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Thursday 15th March 2007

11.10pm Seats and Candidates update: Gary Ridley selected for Coventry North West

11pm Seats and Candidates update: Hannah Parker selected for Exeter

10pm Seats and Candidates update: Calder Valley open primary candidates

Tpa_2

5:30pm update: The TaxPayers' Alliance has worked out that if Sir Hayden Phillips' recommendations had been in place since 1997, a quarter of a billion pounds of taxpayers' money would have been spent on political parties already. Click here to download their response, and here for William Norton's TPA paper on how much we already pay for Ministers and their SpAds.

4:30pm Seats and Candidates update: John Woodward selected for Camborne Redruth

3.30pm ToryDiary update: Are you better off than you were four years ago?

Noon update from conservatives.com: Conservative response to party funding review

11.45am ToryDiary update: The Republicans are our sister party says Francis Maude

11:30am Seats and Candidates update: Final four for Hammersmith

11.30am BritainAndAmerica update: "Cameron's 'spin team made up rift with Bush'"

Epp BLOGS

ToryDiary: Do we really need another Eurosceptic pressure group?

The latest ConservativeHome survey is now online.  In addition to the regular tracker questions there are questions on green taxation, family policy, House of Lords reform and the Patrick Mercer episode.
CLICK HERE TO HAVE YOUR SAY

18 Doughty Street: Andrew Mitchell's five-part video diary of his covert trip to the Burmese jungle is well worth having a look at.

SUCCESSFUL TRIDENT VOTE

"The two revolts – one involving 94 Labour MPs, the other 85 – came after ministers from the Prime Minister down had assured MPs that the decision was not necessarily the final word." - Times

"The Conservatives yesterday began to exploit Labour divisions over the nuclear deterrent, as William Hague showered praise on the plans for renewal. Tory support ensured the government won the vote. But the shadow foreign secretary undermined ministers' arguments that the motion was not an irreversible commitment, seeking to highlight splits within Labour and goad more MPs into rebelling." - Guardian

GOVERNMENT IN A JAM OF ITS OWN MAKING

Ed_vaizey "The BBC is to suspend its £150 million online education service, BBC Jam, after claims that it is damaging the interests of industry competitors. Children who have been using BBC Jam to help with schoolwork will be unable to access it from March 20. About 200 BBC staff are facing uncertain futures after yesterday's announcement. The commercial sector complained to the European Commission about BBC Jam. Ed Vaizey, the Tory's broadcasting spokesman, said: "This is a mess of the Government's own making. They told the BBC to set up Jam even though a number of education companies were already providing those services. We have constantly raised concerns about BBC Jam and its impact on the private sector."" - Telegraph

FABRICATED STORIES OF RIFTS WITH REPUBLICANS

"David Cameron's advisers fabricated disagreements with George Bush to try to win favour with British voters, a senior US government official claims. At a private meeting in London, the official said that members of the Tory leader's team were "more deceitful spinners" than Tony Blair's." - Telegraph

SAMANTHA, THE ONE-WOMAN FOCUS GROUP

Samcam2 "According to a new biography of David Cameron by Francis Elliott and James Hanning, his wife Samantha should take much of the credit for the transformation of this cheerful stag-shooter into the sensitive modernising stag-shooter we see today. Cameron could always cry easily, but it was Samantha who selected a modern suit, "by fashionable tailor Timothy Everest", for his no-notes party conference speech." - Catherine Bennett in the Guardian

HOUSEHOLD DISPOSABLE INCOME UP £9PW IN 6 YEARS

"The average family is almost no better off than it was five years ago despite sustained economic growth, a new report claims. Real disposable income per household has gone up by a meagre £9 a week since 2001, rising from £491 to £500, it concludes. The study, by leading tax lawyer Charlie Elphicke, says that is a growth rate of just 0.35 per cent a year." - Daily Mail

SHARING RESEARCH RESOURCES WITH THE DUP

Paisley "Last October, Spy reported that Ian Paisley and his DUP MPs had held several meetings with David Cameron. The veteran Ulster politician added he would be "very interested in doing business with the Conservatives". Still, I'm surprised to see that the Paisleyite politicians have started subscribing to the Parliamentary Resources Unit, a team of researchers that provided information and briefings for Tory backbenchers, who each contribute a small proportion of their research allowance to fund it." - Telegraph Spy

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

"Conservatives managed to set the agenda in Strasbourg today by ensuring that regulations and red tape would not strangle business in its efforts to become more socially responsible. In a key vote today, the work of Philip Bushill-Matthews MEP, Conservative Employment and Social Affairs Spokesman, guaranteed that EU corporate social responsibility will be voluntary." - Conservative Party

Nigel_farage UKIP FIND BACK-UP FOR ILLEGAL LOAN

"The UK Independence Party (UKIP) says it has found a new backer to bail it out if it has to forfeit a £367,697 political donation. The Electoral Commission has accused the party of breaking the law by accepting money from a donor whose name was not on the electoral register." - BBC

HAYDEN PHILLIPS REPORT PUBLISHED TODAY

"An inquiry into how political parties should be funded to be published today is unlikely to break the deadlock between Labour and the Conservatives on the issue. Sir Hayden Phillips, a former senior civil servant called in by Tony Blair in an attempt to broker a deal between the parties, will say in his final report that there is scope for a compromise based on his package, which could help to "clean up politics" after the cash-for-honours affair. He is expected to recommend lower legal spending limits for the parties at general elections and a ceiling on individual donations, on which the Tories have called for a £50,000 limit. In return, the parties would receive more state funding, which might be worth £25m between them." - Guardian

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