Sunday 24th February 2008

CentreRight selections:

• Greg Hands MP discovers another twist to the Northern Rock saga.  Still operating in Denmark, the UK taxpayer is effectively underwriting favourable rates for the savers of Copenhagen!
• Peter Whittle wonders why left-wingers like Diane Abbott are allowed to get away with praising mass murderers like Mao Tse Tung.
• Tim Montgomerie says that hawks should prefer Hillary to Obama and Nile Gardiner notes Obama's affection for Labour minister, Mark Malloch-Brown.
• Sir Alan Hazelhurst is current favourite to succeed Speaker Martin amongst visitors to CentreRight.  Peter Cuthbertson is strongly opposed to the idea of Frank Field becoming Speaker (he wants him to be Work & Pensions supremo).  And your choice for the big green chair...?

ToryDiary: The politics of small promises

Local government: Government did nothing about up to 400,000 homes being in wrong council tax bands

Alex Deane on Platform: A letter to Republicans inviting them to vote for John McCain

PlayPolitical video: Hillary Clinton hits Obama hard with a 'Shame on you' attack

Tories shift to “can do” strategy of Arnold Schwarzenegger on green issues

The Sunday Times has seen a paper by Shadow Environment Minister Greg Barker (pictured) calling for a more consumer-friendly approach to environmental issues.

Mr Barker has previously written approvingly of Governor Schwarzenegger's green approach for The Telegraph.

MPs embrace eco-home movement - Independent on Sunday

Chris Grayling promises action against child poverty

"Britain today should not be a country where child poverty remains endemic. But it is. I have no doubt that Gordon Brown believed he would solve the problem, but he has failed, and now the problem is getting worse, not better. It will fall to the next Conservative government to take decisive steps towards eliminating child poverty. It is a challenge we intend to meet." - Chris Grayling writing for The Sunday Telegraph

Michael Portillo: The Tory opinion poll rating is "unimpressive"

But David Cameron will become PM at the next election but one says the former Defence Secretary in The Sunday Times.

CCHQ's attempts to recruit Castaway star to run Conservative Future

"An allegation that David Cameron was involved in attempts to ensure an attractive blonde who starred in TV's Castaway became head of his party's youth wing have been probed by Tory chiefs... They wanted to give Clare Hilley, a contestant in last year's BBC1 Castaway, which was set on a remote island near New Zealand, the chance to get the job as part of Mr Cameron's drive to promote more women." - Mail on Sunday

CF Diary covered this story earlier this week.

How drink destroyed Charles Kennedy, by Menzies Campbell

The Mail on Sunday has a preview of the former LibDem leader's autobiography.

Britain needs to spend more money on its infantry, not on unnecessary equipment - Simon Jenkins in The Sunday Times

Plans to reduce British forces in Iraq are shelved as security forces fear final showdown in Basra - Observer

Speaker claimed £75,000 for home he already owns

"Martin Bell, the former independent MP and anti-sleaze campaigner, said: "If you live free in a grace-and-favour home, you shouldn't need public help to run your second home." - The Sunday Telegraph

CentreRight: Conor Burns questions the silence of MPs with regard to the Speaker who needs to be replaced

Has Nigel Farage done 'a Conway'?

"The leader of the eurosceptic United Kingdom Independence party (UKIP) is employing his son as his assistant, using taxpayers’ money, despite the young man being in full-time education." - Sunday Times

IWantAReferendum's mass lobby of Parliament

"A mass lobby of Parliament in support of a referendum on the EU Treaty of Lisbon is to take place this week.  Organisers hope hundreds of supporters will attend the rally on Wednesday, pressing Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs to support an amendment to the ratification Bill going through Parliament." - The Sunday Telegraph

If you want to take part in the lobby click here.

Britain's prisons system close to crisis

"At the end of a week in which the prison population rose above the critical 82,000 mark for the first time, Anne Owers [Chief Onspector of Prisons] said she was not sure how long the system 'can contain this kind of huge pressure'... She warned that disturbances within the prison system were rising as a result of overcrowding. 'My impression is the level of incidents in prisons is increasing - an indication of a system operating too near to the knuckle,' she said." - Observer

Sean Connery believes that Scotland is "within touching distance" of independence - BBC

"UK ministers and business chiefs are calling for Alex Salmond to be stripped of his ability to block nuclear power stations and Trident warheads in Scotland, as part of a major review of Holyrood's powers." - Scotland on Sunday

And finally...

David Cameron, Con-surf-ative leader, had to swim and run from an encounter with a shark - Mail on Sunday

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary...