Wednesday 31st August 2005

4pm update: Peter Bottomley, Jacqui Lait and Andrew Pelling come out for Sir Malcolm Rifkind - Leadership Blog

4pm update: Tories and UKIP outspent Labour in 2004's European Elections - ePolitix.com

2.30pm update: Rifkind urges Ken Clarke to come clean over Europe - The Scotsman

ENGULFED: NEW ORLEANS TORN APART BY KATRINA, AMERICA'S 'GREATEST NATURAL DISASTER' - Independent

Blogs

'Platform' is a new place for guest authors to discuss important ideas.  To launch 'Platform', Simon Chapman, a regular commentator on conservativehome's leadership blog, has written a short essay on 'Rights, Freedoms, Entitlements and Obligations'.

Leadership Blog: The Return of The Big Beast

Leadership Blog: Six senior voluntary party representatives protest at centralisation of leadership election

Conservative News & Commentary

I'm the man to lead the Tories, says Ken Clarke - Daily Mail

Clarke emphasises broad appeal as he bids for leadership - Times

Cameron urged to step aside as Ken Clarke sets out his stall - The Herald

Senior representatives of the voluntary party write letter to The Telegraph opposing rollback of party democracy - news story and letter

Other Commentary

Guardian Leader: "As the political engines rev up once more after the summer break, it is an observable fact that Mr Clarke's pro-European views are no longer the explosively divisive issue that they once were. The main reason for this is the continuing transformation in European politics brought about by the rejection of the European constitutional treaty by the French and the Dutch voters."

Daniel Finkelstein: Tony Blair must go to America and collect his Congressional Gold Medal: "He must go because the American people need to know how much we value their friendship. He must go because the tide of anti-American feeling in this country needs to be confronted. He must go because he should be proud, not ashamed, that he said yes when our allies came to call and asked whether, after all the support they have given us, we might reciprocate. He must go because the commitment to spread democracy around the world is a brave and noble one. He must go as a bold statement to the enemies of liberty everywhere that those who defend freedom are bound together and are resolute." - Times

Pete du Pont: On Tax Reform, Flatter-y Will Get You Everywhere - Wall Street Journal

Jonah Goldberg: Hollywood's silence in the war on terror is deafening - Townhall.com

Other News

Right-wing hawk, Binyamin Netanyahu, promises to knock Sharon off perch - Times

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