Saturday 18th November 2006
BREAKING NEWS: "The Sudanese government together with the Janjaweed militia have launched new attacks in northern Darfur, the African Union (AU) has said. The AU said the ground and air offensive was a flagrant violation of security agreements." (BBC)
ToryDiary: The Quiet Man finds his voice and his mission
Donal Blaney on YourPlatform: Never miss a political meeting if you think there's the slightest chance you'll wish you'd been there
"The spurned wife of a Tory MP hopes his career "crashes and burns" after he cheated on her while she was battling breast cancer." - Daily Mail
"Nina Phillips, a Conservative North Wiltshire district councillor, said: "Most women in this constituency are very angry at him for his affair. He really ought to have known better." ...Margaret Histed, the chairman of Dauntsey Conservative Association, said many women in the constituency felt Mr Gray could not be trusted after his behaviour. Mrs Histed, who is also deputy chairman of the North Wiltshire Conservative Association, said: "Women are not at all happy about the way he's conducted the break-up of his marriage. We all feel desperately sorry for Sarah." - Telegraph
"The de-selection of James Gray MP as Conservative candidate for North Wiltshire is a triumph of localism. It may be wrong to take sides in a marriage break-up, but quite plainly the constituency party is dismayed by Mr Gray's treatment of his wife. Mrs Gray is ill and is popular with her husband's party activists." - Telegraph leader
>>> Join the debate: Will Wiltshire North Tories keep James Gray?
YORKSHIRE TORY MPs CLASH IN SELECTION FOR NEW SAFE SEAT
"Ryedale MP John Greenway and Vale of York MP Anne McIntosh will clash before the party faithful at a crucial meeting in Ampleforth, where members will chose their champion for the next General Election." - Yorkshire Post
ARE THE SCOTS ABOUT TO EMBRACE MAGGIE?
"She was one of the most divisive figures in Scottish political history - but the former prime minister Margaret Thatcher could be named in the top ten most influential figures in the nation's history. Mrs Thatcher was revealed as among the possible contenders on the BBC programme Scotland's History: The Top Ten, which was broadcast last night." - Scotsman
THE FINANCIAL TIMES ON THE POWER OF CENTRE RIGHT BLOGS
"David Cameron, the Tory leader, this week hailed Conservativehome, the leading site for activists, as "sometimes infuriating but always good value". The reasons for this "infuriating" tag are not hard to fathom. The leadership's refusal to publish its "A-list" of priority candidates for Westminster seats was undermined within hours by Conservativehome earlier this year, as the site became a forum for the disclosure of the names." - FT
DARFUR
"Hilary Benn, the international development secretary, claimed yesterday that the "end" of Darfur's crisis was in sight after Sudan's regime agreed to allow peacekeepers into the war-torn region. But the agreement that Mr Benn helped to negotiate in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, did not finalise the strength of the force, nor did it lay out a timetable for its deployment. Most crucially, it did not specify whether the troops will be allowed to use force to protect civilians." - Telegraph
BUSH'S TAX CUTS ARE BEGINNING TO PAY FOR THEMSELVES
"Over the four years since the 2003 tax cuts, 51.2% of the total tax cut cost has already been recouped from higher levels of income and economic growth, the report reveals. This gap will further narrow over time as the economy continues to grow and the taxcuts gradually pay for themselves." - The Business
MILTON FRIEDMAN
"Friedman himself attributed the spread of both free markets and monetarist ideas to a belated recognition of the consequences of soaring government spending and high inflation in the 1970s. But so far as the reaction was coherent and rational, much of the credit must go to him. The very success of free market policies has, of course, led to fresh problems; and what would one not give for a reborn 30-year-old Milton Friedman to comment on and analyse these new challenges?" - Samuel Brittan in the FT
"Quite pretty, I grant you."
- Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt's verdict on David Cameron.
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