by saying that our economy needs immigrants.  Well, if you are determined to have a welfare state that tolerates about eight million economically unproductive people of working age – the unemployed, those in "training" and those on various benefits because they believe they are unfit for work – then of course you will. It is time someone got serious." - Simon Heffer in The Telegraph

Writing in the Daily Mail, Peter Oborne says whether it's the atom bomb or the nature of the EU, politicians keep the truth from the British people.  They're still deceiving today, regards mass immigration.

Labour to retain restrictions on immigrants from Bulgaria and Romania - Times

Scotland 10 England 0: Scottish Nationalists proclaim the benefits of devolution - Independent

Interview with Nick Clegg - Telegraph

'Harry Potter lives in Thatcher's Britain'

"Harry Potter is a Left-winger and JK Rowling's books are a diatribe against Thatcherite Britain, a French philosopher has claimed.  "It must be said from the start that Harry Potter is deeply political and that the books speak of today's England," Jean-Claude Milner told the Liberation newspaper.  "Reading it, one can see that J.K. Rowling -- like many cultured English people -- believes there was a real Thatcherite revolution, that it was a disaster, and that culture's only chance is to survive as an occult science."" - Telegraph

The Sunday newspapers

"The Sunday newspaper is in better shape than circulation numbers alone would suggest, according to research released on Friday amid a fresh bout of soul-searching about the future business model.  Readers spend an average 70 minutes with their Sunday newspaper, the National Readership Survey found. Daily newspapers, by contrast, held their readers’ attention for 40 minutes a day between Monday and Friday and 60 minutes on Saturdays." - FT

CONSERVATIVEHOME'S OCTOBER SURVEY: Have you had your say?

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

Friday 26th October 2007

5.30pm ToryDiary: Three reasons to be cheerful...

5pm Seats and Candidates: Derek Thomas selected for St Ives

4.30pm ToryDiary: Cameron distances himself from liberal interventionism

Noon ToryDiary: George Eustice likely to manage party's relations with conservative coalition

Platform: Paul Greenall presents a three-point plan to fight Labour over its EU lies

PlayPolitical: Cheney nods off as Bush addresses Cabinet and Bill and Chelsea join star-studded birthday party for Hillary

ToryDiary: There are eleven times more 'liberals' at the BBC than 'conservatives'

Columnist Theresa May: Taking Parliament to the people

Seats and candidates: 30% of all selected candidates are women

Parliament:

• Douglas Carswell MP's review of the week covers Europe, Scotland, PMQs and defence
• Brian Binley opposes use of handheld email devices by MPs in Commons chamber (but MPs vote for them).
• Bernard Jenkin initiates EDM on Brown's plan to confiscate surpluses of well-run schools
• Michael Gove and Paul Goodman call for film-maker Ayaan Hirsi Ali to enjoy continuing protection

Tories 3% ahead in YouGov poll for Telegraph

"The Conservative Party is enjoying a remarkable turnaround in its electoral fortunes by maintaining its lead over Labour as Gordon Brown suffers from his decision to postpone the election.  An exclusive poll for The Daily Telegraph puts the Tories on 41 per cent and Labour on 38. Less than a month ago, the Conservatives trailed by 11 points and were facing the prospect of a landslide defeat in an early election." - Telegraph

"Tellingly, as the figures in the chart indicate, Labour still enjoys a narrow three-point lead over the Tories in response to YouGov's "forced choice" question which asks people to choose between a Cameron-led government and a Brown-led government.  Labour also leads the Tories narrowly on the crucial issue of economic competence." - Anthony King in The Telegraph

Last evening's ToryDiary on the poll.

Cameron to question Blair's Iraq war rationale in speech to CDU/CSU in Berlin - Telegraph

Could Britain have to send more troops to Afghanistan?  The Independent worries.

"From the morass of Iraq to the killing fields of Afghanistan... is there no end to the demands being made of Britain's underpaid, indifferently-equipped, badly overstretched troops?" - Daily Mail

Cameron should ignore the LibDems - Iain Dale in The Telegraph

Brown's constitutional reform speech

The Telegraph offers a summary.  Full text of speech via the BBC.

Nick Herbert MP's response: "This Government blindly refuses to address the problems of its Human Rights Act which has failed to protect key liberties-such as jury trial and the privacy-of our homes while hampering our ability to deal with terrorists.  We have argued that the Act should be replaced with a British Bill of Rights and Responsibilities to achieve the proper balance."  Quoted here.

Is Darling about to flip-flop on capital gains tax?

"Alistair Darling on Thursday signalled his willingness to offer business some concessions in the spring Budget, in the wake of the furore over his reform of capital gains tax." - FT

"The Conservatives have attacked the Chancellor for a capital gains tax "flip-flop" after he refused to rule out a rethink of his controversial Pre-Budget Report tax increase.  Alistair Darling appeared to leave the door open to changing his original proposal to remove so-called taper relief from capital gains tax, by which businesses can reduce the rate they pay on their assets to just 10pc, the Tories claimed." - The Business

The Business also publishes a leader on how Britain should cope with becoming a nation of immigrants for the first time.

Labour MPs in marginal seats claim most expenses - Times

Can Brown move beyond Blair?  Fraser Nelson wants to know in The Spectator

Tony Blair signs £5m memoirs deal - Guardian

On this day in 1951 Churchill returned to Downing Street - BBC

CONSERVATIVEHOME'S OCTOBER SURVEY: Have you had your say?

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

Thursday 25th October 2007

10.30pm ToryDiary: Tories remain 3% ahead according to YouGov - but voters remain unsure what a Cameron-led government would be like

5.30pm Parliament:

• Peter Bone MP defends his 10 minute rule bill on cycling helmets
• Justice spokesmen clash horns on party funding
• Tony Arbour AM on Livingstone's failed housing policy

5.15pm ToryDiary: 'There's nothing so ex- as an ex-MP'

12.45pm BritainAndAmerica: On the day GuardianAmerica launches... it's British Invasion II

12pm CF Diary: Daryl Williams launches his campaign for Chairman

11.30am New PlayPolitical videos:

1. Clever Australian Labor video puts climate change at heart of campaign
2. Peter Tatchell talks to Henry Porter about Labour's 'assault on civil liberties'
3. McCain contrasts his Vietnam heroism with Hillary's support for Woodstock

11.05am ToryDiary: We have a winner...

10.45am ToryDiary: Restore the standing of the shadow cabinet and other frontbenchers

ToryDiary: Have your say in ConservativeHome's October survey

Columnist Louise Bagshawe writes an open letter to Frank Field, Kate Hoey and Gisela Stuart urging them to join the Conservatives.

Syed Kamall MEP on the Platform explains why we won't truly grasp the implications of the EU constitution for a generation

"New European treaties do not signify the end-state of the Union’s institutional architecture.  The Commission and Courts exploit them to provide the impetus for further institutional upheaval and to act as a catalyst for further integration."

PMQs

"As soon as David Cameron demanded a "personal apology" for the chaotic Scottish elections, Gordon Brown began a frantic shuffling through his papers, as if somewhere within them he would find the perfect retort. But when he spoke, he began by admitting there were decisions "which could have been better made", a feeble opening which produced a storm of derision from the Tory benches." - Telegraph sketch

"He saw the enemy and the enemy was English. Forget Braveheart. This was Daveheart, and a betrayal of everything that Mel Gibson stood for. Gordo could not believe what he was hearing. Daveheart was accusing the Labour Party of betraying the Scottish voter." - Times sketch

"In a heated exchange at Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Brown said that all parties should share the blame for the mistakes made in the Scottish election, which led to 140,000 ballot papers being rejected." - Times

"A U-turn is being prepared by Gordon Brown over a plan to claw back surpluses in school budgets, after the proposal provoked furious disagreement from head teachers and parents. Mr Brown was attacked at the despatch box yesterday by David Cameron, the Tory leader, who said the scheme to "confiscate" 5 per cent of the £1.7bn in school surpluses had been criticised by head teachers as "unjust and ill-conceived"." - Independent

"Mr Cameron said he did not know how the prime minister had the "gall" to accuse him of misleading anyone. He called for Mr Alexander to explain himself to MPs and be stripped of his current responsibility for elections. Earlier today Mr Alexander apologised for his role in the Scottish elections fiasco." - Guardian

