Ten reasons to vote Conservative

Janet Daley, Leo McKinstry, the leader-writers at The Daily Mail and even Cameron-cheerleader Bruce Anderson stand up for the hard-pressed taxpayer this morning and share ConservativeHome's disappointment at the Tory policy on tax.  But we promised to be optimistic this morning and here is a list of ten reminders why, despite the tactic of economic disarmament, a Cameron government is well worth having:

Support for the family.  Strong families aren't just the road to social justice they are also the road to smaller government.  Without stronger families Britain will struggle to overcome the challenges of crime, school failure and economic dependency.  Conservative support for marriage, an end to the couple penalty and a range of other pro-family measures will all make significant contributions to the development of a more pro-family culture.

Compassionate, progressive conservatism.  There are no big ideas that yet sum up David Cameron's compassionate conservatism but there are many hopeful signs (summarised here) and National Citizenship Service is a worthy attempt at a flagship.  Paramount is the prominence that the Tory leader has given to Iain Duncan Smith's social justice efforts.  IDS has proposed a range of measures (with many more to come) that will tackle the poverty that has defied Labour's heavy-handed remedies.  Greg Clark is also working on very interesting ideas on the voluntary sector.  The commitment to poverty at home is also beginning to be twinned with more passion for international justice.  In the last week alone, David Cameron raised the tragedy of Darfur at PMQs and devoted a significant section of his Gateshead speech to international development.  ConservativeHome's Agenda 2008 will be moving on to human rights issues later this week.

Chris Grayling's welfare reforms.  In the first survey of Tory grassroots members after he announced a series of welfare reform measures - including compulsory reassessment of all incapacity benefit claimants and a time limit for claiming jobseekers' allowance - Chris Grayling's rating jumped in the monthly assessment of the shadow cabinet.  Expect much more from Mr Grayling - particularly as the CSJ reports.

Michael Gove's new schools revolution. Freedoms for headteachers to expel disruptive pupils.  Protection of special schools.  Grammar streams.  Expansion of academies.  There were already many solid Tory policies on education but, as Fraser Nelson has noted, the policy of allowing parents to set up new schools - inspired  by Sweden - is most encouraging.

Nick Herbert's rehabilitation revolution.  Two weeks ago we welcomed Nick Herbert's prisons reform agenda. It wasn't just the familiar (and necessary) commitment to increase prison numbers.  The policy also included a welcome emphasis on rehabilitation and compensation for victims.  Key to the policy was a revolution in incentive structures within the prisons system so that the authorities are partly paid according to their success in reducing reoffending.

More direct democracy. Across the party there are a range of ideas that will rebalance power within Britain.  There'll be more power for ordinary voters.  The election of police chiefs - as part of a wider police reform agenda - and the ability to veto large council tax rises stand out.  We also hope that the leadership might embrace the idea of giving voters the power to recall ethically questionable MPs.  27 of the 2005 intake of Conservative MPs suggested such a measure last month.

Jeremy Hunt's ending of the BBC monopoly.  Unfortunately this isn't settled policy yet but it should be.  Jeremy Hunt has proposed that the BBC shouldn't monopolise all of the licence fee's revenues.  We hope it becomes Tory policy soon and we have similar hopes for the suggestion (said to be favoured by George Osborne) of moving public sector job advertising online.  Both measures would curtail the taxpayers' unfair subsidy of left-liberal media.

A new generation of high quality MPs. The quality of the next generation of Conservative MPs is high.  A Parliament with Harriett Baldwin, George Freeman, Robert Halfon, George Freeman, Margot James, Andrea Leadsom and Philippa Stroud as members (to invidiously name just a few) will be so much better than one with crowded Labour benches.  ConservativeHome's own survey of candidates revealed that the new intake are Eurosceptic, hawkish and pragmatic on green issues.

A superior Cabinet.  Risking sounding like a podium speaker at a Tory conference but David Davis rather than Jacqui Smith.  William Hague replacing David Miliband.  George Osborne instead of Alistair Darling.  Liam Fox ousting two jobs Des Browne. The welcome prospect of a Conservative government cannot just be measured in terms of commitments already made.  It must also be measured in terms of much wiser heads running the Whitehall machine and reacting to events yet unknown.

A well-prepared Government. One of the least discussed strengths of the Cameron project is the role that Francis Maude and Nick Boles are undertaking.  Mr Maude isn't just shadowing Ed Miliband, more importantly he is responsible for ensuring that policy ideas are ready to be implemented properly and that shadow ministers are prepared for their roles in Government.  We'll be writing more about this government-in-waiting issue in coming weeks but its importance in restoring competence cannot be understated.

