Wednesday 28th February 2007

7.30pm ToryDiary update: Reports of the death of the Tory-GOP relationship are exaggerated

12.40pm ToryDiary update: Cameron asks Blair about the Chancellor's unpopularity with his colleagues

Noon ToryDiary update: Is this ad "inflammatory"?

11.30am Seats and candidates update: Final two for Exeter

BLOGS

ToryDiary: Ming has begun preparations for coalition talks

Seats and candidates: Any questions for John Maples?

"On climate change, Iraq, tax, and their attitude to politics in general, New Labour’s children have long since fled the Blair nest... Blair leaves a legacy of politically rootless young people, either indifferent, or drifting toward the political fringes.  Of course this is an opportunity for the Conservatives.  But New Labour’s Lost Generation don’t yet feel much closer to us either.  They’re still waiting - for a leader and a set of ideas with which they can connect.  Rather than expecting them to find us, our challenge is pro-actively to go out and connect with them.  In the spirit of putting our money / effort where our polling is, that’s what the Bow Group now intends to do, with a series of events aimed at first-time voters.  Stay tuned."

- Adrian Blair on YourPlatform analyses a Populus/ Bow Group poll on first-time voters

Joe Loconte on BritainAndAmerica: Iran's nuclear train has left the station

THE SUN ATTACKS TORY TACTICS ON OFFENDER MANAGEMENT BILL

The Tories are set to reverse their support for a shake-up of the probation service and side with left-wing Labour MPs in attempting to inflict a defeat on the Government - The Sun

The Sun Says: "A strange collection of Leftie dinosaurs and David Cameron’s Tories are preparing to join forces tonight at Westminster.  Rebel Labour MPs plan to vote against a bill allowing a private sector shake-up of the probation service.  The Offender Management Bill is a bold move to make probation work more efficient — and make the public safer from re-offenders.  David Cameron has made clear he’s in favour of radical ideas to improve difficult issues facing society.  But all of a sudden he appears set to join Labour lefties and vote AGAINST the bill — simply so he can give the Government a bloody nose.  Mr Cameron should avoid party politics and stick to his principles to help this bill become law.  The Conservative leader likes to talk the talk.  Today, it’s time to walk the walk."

GEORGE OSBORNE CALLS FOR A CHANGE IN EU DIRECTION

"George Osborne, in a speech on European reform, will say the EU needs a "complete change of direction".  He will criticise EU leaders for failing to realise that they needed to address competition within the EU as well as with the rest of the world." - BBC

FAMILY POLICY

"David Cameron's promise of tax breaks for married couples is a "misdiagnosis" of the problems facing society, Tony Blair said yesterday... The Conservative leader has argued for support for marriage in the tax system. But Alan Johnson, the education secretary, said yesterday in a speech that family policy must be "bias-free"." - Guardian

>>> There is a great Peter Brookes cartoon in The Times depicting Alan Johnson as the yob that taunted David Cameron last week.
 

MILBURN AND CLARKE APPEAR TO QUESTION BROWN STRATEGY

"Two former Cabinet ministers have e-mailed all Labour MPs, calling for an "open debate" on the party's future.  Charles Clarke and Alan Milburn wrote that Labour needed to show that, after 10 years in office it had the "vision and policies" for Britain's future.  Both have previously urged Gordon Brown - favourite to succeed Tony Blair - to say what he would do as prime minister.  BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson said the e-mail suggested that "waiting for Gordon isn't good enough"." - BBC

"I don't know whether Mr Brown, and whichever of the eight deputies he ends up with, will lose Labour the next election. But if I were a Labour MP, worrying about life after Westminster, I wouldn't put money on their not doing so.  And I would be asking one very important question: what, when there is such a prize to be gained, is holding John Reid back?" - Simon Heffer in The Telegraph

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS ON DAVID CAMERON

"David Cameron has become the green challenger. His party's events feature tie-less informality and earth tones and much grave talk about the need for "organic" attitudes... Most astonishingly of all, he is running against Tony Blair (or rather, against Blair's heir-presumptive, Gordon Brown) as the candidate who wants to refashion Britain's relationship with Washington in such a way as to take distance from the American alliance. The press conference at which Cameron announced this new initiative was held on Sept. 11 last, as if to emphasize that the American Embassy could no longer take Tory sympathy for granted. And Cameron has appointed William Hague, a former leader of the party, as his spokesman on foreign affairs. Hague takes every opportunity to criticize the Blair administration for its slavish endorsement of George Bush and to promise that a Conservative government cannot be counted upon for Republican military expeditions." - Slate.com