Devoscepticism

"Welsh Conservative MP Stephen Crabb has launched a blistering attack on devolution and his own party’s support for it. Writing on the website conservativehome.blogs.com, the MP for Preseli Pembrokeshire says the “devolution experiment” is leading to “socialism and separatism”." - Western Mail

Yesterday's Platform article by Stephen Crabb

A new form of inquisition

"The real danger is that we are entering a new era of the heresy and heretic hunting – whether it's ITV bosses booting out some middle-aged has-been from a reality TV show for his homophobic row about shirt-lifters, or Bellamy's own admission this week that he's been branded a heretic for his unfashionably sceptical views on man-made climate change. Not only have certain issues become taboo in a way that touches the totalitarian, we demonise those who don't conform." - Claire Fox in The Independent

Bill Rammell MP responds to Robert Halfon's letter

"Corporations have always made donations to political parties at national level. But the Ashcroft money is being poured into a small number of marginal constituencies in an attempt to buy the seat. Most of the donors have no interest in or connection to the constituencies. More worryingly, Ashcroft and the other corporate donors are hand-picking which candidates they support, raising questions about their independence should they be elected." - Guardian

Bin tax binned?

"Defra was expected to announce as early as Thursday it would go ahead with bin charges - a document outlining the plans has been seen by the BBC. But Defra said no final decisions had been made on the charges, aimed at boosting recycling rates in England."

Parliamentary debate of abortion law is overdue

"Slamming the door shut on debate in this way is ill-advised. Few issues are capable of polarising public opinion as starkly as abortion. What is significant about the public mood at the moment is that the efficacy of the law is being questioned by many who broadly support a woman's right to choose." - Telegraph leader

"The framers of the original Bill were moved by compassion, not by the mores of permissiveness. Abortion was only ever, they said, to be a last resort. That principle has been dangerously undermined." - Times leader

The Government has no understanding of farming

"The problem for British stock farmers is the stranglehold of politicians. Cereals this summer have fetched better prices, partly because wheat and barley are world commodities. Livestock depends on favourable governments that appreciate that animal husbandry plays a key part in maintaining landscape as well as feeding voters. Proper contracts with butchers and supermarkets could help, but best of all would be a pro-active minister who knew which end of a sheep the lamb came out." - Michael Wigan in The Telegraph

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

Wednesday 24th October 2007

4.10pm ToryDiary: Win a bottle of bottler

3.45pm ToryDiary: "EU flag may fly over Tories old Smith Square HQ"

3pm ToryDiary: Rifkind accuses "Europhobes" of "posturing" in demanding a post-ratification referendum

2.15pm ToryDiary:  Hamas must renounce violence before talks can begin says Trimble

ToryDiary: Live PMQs blog from noon

12pm Seats and Candidates: Mark Jones selected for Aberdeen South and Mark Versallion selected for Stretford & Urmston

11am PlayPolitical: Backstage at Cameron's press conference and How to make a negative ad

10am Parliament:

• Baroness Neville-Jones and Baroness Warsi both made their maiden speeches in the Lords yesterday and both during a debate on Afghanistan.  Baroness Warsi focused on the plight of women since the toppling of the Taliban regime and Baroness Neville-Jones on the UK military mission.
• David Mundell MP attacked Douglas Alexander's handling of the Scottish elections fiasco and concluded that a minister should never again be responsible for elections procedures and his own party's campaigns.

Columnist Peter Franklin says politics is no longer showbiz for ugly people

Platform: Stephen Crabb MP on how devolution is causing socialism and seperatism

"Eurosceptic anger" over not promising a retrospective referendum

"David Cameron risked inflaming his party yesterday when he tacitly admitted that it would be too difficult to hold a referendum on the EU reform treaty once it comes into force. The Tory leader is under pressure from MPs and activists to pledge to give the British people a vote on the treaty even if it has been ratified by all 27 EU member states." - Times

Independent / Sun / FT / Telegraph

Politics is a long-term game

"Political time horizons now need to be at least 18 months to two years ahead, not a few weeks or months. An increasingly self-confident David Cameron showed yesterday that he understands this shift, as Sir Menzies Campbell did last week in resigning as Lib Dem leader." - Peter Riddell in The Times

Liberal conservatives

"David Cameron yesterday sought to capitalise on Liberal Democrat woes by presenting his party as the home for liberal conservatives, offering fresh thinking in the next few months on school diversity, welfare reform, prison failure and greater accountability of local councils." - Guardian

Having the bottle to cut taxes

"As part of the new rhetoric about taxation and spending that the Tories need to find, they should start by saying this: that they are not in future going to pursue spending as an end in itself, but are going to pursue value. They should stop promising to spend, and start promising to rationalise." - Simon Heffer in The Telegraph

Expensive equality superquango

"Labour's new human rights 'superquango' will cost taxpayers £22million more to run than the three bodies it replaced. The Tories last night criticised the cost of the new commission. Theresa May, party spokesman on equality, said: "People who work in the public service have a duty to spend money responsibly'." - Daily Mail

National population projections

"Of Gordon Brown's much vaunted 3 million new houses by 2020, one and a quarter million will be needed for new immigrants. It is not only a matter of bricks and mortar. The very glue of our society is being weakened under the impact of rapidly growing communities of very diverse cultures - some of whom have little intention of integrating with us." - Andrew Green in The Telegraph

40th anniversary of the Abortion Act

"Lord Steel, architect of the 1967 Abortion Act, says today that abortion is being used as a form of contraception in Britain and admits he never anticipated "anything like" the current number of terminations when leading the campaign for reform." - Guardian interview

North-South divide moves north

"Worcester woman, the marginal voter assiduously courted by the Conservatives, will wake up today and discover that she now lives in the north as a result of an academic exercise that obliterates the Midlands." - SocietyGuardian

Rüdiger von Wechmar

"German diplomat who, as ambassador to Britain, dealt deftly with the tense relationship between Thatcher and Kohl" - Times obituary

Yesterday evening's ToryDiary tipped Osborne for Chairman

Job vacancies

• Agent - South Devon Conservatives
• Corporate Resources Officer - Chelmsford County Hall Conservatives
• Office junior - John Whittingdale MP
• Deputy Director - Reform
• Research Fellow (Health) - International Policy Network
• Researcher - Nick Ramsay AM
• Consultant - New Philanthropy Capital
• Part-time intern - Malcolm Rifkind MP
• Voluntary researcher - Alok Sharma PPC
• Office Manager - Countryside Alliance
• PA/Researcher - Rob Wilson MP
• Assistant Parliamentary Officer - Charity Commission
• Executive Secretary - Mark Pritchard MP
• Campaign Co-ordinator - Pro-life APPG
• Typist - Oliver Letwin MP
• Administrator - Global Vision

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

Tuesday 23rd October 2007

8.45pm ToryDiary: Osborne for Chairman

7.45pm BritainAndAmerica: Venezuela, Nicaragua and the USA should work towards a joint foreign policy...

7pm PlayPolitical: Hillary likely to mobilise the Republican base whoever becomes the GOP nominee

4.45pm PlayPolitical: Stephen Colbert's presidential bid

2.30pm Parliament: Browne on the backfoot at Defence Questions

2.15pm ToryDiary: Brown's squandered billions

1.15pm BritainAndAmerica: Tony Blair can't get enough of his transatlantic friends

11.30am ToryDiary: Highlights from this morning's David Cameron press conference

ToryDiary: David Cameron should not renew George Osborne's spending pledge

Columnist Andrew Lilico: The role of religious policy justifications in two kinds of liberalism

PlayPolitical:

• Two videos get to the heart of voter unhappiness with John Howard
• It's time for Justice for England?

EU Treaty

"Gordon Brown plans to force the European Union Reform Treaty through the House of Commons by denying Labour MPs a free vote on the controversial document, it has emerged." - Telegraph

Peter Riddell expects Labour to secure passage of the EU Treaty but only after further undermining public confidence in politics - Times

The Sun Says: "Bertie Ahern, accuses Mr Brown and other EU leaders of “running away” from a public vote.  In a devastating blast, Mr Ahern says: “If you believe in something, why not let your people have a say in it.”  Mr Brown hasn’t got a leg to stand on."