12.45pm: Ten reasons for supporting Project Cameron (April 2006 version).

Comments

[Alex Swanson]

i do not know you but i bet you are a right wing tory and i guarantee you are selfish.

Erm, you're making that frequent left-wing mistake of confusing lies and abuse with reasoned argument.

Although if by "selfish" you mean "reluctant to support a political ideology which has killed tens of millions of innocent people in the past century" . . .

[Conservative Homer]

"Name them?"

Gordon Brown
Alistair Darling
Ed Balls...

...Im sure you get the idea.

[Sunlit Uplinks]

OK Kevin I now have a tiny inkling you're reading and posting on the wrong site. Have a look around, there are some left wing sites where maybe you can have a constructive discussion about the dictatorship of the proletariat or something.

[asquith]

Kevin Ryan, I don't know what you're trying to achieve but you're not doing anything constructive here. Passing Leftie, Comstock and on a more modest level myself show how someone from an anti point of view can contribute to a Tory debate. But you're doing more harm than good.

[Kevin Ryan]

Please mark this in your diary, if you are over 30 years of age don't bother.
It will take a lifetime for the conservatives to regain power simply because you think of the self first. Until you change that mindset just whistle.

[David Giles]

In reply to Asquith,

Asquith was a Liberal Prime Minister and so therefore I wonder what you are doing on this site ?

Nobody seriously advocates reducing income tax to zero but immediate income tax reductions and benefits reform are needed to stave off recession now. Likewise we need to drastically reduce public expenditute by at least 10%.

The Conservative Party should not need to be reminded how serious the international economic situation now is. But apparently such reminders are needed. The Bear Stearns situation could be repeated in many US and indeed British banks. The Big Bubble may be about to become the Big Bang !

At the moment Conservative economic policies are too timid and left-wing.

We need to come out in favour of public expenditure cuts, tax cuts and radical reform of social security, education and health.

I worry sometimes that those making policy in the Conservative Party now are so young that they do not even remember the seventies or the eighties let alone the twenties or the thirties !

[asquith]

David Giles, I'm very well aware of who Asquith was. I chose the username to reflect my liberal views, which are on display on my own blog one click from my posts. Inasmuch as I have a party, I'm a Lib Dem. I post on various right-wing sites because I enjoy having a debate and think we're all better off if we are kept on our toes by a vigorous exchange of views.

My point in the post you reference is that if money can be saved on spending (and it can; one thinks of ID cards and wars of aggression), it should go towards servicing debt and investing in the future to prevent any more mess like we have now. Cutting tax will indeed cut revenue, and the public finances don't allow for that.

Cameron struck a blow against Brown by stating that his claim to prudence was false, and that he has been irresponsible. The Tories can take the lead in being responsible, if they can balance the budget.

[Alex Swanson]

you think of the self first.

How many times do we have to tell you that isn't true?

Look around you! Who told you this? The same people that are running the country now, the Labour Party and its friends! And who's greedier or more selfish than they are? Look at Tony Blair, Prime Minister for ten years - did he or his pals raise the taxes you've been told are there for the taking, and solve all those problems you (and we!) want solved? No, they didn't. But they themselves haven't ended up poor, have they.

Kevin, you have been lied to. You have been told all your problems can be solved if you only vote socialist. But they can't, and the people who told you it know they can't.

Wake up, and fight the true parasites.

[David Giles]

Asquith

Now that you have declared yourself to be Liberal Democrat then I have no need to continue our dialogue.Many of today's Lib Dems are essentially Socialists who are too opportunistic and dishonest or snobbish to join the Labour Party.

True Liberals like myself joined the Conservatives many years ago.

Like most socialists, you do not appear to understand economics either so I suggest you should have a word with Vince Cable who is one of the few Lib Dems who does. It is interesting to see that even the Lib Dems are moving towards a more liberal, low-tax, smaller state economic policy.

[asquith]

Well, you're really impoverishing yourself if you never talk to people of opposing views.

I agree with Vince Cable's analysis. To a large extent, I agree with what Cameron has to say, especially on the matter of weaning people off the state in the long-term. To the best of my knowledge I've never expressed a socialist view, merely said that immediate tax cuts would not be a good idea.

I won't join the Labour Party because of its authoritarianism, centralism and links to the US government. The Tories don't exactly have an unblemished record here. Plus, as I said, I've never been a socialist.

Perhaps someone else will appreciate my humble contributions.