ALISTAIR BEATON ON DAVID CAMERON

"To be perfectly honest, Tory Dave is already boring me stupid.  Why he's not boring the electorate stupid, I can't quite understand, though I imagine it's something to do with finding any alternative to Blair horribly attractive.  There was recently a moment when my spirits rose. No, it wasn't the news about the marijuana. It was that photograph of young Dave as a member of the Bullingdon Dining Club.  Here at last was something worth attacking. The great moderniser was revealed as an archetypal Tory toff, a rich kid straight from the pages of an Evelyn Waugh novel.  This, after all, is the dining club which boasts the motto: I like the sound of breaking glass (shouldn't that be in Latin?)." - Telegraph

THEY EXPECT US TO GO GREEN BUT THEY STILL LIVE THE HIGH LIFE

"The Tennessee Center for Policy Research says [Al] Gore — whose global warming documentary won an Oscar Sunday, "deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy," because his 20-room mansion consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year — with an average power bill of $13,059 59 — along with a natural gas bill of more than $1,000 a month." - Brit Hume on FoxNews.com

"Al Gore has fashioned himself a lucrative career (and pocketed an Oscar) by reinventing himself as the Jeremiah of the age of global warming. How blissful, then, to learn the inconvenient truth that the Gore house in Nashville, Tennessee, uses over 20 times more energy than the average American home.  That's a lot of electricity. Not only does the former presidential hopeful run his own personal CO2 factory - he also has a predilection for private jets. Mr Gore does, of course, claim to offset his vast carbon output. We should hope he does. But isn't this just another example of a politician telling us to do what he says -not what he does?  As a powerful advocate of the use of fewer natural resources, he should be making more of an effort himself. Otherwise his doom-laden prognostications will be seen as mere hot air." - Telegraph leader

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Tuesday 27th February 2007

5.30pm ToryDiary update: Dan Hannan is bringing up a Europhile

4.15pm Seats and candidates update: Zac Goldsmith is star of final six for Richmond Park and Final four for Nuneaton

3.15pm ToryDiary update: "We do not need and do not want a national, spy-in-the sky, pay as you drive scheme," says Chris Grayling

Midday ToryDiary update: Labour MP wants Thatcher statue removed

11:30am Seats and Candidates update: Chris White reselected for Warwick and Leamington

10:30am update: "The House of Commons is taking second place to broadcasters in the priorities of MPs, Conservative Party leader David Cameron has claimed. In an interview with the Parliamentary Monitor magazine Cameron agreed that the prime minister had a very poor record of attendance in the Commons." - ePolitix

BLOGS

100policies: David Cooper opposes road pricing and tracking

CF Diary: Does Conservative Future produce unthinking young Conservatives?

ToryDiary: CommunicateResearch: 40, 29, 17

SCOTTISH CONSERVATIVES' COFFERS

"The Conservatives were facing questions about their finances last night after it emerged that the party had taken £500,000 from a Scottish "front company" that allows donors to remain anonymous. The money was raised last September at a gala dinner in Glasgow, organised by the building tycoon Sir Jack Harvie. David Cameron, the party leader, was the guest of honour at the £2,500-a-table event." - Scotsman

"Scotland's Conservatives have received a major boost to their Holyrood campaign, receiving £700,000 from their largest-ever fundraising event while Labour's coffers appear to have been hit by the cash for peerages controversy." - The Herald

WATER CHARGE REFORM

"Northern Ireland ratepayers should pay for the volume of water they use rather than charges based on house value, the Conservatives have said. Launching their assembly election manifesto, the party also pledged to protect grammar schools and keep academic selection." - BBC

FAMILIES WITH DISABLED CHILDREN ARE HOPEFUL OF MORE SUPPORT

"The prime minister in waiting, Gordon Brown, and the Conservative leader, David Cameron, may be on opposite sides of the political divide, but they do share a common bond. Both have children with disabilities. A recent survey by the charity Mencap estimated there are around 100,000 families in a similar position." - Guardian 

MANCHESTER CONFERENCE

"The city was described as "vibrant and exciting" by Tory Chairman Francis Maude, who said the party had enjoyed their 2006 Spring Forum in the city. Event organisers at the Manchester Central complex are expecting to attract more than 10,000 party members." - BBC

>>> Last week's ToryDiary exclusive

DANGER OF THE TOFF IMAGE

"Clad in the classless uniform of the modern cyclist, Converse-wearing Dave is defiantly downwardly mobile. He plans to send his daughter to a state school, helps out in the kitchen at home (in the wilds of North Kensington, not Notting Hill, remember), and plays the Killers on his iPod. Unfortunately for his image minders, a rival picture is gaining focus: Cameron the toff. His aristocratic heritage is incontrovertible." - Patrick Barkham in the Guardian

BLEARS CLINGING ON TO UNION FUNDING

"I have seldom seen anything so irresponsible in politics as Francis Maude MP's recent attempts to attack Labour's union links. Today's Tories are prepared to jeopardise the best chance for a generation to agree a funding settlement in order to score some political points." - Hazel Blears in the Guardian

>>> Picture of Francis Maude, with Sefton Central candidate Debi Jones, on a trip to Merseyside last week.

VOLUNTEER, THEN BECOME A CITIZEN

"Immigrants should carry out community work before being granted UK citizenship, Gordon Brown will say. The chancellor is expected to tell a seminar on Britishness that the move would help new arrivals settle." - BBC

JOB VACANCIES

• Researcher, TaxPayers’Alliance
• Communications Manager, TaxPayers’Alliance
• Campaigner, TaxPayers’Alliance
• Parliamentary Intern, Mark Harper MP
• Diary Secretary, CCHQ
• Party Agent, Berwick-upon-Tweed
• Part-time administrator, Esher & Walton
• Administrator, Kingston & Surbiton
• Regional Press Officer, South West
• Regional Press Officer, North/Bradford
• Business Relations Manager, CCHQ
• Party Agent, Thirsk & Malton

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Monday 26th February 2007

9.30pm Seats and candidate update: Warwickshire North shortlist

9.15pm Seats and candidate update: Neil Parish MEP selected for Tiverton and Honiton

4:00pm BritainAndAmerica update: Power not only corrupts, it also tends to isolate

3:30pm ToryDiary update: National Convention elections 2007

Dave Bartlett has just made the 1000th comment on our most recent version of the frontpage newslinks, highlighting the Times' poll of Labour MPs. Please continue to use the comments section throughout the day to inform readers of interesting news and commentary elsewhere.

1pm update: Bolton News video interview with David Cameron, covering the famous gun-gesture picture, his personal qualities, and immigration.

Conservative Party: £720,000 has been spent on 'rebranding' HM Revenue and Customs.

12:30pm ToryDiary update: Party received £5.29m from October to December

BLOGS

ToryDiary: Tories promise 10,000 strong border police as alternative to ID cards and Frank Field steps up attack on Brown

CF Diary: John Moorcraft asks if it is time to bring back the FCS

Books: Damian Collins reviews a book by pollster Frank Luntz

100policies: Russell King advocates matching the school year with the business year

MARRIAGE FOCUS IS RIGHT, AND GOOD POLITICS

"The state has no interest in insisting that those whom God has joined together should never be split asunder. But the state should aim to secure a happy upbringing for children. David Cameron understands all this. Like the young Tony Blair, he has the capacity to speak to his own generation but also to admiring older voters. His beliefs on the family are sincere. He is a long way from turning them into reality. But in the interim, it is extremely good politics." - Bruce Anderson in the Independent

"What he is doing, a number of senior Tories have told me, is splitting the difference between the ultra-modernisers in his team, represented chiefly by the party chairman, Francis Maude, and policy supremo Oliver Letwin, who are positively phobic about any reference to marriage as a good thing, and his more acute advisers, who realise that public opinion has moved on since the 1990s." - Janet Daley in the Telegraph

NAVY COULD BE NO BETTER THAN THAT OF BELGIUM

"Ministers will today be challenged to justify their handling of the Royal Navy amid growing doubts about Britain's future as a major maritime power. The Conservatives are planning to use a parliamentary debate to raise questions about Labour's commitment to the navy as critical spending decisions approach." - Scotsman

REID CHALLENGES CAMERON ON PRISON REFORM

"To call for action on prison reform and then to vote against such measures would be the worst kind of hypocrisy. I have said in the past that Mr Cameron and his Conservative Party have a record of talking one way and voting another. I would be delighted to be proved wrong in this week's vote. If not, people will see that they are engaging in meaningless posturing." - John Reid in the Telegraph

REES-MOGG'S RESPONSE TO PORTILLO

"We live in an age when modernists regard religion with something approaching panic. It is like the Devil’s attitude to Holy Water. There was a comic example of Christianophobia in The Sunday Times yesterday. Michael Portillo, who used himself to be seen in Brompton Oratory, was hyperventilating at the idea of David Cameron going to church." - William Rees-Mogg in the Times