Chris Grayling: Labour failing to get the long-term sick back to work

"More than half of the 2.4 million people claiming incapacity benefit have been off work for more than five years, new figures have revealed.  The damning statistics contradict Government assurances that the problem of widespread incapacity claims is being tackled by getting the long-term sick back to work.  The official figures from the Department for Work and Pensions, unearthed by the Conservatives, show that the proportion of long-term incapacity benefit claimants has risen steadily in recent years." - Telegraph

Nick Herbert: Streets are less safe because of early released prisoners

"The number of violent crooks committing murders, rapes and other serious crimes while on jail early release soared 36 per cent last year, figures revealed... Last night shadow justice secretary Nick Herbert said: “Unacceptable weaknesses in the arrangements for supervising offenders remain. The streets will never be safe under a government that releases criminals early, then fails to monitor them.”" - The Sun

Michael Gove: Schools must be free of anti-gay prejudice

"I also support the right of individuals to believe, if they wish to, that homosexual behaviour is a sin.   The basic nature, the basic compact of British society is that you can believe what you like. But schools, if they are funded by the state, have to be a prejudice-free zone, they have to be zones where you respect the moral and ethical codes of the great religions, but it's also the case that there are basic minimum standards that have to be upheld.  That means when it comes to the treatment of women or to the treatment of anyone who might have a different sexual orientation from the majority, or from that prescribed as "optimal" by the faith, they have to show they are sensitive to those needs and respectful of them." - PinkNews.co.uk

Nadine Dorries attacks Evan Harris' anti-Christian prejudice

"Dr Harris's irrational and personal attack upon the integrity and professionalism of Dr Trevor Stammers - merely because he has the audacity to be chair of the Christian Medical Fellowship - is a sign of the growing intolerance and prejudice towards those who share Christian or indeed any religious beliefs in our society." - Letter to The Guardian

Labour's plan to penalise prudent headteachers

A Telegraph leader condemns Labour's cunning plan to take money from schools that have made economic use of their budgets and give that money to inefficient schools.

Home Secretary: 28 days of detention without trial may not be enough

"The Home Secretary has admitted that there has not been one single case since 9/11 when police enquiries would have been aided by holding a terror suspect for more than 28 days.  Despite the admission, as she gave evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee, Jacqui Smith insisted the Government will press ahead with plans to increase the period of detention without trial, because the police argue that terrorism cases have become far more complex and international." - Sky News

Cash-for-peerages

"The police officer who led the inquiry into cash-for-honours allegations against political parties is to be questioned by MPs later.  Assistant Commissioner John Yates is likely to be asked why a 16-month inquiry did not result in any charges." - BBC

Labour plans to abandon renewable energy targets - Guardian

How much longer will we have to put up with Scots spending so much of our money? - Max Hastings in the Daily Mail

Boing! News at Ten, with Trevor McDonald, is set to return - Daily Mail

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

Monday 22nd October 2007

6.45pm ToryDiary: Local government blog launches on 5th November... can you help?

5pm PlayPolitical: One video and one audio that Rudy Giuliani almost certainly wishes didn't exist

4pm ToryDiary: David Cameron responds to Brown's statement on the EU Treaty

12.30pm PlayPolitical: A great Bush impersonator

12pm Parliament: The swirling, confusing mess of hospital closures and Cost of appeals tribunal a red herring

ToryDiary: Chicken Saturday cost Labour £1m and Telegraph calls for end to "Scottish nationalism fed on English taxes"

Columnist Stephan Shakespeare: The importance of person-to-person contact in politics

Greg Hands MP on The Polish election (in London)

Poland's Law and Justice Party face big defeat

"The centre-right opposition Civic Platform party is heading for a landslide victory in the Polish general election, partial results suggest.  With a third of ballots counted, Donald Tusk's party is on track to win 40% of the vote, or 194 seats in parliament.  The Prime Minister, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, whose Law and Justice Party is second with 32%, has already admitted defeat." - BBC

The Civic Platform favour closer links with Europe and an end to Poland's involvement in Iraq.

Listen to Francis Maude defending Lord Ashcroft's financial role in the Conservative Party on this morning's Today programme

Related ToryDiary link: No extra state funding of political parties without cap on union donations says David Cameron

Telegraph says Tories risk treating electorate as fools if there is no retrospective referendum

"A month ago, Mr Cameron wrote: "Today, I will give this cast-iron guarantee: If I become PM, a Conservative government will hold a referendum on any EU treaty that emerges from these negotiations." That sounds pretty unequivocal.  Now, though, Mr Hague seems to be tiptoeing away from that promise, refusing to confirm that an incoming Tory administration would hold a retrospective poll if Labour had already pushed the constitution through... If the constitution is as bad as they say it is, the Conservatives must commit themselves to giving the people a say whenever they take power. Anything else, to borrow Mr Cameron's phrase, would be to treat people like fools." - Telegraph leader

"The Conservatives are "unlikely" to defeat the government over a referendum on the EU reform treaty, shadow foreign secretary William Hague told the BBC."

"The Tory leadership moved to quash a nascent rebellion by eurosceptic backbenchers, by on Sunday holding out the prospect that a Conservative government would seek to remove Britain from the European Union treaty agreed by Gordon Brown last week." - FT 

Bruce Anderson, in The Independent, sees Labour under a "moral requirement" to hold a referendum.

Last week's ToryDiary on this issue of a referendum whether or not the Treaty is ratified.

Ministers knew about C-diff deaths

"Ministers knew about the findings of a report into 90 patient deaths from clostridium difficile at Kent hospitals months ago, the Conservative party claimed yesterday. Andrew Lansley, opposition health spokesman, accused the government of taking too long to address the problem and said something had "gone wrong" within the Department of Health." - FT

Hardline America and softer Britain clash over approach to Burma - Times

Blair for EU President? - The Scotsman senses little enthusiasm from team Brown

"You've bottled it!"

"Gordon Brown’s character and relations with his closest advisers have again come under scrutiny in the light of claims that Ed Balls told him he had “bottled it” for failing to trigger a revolt to topple Tony Blair last year." - Times

Profile of Balls - Times

Yesterday on TheWrongMan: New book reveals feuding, bullying and foul-mouthed Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown's promise to offer 50,000 'British jobs to British workers' is illegal - Daily Mail

LibDem leadership race

"Chris Huhne, one of the two contenders for the Liberal Democrats leadership, has promised a place for Charles Kennedy in his team if he wins the contest.  Mr Huhne and his rival for the top post in the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, are both claiming support from key allies of Mr Kennedy whose backing could determine the outcome of a close contest." - Independent

Lib Dem hopeful Huhne 'can't remember' writing article calling for tolerance of LSD - Daily Mail

NEW BLOG OF THE WEEK: Continuing our Australian focus: Tim Blair

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

Sunday 21st October 2007

9.15pm BritainAndAmerica: Half of Americans would never vote for Clinton

6.45pm ToryDiary: 1,029 members have advice for David Cameron on next steps

3pm BritainAndAmerica: Introducing Mike Huckabee

11.30am BritainAndAmerica: These people make George Galloway look moderate...

11am ToryDiary: Tweedlelibdem and Tweedlelibdum both rule out EU referendum

TheWrongMan: New book reveals feuding, bullying and foul-mouthed Gordon Brown

Seats and candidates: Andrew Pelling MP's suspension still in place

Graeme Archer's Sunday column includes a factfile on Canadian politics and a challenge to all of us to scrutinise the LibDems:

"ConservativeHome should cover this campaign with relish, to help correct the mainstream media narrative which is building up, which goes something like ooh the Tories should be worried, they might pick that bloke wot looks a bit like Cameron, that Nick Check Out My Missus I’m Married Clegg, that’s gonna eat into the Tory vote that is. Hmm. I don’t think so, baby. To say that a leader who looks a bit like Cameron is a threat is just a tad too simplistic, even for me, even for the Today programme."

"We must value education for itself, not just to get a job"

"Of course we want productive workers. But more importantly, we want a strong society made up of happy and robust individuals. A real education is the only way to provide that." - David Willetts in The Sunday Times

Geoff Hoon, Labour Chief Whip, favours cap on Ashcroft money

"In an interview with GMTV, Hoon said: 'It's important that we restrain the amount of money that can be spent on parliamentary elections. Otherwise we simply end up in a situation where all political parties are trying to outbid each other in some sort of financial arms race to spend ever more money.  'That cannot be good for democracy, and I am worried about the way in which one man, in this case Lord Ashcroft, appears to be dominating one political party in order to influence the outcome of elections in particular parliamentary constituencies.'" - Observer

Yesterday evening's ToryDiary includes notes on Lord Ashcroft's defence of his support for target seat candidates: No extra state funding of political parties without cap on union donations says David Cameron

Kirstie Allsop to help Grant Shapps lead housing policy quest

"Kirstie Allsop, the self-styled queen of property television shows, is to use her profile and housing know-how to lead a review by David Cameron into how buying and selling a home could be made easier... This week Allsopp will start to head a review of home buying, working alongside shadow housing minister Grant Shapps, to come up with ideas which could regenerate the housing market and make it easier for first-time buyers to get a foot on the housing ladder. A website will be launched and the public will be invited to send in ideas on how negotiations and exchanges could be simplified." - Observer

Labour set to steal another Tory policy... on the number of non-EU immigrants coming into Britain

"Liam Byrne, the immigration minister, last week repeatedly refused to rule out annual quotas as a means of controlling the rising number of migrants.  Home Office officials have now confirmed they are considering whether such a scheme would help to ease the pressures on public services created by large numbers of new arrivals." - Scotland on Sunday

Recent ToryDiary on 'Copycat Labour'

£4,000 goodbye for asylum seekers who go home voluntarily

"Failed asylum seekers are to be offered up to £4,000 to go home voluntarily, it was revealed yesterday.  The support packages - which can include help towards private school fees - are intended to arrest an alarming slump in the number of bogus refugees being removed from the country." - Mail

Fraser Nelson's verdict: "Illegal immigrants already think Britain is a soft touch. Now, for them, it's a case of 'heads you get to stay in Britain, tails you get a £4,000 consolation prize and a free flight back home'."

UK population to grow by 'two Londons' by 2051

"Rising immigration, a higher birthrate among migrant families and longer lifespans are on course to lift the population by at least 15 million by 2051, from last year's 60 million total. There are fears it could even hit 77 million.  The increase will be the equivalent of building two new cities the size of London. It will place enormous demands on housing, transport and public services, and will bring a dramatic change to the nation's ethnic mix." - Sunday Telegraph

Esther McVey and Labour MP war over Ashes tour claims - Mail on Sunday

Tory Muslim peer accused of adultery

Tory Chairman of Conservative Muslim Forum (author of the controversial report that ConservativeHome highlighted on Friday) is the subject of a typical News of the World expose: "A Tory peer who lectures on family values is a love-rat who cheated on his wife for nearly ten years.  Baron Mohamed Iltaf Sheikh, who is the Chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum, enjoyed a decade of regular sex sessions with his secret Hindu mistress Saroj Dattani."

LibDem leadership race

"In an article for this newspaper, Chris Huhne aims the first personal shot at Nick Clegg - claiming that his rival risks being seen as little more than a "Tory twin".  In a broadside at Mr Clegg's free-market credentials, Mr Huhne says there is "no gap in the market" for a third party "parroting" David Cameron by promising choice and competition in public services." - Sunday Telegraph

"This weekend Chris Huhne is discovering, just as David Cameron before him, that his undergraduate days at Oxford can come back to haunt him. Last night Huhne, 53, was doing his best to disown an article he appears to have written in an Oxford student magazine about the benefits of illegal hard drugs." - Sunday Times

"The pin-up promising the return of zing after Ming" - The Sunday Times profiles Nick Clegg

The BBC has a report on yesterday's Clegg and Huhne hustings

Scotland on Sunday reports that Brown may give Ming Campbell job of overseeing Labour's constitutional reforms.  The News of the World suggests, in contrast, that Ming may become Speaker after the next general election.

Salmond-Brown relations deteriorate further

"Relations between Holyrood and Westminster slumped to their lowest point since devolution last night, after Alex Salmond accused Gordon Brown's government of "idiocy" and declared he would take on the Prime Minister in public.  In a furious broadside ahead of this week's party conference in Aviemore, the First Minister claimed Brown was effectively reneging on a promise to deal fairly with the SNP Government after it cut back increases in Holyrood's budget two weeks ago." - Scotland on Sunday

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

Saturday 20th October 2007

10.30pm ToryDiary: No extra state funding of political parties without cap on union donations says David Cameron

3pm BritainAndAmerica:

• Tony Blair's first major speech since leaving Downing Street focuses on Iran
• "The US is a great place to be anti-American"
  

12.30pm ToryDiary: 'MPs are only lent powers and they must return them undiminished' warns Tony Benn

Noon PlayPolitical: The next President will be the one who bullshits the most and Has anyone else noticed how many times Kevin (Lizard) Rudd sticks his tongue out?

ToryDiary: Michael Gove backs return to traditional teaching methods

Platform: Daniel Kawczynski MP laments regional disparities in education funding

Columnist Cameron Watt on abortion law:

"One in four pregnancies now ends in abortion. Although the number of abortions is at an all-time high, there are increasing signs that public opinion on this most sensitive of issues is shifting. Technology has given us new, vivid images of unborn life, reinforcing the humanity of the foetus. Research published last month showed 68% of the public want to tighten abortion law and reduce the upper limit from 24 weeks to around 13 weeks."

Andrew Pelling MP will not face police charges

"A Conservative MP who was investigated by police over allegations of assaulting his wife will not face charges. Andrew Pelling, the MP for Croydon Central, was told on Friday that no prosecution will be brought in connection with the complaints of his pregnant wife Lucy."  - Metro

Hammond attacks Treasury bonuses

"The Conservatives last night accused the Treasury of effectively paying its own staff "staggering" performance-related bonuses at a time when thousands of poor families were suffering financial hardship as a result of Treasury errors. In the past five years bonuses totalling £53m have been paid out to Treasury staff, including £21.5m in 2005-06 - when Gordon Brown was still chancellor - doubling the previous year's sum, the shadow chief secretary, Philip Hammond, revealed." - Guardian

The Clegg

"The Liberal Democrats yesterday unveiled their exciting new anti-Tory weapon, developed in such secrecy that nobody has heard of it. The wonder weapon is called the Clegg and the Lib Dem high command hopes to rush it into service before Christmas, to fill the gap left when the obsolete and ineffectual Campbell unexpectedly blew itself up." - Andrew Gimson sketch in The Telegraph (accompanied by Matt cartoon)

Brussels dictatorship will face day of reckoning

"If I were a pro-European, I would be worried by the fact that the only people who any longer vociferously support ever-closer union are those whose living depends on it. There are the officials, obviously, and the MEPs. Then there are the myriad hangers-on who know which side their croissant is buttered - the lobbyists, the big farmers, the defence contractors, the Brussels journalists who supplement their incomes with work for the commission." - Charles Moore in The Telegraph

Shifting referendum pressure to parliament

"In addition to asking our readers to petition directly for a referendum, we now ask you to write to your MP, and ask that he or she keep the promise made to you at the last election. Our campaign is in no way anti-European. On the contrary, we have always believed in the European values that this constitution traduces: political pluralism, personal freedom and parliamentary democracy. Wherever you stand on the constitution, you should demand that our MPs discharge their duty. It is, in Mr Brown's phrase, an issue of trust." - Telegraph leader

"In a calculating manner, as we reported yesterday, [Brown] seems to have divined that there are positive advantages in excluding the voters. He believes that a protracted parliamentary discussion will bore the electorate to tears while opening up a division within the Conservative Party" - Times leader

"It will be a long and often tedious haul but Gordon Brown should win parliamentary approval for the new European reform treaty without too much trouble. But Westminster is only one of three tests: the other two are with the media and the public." - Peter Riddell in The Times

Wanted: a national culture

"Multiculturalism has led not to integration but to segregation. It has allowed groups to live separately, with no incentive to integrate and every incentive not to. It was intended to promote tolerance. Instead the result has been, in countries where it has been tried, societies more abrasive, fractured and intolerant than they once were." - Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in The Times

Labour's failed attempts at boosting social mobility

"Ten years of Labour rule have failed to create a classless society, according to a Guardian/ICM poll published today. It shows that Britain remains a nation dominated by class division, with a huge majority certain that their social standing determines the way they are judged." - Guardian

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

Friday 19th October 2007

3.30pm ToryDiary: Cameron meets John Key

3pm Parliament: Douglas Carswell MP reviews the week

Noon: Parliament has been updated with John Whittingdale challenging the Government on council tax, Francis Maude highlighting the importance of third sector independence and William Cash's EDM on the EU Treaty.

