Sunday 31st August 2008

8pm ToryDiary: Conservative members are not as libertarian as blog threads suggest

CentreRight updates:

> Peter Whittle worries about the hatred of gay men being taught in Britain's mosques
> Andrew Lilico is worried about Alistair Darling's unparliamentary language
> Charlie Elphicke attacks the Chancellor for talking down the economy

Carl Thomson on Platform: We should not view Saakashvili’s Georgia through rose-tinted glasses

Martin Parsons on CentreRight: Labour council enforces Ramadan on non-Muslims

Non-electoral milestones

"Boris's parading of the flag was an example of what David Cameron calls "non-electoral milestones", a moment when one could sense power draining from one party to the other." - Matthew d'Ancona in The Sunday Telegraph

Winning the battle of ideas

"Just as New Labour did in opposition, a resurgent Conservative party is courting key think tanks to try to win the battle for ideas. As the political landscape changes, is the intellectual momentum now shifting from Left to Right?" - Tim Adams in The Observer

The brains behind the BBC iPlayer offers help to the Conservatives - Sunday Times

Is Carol Thatcher making money out of her mother's misfortune?

""On bad days," Carole writes, "She could hardly remember the beginning of a sentence by the time she got to the end." Which raises the more troubling question of whether Ms Thatcher, 55, is milking the Iron Lady's misfortunes for money. A number of affronted Tory loyalists and media commentators implied this, and Ronald Reagan Jr, son of the US president who shared Mrs Thatcher's glory days before succumbing to Alzheimer's, came out of obscurity to complain: "The going into details is in monumentally bad taste and totally unnecessary."" - Sunday Telegraph

In the second part of the serialisation of her book, Carol Thatcher remembers Denis - Mail on Sunday

Tory MP Douglas Carswell ‘punished’ for damning army kit - The Sunday Times

Europe must stand up to the Russian bully - Sir Malcolm Rifkind in The Sunday Telegraph

Cameron's bike brakes fail - Mail on Sunday

Gordon Brown's black ink pen 'vandalises' Commons' Dispatch Box - The Sunday Telegraph

"Homeowners who lose their jobs could receive more generous state aid to prevent a wave of repossessions." - Observer

"Downing Street and the Treasury launched a desperate damage limitation exercise after Alistair Darling declared that Britain was facing “arguably the worst” slump in 60 years." - The Sunday Times

> Watch Alistair Darling say economic crisis is worst for sixty years

The Palin pick

"McCain has dumped a novice in the most brutal political battlefield in the world. It is either a stroke of genius or an act of lunacy. And no one, not even McCain or even Mrs Palin, knows which." - Fraser Nelson in the News of the World

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary and visit PoliticsHome.com for breaking political news and views throughout the day.

Saturday 30th August 2008

7.15pm PlayPolitical videos:

• Alistair Darling warns of worst economic crisis for sixty years
• John McCain announces that Governor Sarah Palin will be his running mate
  

6.45pm Peter Franklin on CentreRight defends McCain's VP pick

9.45am CentreRight: McCain's huge, unnecessary gamble

Platform: Simon Burns MP reports from the Democratic Convention in Denver

ToryDiary: Boris Johnson unveils climate change strategy for London

George Osborne slams Alistair Darling for British tax exodus

Shadow chancellor George Osborne has accused Alistair Darling of damaging the UK economy as yet another company confirmed it is quitting the country for tax reasons - The Telegraph

Britain is in grip of the worst economic crisis for 60 years, admits Alistair Darling - The Telegraph

Interview with Alistair Darling - The Guardian

Billionaire Tory Party treasurer Michael Spencer faces the prospect of a record divorce payout

The flamboyant City character and close personal friend of David Cameron is separating from his wife Lorraine after 25 years, it emerged yesterday - Daily Mail

Carol Thatcher's candour goes too far - Andrew Pierce in The Telegraph

Freeze on stamp duty 'would not kick-start economy'

Calls for home-buyers to benefit from a cut in stamp duty to revive the flagging housing market may be rejected by the Government - The Independent