>>> Yesterday's ToryDiary on Portillo's article

GET TOUGH ON GUN CRIME, NOT JUST ITS CAUSES

"We have become used to mentioning teenage gun crime and fatherless families in the same sentence. But a great many teenage thugs have fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters. And they are thugs because of them, not despite them. Nightmare families are major sponsors of gang-related crime on countless sink estates around the country." - Telegraph leader

BROWN TO CHAMPION ECONOMY

"Gordon Brown will come out fighting today after a bruising week in which he appeared to be trailing badly behind David Cameron in the popularity stakes. With only three weeks to go before the chancellor's 11th Budget on March 21, Mr Brown will trumpet Britain's resilience in the face of global pressures and will predict strong and balanced growth and a fall in inflation during the next 12 months." - The Herald

OTHER NEWS

Obituary of Conservative peer and businessman, Earl Jellicoe - Guardian

"The hoodie who pretended to shoot Tory leader David Cameron appears in court today on drug charges. Police raided his mum Helen Sandford’s four-bedroom home on Saturday morning and arrested him." - The Sun

Is the Thatcher statue tall enough? - Lucy Mangan in the Guardian

"Sir David Frost is an endless font of amusing anecdotes. One, involving the late Sir Denis Thatcher, is too good not to share..." - Telegraph Spy

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Sunday 25th February 2007

Early evening ToryDiary update: Tories must be positive about 'Son of Star Wars'

Lunchtime ToryDiary update: Portillo is wrong about faith and politics

10.30am ToryDiary update: Social justice depends upon supporting fatherhood and marriage

BLOGS

ToryDiary: "Deer stalker Dave can fell two stags with one shot" and "Hi, Margaret? Hi, it's Gordon"

SWIRE PINS OLYMPIC COSTS ON BROWN

"Gordon Brown should be forced to make a Commons statement explaining the "gross incompetence" which has sent the London Olympics budget soaring, the Tories are demanding.  The cost of staging the games could rise to nearly four times the figure set out in the original bid.  Hugo Swire, the shadow culture secretary, also called on the Government to "open up the books" and allow his party to participate in a bipartisan approach in running the Olympics from now on.  The call came after it emerged yesterday that the cost of staging the 2012 Games could rise to nearly four times the figure set out in the original bid." - The Sunday Telegraph

COUPLING BROWN WITH BLAIR

"The great question that looms over Labour like a toxic cloud is one I heard posed by a close ally of Mr Blair last week: "Is this just the end of the Blair era, or the end of the Blair-Brown era?" Together as MPs for 23 years, the duumvirate at Labour's helm for 13, angry co-pilots of the nation for 10, they have defined a political generation. Is Mr Brown so closely spliced to the PM in the eyes of the public that, for reasons beyond his control, his time is passing, too? We shall soon find out how rusty the Iron Chancellor truly is." - Matthew d'Ancona in The Sunday Telegraph

TORIES NOT COMPLACENT ABOUT LEAD OVER BROWN

"The Tories are not yet cracking open the champagne over their poll lead, and they are taking the Brown succession very seriously indeed. Mr Cameron has set up a small group of trusted figures who meet regularly to plan tactics. One senior source said: "We are not in any way complacent about Gordon Brown coming in. We are under no illusions and believe he will be a changing force in politics. We are certainly not assuming he will be a disaster." - Sunday Telegraph

THE CARING GORDON BROWN? HARDLY

"As readers will remember from this column last week, £30 million is the amount Gordon Brown has given to local councils to train officers to issue fines for smoking in bars and restaurants. There are around six million people who are involved in caring for relatives at home. The £33 million he promises therefore amounts to giving each of them £5.50. Better than nothing, of course, but hardly sufficient to transform their lives." - Alasdair Palmer in The Sunday Telegraph

"David Cameron is considering plans for a voucher system to give financial aid directly to the parents of disabled children." - The Sunday Telegraph

JOHN REDWOOD SUGGESTS SOME WAYS OF MAKING TRAINS SAFER.

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH REPORTS ON MARK CLARKE'S BATTLE TO WIN TOOTING FOR THE TORIES.

ZAC GOLDSMITH GETS A STALKER - Mail on Sunday

THE SUNDAY TIMES' ATTICUS COLUMN REPORTS LABOUR MPS' FURY AT THATCHER STATUE

JILL KIRBY OVERVIEWS LABOUR'S FAILURE ON PENSIONS - The Sunday Times

UKIP'S WOES MOUNT - The Sunday Times claims UKIP MEP may have embezzled £40,000

LIBDEM MP NORMAN BAKER SAYS DAVID KELLY'S DEATH WAS NOT SUICIDE - BBC

MICHAEL FOOT'S 1970S LOVER - Independent on Sunday

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