11am ToryDiary: 39 Tory MPs (so far) demand Treaty Referendum before or after ratification

10.20am Columnist Theresa May MP creates her fantasy Westminster rugby team!

PlayPolitical: Kevin Rudd, Australian Labor Leader, eats his own ear wax

Wrongman: Gordon Brown pledges to honour his promises - but will he?

10am ToryDiary: Tory Muslims' report defends Iran's nuclear ambitions and offers comfort to extremists

ToryDiary: Will voters ever trust Brown again?

Jack Perschke: Aid perpetuates poverty

Brown signs up to the EU Constitution/ Treaty

"Gordon Brown has set aside up to three months to ratify the new EU reform treaty after it was agreed by European leaders last night, raising the spectre of the tumultuous parliamentary battles over Maastricht 15 years ago.  The Prime Minister briefed his Cabinet colleagues on Tuesday to expect another protracted tussle on the latest treaty, starting in the new year and continuing well into the spring, The Times has learnt."

Crime statistics

"The number of recorded drug offences in England and Wales rose 14% in the second quarter of this year alone, the Home Office has revealed." - Sky News

"David Davis, the shadow Home Secretary, denounced the Government's "shambolic and failed" policy on drug-related crime, saying: "These statistics show Labour have patently failed to deliver on their rhetoric. Drug abuse is not an isolated crime – it destroys lives, wrecks communities, fuels other crime and is a major cause of our broken society."  Overall, recorded crime levels fell 7% to just under 1.3 million offences over the period. The numbers of violent offences dropped by 8%, which included a 14 per cent drop in the most serious violence.  Robbery showed a 9% fall, sexual offences also dropped 9% and criminal damage fell by 10%. Property crime, including burglary, criminal damage and car thefts, dropped by 7%." - The Independent

Controversial report from Muslim Tories

"A body set up by David Cameron to advise the Conservatives on Muslim issues has criticised the Government's relationship with Israel and concluded that Iran has "legitimate" reasons for wanting nuclear weapons." - Telegraph

Britain sinks further into the red

"The public finances moved further into the red last month as official figures showed public sector net borrowing at a record high for a September.  Just a week after Alistair Darling, chancellor, revised up his borrowing forecasts for this year and next in the pre-Budget report, public sector net borrowing rose to £6.9bn in September, up from £5.7bn in the same month last year and above analysts expectations of a £6.3bn deficit." - Financial Times

Inheritance tax is one levy that makes good economic sense - Irwin Stelzer in The Spectator

Ming's demise contains a warning for Brown

"Conventional wisdom, to which Sir Ming himself subscribes, has it that his age was his undoing...  Troubling as that interpretation is, it is in a way a consoling one for Sir Ming. The truth is less exculpating for him, and more worrying for Mr Brown. Sir Ming flopped less because he is old than because he is uncharismatic—at least, not charismatic in the ways that 21st-century politicians are called upon to be. They need, it increasingly seems, to conform to certain minimum physical standards: bald pates and paunches are out. They need a user-friendly 'vision'€, a soundbite-sized theme of their leadership. Having a good 'back story' as does Sir Ming, a former Olympic sprinter, and as Mr Brown thinks he does too - does not compensate for failure on these scores." - The Economist

LibDem leadership race

"The race to become the next leader of the Liberal Democrats looks set to be a straight fight between Chris Huhne and Nick Clegg after another potential contender ruled himself out yesterday.  Steve Webb, the left-wing chairman of the Lib Dems' manifesto team, said the contest would force him to spend too much time away from his family." - Scotsman

"Yesterday the Clegg campaign was gaining momentum with support from Lord Ashdown, the former leader, and a string of MPs including Steve Webb, a policy expert who is on the left of the party. Mr Clegg's speech today will include warm praise for the leadership of Sir Menzies, whose vote could carry weight with the party if he comes out publicly for Mr Clegg, who is expected in particular to praise Sir Menzie's stand against the war in Iraq and against the Government's disregard for "hard-won freedoms and rights"." - The Independent

ePolitix.com profiles Nick Clegg.

Nick Clegg or Chris Huhne: no one can change the Lib Dems' failure to find a niche - Stephen Pollard in The Spectator

A longer parliamentary recess is interpreted as extra holidays by the BBC

Michael White previews the debates over Jack Straw's looming legislation on 'gay hate' - Guardian

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

Thursday 18th October 2007

8.45pm PlayPolitical: Rudy on Hillary - She's never run a city, never run a state, never run a business...

6pm ToryDiary: The Independent? It isn't.

5.30pm PlayPolitical: Giuliani is asked by a youngster - How should we prepare for an alien invasion?

5pm ToryDiary: George Osborne believes that there is a "good chance" that Labour's CGT changes might be abandoned

2pm Seats and Candidates: Four Scottish selections

Noon ToryDiary: The Conservatives must intensify pressure on BBC to reform

Noon Parliament:

• Comments are now enabled on this section...
• Roger Evans AM writes about the fall-out from Metronet
• Will the Government nick our Health Systems Partnership Fund idea please?
• Peter Bone MP advocates making it compulsory for children to wear cycle helmets

11.15am ToryDiary: What should Conservatives do about obesity?

9.45am WrongMan: Just Gordon posters

Nigel Fletcher: Thatcher and Cameron – In Government's Waiting Room

On the day that we learn that one-in-four NHS Trusts are failing on infection (BBC)...

Patrick Barbour on Platform: Political management has failed the victims of C-Diff:

"Alan Johnson, the current Secretary of State for Health, is typical.  Before becoming an MP he worked in the Communication Workers Union, a position for which no healthcare expertise was needed.  Since he was first appointed to a ministerial position eight years ago he has been a minister at the DTI and at the DfES and a Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the DTI and the DfES before moving to the Department of Health.  That’s more than six jobs in eight years, in four very different departments.  How does any of this equip him to run one of the largest and most complex organisations in the Western world?  It doesn’t."

Gordon Brown set to sign revived EU Constitution today

"Gordon Brown is today poised to sign Britain up to the revived EU constitution, dismissing claims from David Cameron that if he breaks his pledge to hold a referendum "no one will trust him on anything else"." - Daily Mail

"According to the [Financial Times/ Harris] poll, 70 per cent of those questioned in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain want a referendum, 20 per cent do not, and 10 per cent are unsure.  Some 76 per cent of Germans want a referendum, 75 per cent of Britons, 72 per cent of Italians, 65 per cent of Spaniards and 63 per cent of French."

"European Commission chiefs will be able to order the UK to increase its oil reserves in case of emergencies in OTHER nations.  It would mean Britain would have to hand over stocks to EU states suffering an energy crisis." - The Sun

"Debunking the Eurosceptic myths about the EU Reform Treaty" - The Independent

In Louise Bagshawe's ConservativeHome column, she predicts that Brown's broken pledge may cost him the next election.