[David Giles]

Asquith

Glad to hear you are not a socialist. There is indeed hope for you yet !

I think we need massive cuts in government expenditure and tax cuts as soon as possible in order to deal with the very serious economic situation we are in now.

Simply carrying on with Labour's grossly inflated tax and expenditure plans as advocated by Phillip Hammond and George Osborne may have been a good political idea in 2007 but it is not in 2008.

It was never good economic idea for the Conservatives to copy and retain Labour's unsound high tax and high expenditure policies.

Unlike the Lib Dems, I also believe that the UK is lucky to have stayed out of the euro as by doing so we can retain control of interest rates, exchange rates and economic policy as much as possible.

[Matt Wright]

Some of this is okay as far as it goes but menus or lists of policies are not really the answer in themselves. Remember the limitations of the "ten words" of 2005. The development of a theme is important and the party is doing well as it generates the groundwork for this.

[alwood]

Some additional reasons to vote Conservative:

A definite promise to leave the EU and go it alone like Switzerland and Norway.
Until we leave, make sure that the EU books are balanced and root out those Corrupt EU officials and corrupt EU MEP's.
In the meantime, make every effort to regain our rebate, so hard won by Margaret Thatcher.
Call for an enquiry into why our gold was sold off by prudent? Brown causing the country to lose £MILLIONS.
Call for a full enquiry into the reason for invading Iraq and also search for the truth about Dr Kelly's death.
Stop kowtowing to immigrants, in fact end immigration unless from commonwealth countries.
Ensure that all benefit recipients have ID cards, this may reduce benefit fraud.
Insist on full medical checks and clearance before anyone is allowed to enter the country.
Bring back the death penalty for murder, if the crime is backed by full proof or DNA evidence.
Reduce the legal age for allowing the press to print names of young criminals.
Ensure that every City and town above a given size, (to be decided), has a decent Grammar school.
For secondary schools encourage training for apprenticeship schemes in addition to normal studies.

[Ross]

COMMENT OVERWRITTEN.

[John Barstow]

As a Conservative I have that instinctive support for institutions and the BBC exists by Royal Charter. And it works both ways. Some Labour people thinks its biased towards us at times. So where does that leave us?

I just hate the way Labour have undermined istitutions like the House of Lords, because what appears anomolous has that hidden 'rationale' to those who bother to understand them.

As regards local democracy, the solution is to abolish those unwanted regional bodies. I once went to a SEEDA reception and the words 'potesteth too much' come to mind. All the achievemnts it trumpeted could easily have been accomplished by local government or central government. I was pleased to get out of that reception.

As regards the Police lets not go for directly elected police officials. The last thing we want is them having to answer to extreme left wing people with anti-police views. And why do we need to have Police Authoroities? They were brought in by Roy Jenkins when Home Secretary in Wilson's Labour government for anti-police reasons and have often been a waster of time, as the expense of real police work. We need to scrap a lot of the forms that police are obliged to fill in like the 41 forms when someone is arrested. Then we shall have more police out and about nicking criminals and safegrading life and property.

[John Barstow]

As a Conservative I have that instinctive support for institutions and the BBC exists by Royal Charter. And it works both ways. Some Labour people thinks its biased towards us at times. So where does that leave us?

I just hate the way Labour have undermined istitutions like the House of Lords, because what appears anomolous has that hidden 'rationale' to those who bother to understand them.

As regards local democracy, the solution is to abolish those unwanted regional bodies. I once went to a SEEDA reception and the words 'potesteth too much' come to mind. All the achievemnts it trumpeted could easily have been accomplished by local government or central government. I was pleased to get out of that reception.

As regards the Police lets not go for directly elected police officials. The last thing we want is them having to answer to extreme left wing people with anti-police views. And why do we need to have Police Authoroities? They were brought in by Roy Jenkins when Home Secretary in Wilson's Labour government for anti-police reasons and have often been a waster of time, as the expense of real police work. We need to scrap a lot of the forms that police are obliged to fill in like the 41 forms when someone is arrested. Then we shall have more police out and about nicking criminals and safegrading life and property.

[William Humbold Jr]

YES!

Vote already now YES at www.FreeEurope.info

[Jim Carr]

Yes, the BBC is biased, Bernard Manning is funnny, the EU is a big conspiracy to subvert our heritage, the Scottish have too much power and immigrants are stealing our jobs. It's all true here in little England.

You're sounding a tad hysterical, Passing Leftie.
Although I'm not a "little Englander" I would accept that a case can be made for all the things you mention in your splenetic list.
It is a measure of your disconnect from reality that you, presumably, dismiss them.
The one certain thing is that Bernard Manning was funny. Your ilk hated him for his not being PC, nothing to do with "funniness" or lack thereof.
You probably find the ghastly Marcus Brigstocke funny.

[Adriaan van der Sluijs]

Some additional reasons to vote Conservative:

To stop for good all Eurosceptic behavior.

Make the UK is one of the leading countries in the EU.

Aim for better understanding in the UK about everything related to the EU. Make sure that disinformation of the british public - that has gone on for some 35 years - is now brought to an end for good.

The EU is NOT a Superstate in the making. Be honest about this. And say this in Parlement and in public.

Accept the Euro in principle and promise to join in due course - after - of course - doing the necessary tests, etc.

Ensure that the UK will do everything in its power the make sure an ever closer union between the EU and the North American Continent.
Atlantic Alliance/Atlantic Union is
vital. It replaces the special relationship UK/USA.

Promise that never again the UK starts a war on its own without EU
and/or NATO.

Aim that the EU Defense Initiative becomes part of NATO,s overall command.

Finally bring about that the EU Membership is an All-Party subject.

Party politics should not any longer play a role.

Thus "Unite" instead of "Divide".

And last but not least: do away with all these "Opt-Outs", "Opt-Ins", "Red-Lines", etc.

Your are a member or you are not.

Just imagine all 26 EU members having their own special "Opts" - all different - a few or many - etc.

We would need a second "Brussel" to keep order.

[Henryk Sienkiewicz]

I would like to comment on David Bodden's plea to know why people that have become homeless have a problem getting on there feet again, why is it virtualy impossible to get back onto the work and housing ladder. The conservative party should be laying out sensible clear and workable plans to really help people like David. I feel that this would be a vote winner amongs much of society because it would show that conservatives care more than labourites about what is happening to those that have fallen short of labours policies. They (Labour have not solved the problem of these long term unemployed people yet but they keep talking about it) Come on please formulate clear policy on this issue that will work then publish it to the nation. be different.
In my case, it lead to my bankruptcy, homelessness and serious physical and mental health problems. No employer will touch me now for any role no matter how humble. I can’t get proper medical treatment from the NHS nor help getting back to work from the DWP.

What are the Conservatives plans to get people like me (who have plenty of skills and are desperate to work) back into employment. Not everyone that is sick or unemployed is a moronic, lazy, drug abuser. Rather than put me on a chain gang picking up dog mess in the park under Grayling’s idiotic plan, how about repairing the damage done by this corrupt regime?

Posted by: David Bodden | March 17, 2008 at 09:32

[Henryk Sienkiewicz]

It is important to remmember that caring for children improved under Labour in that Tony Blair in his early years as PM high lighted the growing issue that there was a huge number of children in our country that needed careing for by families around the nation. I am talking about the adoption and fostering issue, We adopted two children. taking two out of the system and giving them a more normal enviroment for them to grow up in. It is not the most perfect way to bring up children who have been taken away from there parents because of abuse but it goes a long way. The conservatives need to be seriously addressing this important role that can be carried out by married couples all over the country and making it possible with financial help for couples too adopt. There needs to be a government campaign to high light this issue. I happen to think that Tony Blairs adoption campaign was the only good thing he ever did in office. We have and still are struggling to finance our endeavor, with out government help but there should be help for adoptive parents as there is help for Parents who Foster Children. Henryk Sienkiewicz. London

[Adriaan van der Sluijs]

Since my contribution on Friday the 21 of March (20.45 hrs.) I have not seen any reactions.

Can I therefore take it that you all - including the leadership of the Conservative Party - are in
agreement?

If that is the case I can congratulate you because election
victory is yours.

Or are you lost for words and do not know how to react?

I strongly believe that the European Issue is the equivalent of "Clause Four" for the Conservative Party.

Now is the time to decide - once and for all !!!

[Dan]

One thing I learnt today is generally speaking left-wingers can't spell to save their lives!

Yeah I'm selfish, what does this country do for me? If I had a job waiting for me I wouldn't think twice about leaving the UK.

I need to look out for myself, Labour isn't looking out for me! With so many tax/benefit/VAT cheats costing the rest of us fortunes on top of Iraq, illegal immigrants, petrol and home prices, why should I think of anyone besides my family?

I couldn't really care who is in power; I've never voted, but next general election I will be voting against Labour. Since in my opinion the Tories stand the only chance of a majority win (and of course because their policies are not disagreeable with my selfish nature.) I will have to go Tory.