Recession and the disturbing lesson of history from a Prime Minister in denial

"It should be noted that Labour governments faced an identical choice between prudence and financial profligacy in the financial crises of the Thirties and Seventies  -  and that each time the argument split the party so badly that it did not return to power for a generation" - Peter Oborne in the Daily Mail

Councils are recruiting 'citizen snoopers' to report litter louts, dog foulers and people who fail to sort out their rubbish properly

"The 'environment volunteers' will also be responsible for encouraging neighbours to cut down on waste. The move comes as local authorities dish out £100 fines to householders who leave out too much rubbish or fail to follow recycling rules." - Daily Mail

Court of Appeal condemns lenient judges

More than 60 judges have imposed “unduly lenient” sentences on offenders convicted of some of the most serious crimes, including terrorists, murderers and rapists - The Times

A judge yesterday said he was afraid to go out at night for fear of violence fuelled by cheap booze - The Sun

Britain has failed to stop the US committing "shameful acts" in the treatment of terror suspects, Noam Chomsky claims today - The Independent

Divorce rate lowest since 1981

The credit crunch is preventing warring couples from divorcing because they cannot afford to separate, experts have claimed - Daily Mail

Thousands of love-struck Brits learn Polish, so they can speak to their immigrant partners - Daily Mail

Review of 'Cameron on Cameron'

Jones shows us a man who is almost alarmingly adept at revealing not one word more than he wishes - Andrew Gimson in The Telegraph

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary and visit PoliticsHome.com for breaking political news and views throughout the day.

Friday 29th August 2008

6.30pm ToryDiary: Britain's Olympic winners "left their consciences at passport control" says Tory GLA member

5.30pm Seats and candidates: Five more seats selecting

4.45pm Tim Montgomerie on CentreRight: McCain's electrifying pick

4.15pm Louise Bagshawe on CentreRight: McCain picks Sarah Palin as his running mate

4pm ToryDiary: 'Cameron on Cameron' highlights: Crime and fixing the broken society

1.15pm ToryDiary: Osborne calls for cut in corporation tax to stop exodus of businesses

12.30pm CentreRight updates:

• Dan Lewis contrasts Chinese progress on nuclear power with British inaction
• Andrew Lilico on Cameron as a Whig
• Louise Bagshawe asks if McCain will pick Pawlenty or Palin

Tobias Ellwood MP on Platform: Hotting up for a new Cold War

Chris Heaton-Harris MEP on Platform: A Rough Guide to the EU Budget

ToryDiary: The Conservative Party is 20% ahead but "behind virtually every other western Right-of-centre party in its internet operations"

CentreRight reactions to Barack Obama's big speech from Tim Montgomerie and Suli Shah

PlayPolitical: Watch Barack Obama's speech plus John McCain congratulates Barack Obama on his nomination

George Osborne speaks of "housing crash"

"House prices are falling at the fastest rate for 18 years, it was revealed yesterday. They tumbled another 1.9 per cent this month. And that took the annual rate of decline to 10.5 per cent — not seen since the 1990 property crash... Shadow Chancellor George Osborne said the market had been clobbered by confusion over mooted Government proposals for a stamp duty “holiday”. He added: “What began as a fall in prices is fast becoming a housing crash.” - The Sun

> Andrew Lilico on CentreRight: What is to be done about falling house prices?

Chris Rea is big donor to Tories

"[Chris] Rea, whose hits include The Road to Hell and Driving Home for Christmas, has given the Conservatives £25,000. Mr Rausing and his wife, Marit, who are worth more than £5 billion, have donated almost £100,000. Dave Whelan, the owner of Wigan Football Club, has given the party £250,000." - Telegraph

"The Conservative Party was given £5.6m, while Labour received £3.8m and the Liberal Democrats £945,192, according to the Electoral Commission." - BBC

"Britain’s largest trade union contributed more than 40 per cent of Labour’s funding in the three months to June, prompting renewed Conservative accusations that Gordon Brown is in hock to union “paymasters”." - FT 