Tories will help to lead fight against Government's CGT changes amidst signs of concern on Labour backbenches

"The Conservatives have allied themselves to the growing grassroots campaign to force the Chancellor of the Exchequer to reverse his decision to raise capital gains tax on business assets by 80pc from next April.  George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, hosted a meeting yesterday of leading London-based entrepreneurs behind the Downing Street petition that has now attracted more than 11,000 signatures.  He said the Tories would fight the proposal and even if unsuccessful would vote against the measure in the 2008 Finance Bill. "We think there's a good prospect to force them into a U-turn," he said." - The Business

"George Mudie, a former Labour deputy chief whip and leading supporter of Mr Brown, called for the changes to be shelved for a year pending a policy rethink.  Mr Mudie, a member of the Treasury Select Committee, told The Times: “I think that there are unintended consequences to the measure that are becoming apparent. There is no real financial reason why we don’t just consult and do it later – put it off and then make a job of it.” - Times

Lord Ashcroft defends his financial support of the Conservative Party - Telegraph

Shadow Welsh Secretary adopts ‘wait and see’ attitude to powers referendum - Western Mail

The Western Mail story is based on Cheryl Gillan's Q&A with ConservativeHome readers.

LibDem leadership race

Paddy Ashdown backs Nick Clegg in an article for The Guardian.

"Former City economist Chris Huhne last night claimed his background made him the candidate most likely to defeat Gordon Brown as he launched his bid for the Liberal Democrat leadership... In an interview with the Guardian, he called for an extension of local democratic control over schools and said politicians should do more to ease the time pressures facing young, dual-earning families."

Charles Kennedy effectively rules himself out of race - Independent

Britons paying highest taxes for 22 years - Daily Mail

All party committee of MPs warns of future "labour vacuum" when current migrant workers return home - BBC

Peter Riddell urges Gordon Brown to begin setting out his vision with a focus on immigration - Times

Half of secondary schools are failing to give children a good education - Daily Mail

The Sun Says: "The latest report on schools is bleak. It shows poor kids are eight times more likely to fail than children from middle-class families. Those in care are worst hit, with bad behaviour wrecking youngsters’ chances of concentrating on lessons.  One in seven children’s homes are not up to scratch. And 1.6million kids in deprived areas have the “odds stacked against them”."

On this day in 1963, Sir Alec Douglas-Home became Prime Minister - BBC

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Wednesday 17th October 2007

8.30pm: LOUISE BAGSHAWE'S 'THURSDAY COLUMN' IS LIVE NOW:
Tomorrow, Labour loses the election

5.15pm ToryDiary: Is The Sun cooling towards bullying Brown?

5pm BritainAndAmerica: Why America Doesn't Ratify Treaties

3pm ToryDiary: Tories say immigration is a 'core vote issue' for all Britons

Noon Events: 40 forthcoming events listed, including debates on the future of political parties, what powers to devolve to local councils, and the just war tradition.

Noon ToryDiary: Live PMQs blog

9.45am Parliament:

• Bernard Jenkin questions Defence Secretary on military spending and Iraq commitments
• John Bercow uses EDM to highlight the plight of Darfuris forcibly deported to Sudan
• Philip Davies questions impact of migration on housing needs

Columnist Peter Franklin examines the flaws in the Left's arguments against cutting inheritance tax

Jeremy Brier writes for the Platform about how the Lib Dem party is the problem, not its leader

Interviews: Cheryl Gillan, Shadow Minister for Wales, answers your questions

The purpose of the LibDems is in question

"If the Liberal Democrats did not exist, would it be necessary to invent them? The third party of British politics has been lost almost without trace over recent months as Labour and Conservatives squared up to each other in the altered landscape of Gordon Brown’s premiership." - FT

"With Tony Blair gone, the Iraq question has lost much of its political heat; Cameron's arrival has reduced the toxicity of the Conservative brand. Fairweather Lib Dems can now go back to one or other of their previous homes" - Jonathan Freedland in The Guardian

"The choice that lies before the Lib Dems is whether they wish to fight the last war or the next. The last war was against the Labour Party, whose current decline is not necessarily so temporary as it would like to imagine. The next one is against the Conservatives, whose revival is almost certainly more fragile than they hope." - Simon Heffer in the The Telegraph

Who will win out, the Cleggies, the Huhnistas or the Webbies? - Michael White in The Guardian

Miliband grilled over EU constitution

"The foreign secretary was savaged over the draft reform treaty by the House of Commons European scrutiny committee this afternoon, prompting renewed calls from the Conservatives for a referendum. David Miliband has repeatedly insisted that Britain's "red lines" are not under threat, but was told by the chair of the committee that the new treaty used "bullying tactics" to get around them." - Guardian

"Is there any chance that the PM will, even at this late stage, give us the referendum he had promised? Or even, in a brilliant coup de théâtre, veto the whole text? No. The deal has already been done. It was done years ago. Everything else - the swaggering, the threatening, the haka of synthesised aggression - is a ritual played out for domestic consumption." - Dan Hannan in The Telegraph

"Britain is a major trading nation - the third largest in current account terms - and our prosperity depends on trade. Yet the EU's heavy-handed regulations hit all businesses based in the UK, damaging their ability to respond flexibly and swiftly to changing world conditions." - Norman Lamont in The Telegraph

Making British Poverty History                                        

"David Cameron has attacked Gordon Brown's attempts to eradicate poverty, accusing him of "undermining" the family. Mr Cameron lambasted the Prime Minister over his tax credits system which he said rewarded couples for living apart." - Independent

"God, what a wet David Cameron comes across as at times. Some of the content of his speech yesterday was such typically bourgeois-liberal projection that it made me wonder if perhaps I lived secretly somewhere to the right of Attila The Hun." - Deborah Orr in The Independent

"David Cameron invaded political territory previously the preserve of Gordon Brown yesterday when he vowed to make child poverty history in the UK, largely by adopting a tougher stance on welfare reform and greater use of the private sector." - Guardian

> Yesterday's ToryDiary report of the speech

Migrants better off

"Migrants are more reliable and harder working than British-born workers and are boosting economic output by £6 billion a year, according to a government study published yesterday. Immigrants have a better work ethic than the British and are willing to work longer hours with less time off sick. Weekly mean earnings of migrants are also £60 higher than their UK counterparts." - Times

> The full Home Office report

The BBC has gone way beyond a public service role

"The development of the internet, digital television and other new technologies has been a challenge to the BBC, and one to which it has responded with an avalanche of licence-payers' money. The culture this has created is deeply unhealthy, and Mr Thompson is quite right to seek to begin to unpick it." - Telegraph leader

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Tuesday 16th October 2007

5pm ToryDiary: Ming Who?

10.30am ToryDiary: Making British Poverty History

10.15am Parliament updates:

• Ann Widdecombe tackles Alan Johnson on appalling state of the Maidstone Hospital Trust
• Bob Spink MP uses EDM to pay tribute to Special Constables
• Rob Wilson MP fails to get answers from Minister on criminality and inward migration

ToryDiary: Divided Tory MEPs may replace Timothy Kirkhope next month

PlayPolitical: David Cameron with Governor Schwarzenegger in California

Columnist Andrew Lilico: Everyone hates you, America, but so what?

"Whilst there is yet wickedness and sloth and selfishness in the world, positive action by those that are good will give rise to hatred at least as much as love.  Americans need to accept this as a startpoint - but too often they worry that they are not loved, expecting that they should be and not understanding what cause for hatred there could be."

