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Monday 30th January 2006

Ch_pics_0029pm update: David Cameron's 'Modern Conservatism' speech

BLOGS

ToryDiary:

Platform: Jeremy Brier: After Hamas' 'victory'

Events: Keep in the loop!

TORY TAX POLICY

Telegraph Business interview with George Osborne: "Faced with the position of poor public finances and with Britain's declining place in the world, the Conservatives did not promise tax cuts in the 1979 election and said they had to sort out the public finances first"
"There is plenty of evidence that voters are very sceptical about politicians who make promises of tax cuts that seem primarily designed to get them elected, and they are doubtful that these cuts will not be offset by increases elsewhere. That is the legacy of stealth taxes".Ch_pics_300

TaxPayer's Alliance: "A low tax campaign should make far more use of the moral and personal case for lower taxes – i.e. it should be made relevant to the lives of ordinary people. These sorts of messages have scored particularly well in internal Conservative polling."

MILLIONS TRAPPED IN TAX MAZE

Telegraph: "Some 3.8 million people are paying income tax at the wrong rate - many are giving the Treasury too much - because the system devised by Gordon Brown is excessively complicated, a report says before tomorrow's final deadline for tax returns. The study, compiled by City experts for the Bow Group, paints a picture of a system in chaos and taxpayers confused about how to fill in ever more complex forms. The report calls for a drastic simplification of the system, with fewer reliefs and exemptions."

CAMERON'S BIG SPEECH

David Cameron will be at the Demos think-tank to make a keynote speech on Modern Conservatism later today, he will controversially praise Tony Blair, saying the prime minister saw his task as "preserving the fruits of the Thatcher revolution". ConservativeHome will report on it in the evening.

RELIGIOUS HATRED BILL

BBCi - This bill returns to the Commons tomorrow, a growing coalition are urging the Government to accept the amendments made in the Lords. Evan Harris MP, LibDem Human Rights spokesman and a prominent secularist, said that "These freedoms to speak and to argue, to criticise and indeed to ridicule, once lost are very rarely got back."

OTHER NEWS & COMMENTARY

Telegraph Leader on the erosion of parental responsibility: "The state's role in bringing up minors is ceasing to be complementary and becoming preponderant. Instead of having a presumption in favour of parental authority, to be disregarded only if parents are plainly unfit, we have a system in which only limited variety is sanctioned."

Independent: A poll of polls puts Labour one point ahead

BBCi - Alan Milburn urges unity on Labour's education reforms: "It's become a test of Labour's willingness to carry on as a reforming government".

Times Leader on Bush's second term: "...it might be assumed that Mr Bush is already sprouting the feathers that make for lame-duck status. That would be too sweeping a conclusion."

TORY RADIO
 
According to Hugo Muir of the Guardian,
 
"There comes a time when every invention comes into its own. Radar in the second world war; television during the coronation. Rejoice, then, about a meaningful use for the MP3 player with the advent of Tory Radio, a weekly podcast of interviews and news covering the progress of the Cameroonian revolution. It will be informative and modern, incisive and modern, provocative and ... well you know. This is surely what the iPod was destined for. Think about wandering down a country lane as John Redwood explains macroeconomics. Sheer bliss."

Tory Radio is the brainchild of regular conservativehome.com poster and occasional blogger Jonathan Sheppard. The aim is to produce a weekly half hour broadcast each week focusing on news, opinion pieces and interviews.
 
Just as blogging has revolutionised both the media and political campaigning by allowing the grass roots a voice through the written word, podcasting will do the same with the spoken word. Conservativehome fully backs this initiative and urges anyone interested in knowing more or wanting to get involved to email [email protected] or look at www.toryradio.com

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