The Tories and obesity

"A few weeks ago, David Cameron declared that the Government had failed to stress personal responsibility for obesity: we should stop talking about it as something that just happens to people, he said: they needed to pull their socks up – specifically, to eat less and exercise more. This week, however, the Conservatives seem simultaneously to be taking the completely different tack that it is all part of a growing inequality between the various social classes which it accuses the Government of failing to address." - Dominic Lawson in The Independent

> No excuses for obesity, no nannying to combat it says Andrew Lansley

Chinese unhappy at scruffy Boris

"Chinese officials ordered Boris Johnson to smarten up at the Olympic handover ceremony" - Daily Mail

Cameron taunts PM, saying: I'll be in Glenrothes, will you? - Scotsman

> Scottish Tories select Maurice Golden for Glenrothes by-election

Interview with Helen Grant, the woman likely to be the Tories' first black woman MP - Guardian

Why a top non-white political leader is some way off in Britain - Economist

Tories have touched a nerve with public, admits Labour minister David Lammy - Guardian

MPs want more financial help for carers - BBC

"The Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee said people who care for relatives and friends saved the taxpayer an estimated £87bn every year." - Independent

Peter Hain contemplates comeback as Wales' first minister - Western Mail

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary and visit PoliticsHome.com for breaking political news and views throughout the day.

Thursday 28th August 2008

6.15pm ToryDiary: 'Cameron on Cameron' highlights: Public services and the environment

6pm CentreRight: Matthew Sinclair responds to posts on the TPA's green taxes report

5.30pm PlayPolitical: Campaign ad questions Barack Obama's experience

5.15pm Seats and candidates: Scottish Tories select Maurice Golden for Glenrothes by-election

5pm PlayPolitical videos: The speeches by Bill Clinton and Joe Biden to the Democrats in Denver

4pm CentreRight updates:

• Andrew Lilico also disagrees with the TaxPayer Alliance on green taxes
• Peter Franklin: Environmental taxes should be about prevention not reparation
• Andrew Lilico: What is to be done about falling house prices?

12.45pm Peter Cuthbertson on CentreRight: Trying to get innocent people jailed should be an imprisonable offence

Matthew Sinclair on CentreRight: We're already paying too much green tax

ToryDiary: Cameron's approach on Georgia a general indicator on foreign policy

Peter Bone MP on Platform welcomes NICE's U-turn on allowing wet eye treatments on the NHS

Give me fat Tories who believe in freedom, not these nannying ninnies! - Stephen Glover in the Daily Mail

Brown given November deadline to save his job

Cabinet ministers will give Gordon Brown "one last chance" to save his premiership but will try to oust him by November if he fails to improve Labour's prospects - The Independent

Brown will be ditched, but when? - John Rentoul in The Independent

Livingstone joins Chavez payroll

Former London mayor Ken Livingstone is to work as a consultant for Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez - BBC

"Former London Mayor Ken Livingstone, ousted in May after eight years in office, said he doesn't rule out running for another term in the future. Livingstone said he doesn't face term limits, and that he'll make a decision when the next elections in 2011 are closer, in response to a question during a press conference, broadcast by state television ... in Caracas after a meeting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez." - Bloomberg

Deepening recession may throw Britain into full-year GDP fall

"Britain's economy is set to shrink over the next year as a deepening recession inflicts the first full-year fall in national income since 1991, a leading forecasting group predicts today." - The Times

"UK house prices have seen an annual double-digit fall for the first time since 1990, according to the latest survey from the Nationwide" - BBC

Almost 1.8 million children - one in seven in Britain - live in households in which no one works, with more than three million families in total unemployment - The Independent

Eastern Europeans in Britain will fall by two thirds

"The sharp decline in the number of Poles, Czechs and other citizens of new EU states will mean that most immigrants to Britain will come from outside Europe. Migrationwatch, the campaign group that made the prediction, said that the likely change in migration patterns strengthens the case for an annual cap on the number of foreigners allowed to come to the UK." - Telegraph

Cold war tension rises as Putin talks of Black Sea confrontation - The Times

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary and visit PoliticsHome.com for breaking political news and views throughout the day.