Platform: Richard Calhoun advocates a referendum on the Union

"Merciless"

"Sir Menzies Campbell bowed swiftly to the inevitable last night by jumping before he was pushed as leader of the Liberal Democrats.  The 66-year-old MP, who faced an increasingly open revolt inside his party, decided to fall on his sword rather than face a bloody coup like the one that toppled his predecessor, Charles Kennedy, less than two years ago." - Independent

Analysis of Ming's resignation

"Over the last few weeks three new factors fuelled what was already a fairly febrile mood within the Lib Dems: David Cameron's revival, Gordon Brown's decision to postpone an election probably until 2009, and the polls that showed a further decline in support for the third party." - Steve Richards in the Independent

"Sir Menzies Campbell is the first victim of Gordon Brown’s decision to delay an election. Whatever the suddenness of last night’s dramas, his long-term position became unsustainable once an election was put off until next year or later, when Sir Menzies would have been 68 or 69." - Peter Riddell in the Times

"The bloodless coup came quicker than anyone had expected or imagined. But ultimately it was David Cameron and the rising fortunes of the Conservatives that did for Sir Menzies Campbell." - The Herald

"Politics benefits from a plurality of ideas and vigorous debate – and the Liberal Democrats have more freedom than the other parties to think such big thoughts, since they are not preoccupied with preparing for or remaining in government. Their return to the political fray would be good news for British politics" - Telegraph leader

The resignation letter in full - Times

Yesterday evening's ToryDiary: Ten instant reactions to Ming's resignation

Next steps for the LibDems

"If Sir Menzies's successor is a moderniser, who manages to convince his party's activists that the world has changed - that they must be liberal on both social and economic issues, in favour of low taxes as well as gay marriage, pro-choice in health and education as well as over abortion - then there will be a wide-ranging impact on politics." - Rachel Sylvester in the Telegraph

"Smart, multilingual and ambitious, Nick Clegg has been tipped as the next Liberal Democrat leader for longer than he has served as MP for his leafy constituency at the posh end of Sheffield." - Julian Glover profiles Clegg in The Guardian

Welfare state speech

"The Tories will step up their campaign to destabilise Gordon Brown today by targeting Labour's failure to reform the welfare state. David Cameron will unveil proposals to overhaul the social security system and pledge to deliver the changes Labour has promised for more than a decade." - Daily Mail

Voting against CGT

"Conservative MPs will vote against part of the upcoming finance bill if it includes controversial changes to the capital gains tax (CGT), detailed in last week's pre-budget report, the shadow chancellor George Osborne said yesterday. As a growing number of lobby groups and business people voiced their dismay at the proposals, Mr Osborne said his party would be campaigning with business to block the changes outlined last week." - Guardian

"In another development that could raise the political pressure on the prime minister for a rethink, MPs on the influential trade and industry select committee will debate this week whether to summon ministers to explain the changes." - FT

The lost bequest

"The donation had seemed like the answer to a prayer for the Conservative high command. In the aftermath of the 2005 general election, the Tories were struggling to make ends meet and the party was deeply in the red. Mr Justice Henderson ruled that Mr Kostic, who was born in Belgrade, would not have left the money to the Tories if he had been "of sound mind"." - Independent

Yesterday morning's ToryDiary: Party told it can't keep £8.2m donation

Humanists accuse Gummer of saying they had no place at conference

"An un-Christian dust-up is under way between John Gummer, the Catholic Tory MP, environmentalist and cow eater, and the British Humanist Association. Each accuses the other of dishonesty. The humanists claim that Gummer attacked them a fortnight ago at their stall in Blackpool." - Independent's Pandora

Andrew Gimson pens a must-read sketch on Ann Widdecombe's intervention during questions on the Maidstone hospital scandal - Telegraph

Robert Halfon's letter defending Lord Ashcroft's funding of marginal seats appears in The Guardian | Related ToryDiary

Ed Vaizey MP also blogged about this subject yesterday - warning that incumbent MPs already have massive advantages and Lord Ashcroft is only giving candidates a fair chance.

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Monday 15th October 2007

9.15pm ToryDiary: Ten instant reactions to Ming's resignation

8.15pm ToryDiary: Cameron had hour-long meeting with Margaret Thatcher this evening

6.20pm ToryDiary: MING CAMPBELL TO RESIGN

3.30pm ToryDiary: It's over for the übers (or at least it should be)

3pm BritainAndAmerica:

• America makes more progress in Iraq but neither France nor Britain are fulfilling Washington's hopes
• "No one knows when the Berlin Wall will come down" is a good motto for a think tank.

2pm Parliament:

• Douglas Carswell's review of the week that was in the House of Commons
• Robert Atkins MEP writes about the influence and importance of the Tory MEPs
• John Hayes MP attempts to limit the LSC's unaccountable power

1pm WrongMan: Labour MP Gisela Stuart criticises Brown's dishonesty and No friends left

11.30am Seats and Candidates: Trefor Jones selected for Ynys Mon

10.30am ToryDiary: Party told it can't keep £8.2m donation

ToryDiary: Party members credit George Osborne and tax cuts for Tory resurgence

Platform: Benet Northcote asks how poor you have to be to be able to talk about global consumption

Seats and Candidates: Candidates Association holds annual conference on 10th November

Interviews: Paul Oginsky answers your questions

Columnist Stephan Shakespeare:

"The Conservatives need no longer be afraid to move away from the liberal consensus, because now we know that when they get it right – in this case a tax cut that is seen as fair and sensibly funded, maybe tomorrow, genuine reform of public services without making people feel insecure – the others will be forced to follow, and look weak for doing it."

Blog of the week: The blog of Melbourne-based conservative commentator Andrew Bolt will be essential reading as the election campaigns kick off in Australia

Labour activists four times more likely than us to work in a quango

"Labour supporters are four times more likely to hold a job on a public body than Conservatives, prompting accusations that Labour is using these jobs to reward party supporters. There were 394 Labour activists appointed to public bodies in the past year, an increase of 62.8 per cent, compared with 96 who were active on behalf of the Conservative Party and 78 Liberal Democrats." - Times

Brown moves to clip Ashcroft's wings

"Gordon Brown is set to outlaw big donations to local political parties between general elections to prevent the millionaire Lord Ashcroft bankrolling Tory campaigns in marginal seats. If the Tories refuse to back new limits on constituency spending, ministers are expected to bring in new curbs. Such a move would be controversial, since Labour would risk being accused of changing the rules to enhance its election prospects." - Independent

Murdoch's tabloids feel Cameron is now "worth a look"

"[That there was a feeling] that Cameron was kind of a lightweight toff, not as agreeable to Murdoch as Brown, the hardworking Presbyterian Scot whose father had a similar background to Rupert's grandfather - that's certainly true. But I think that changed and it changed very recently, around Cameron's speech, to where it is my impression that the Sun and the News of the World - to the extent they take direction from Murdoch - feel that Cameron is worth a look, whereas before he was not worth a look. And I know that to be a fact." - Irwin Stelzer interviewed by MediaGuardian

5% lead in poll of polls

"The Conservatives have opened up a five-point lead over Labour after an attempted fightback by Gordon Brown failed, according to the latest "poll of polls" for The Independent. A week ago, after Mr Brown disclosed there would be no general election this year, the rolling average of the most recent opinion surveys showed the two biggest parties neck and neck on 39 per cent, with the Liberal Democrats trailing on 12 per cent." - Independent

Cameron asks Brown to stop Ministers saying EU Treaty is less significant than the Constitution

"David Cameron kept up the pressure on Gordon Brown over the EU Reform Treaty ahead of a key meeting in Lisbon to agree its wording. The Tory leader issued a fresh challenge to the Prime Minister to honour Labour's manifesto commitment to give the public a say on the constitution." - PA

Tory young guns

"This young group of Cameron, Hague, Osborne, Fox, Gove and Johnson – there are others of promise – are individually more than a match for the Labour ministers they shadow. I find them impressive; they have real political talents; several of them, particularly Mr Gove and Mr Cameron himself, are natural speakers." - William Rees-Mogg in The Times

No more relaunches

"Politicians are lucky to be allowed one relaunch. There is little hope of a second. Having taken over the radio station, Mr Cameron must continue to broadcast his music. This should not be difficult. In the short run, there is Europe to keep Labour on the defensive." - Bruce Anderson in the Independent

Shameless posturing signals end of an argument

"There are two possible explanations for Labour's breathtakingly sudden decision to espouse tax breaks for married couples. And however it may try to row back from what the Chief Secretary of the Treasury, Andy Burnham, said in his interview with this newspaper, it has already made just such a marriage-friendly provision in its new inheritance tax proposals that apply to married but not cohabiting couples. So that's it. The argument is over." - Janet Daley in The Telegraph

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Sunday 14th October 2007

11.30pm ToryDiary: Jill Kirby, champion of marriage and lower taxation, is new Director of Centre for Policy Studies

8.45am ToryDiary: It's time to make it harder to remove the sitting Conservative leader

1.30pm Seats and candidates: MP-candidates mentoring video

ToryDiary: John Howard faces his most difficult election

Platform: Benedict Rogers looks at what Wilberforce might commit himself to if he were here today

Columnist Graeme Archer: Waterloo surprise:

"Unlike Blair, who had some palpable if mislaid fragment of decency buried deep within his chest, the Fist is hollow. Nothing drives him other than power. I suspect that his self-impressed coterie – the Ed-James-Burnham-Purnell-Andy-Balls creature – can you tell them apart? – really do think that by appearing on C4 News and shouting loudly they will create the impression that Tory policy is ill-thought out. Since our spokespeople have discovered the authority that comes with being calm and unflustered, I advise simply: more of the same please. Every Brown MP on telly is another marginal in the bag."

Voters prefer Tory policy on inheritance tax

"A total of 41 per cent favour the Conservative proposal to raise the inheritance tax threshold to £1million, with 31 per cent preferring Labour's decision to convert the current £300,000 per person into an allowance of £600,000 per couple." - a BPIX survey for the Mail on Sunday that shows the Conservatives with a 41% to 37% advantage.

Sunday Telegraph/ ICM poll piles pressure on embattled Ming

A photo of happier days for the LibDem leader >>>

"It is now widely accepted that the succession will be a straight fight between Chris Huhne, the environment spokesman, and Nick Clegg, the home affairs spokesman.  Despite a plea for unity from Sir Menzies yesterday, the grass roots of the party were described as being in "open revolt" and a majority of the party's MPs were said to be supportive of moves behind the scenes to persuade him to stand down." - Sunday Telegraph

Senior LibDem MPs give Ming six months to 'shape up or ship out' - Independent on Sunday

>> Yesterday evening's ToryDiary on the ICM poll giving the Conservatives a 7% lead

Cameron increases the pressure on the EU Treaty

"Gordon Brown has calculated that he can bamboozle the British people with his Euro-spin, and thereby avoid the condemnation he deserves for breaking his manifesto promise. I think he has misjudged the mood of the country. I think people are tired of being treated like fools by this Government, whether over the decision to cancel the general election, the kind of tax con we saw again in last week's Pre-Budget Report, or the fake arguments in defence of the European constitution." - The Tory leader writing in The Sunday Telegraph

What next for David Cameron?

"The Tory leader, until his sudden bounce-back, was heavily criticised for focusing on green issues and “hug a hoodie” style social policies instead of crunchy Tory meat and drink such as tax cuts and Europe. The truth is that it is possible to combine the two. He has been learning at first hand from Arnold Schwarzenegger about muscular environmentalism. His instincts, like ours, are for smaller government and a lower tax burden. But there is much work to do before Mr Cameron has a vision that captures voters’ imaginations and speaks to their aspirations in the way that Mrs Thatcher once did." - Sunday Times leader

That p***ed pupil - The Mail on Sunday also has proof that David Cameron did talk to schoolboy, 16, with hangover

Is Cherie about to make things a lot worse for Brown?

"Cherie Blair will blame Gordon Brown for causing husband Tony's heart problems in her bombshell new book, we can reveal today.  She will tell how the troubled Chancellor rocketed his leader's stress levels by initiating BLAZING ROWS in Downing Street so vicious and loud her children could hear them in the flat above.  And the ex-PM's vengeful wife attacks Brown for HOUNDING Tony out of office THREE YEARS before he had planned to quit. She also reveals how her 2002 miscarriage took place when relations between Blair and Brown were at an all-time low." - News of the World

Other TB-GBs are back, too

The Sunday Times reports that Tony Blair is "unhappy" at Brown's direction.

The BBC reports that Lord Falconer has voiced concerns.

Martin Ivens, in The Sunday Times, recommends that Gordon Brown invites more people into his inner circle of advisers: "Brown, like Blair, is said to have a big tent. In fact he has erected a lot of little tents. A tiny one for Tories such as John Bercow and Patrick Mercer who join his commissions. An isolated one for mighty Margaret Thatcher. A comfortable one for the younger Blairites who get good berths but no real influence over policy.  But none of them get into Gordon’s great wigwam for a real powwow."

"He needs to prove that he can be a good governor. That means spending less time obsessing over how he can wrong-foot his opponents and much more time thinking about how he can put the country right. That demands more statesmanship and less gamesmanship."- Andrew Rawnsley, in The Observer, encourages the Prime Minister to abandon an obsession with short-term tactics.

How about this for a turnaround...?

"The advertising executive responsible for the Conservative party’s “demon eyes” campaign against Tony Blair has been recruited as a director of the former prime minister’s new faith foundation." - The Sunday Times

Copying the SNP?

Eddie Barnes in Scotland on Sunday writes that the Tories could do well to copy the SNP's tactics that ousted a tired, visionless Labour Party in Scotland.

Tory Simon Burns was one of the MPs behind the 'let MPs queue jump' ruling - Mail on Sunday

Cameron and Brown congratulate England's rugby team

David Cameron: "The England rugby team have made the country enormously proud" and Gordon Brown: "This is a proud day for the country and I wish the team the best of luck for the final." (BBC)

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Saturday 13th October 2007

9pm ToryDiary: TORY SUPPORT HIGHEST FOR FIFTEEN YEARS

5pm Seats and Candidates: Flick Drummond selected for Portsmouth South

ToryDiary: Party's ratings increasing faster than Cameron's

Platform: Ash Faulkner criticises uniformity in education

CF Diary: Monthly campaigning report

Columnist Cameron Watt on shrinking Brown's supplicant state:

"Gordon had a golden opportunity to increase the independence of Britain’s citizens and boost private enterprise through lowering taxes. Instead, he’s created a supplicant state in which turbo-capitalist London props up Labour heartlands in the North, Scotland and Wales."

Reversing fiscal drag

"The Conservatives are about to focus on tax cuts for 1.6 million earners in Middle England who have been dragged into higher rates of tax since Labour came to power by the failure of Gordon Brown to keep raising thresholds in line with increasing pay. Teachers, policemen and some nurses have been dragged into the higher tax bracket of 40 per cent on their earnings, leading to dissatisfaction with the Government across the middle classes, according to the Tories." - Independent

Government should have taken control of hospitals

"Government ministers were last night accused of aggravating the NHS superbug scandal by failing to take charge of the hospitals where 90 people died as soon as the scale of mismanagement became clear. Andrew Lansley, the Conservative shadow health secretary, last night said the three hospitals of the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS trust should have been brought under direct departmental control." - Guardian

Brown to go on the offensive against eurosceptics

"Ministers are preparing a fightback against the Conservatives on Europe in which they will accuse David Cameron's team of being the most Eurosceptic since the Thatcher era. But Gordon Brown must first secure his "red lines" opt-out from parts of the revised EU treaty at next week's heads of government summit in Lisbon." - Guardian

California tour

"David Cameron signals today that he will try to extend the dramatic political gains the Conservatives have made over the last fortnight by pressing ahead with his centrist, liberal agenda, inspired by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger." - Guardian

"David Cameron has been examining how Los Angeles deals with the problem of street gangs. The Conservative leader spoke to senior officers from the Los Angeles Police Department, the city's mayor, Antonia Villaraigosa, and former gang members." - BBC

"It was the first time they had met and Mr Schwarzenegger was obviously keen to impress. He had Mr Cameron escorted out to his "smoking tent" in the courtyard of the governor's mansion in Sacramento, where only the most important guests get to hang out. The former Terminator had the tent set up because his office is considered a public place, in which smoking is banned." - Daily Mail

See this Guardian article for more background reporting on the visit and this ToryDiary for a synopsis of Cameron's speech to Google.

Next copycat policy - marriage incentives

"In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Andy Burnham, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, says there is a “moral case” for promoting the traditional family through the tax system. “I think marriage is best for kids,” he says. “It’s not wrong that the tax system should recognise commitment and marriage.”" - Telegraph

"The more the Prime Minister insisted that he needed time to set out his vision, the less clear his vision became. Last weekend he announced there would not be an election because he wanted us to know better what he stood for. [...] His vision turned out, in the cruel jibe of George Osborne, the shadow Chancellor, to be that of the Conservative Party." - Independent leader

Making it personal

"This Government is bereft of measures to criticise. Its centre is hollow. New Labour is not and never was “measures”: it is a marketing exercise; it is men or it is nothing. So go for the men, I say. Kick the living daylights out of them. Humiliate them. Knock them all over the shop. Puncture their fragile confidence." - Matthew Parris in The Times

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